The smoke seems to have cleared for most of us. I hope your skies are clear. Since I last wrote you, there have been several Zoom calls with National. All were interesting but one was very interesting. All the National Committee Chairs were on this Zoom. Our National President Robert Bianchi told us what he expected in the way of action and reporting. He also told us to feel free to reach out to other committee chairs for assistance with activities.

I was impressed with this idea of sharing assistance with each other. We certainly can do this on a Grand Lodge or Local Lodge level. If our committee has a project they are working on and find themselves in need of help from a technology or membership committee, they should feel free to reach out. The best chance we have for continued success is

I hope you are all staying cool and smoke free. Ken and I have missed many Reno Aces games because of the unhealthy air. We are hoping to get to the rest before the season is over.

Ken and I visited the Gold Country Lodge #2705 to celebrate their 25th Anniversary, with President Jim Silveira, First Lady Barbara and so many of their officers and members. The food and company were wonderful.

I want to remind everyone that, as President, I would like

I am overwhelmed with emotions from all the phone calls, emails, and texts from you, offering assistance with our Grand Lodge workings. As I have said before, we will all have to work together to get our Grand Lodge back to its former glory. Membership needs to be a priority. As a Grand Lodge or National Lodge, we can save Columbus Day, we can get Italian Language Seats in Universities, we can get respect for our wonderful culture, and we can make a better place for our Italian American children and grandchildren. We can raise large amounts of money for charities, both local and national.

After this pandemic, people are looking for places to get out and about; to have fun but contribute to worthy causes, to learn about their heritage. Reach out to them. Show them the fun you have at your Lodges and the worthy causes you help fund. Don’t wait for them to come to you. Go to them. Go to the Bocce courts, sponsor a sports team, get some PR out in the neighborhood. You know best where to go locally.

We had our first Executive Council meeting and am very pleased

I know everyone is looking forward to getting back to the “new normal”, attending meetings, cooking dinners, fundraising and attending celebrations. A lot of things we all have missed over the last almost 18 months. Time is coming for this to happen, but we still have to be cautious.

We are in the midst of currently planning our “ZOOM” State Convention; this will be new for all of us so please be patient. The plan is to take care of business in morning then our National 1st Vice President has asked to speak to the convention delegates; afterwards we will have installation of the new officers. This will take everyone’s cooperation to achieve this but I have confidence in all of you.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s day celebration. For many this was the first time to see our families” safely”. The next celebration is Father’s day. Again please everyone be careful.

It is nice to see that many Lodges are slowly meeting

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday celebration, with families. We are getting closer to a normal lifestyle. But do we remember what normal is? I for one am more than ever thankful for family. Being happy with what you have. Enjoy spending time with your family. Slowing down and taking the time to smell the roses.

We as a social organization are slowly making our ways back to having in person meetings and some simple fundraising events. Please listen to your county officials and follow the guidelines, this way we can socialize once again.

As I mentioned last month our State Convention will be done by “Zoom” this year. The date of our Convention will be