Dolly Sinatra Lodge #2400

Change is a constant in life. There is an ebb and flow to life, most enjoyable at times, and then there is the sadness these times of change can bring. But we adjust to them, hopefully. Your favorite sports team, riding supremely at the top, is going to have the likes of a Joe Di Maggio or Kobe Bryant retiring, someone else lost to injury or sadly death, but we forge ahead to rise again! And that is the joy of new beginnings, a new start, and that time is upon our Lodge!

Our new President Frank DiSalvo is ascending to his new role, and stepping into the footsteps of retiring President Joe LaPorta. As Frank says in his November newsletter, “I can only hope I am able to do as good a job…….” And we say, of course you can Frank, the rest of the team is largely intact to assist you as they did Joe. And like Joe, who had Laurie by his side all those magnificent years, you have Addy, and our fabulous volunteers, and members cheering you on, supremely confident that you can! We look forward to your Presidency, and once again thank Joe and Laurie for all their years of incredible service!

With the ebb and flow our membership is a changing tide too. Members move, some get sick and no longer can attend, and some sadly pass. Every member, and I underscore every, is a valuable contribution to the success of our Lodge. And we all do our part, especially the volunteers, which without, there would be no Lodge. Then there are members that leave an even larger footprint on the Lodge and his fellow members. Such a member was Jack Brennan.

Colonel John “Jack” Brennan passed away 10/20/23. Leaving one hellva legacy! Jack served as an aide to President Richard Nixon from 1969 till Nixon’s resignation, and then as Nixon’s Chief of Staff, confident and often golfing partner. Jack had an incredible career, and I encourage everyone to read his life story on Wikipedia. You’d never have any idea of all that history if you ever met him at the Lodge. Jack was readily accessible to everyone, warm and quite humorous. And before I forget a proud Marine. I would often tease Jack that his table would have by far the most wine bottles on it, and that his friends kept the Italian wine economy thriving. He said to me, “Andy, these are all good friends, and since I invited them, I’m going to pay for their dinner. They in turn then feel that they need to supply the table with a bottle or two of wine, leading to an overflow and a lot of merriment!” But he did much more. Every year, before we had to close down for the pandemic, he would host a bus to go to President Nixon’s library and museum in Yorba Linda, and spend the trip talking of Nixon’s Presidency and then guide them through the library. Jack, we miss you!

We also lost the love of my life Caryl Williams, and Lori Harvey’s brother Pete. On the good side we had a substantial increase in new members. Such is the ebb and flow of life and members.

Another footprint is my hero, George Ciampa. George is struggling with health issues right now, and instead of striding through the door, he comes in a wheel chair. Still with all his considerable charm and elan! Carrying with him copies of his book or CD’s for sale, because 98 year old George has quite a story. He stormed the beaches at Normandy on D Day, and would go on to produce six documentary CD’s on his history in WWII. He also wrote a book called “Silent Dog-Tags”, which recounts his service in WWII, and is a wonderful read, available on Amazon!

There are many more stories of members, their lives and contributions to our amazing Lodge. Perhaps they, or you, just competed in our fourth golf tournament. Yes, that’s right!

YOUR LODGE JUST HELD OUR FOURTH, AND LARGEST, ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT!

Joe LaPorta and Laurie had an idea for a fun, fund raising golf tournament, with a gourmet Italian Buffet, and the tournaments have turned out to be a roaring success! We just concluded our fourth annual one at Indian Canyon Golf Resort on November 13th. Played on a spectacularly beautiful day, the tournament brought forth members from seven of our Western Lodges. That’s fantastic!

Here’s how amazing it has become. Joining in the festivities, either playing in, or dining, or both were members of the following Lodges: Torrance Lodge, Fontana Lodge, San Francisco – Italian Club, Sacramento Lodge, Klamath Falls Lodge, and San Diego Italian Club. Also present was Past National President Vera Girolami with husband Judge Al Girolami, 1st Vice President Mark Vaona and State Financial Secretary David Lauezzari. That’s amazing participants! And the winning teams were, FIRST PLACE: Anthony Contasi, Mario Vitale, Stefano DiMenna, Bob Sylvester. The SECOND PLACE team: J. R. Thomas, John Loera, Mike McCutchin, Richard Bruner. And the closest to the pin and winner of $250.00 was Andy Herriott.

We will be into 2024 when you receive this newsletter, and looking forward to growing our membership. We have an incredible Lodge, and with it some of the best and foremost entertainment in the Coachella Valley and beyond: Frank DiSalvo, Michael D’Angelo and Larry Capeloto will all be back next year, better than ever! And Larry DelRose has assured me he’s going to be here in January, with a, as of yet mystery guest. If you’ve been here when Larry performs, you know he’s going to bring the best in San Diego with him!

Ciao!