On June 12th Sunday afternoon, Jimmy Maestretti did the most mouth watering Salmon dinner for us. He even went so far as to have tortellini with a light creamy pesto sauce, Caesar Salad and oven roasted veggies. We had 70 people that were overwhelmed with the quality of the dinner, me included. It was great to see Fred Schram in attendance. He just got over a bout with Covid and pneumonia and a stay in the hospital. Welcome back Fred... He looked great by the way.!

Hope everyone is well and thriving. This pandemic

Happy Summer! Our Lodge hopes you are getting together with your Lodges, fundraising, initiating new members, and socializing again. It’s been really wonderful seeing our members again and welcoming new ones. Our dinner meetings at the Elks Club in Reno have been a big success. So much more parking, room, and an incredible kitchen for our cooks.

Our “Non Festa Fundraiser” or also called “Fill the Boot” ended in January of 2021, but we continued it through May of this year. As we were not able to have our big Festa in 2020 or 2021, which is our big fundraiser, we started the Non Festa Fundraiser. As of the end of May, we collected $7,674. Our goal was

The Festa Itala was held in the main square of Pittsburg, California. The event reflected Italian culture through music, food and dance. Seen above are some of the volunteers from C. Colombo Lodge who worked at the Festa. Zelda LeFrak-Belleci, Christine Galindo, Sal Lucca, Janet Castillo and Ernie Dineli.

C. Colombo participated in the Festa Itala held on a recent June weekend in Pittsburg, Californian. Heading the committee hosting

Survival…
Like many Sons and Daughters of Italy lodges, Saddleback is struggling to retain and even gain members. To that end, we have been successful, and I thought I would give my opinions on why we are doing well. First of all, it is leadership. Our president and his council have been very effective in maintaining morale and loyalty through the pre-pandemic and pandemic period. Hank, especially, has encouraged ideas and has kept virtually all members of the lodge active by delegating the responsibility for activities, meeting programs and meals, and responding positively to member’s ideas. Secondly, we strive for monthly activities. There is so much to see and do around Orange County and beyond that our activities abound. We have done wine tasting, museum trips, outdoor picnics, outdoor movies, and train trips for example at affordable prices. As a result, we have a very cohesive group.

It is our plan to give the Grand Lodge

What a wonderful time First Gent, Ken, and I had at the 40 Anniversary Dinner Dance for Vincenzo Bellini Lodge #2519. President Tony George was kind enough to put us up for the night. I can’t thank him enough for the wonderful accommodations.

The members of this Lodge have had me as a guest all through the pandemic. They are an amazing group of members that continued to meet via Zoom each month. Tony also created the “Bellini Dining Experience”. This was a Zoom meeting, twice a month, with a twist. They decided on an ingredient (fish, pasta, something green, and more) each time. Then everyone would make something that fit in the description. We would then eat together on Zoom and talk about our meals and whatever else. It was a wonderful dinner party.

Because of the continued contact with our members the Lodge has come out of this pandemic stronger than before. I hope