March Grand Council Highlights

On Friday and Saturday, March 15 and 16, our Grand Council was held, for the first time, in the beautiful new home of our Grand Lodge in Orangevale, CA.  The building is in a favorable location, with two tenants on the upstairs floor, and a very spacious ground floor suite of rooms that has many possibilities. A new kitchenette is in the process of being installed, and one room has been designated the History Room and already has memorabilia displayed.   State President Arlene Nunziati held her Executive Session meeting there on Friday afternoon, and was able to accomplish much during that time.

Saturday morning’s open Grand Council meeting began at 9:00 A.M, with coffee and doughnuts served.  The reports of the line officers were presented and discussed, with a good amount of time spent with State Financial Secretary David Lavezzari going over the financial/budget reports and the results of the sale of the building on Mission Street in San Francisco. Many questions were asked and answered, and this information will be presented in detail at our June convention.    It was decided to forego any fundraisers for the Grand Lodge during 2024.  State Treasurer Genny Arietta talked about the September Grand Council which will be at sea on the Carnival Cruise Lines’ Radiance.  If you are planning on going on this cruise, please make your reservations as soon as possible with Genny.

The Grand Council meeting was then closed and the Western Foundation meeting was opened by CAO Mark Rossi.  It was formally approved to disburse the charitable donations we received at our 2023 convention. WF financial reports were discussed,  and scholarships, medical charities,  and the Royal Court of the Golden Lion luncheon to be held at Convention were reviewed.  Talk of a possible fundraiser for the Foundation ensued.  The Western Foundation session was then closed and the General Session re-opened.

At lunch we were served a delicious array of sandwiches and sides, graciously provided by the Grand Lodge, while people walked around discovering what our new home has to offer.  Suggestions were made as to possible improvements, what to add to the kitchenette and to the History Room, and ideas for OSDIA signage for the building.

Membership Chair Dee Dee Drene has regretfully stepped down from her position, and State President Arlene is searching for someone to take over the role.  Judge Al Girolami discussed the proposed bylaw changes on behalf of Judiciary Chair John Bianco, who was unable to attend.

In between our meetings our State 1st Vice President Mark Vaona was busy installing new computers in our State President’s and State Recording Secretary’s offices. Our FOTO (Future of the Order) representatives from our Grand Lodge, Monica Domini, President of the Sparks Lodge, and Mary Lucido, our Medical Charities Chair, discussed plans that National has for ensuring the future of our Order by attracting members in the 21-40 year age range.  Webmaster Anna Graeber discussed the new National “iMembersdb” members management online system and how it can help our Grand Lodge and local lodges.  As Editor of our Il Leone newspaper, she also discussed the progress of the paper and improvements that have been made.

Our June convention will be at the Concord Hilton from June 26-29.  Information will be mailed out in April. The Youth Committee is planning several youth activities at convention, as presented in Chair Brian Watson’s report.

Our 100th Anniversary as a Grand Lodge will be celebrated next September.  Co- chairs Past State Presidents John Tedesco and Maria Fassio Pignati are forming their committee and will have more information coming up.

In closing, this Grand Council was successful under the leadership of our State President Arlene.  Much gratitude is expressed to State Recording Secretary Lori Rossi, and her husband, Western Foundation CAO Mark Rossi, for their many hours devoted to clearing out our storage space and getting the building up and running for this meeting.

If you are traveling through the Orangevale/Folsom area, please stop by to see our new home, if only to see the exterior of the building, since we do not yet have fixed hours of operation.