Message from the 3rd Vice President

To My Sisters & Brothers of OSDIA

Good morning! I got up early at 4:00 AM to start this April article because I am ecstatic about our Grand Council Meeting held in March. For all of those “Soothsayers” who say the Grand Council does not do much but spend the membership’s money, I learned firsthand that is a misconception. Trust me we spent over 13 hours going over books and trying to think of ways we could assist all the Lodges in California to help them increase their membership and aid them to improve their Lodges. For example, our past State President, John Tedesco has spent over 400 hours of his own time, reviewing our past ten years of insurance contributions to find out that we were mischarged a significant amount of money. This man has spent much of his adult life fighting for The Sons and Daughters of Italy. May I say, if you have never met John Tedesco or when you see him at Convention or another event, just say thank you for all that you’ve done for OSDIA over the years.

Anna Graeber, our Webmaster and President of the Napa Lodge presented a terrific way to increase Lodge memberships. I think this idea can really help each Lodge grow and the Grand Lodge of California is ready to help you promote your Lodge. We will be in touch with various Lodges before Convention to explain this program and it will also be a topic at the Convention in June. Again, I think this can help our Lodges both financially and with membership growth.

David Lavezzari, our State Financial Secretary is closely collaborating along with John Tedesco on our Insurance even while David is in the middle of tax season. So please know that these state officers are working hard for you. So, I guess what I am trying to say is if you come across any of your State Officers like Pauline Richmond, Mark Vaona, Renee Adair, Manny Finazzo, Mark and Lori Rossi, Pam Buldo, Mary Jane Cambria, Lynn Lawrence Murphy or Frank Locicero, encourage them to keep up the good work and let them know that we appreciate what they are doing for us. Oh yes, I forgot our State President Barbara Wisniewski but not really. Barbara works hard every day for at least four hours on the phone talking to the Supreme Lodge back East or to our Officers here in California. Barbara is always there to assist and help her OSDIA members in California.

In conclusion, please let me tell you from personal experience that your Grand Lodge Officers of California are working hard for all of you so that OSDIA in California will come back stronger now that we can look back at this Pandemic in our rearview mirror and say, “let our lives move forward.” Please be healthy and safe as we live in the greatest country on God’s Green Earth!

Ciao for now,