Message From the 3rd Vice President

To My Sisters & Brothers of OSDIA

I would like to start out with a big Congratulations to Tony George, new President of the Vincenzo Bellini Lodge in Chico, and his officers. Mike Smith has done a tremendous job and now has passed the gavel to Tony. I know he will continue the superb work the Vincenzo Bellini Lodge has done throughout the years. I would also like to congratulate Mark Rossi and Yvonne Vanoni for becoming State Deputies. Mark is the State Deputy for the Napa Lodge. Yvonne is the State Deputy for the Vincenzo Bellini Lodge. They both will be great assets to the lodges and will help in any way they can.

Sending best wishes for a speedy recovery to Bill Murphy. Donna Lee Costa has stepped in to be President of the Napa Lodge for now. Thank you, Donna Lee! I hope that our “Bocce Monthly Fun Fest” can start in April at The Solano Senior Center in Fairfield. We want to invite all our OSDIA members to come and “Bocce.” A flyer has gone out to the lodges with all the information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 916-996-5634.

Here are a few “Did you know?”:

1. There are approximately twenty-five million people in the United States who participate in Bocce.

2. George Washington was a big bocce fan, so much that he had a court at Mt. Vernon.

3. Bocce is second only to Soccer as the world’s largest participant sport, so I guess you can say that Bocce is “on a roll”. Ha...Ha!

I would like to thank Pauline Richmond, First Vice President for the great work she is doing and for making us aware of the OSDIA app on YouTube and News12 Plus/NYC/. There you will see videos about OSDIA and other Italian topics. A must see is Lidia Bastianich interview about her growing up Italian and what it meant to her.

I hope everyone stays healthy and safe. God Bless and do not forget to reach out to someone you know and just say hello.
Ciao for now,
Louie Lodi