Roma Lodge #1573

The heart of the Order of the Sons and Daughters of Italy is centered in local lodges promoting the Italian Culture in their communities. Roma Lodge is located in Tulare, California, center of the breadbasket of the world in the San Joaquin Valley. For the past 56 years the lodge has their Italian sausage food booth at the show. Over 50 members participated in organizing and conducting the booth which featured sausage sandwiches, pasta, and antipasto salads. Lodge members gather before the show to make over 60 gallons of sauce, peel and cut onions and peppers for the sandwiches in preparation for serving over 1,000 sandwiches and hundreds of pasta lunches.

For the past 10 years Michael DePaoli, Maci Daramy and Melissa Watkins have served as co-chairs for the booth. This effort takes countless hours in preparation, organizing and conducting the booth each year. This year was our best year, and the food booth has become our major fundraiser for the year. More importantly it promotes the Italian Culture to the more than 100,000 visitors from all over the world. Our booth proudly displays our Italian culture in memory of those Italian immigrants who started the lodge back in 1930. Roma Lodge has 60 junior members, which will be our foundation for the future. These young members were actively involved in the operation of the booth, waiting on customers, preparing food, and taking an active part in the farm show. They are the future and will remember these activities that will keep them engaged for the future of the lodge.