Roma Lodge has not met since its February meeting and has canceled future monthly meetings for the foreseeable future. The lodge is in the center of Tulare County which is on the governor’s watch list and may remained shut down for some time to come. During this time, we have had to cancel our 90th anniversary celebration, recognition of our scholarship winners, annual ravioli dinner fundraiser and junior member night just to name a few.

If the pandemic continues until a vaccine is developed, it may be well into next year before local lodges can meet and become active again. I understand what local lodge presidents are being faced with in deciding whether to try to meet or wait until society gets back to the “new” normal. As presidents we face the risk of losing members in January when the 2021 dues are being collected.

Roma Lodge dues are $75 for members of which only $.25 cents goes to the local lodge. In part, we encourage our members to look at their return on investment by being Roma Lodge members.

Roma Lodge has nearly 60 junior members 18 years of age or younger. Junior members are the lifeblood of any local lodge and represent the future of the organization. As a child I remember not being allowed into lodge meetings as ritual and protocol mandated no children be allowed in the meeting during the business session. Those days are long gone, and it is a good thing. How can we expect our younger members to become involved in lodge activities and take on leadership roles if they have never experienced what local lodges do?

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is having the same affect on our children and grandchildren. Roma Lodge annually has a special night in August just for junior members. A special meal of hamburgers, hotdogs, crinkle fries, chicken strips and popsicles make for a fun night. A special raffle is held just for juniors as they get their choice of many back-to-school items they can choose from. They assume the officer chairs and run the meeting.

Greetings from Petaluma!

I usually write about my beautiful garden but tonight I am in my nightgown ready for bed and I remembered that I needed to get my article in. It’s midnight so hopefully I will have been able to get this in to the paper.

This pandemic never seems to end, so until it is over we cannot have our meetings as the Lucchesi Center is still closed. The Lodge is on hold and it looks as though there will be no Christmas Dinner or Crab Feed in the future. Even if they are able to open and have them I’m sure that people will be cautious in getting together.

Since President Ernie said he is feeling better,

Sisters and Brothers:

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

While Ken and I were in Italy, we met a wonderful, young tour guide. Francesca took us on an eating tour of Rome. It was a good thing we walked, or I could never have eaten all the foods she brought us to try.

When we left Rome to go to Catania, it was March 8th. As we know now, COVID 19 was rampant in Northern Italy. The South was not as bad, but the government closed the entire country shortly after that.

Soon after we got home, I got a message on my Facebook account from Francesca. She knew we were going South and was concerned that we might not have gotten out of Italy. We now follow each other on Facebook. The reason I am sharing this with you is because the other day she made my favorite dessert, Cannoli and posted pictures. I asked her to share with me her recipe and she did. I’d like to share it with you now:

I hope my article finds you healthy and staying indoors, in these uncertain times.

Instead of hosting sociating activities, events, and catered meals, we are working to provide from telephone contact to teleconferencing; from Skype to now Zoom to reach out to members.

I encourage members to check the National Supreme Lodge Website on scheduled presentation by National Membership Commission, such as using Zoom as your communications.