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Order Sons of Italy in America
Roma Lodge #254
3097 Magic Hallow Boulevard
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454
(757) 468-2029
December 2014
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
There’s not much to say, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. Only one point of business. Included with this Newsletter is
the Membership Renewal Letter for 2015 (included with a self-addressed envelope).
At this time I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy
New Year, and may you and all your loved ones always know happiness, laughter, and joy. Here’s to continued good
times at Roma Lodge and wherever else you may be … cent’anni!
Lastly, I wish you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving. See you at the Christmas Party.
Fraternally,
John Luizzi,
President, Roma Lodge #254
In memory of Chester Monti who just passed away.
May God extend his blessings to Chester and the Monti Family.
In memory of Marina Lohndorf who just passed away.
May God extend his blessings to Marina and the Lohndorf Family.
Website: www.roma254.org
LIBERTY
EQUALITY
E-Mail: [email protected]
FRATERNITY
Roma Lodge Council 2014 - 2015
President
Vice President
Past President
Orator
Recording Sec.
Financial Sec.
Treasurer
Trustees John Cutrone
961-6245
John Luizzi
Anthony Alfano
John William Del RussoSr.
Tony Agnelli
Albert Marra
Paula Terveer
James Novelli
Peter Langlands
428-0938
Joseph Bruney
537-1141
490-6448
803-9206
479-0240
496-4069
301-8797
481-1199
426-1970
Vince Agnelli
481-3939
Mistress of Ceremony
Angie Hughes
499-8667
Guard
Immacolata Pellegrino
363-2436
Lodge Chaplain
Gerald Hyatt
And
Anniversaries
BIRTHDAYS
Jo Ann Armistead
Natalie Blanco
Stephen Pellegrino
363-2436
Master of Ceremony
Mario Minervini
426-2964
Birthdays
Joseph A. Beck
Enrico Castellano
John William Del Russo Sr. (61st) Joseph Costello
Flo Dunn
Maria Gewerth
Costantina Natividad
Helen Pichardo
Catherine Senisi
ANNIVERSARIES
436-0477
******************************************
=== MEMBERSHIP ===
Member count as of 17 December should be:
216 members - 186 regular and 30 social.
******************************************
Friday Night Meals
Dec. 5th
“Deck the Halls” Night ($15.00)
Salad - Pasta Fagioli - Antipasto
Pork sliced tenderloins w/gravy
Mashed Potatoes - Broccoli w. cheese sauce
Merry Christmas Cake - Vanilla Ice cream
******************************************
Anthony & Florence Alfano (36th)
John & Doreen Cutrone
Nick & Marianne Galella (54th)
Bob & Martha Giovanelli
Don & Michele Marcari (27th)
Harold & Nellouise Stepp (60th)
******************************************
Roma Lodge 2014
Schedule of Events
Culture Corner
**********************
12/05 - “Deck the Halls Night”
- 6:00
Christmas in Italy
12/06 - Christmas Party – (Adult) – CANCELLED
12/07 - Christmas Party – (Children) – John & Mary
Del Russo
12/16* - General Assembly Meeting - 7:00
* Moved back one week for the Holidays
* OSIA TW BOD Elections *
01/11/2015 - Sunday 2:00 pm - Memorial Mass
01/26/2015 - General Assembly Meeting - 7:00
02/01/15 – Super Bowl Sunday!!!
02/07/15 – Polar Plunge!!!
02/14/2015 - Saturday - St. Valentine’s Dinner Dance ***
(Friday Night Meal)
02/23/2015 - Monday 7:00 pm - General Assembly
Meeting - ELECTION NIGHT
02/27/2015 - Friday 7:00 pm - Installation of Officers
‘swearing in’ Ceremony immediately following our
Friday night meal.
(We will now be observing a three (3) month
window for our events)
******************************************
One of the most important ways of celebrating
Christmas in Italy is the Nativity crib scene. Using a crib
to help tell the Christmas story was made very popular
by St. Francis of Assisi in 1223 (Assisi is in mid-Italy).
The previous year he had visited Bethlehem and saw
where the stable, where it was thought that Jesus was
born. A lot of Italian families have a Nativity crib in
their homes.
The city of Naples in Italy is world famous for its cribs
and crib making. These are known as 'Presepe
Napoletano' (meaning Neapolitan Cribs). The first crib
scene in Naples is thought to go back to 1025 and was in
the Church of S. Maria del presepe (Saint Mary of the
Crib), this was even before St. Francis of Assisi had
made cribs very popular!
Having cribs in your own home became popular in the
16th century and it's still popular today (before that only
churches and monasteries had cribs). Cribs are
traditionally put out on the 8th December. But the figure
of the baby Jesus isn't put into the crib until the
evening/night of December 24th!
Sometimes the Nativity scene is displayed in the shape
of pyramid which can be meters tall! It's made of several
tiers of shelves nd is decorated with colored paper, gold
covered pinecones and small candles. A small star is
often hung inside the top of the pyramid/triangle. The
shelves above the manger scene might also contain fruit,
candy and presents.
One special thing about Neapolitan cribs is that they
have always been displayed not only characters and
figures from the Christmas Story, but also 'every day'
people and objects (such as houses, waterfalls, food,
animals and even figures of famous people and
politicians!). Naples is also the home to the largest crib
scene in the world, which has over 600 objects on it!
In Naples there is a still a street of the nativity makers
called the 'Via San Gregorio Armeno'. In the street you
can buy wonderful hand made crib decorations and
figures - and of course whole cribs!
You can see some pictures of crib scenes and figures
from Naples on this page:
www.foto.portanapoli.com/presepe.html
One Old Italian custom is that children go out Carol
singing and playing songs on shepherd’s pipes, wearing
shepherds sandals and hats.
Children put stockings up by the fireplace for Befana to
fill. On Christmas day 'Babbo Natale' (Santa Claus)
might bring them some small gifts, but the main day for
present giving is on Epiphany.
http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/italy.shtml
******************************************
On Christmas Eve, it's common that no meat (and also
sometimes all dairy) is eaten. Often a light seafood meal
is eaten people go to the Midnight Mass service. The
types of fish and how they are served vary between
different regions in Italy. When people return from
Mass, if it's cold, you might have a slice of Italian
Christmas Cake called 'Panettone' which is like a dry
fruity sponge cake and a cup of hot chocolate! Here's a
recipe for panettone. You can find out more about
Christmas in Italy and Italian Christmas Recipes on this
site.
For many Italian-American families a big Christmas Eve
meal of different fish dishes is now a very popular
tradition! It’s known as The Feast of the Seven Fishes
('Esta dei Sette Pesci' in Italian). The feast seems to have
its root in southern Italy and was bought over to the
USA by Italian immigrants in the 1800s. It now seems
more popular in American than it is in Italy!
Common types of fish eaten in the feast include Baccala
(salted Cod), Clams, Calamari, Sardines and Eel.
There are different theories as to why there are seven
fish dishes eaten. Some think that seven represent the
seven days of creation in the Bible, other say it
represents the seven holy sacraments of the Catholic
Church. But some families have more that seven dishes!
You might have nine (to represent the Christian trinity
times three), 13 (to represent Jesus and his 12 disciples)
or 11 (for the 11 disciples without Jesus or Judas!)!
The Christmas celebrations start eight days before
Christmas with special 'Novenas' or a series of prayers
and church services.
Some families have a 'Creppo' or Yule Log which is
burnt through the Christmas season.
In Italian Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Buon Natale' and
in Sicilian it's 'Bon Natali'. Happy/Merry Christmas in
lots more languages.
Epiphany is also important in Italy. On Epiphany night,
children believe that an old lady called 'Befana' brings
presents for them. The story about Befana bringing
presents is very similar to the story of Babushka.
130-plus reasons to
have another Talent
Show
By Entertainment Chairman
John William Del Russo, Sr.
With my grandson John III serving as my assistant
and co-host, it made Roma Lodge Talent Show #11 one
for me to cherish. And the added pleasant surprise of
watching over 130 seats fill up for this latest talent show
held on November 14th was an added memory maker. In
addition to watching our Roma Lodge girls soccer team
(Beach Attack) receive recognition for their athletic form
of talent by being champion soccer players, and the acts
that followed, other recognition was made to all those
donators to the Talent Show series since its inception in
mid-2010 when Talent Show #1 debuted.
Members like Ray De Cecco (you may also
remember Ray for being the eminent mandolin player at
several of our talent shows along with his dry humor)
who donated the first pair of speakers and a receiver to
start us off over four years ago.
And members like Joe & Gigliola Casto a couple of
years later who donated more speakers and another
receiver which took our sound system to a new level.
And members like Janet Jones who also donated a pair
of tower speakers that added pizzazz to our current stage
setup. And thanks also to Mark & Tammie Soccio for
donating a gazillion custom karaoke disks to add more
variety to our song selections. And members like Pamela
Albanesi-Graul would always creates a myriad of visual
images for our talent shows and numerous other Lodge
Events.
We also have had the distinct pleasure at Roma
Lodge of having not just one but two members who
regularly record events with their cameras. Bernie
Galante is our lodge’s official photographer who takes
care of virtually every occasion with his still
photography mastery and also posts them onto our
facebook page.
And last but certainly not least is our videographer
who has been recording mini-movies and minidocumentaries for our lodge for a number of years,
covering an array of topics including the Molfetta
fishing industry, how olives are grown in Italy, and
bread making in a communal oven in Italy.
This
cinematic master is none other than our very own Mario
“Cecil B” Minervini, who also ‘taped’ key entertainment
classics at our lodge from the Honeymooners Italian
Style stage production, to The Not So Newlywed Game,
and most recently is his recording of our Talent Show
#11 which will most assuredly be a part of his hit parade
of classics, especially since it was the Talent Show that
had the most attendees – over 130! (I think 130 might be
a record for a Friday night meal too!)
These generous people who have made our Talent
Show series possible are the reason to have Talent Show
#12! See you there in the Spring or Summer of 2015!
*********************************************
“Guess Who?”
By Entertainment Chairman John Del Russo
Many of you have asked about that “Guess Who?”
contest note that was in the weekly e-news these past
few weeks. Well, here’s what that’s all about:
We will be conducting “The ‘Guess Who?’ Contest
#1” which will simply be the compiling of a collage
comprised of photos of current Roma Lodge members
when they were younger. The Roma Lodge member who
correctly identifies most of the members in that photo
collage will win two Friday night dinner tickets. If there
is a tie, then there will be a trivia question run-off to
determine the sole winner.
Here’s how it will work: The collage will be posted
in the Cerino Room on our bulletin board between
November 7th and December 5th. In addition the
collage will be sent out via email in the Roma Lodge
Weekly News during that time frame.
Members may enter this contest by e-mailing me
their guesses at [email protected] OR by calling me
at 479-0240. First guess counts. All guesses must be emailed or phoned in to me before NOON on
December 6th. The winner will be announced in the
Roma Lodge Weekly News on Wednesday December
10th, and also in our January 2015 newsletter.
IMPORTANT NOTE!!! >>> IN ORDER FOR THIS TO
WORK, WE NEED AT LEAST 20 PHOTOS OF ROMA
LODGE MEMBERS, PREFERABLY TAKEN AT A
YOUNG AGE. PLEASE E-MAIL THAT PHOTO (COLOR
OR BLACK & WHITE) TO [email protected]
ANYTIME BEFORE MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY
OCTOBER 31st … OR YOU CAN BRING THE PHOTO
TO ME OR TO THE LODGE ON ANY FRIDAY NIGHT
BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF OCTOBER, AND I
WILL SCAN THE PHOTO RIGHT THEN AND THERE IN
FRONT OF YOU (I WILL GIVE IT RIGHT BACK 2 YOU).
******************************************
DISPLAY YOUR
HERITAGE
by John William Del Russo, Sr.
Historian Committee Chairman
Two ‘heritage’ plaques are displayed in our Cerino
Room on the same wall as where the large map of
Italy is located. These prominent plaques represent
not only Italian heritage, but also the heritage of all
lodge members who are not of Italian heritage.
The purpose of this Roma Lodge General
Assembly-approved project is to note the
importance of the heritage of all members within
Roma Lodge. Approximately 40% of our
membership is of a heritage other than Italian. It
therefore stands to reason that it takes a special kind
of person and a special kind of love to join and be a
part of a lodge and a way of life that mainly
accentuates a heritage other than one’s own. That is
the distinct characteristic that our Social members
and all other members who are ‘other-than-Italian’
possess. And because some of our members possess
a heritage from places other than Italy, that
characteristic ought to be honored alongside our
members of Italian origin. That is in part what the
Historian Committee had in mind when designing
these new ‘heritage plaques.’
If any member desires to be a part of this project,
personalized engraved brass plates are now
available for $10 each to any member of Roma
Lodge, and on each brass plate up to three lines of
lettering are available to display the member’s name
and/or surname followed by the member’s
city/country of ancestry or origin.
All of the profits made with the sales of these brass
plates will go directly back to the funder of this
project, Roma Lodge. Once both plaques are filled
up with engraved brass plates, Roma Lodge will
have realized a profit of just over 195% beyond the
original investment for this project. And at such
time when they do fill up, we will seek funds to
purchase more wood plaques to accommodate any
future members desiring to be a part of this
members-only feature. We aim to honor all our
members equally. Remember, our Order’s motto is
“Liberty–Equality–Fraternity”, so let’s support and
embrace that motto – and our backgrounds as well.
For your convenience, an order blank for your
personalized brass plate is enclosed in this
newsletter. You can also see me or our Lodge
President John Luizzi at any Friday night meal to
place your order. For cash purchases allow one
week for your brass plate to be displayed, and 4 to 6
weeks for payments made with checks.
CENTENNIAL TREE BRASS PLATES - Did you
know that you can still purchase a ‘Centennial’
brass plate to be permanently displayed on our
Centennial Tree mural? (This feature is also
located in our Cerino Room, opposite the map of
Italy.) These brass plates are unique in that, unlike
the heritage plates, they can be used to memorialize
or commemorate any past relatives, or to just make
any statement (i.e. the year that you joined Roma
Lodge, etc), or the displaying of any message you
desire (i.e. “Congratulations to Roma Lodge on
your Centennial, from John Doe”, “Always
remember the good times at Roma Lodge - Jane
Doe & Family” etc). Also, unlike the ‘Heritage’
brass plates, the Centennial brass plates are
available to non members. Several local
establishments have done just that (Snyder’s RV,
Target Painting, Always Used Auto Parts, etc.)
Since these brass plates are slightly larger than the
‘Heritage’ plates, their cost is $20 each. Space is
limited, so first come first served. Currently 65
plates are on permanent display. When the ‘Tree’
reaches its capacity of 100 plates, the offer to have
a plate permanently displayed on the tree will be
ended. If you are interested or know of any local
business establishment that may be interested in
purchasing a brass plate for permanent display,
please contact our Centennial Chairman Pete
Amante at 430-8473.
*********************************************
A BUSY DECEMBER
AT ROMA LODGE!
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5th – ANNUAL DECK THE
HALLS NIGHT (starts at 6pm) – It’s time to get our
lodge’s Christmas decorations out of hibernation and
decorate our fine hall. As everybody agreed on at the
last Friday Night Meal, we will be doing a Special
Friday Night Meal for the “Deck the Halls” event. This
will be the last Roma Lodge Event for the year. So
please come out and enjoy the Lodge and its members.
More information concerning this will be forthcoming in
the Weekly E-News Volunteers are needed so please
call President Luizzi (490-6448) or Entertainment
Chairman John Del Russo (479-0240) for details. Thank
you!
******************************************
Annual Roma Lodge Children’s
Sunday, December 7th is the date set for our Annual
Roma Lodge Children’s Christmas Party. And there will
be plenty of fun, games, and presents for all the children
(and pizza & dessert for everybody), PLUS an
appearance by Santa Claus himself! That’s right! Roma
Lodge has called the North Pole and made special
arrangements for Ol’ St. Nicholas to arrive between
NOON and 3:00 pm.
Bring your cameras and
smartphones and have a very memorable time.
There will be games, arts and crafts, and a very fine
grand door prize for a lucky child. Anyone who wishes
to volunteer to help out with the arts and crafts on that
day and the setting up of the games, or to donate a
dessert, please contact Mary and John Del Russo at 4790240
*********************************************
Roma Lodge Memorial Mass
Mark Your Calendars
To honor our deceased Roma Lodge
members, you are cordially invited to
attend our Roma Lodge Memorial
Mass.
January 11, 2015 at 2:00pm.
For details, call
Angie Hughes (499-8667) &
Genevieve Kelly (471-7666)
Please plan to attend
*********************************************
Rock ‘n’ Roll:
Italian Style
By Roma Lodge member
Frances Mariconda
On my travels to New York to visit my family, I was
invited by my brother and his wife to attend a Rock and
Roll concert. The celebrities included Jay Black
(formerly from the group Jay and the Americans, whose
hits included "This Magic Moment" and "Cara Mia"),
Jay Seigel ("The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), and Felix
Cavaliere, former leader of the band known as "The
Young Rascals" whose hits included "It's a Beautiful
Morning" and "Groovin".
Lodge Notes
We have just one meeting left in the business year,
(Note: that Dec. (yes, there is a meeting this year)
General Assembly Meeting have been moved back one
week in consideration for the Holidays), and we a few
items left to do. At the November meeting, we are going
setup the 2015-2016 schedule (so bring your calendars).
The Nominations Committee has been formed. The two
members from the Council have been chosen, we still
need three volunteers from the General Body (this will
help the Committee). The Election Committee will be
considered.
The meeting time for the General Assembly Meeting
has been changed, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.
When we arrived at the stadium, we headed towards the
bleachers and sat down to wait for the concert to begin.
Jay Seigel came out first followed by Felix Cavaliere.
Jay Black's performance was last. When the concert
ended, we all left the bleachers and my brother
approached Felix. He said, "My sister traveled all the
way from Virginia Beach to see you." With a warm
smile, he shook my hand and wrote in my autograph
book: "May you and your family's life be filled with
happiness." Then he signed it and handed it back to me.
After he walked away, we started towards the parking lot
when I heard my brother say, "Look, Frances! He's over
there by that table."
Please also keep in mind that OSIA TW Inc. BOD
elections WILL be held, directly following the
December Roma Lodge Meeting.
The table was packed with CD's, tee shirts, and photos
of Felix. As we approached, we saw people taking
pictures of him while he was signing autographs. I
purchased a picture and then stood before him.
At the conclusion of the Friday Night Meals for
2014, the remaining items will be donated to the
Hampton VA Hospital. Many thanks to Lola
Mussara and all who helped her, those who donated
the items in the first place, and most of all who
bought said items. We will start up again in the
springtime (?).
He turned to me and said, "You're the one from
Virginia Beach." I then asked him to autograph the
picture I purchased. He took the picture and asked what
my name was. "Frances!" I replied. He looked at me and
smiled. "My sister's name is Frances." When he handed
it back to me, it read, "To Frances, May your life be
filled with joy."
As I walked with my brother and his wife to the
parking lot, I thought about how very happy I was to
have had an opportunity to meet a famous ItalianAmerican Rock and Roll Hall of Famer whose
contribution to the music world won him praise and
worldwide fame. It makes us all so very proud to be part
of the Italian-American culture.
*********************************************
As far as the Adult Christmas Party, with nobody
stepping up to the chairperson position, I’ve got no
choice but to cancel the function. As for the “Deck the
Halls” get together this is going to be held. We will be
having a special dinner that night. The final details will
be forthcoming in the Weekly E-News.
******************************************
Book Sale
Sick & Welfare
If any member hears of another Roma Lodge member
being sick or going into the hospital or any other
significant event that may befall any of our members or
a member of their family, please call our Sick & Welfare
Chairwoman Lola Musarra at 389-5653, and Assistant
Sick & Welfare Chairwoman Maria D'Amico at 4279197. They will ensure that these members get rendered
the proper respect and/or visitation from other lodge
members who might otherwise be unaware of their
situation. Thank you.
Lodge News via E-Mail –
Please read the follow-up article
To better keep you informed of emergent Lodge news,
we offer our members a weekly e-mail news service.
Since April 2009, we have been providing this service to
our members. Join in and send your e-mail address
along with your name to:
[email protected]
Please note that your email address will be added to the
Roma Lodge ‘e-mail roster’ and will be kept strictly
confidential via ‘bcc’ mailings. We will not give your
email address out to anyone else and we promise not to
send you any unnecessary emails. What we will send
you is an informative “e-weekly” we call the ROMA
LODGE WEEKLY NEWS which contains among other
things the detailed menu (right down to the side dishes)
for the upcoming Friday Night Meal.
As for the results of the OSIA TW BOD Elections last
night. While the specifics are too involved to put into
print, the elections went off pretty much as I figured they
would. After much rather discussion, it was agreed upon
to postpone the elections until the night of December
16th following Roma Lodges General Assembly
Meeting. At which point the new BOD will definitely
be decided on. After a talk with Acting President Paul
Siebeking to clarify some questions I had. This election
will be open to ALL Members of Roma Lodge (regular
& social). Let me point out that the OSIA TW BOD is
needed, so if you feel that you can contribute your
talents to the betterment of the Lodge, please run for a
position on the BOD.
*********************************************
*********************************************
Something to think about this time of the Season
OSIA TW Notes
The following is an article that I feel I must share with
the entire membership.
As many of you already know, there was a plan in the
works to elect a new BOD. Everything was going along
fine. As of last week though a few items fell apart.
Several people that had planned to run for office had to
back out, for one reason or another. So as of now OSIA
TW has no one to run for the BOD. Combine this with
the fact that the present BOD has become very
disenchanted, and has all but given up, this leaves us
with a very big problem: WHO’S GOING BE THE
NEW OSIA TW BOD???
There are a couple of options on the table. One is the
idea I believe that Acting President P. Siebeking is going
to propose is that the ENTIRE Roma Lodge Council
become the New BOD. The idea might work, but only if
the entire RL Council will go for it. I for one will not
feel comfortable with this for two reasons that come to
mind. One I feel that while I’m not putting my self
down, is that I personally feel that I do not have the
experience to run a Corporation (even one as small as
ours). Second reason is just as important, I have seen
first hand what one President running both organizations
did to this club, and I don’t want to go that path again.
The second option, that is floating around is that OSIA
TW put off the election until the January meeting. This
will give us just a little more breathing room. Maybe by
then more solutions will present themselves.
While I have stated that I am not comfortable with
this idea, I will serve as the President if called upon.
'Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone, in a one
bedroom house made of plaster and stone. I had come down
the chimney with presents to give, and to see just who in this
home did live. I looked all about, a strange sight I did see, no
tinsel, no presents, not even a tree. No stocking by mantle,
just boots filled with sand, on the wall hung pictures of far
distant lands. With medals and badges, awards of all kinds, a
sober thought came through my mind. For this house was
different, it was dark and dreary, I found the home of a soldier,
once I could see clearly The soldier lay sleeping, silent, alone,
curled up on the floor in this one bedroom home. The face was
so gentle, the room in such disorder, not how I pictured a
United States soldier. Was this the hero of whom I'd just
read? Curled up on a poncho, the floor for a bed? I realized
the families that I saw this night, owed their lives to these
soldiers who were willing to fight. Soon round the world, the
children would play, and grownups would celebrate a bright
Christmas day they all enjoyed freedom each month of the
year, because of the soldiers, like the one lying here. I
couldn't help wonder how many lay alone, on a cold
Christmas Eve in a land far from home. The very thought
brought a tear to my eye, I dropped to my knees and started to
cry. The soldier awakened and I heard a rough voice, "Santa
don't cry, this life is my choice; I fight for freedom, I don't ask
for more, my life is my God, my Country, and my Corps." The
soldier rolled over and drifted to sleep, I couldn't control it, I
continued to weep, I kept watch for hours, so silent and still
and we both shivered from the cold night's chill. I didn't want
to leave on that cold, dark, night, this guardian of honor so
willing to fight. Then the soldier rolled over, with a voice soft
and pure, whispered, "Carry on Santa, it's Christmas day, all is
secure" One look at my watch, and I knew he was right.
“Merry Christmas my friend,
and to all a good night.”
- Anonymous –