Spaghetti & meatballs, so Italian, but not so in Italy. This dish is truly an American development, curtesy of the Italian immigrants of the late 1800s. The meatballs existing in Italy (called polpetta), are smaller than their American cousins, and are usually eaten as a dish of their own. However, when my dad did the cooking during The Great War (now, WWI), his family recipe included meatballs and other meats in the ragu (sauce). The meatballs were golf ball sized and tossed into the sauce raw to cook.

Last month August)) we met at Luna’s with an expanded group. Also,

The secret to walking on water is to know where the stones are.

Last month (June) we met at Luna’s, but illness took its’ toll on who could attend; the folks that did show up, however, had a pretty good time. Meri regaled us with stories of growing up in Sicily, in sight of Mt. Etna spewing away in the distance, as it is now. Her Dad’s experience in the Italian army was very interesting. …Reminder: Our meetings are now on the first Wednesday of the month.

With a sad heart, I report on the passing of Victor DeLuca; though he was not

I used to begin a lot of my articles with a Webster Dictionary definition. Remember those thick books with definitions of words in the English Language. Now, it is much easier to get out your iPhone and use Siri to ask, “What is a vacation?” Just like that, you will get a response indicating a vacation is, “an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling!” Sounds like fun!

I must chuckle when I hear members of the Order indicate, “attending the Grand Lodge Convention is like going on vacation.” Yes, the convention is held away from home and yes, there are parts of it with the sole purpose of providing leisure and recreation along with fraternity, the main tenet of the organization. However, to call it a vacation is a stretch.

When I spoke at the convention on

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

Grand Lodge President, Barbara Wisniewski asked lodge presidents, on a recent zoom call, how to get younger members involved in the organization? The answer is simple. Get new lodge members to join when they are a junior member! Most of us will agree it is easy to get young members to join because the dues are free (unless they want the insurance). They will enjoy attending meetings, if you have some activity for them to do while the meeting is going on.

The success of any lodge junior member program