Currently there are 47 of 58 counties in California that have qualified for limited reopening of non-essential businesses such as restaurants, barbershops, salons, bars and theaters as long as masks and social distancing are practiced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Roma Lodge is in the center of Tulare County which is one of the remaining counties which is still on lockdown.

Since the pandemic hit Tulare County in March, 15,270 people have been sickened and 253 people have died from COVID-19 complications

Going on six months now, I think it’s time to hurry and get to New Year’s Eve and welcome 2021 in. 2020 has been a very difficult year to say the least. The year started out well, then the pandemic, shelter in place, cancellations of many events, Conference call for March Grand Council (a first), things looking better, than a upswing on cases, no Convention and now we are fighting the heat and fires in the south, central, north and in Reno. Enough already. Maybe it’s a bad dream. This we will overcome and hopefully come out stronger on the other side. Let’s pray real hard for our firefighters, first responders and continued prayers for our hospital workers. Better days are ahead!

Many of you have heard that we have a new Office Manager, Rodelle Palce. She is a dynamic young lady, who has picked up the day to day items very quickly. I want to thank Head State Trustee Ray Bini and State Recording Secretary Lori Rossi for helping me go thru numerous resumes. Also an extra thank you to Lori for helping out keeping the office going until Rodelle came on board. Welcome Rodelle!!!

Sisters and Brothers:

I hope this edition of the “Il Leone” finds you all well and safe.

As we draw closer to Columbus Day, I think it is time to revisit what Columbus means to the Italian American community. Lets start with how the celebration began.

In 1892, the 400th anniversary of Columbus landing in the New World, following a lynching on New Orleans where a mob murdered 11 Italian American Immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a onetime national celebration. The proclamation was part of a wider effort after the lynching to placate Italian Americans and ease diplomatic tensions with Italy.

Many Italian Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, and the first celebration had already been held in New York City on October 12, 1866. The day was first enshrined as a legal holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first generation Italian, in Denver. The first statewide holiday was proclaimed by Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald in 1905, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907.

In1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City

“Italians Feed America”
article taken from IL Leoncino Modesto Lodge #2021 Newsletter:

During this tough period, Italians abroad and Italian Americans are doing their part to help others. Many are the examples of their generosity, and one involves food: the way Italians often show love and affection. In New York during the critical phase of the Covid 19 outbreak, Fabrizto Facchini, chef of the Ristorante Cotto, founded, in just a few days, the nonprofit organization “Italian Feed America” with the purpose of distributing food for free to doctors, nurses, paramedics, and many poor people.

He was born in Belgium from Italian immigrant parents and he learned to cook from his grandma. He moved to California where he opened three restaurants, and then on to New York.

When the pandemic reached critical levels and many were unemployed, he decided to call his network connections, friends, and food suppliers, to create an organization where Italians, Italians-Americas and

Greetings Brothers and Sisters, I hope everyone is staying safe during these unprecedented times. Has anyone attended the Feast of San Gennaro in New York City? This September is the 94th anniversary of this important Italian-American festival (Festa di San Gennaro) It is also celebrated in many US cities. Originally a one-day religious holiday, the festival was first celebrated in the USA in September 1926, when immigrants from Naples gathered along Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of Manhattan to continue the tradition they had followed in Italy to celebrate Saint Januarius, the Patron Saint of Naples. His feast day is September 19 in the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. The immigrant families on Mulberry Street who started the feast and a group of restaurant owners, erected a small chapel in the street to house the image of Saint Januarius. They invited all to partake of their goods, asking the devoted to pin an offering to the ribbon streamers that are hung from the statue’s apron. This money was then handed out to the poor of the neighborhood. Over time, the festival expanded into an 11-day street fair organized and run by people outside the neighborhood. It is now an annual celebration of food and drink, and a major tourist attraction. Centered on Mulberry Street, which is closed to traffic for the occasion, the festival