Message From the State President

 I hope all of our Lodge Officers were able to meet with their Council to set schedules for 2023. Knowing where we are going makes things easier. When a bump in the road occurs, it is easy to work around it when you have a plan.

All Financial Secretaries, please be sure to check and update the information in the Il Leone. That is the information used by our members to reach out to you. Be sure to check the meeting information and update to Debbie Ure @ debbie@sandgraphics.com and Andy Pampuro @ apampuro@comline.com. They will correct and update all the information in the Il Leone.

A reminder, please continue to call the office at 415-586-1316 and leave a message or contact us at sonsofitalyca.com. If you are mailing anything to the Grand Lodge, please use our new PO Box address, Grand Lodge of CAOSDIA, PO Box 2467, Fairfield, CA 94533. The mail will be picked up and addressed often.

Your Grand Council has been meeting frequently on Zoom. There are so many things we need to address and I feel that most should be discussed by the Council before the decisions are made.

The weather has been horrible in Reno. The snow just keeps coming. It is almost impossible to get over the pass. Flying hasn’t been much better so I’m so looking forward to Spring so I can again travel.

First gent, Ken, is recovering slowly. He is still having tests done. Hopefully by the time you read this we will have some answers. It has been so difficult for him to be incapacitated like this.

I will be attending the National Winter Plenary Session at the end of the month and will represent you at these sessions. I feel it is important to give our thoughts to the National Council. Just as it is important for every Local Lodge to be represented at the Grand Council meetings and Conventions of the Grand Lodge. When issues are voted upon it is important to allow the members to have representation.

On that note, this month is the month we elect our Delegates to the Grand Convention. This is also an election year for the Grand Council so those Delegates will vote on the Council for the next two years. Please think carefully when you hold your elections. We need to have Delegates that will attend the sessions and remain in session till the close. I have seen many instances where the Delegate turns in his/her credentials and then walks out the other door! Being in Reno is a great thing with so many different things to do, but we must attend to business first then have our fun on our free time. Our Lodges are depending on our ability to take care of the business of running our Grand Lodge.

I was sorry to see only eight of us from California on the National Townhall Zoom meeting. President Bob held a very informative meeting and answered a lot of questions I have heard asked before, from our members here in California.

Pauline Richmond, our First Vice President, sends out all the information from the National and Grand Lodge. She addresses the emails to our Officers, Committee Chairs, and all Local Lodge Presidents. We hope our Lodge Presidents are passing this information on to all our members so they can be informed. If you are not receiving this information, please contact your Local Lodge President. Lodge Presidents, I know you have a lot on your plate but without communication, we do not have an organization.