GREETINGS! HAPPY APRIL 2021!

I hope the student that had the eligibility requirements applied for the OSDIA’s National scholarships offered. OSDIA has awarded over $61 million in scholarships to date! In past years, Sons of Italy Foundation has offered 10 to 12 merit-based scholarships and National Leadership Grants, ranging from $4,000, to 25,000 in a Nationwide competition. These figures and the numbers of scholarships may vary according to funding each year.

If you follow Facebook, each Wednesday at 4:00pm PT you can listen/watch the “OSDIA Interviews Live”. Wednesday 03/04/2021 Season 3 featured

Hello brothers and sisters, I continue to pray for those affected by the COVID pandemic. I pray for all who have experienced loss and that everyone stays safe and that we will get back to our normal activities soon. Did you realize that April is a big month for celebrations in Italy. I thought I would share a few of the most interesting ones.

Easter
Easter, Pasqua, often falls in April. Italian Easter week celebrations start during the week before Easter and continue through Easter Monday, La Pasquetta, a national holiday and a day where you may find some very interesting festivals. One of Easter’s most unusual events is the Scoppio del Carro, or

SOON....
We are almost there folks.... no doubt coming up soon you will be given notice of the dinners resuming...but not quite yet... It is like we are horses at the gate...waiting for it to open.... chomping at the bit...yep, that’s us....waiting till we can be together again...

A RECENT CHANCE MEETING
How wonderful it was to visit briefly with Gloria Garibaldi.. former State Deputy of Sons of Italy Lodges...OH how she misses

Dearest members:

I joined the Marvelous Marin Lodge of the Sons of Italy in what seems like 50 years ago. Maria Toreson was President and after her, my dear friend Anna Biggio.

The Marin Lodge closed and we merged with

Thinking Outside the Box

I am sure for many of us who write articles for our own lodge newsletters or those appearing in the Il Leone we will call up our last year article and type in the new information and save it under this year’s filename. The pandemic has changed all of that. The April 2020 edition of the Roma Lodge article had a complete listing of over 75 members who would be presented their “milestone” membership certificates for every 5 years of successful Roma Lodge membership. It included pictures of new members and their families and information about our 90th year anniversary celebration. Which of course never happened because of the pandemic. We have not met since March of 2020.

On March 20th I decided to participate in the Grand Council zoom meeting to learn about what is going on at the state level. I must thank and congratulate President John Costa and all the Grand Council officers