CRISTOFORO COLOMBO LODGE #1534

Buon Anno Nuovo from Cristoforo Columbo Lodge #1534 in Reno, Nevada.   We hope 2025 brings you good health and happiness.

July is our no-meeting month but many of us attended an Aces baseball game in Reno organized by Donna and Suraj Zutshi.  It was a big success, a beautiful day, and we all had a wonderful time. August is usually our annual picnic but this year the picnic didn’t take place for various reasons.  We plan a very big and fun picnic this year in August. It will be a joint picnic and bocce ball tournament with the Sparks Lodge.

September was initiation of some new members.  We have gained several this year.  We have also decided to honor an Italian business in the Reno/Sparks area once a year.  We are working on how that business will be chosen.   Pamela Ricci was instrumental in designing and having Lodge shirts made so we can custom order them order online.  They have turned out really great and several members have purchased them.  We are hoping most everyone will participate and show their Italian pride.

October was the Great Italian Festival at the El Dorado in Reno.  Once again it was a beautiful day and a big success.  Barbara Wisniewski manned the Sons and Daughters of Italy sauce booth and had a lot of help from our members.  The Bonaldi/Ricci’s also had a sauce booth. There is so much great food, so many interesting sauces to taste, great entertainment and just a really wonderful day to celebrate our heritage.   Our member, Chris Cifelli, and his family entered the grape stomp competition and won first and second place.  Dawn Romero and Jim DiMartini accepted the Proclamation which Jim DiMartini wrote asking the County Commissioners to proclaim October as Italian Heritage and Cultural Month. Commissioner Andriola and Tony Marini from Eldorado presented Dawn and Jim with the Proclamation.

November was our charitable giving month.  This year we gave to three new charities: Grafted Kitchen, Liberty Dogs, and St. Vincent’s Dining Room.  Each year we continue to give to the Savitt Medical Library at the University of Nevada, to St. Baldrick’s Foundation, and smaller amounts to various other charities throughout the year. We also elected our new officers for the 2025-27 term. We are happy that our President, Dawn Romero, decided to take on another two-year term and some new members stepped up to join the leadership team. We are looking forward to another productive two years.

December was our Christmas party where Santa came and gave gifts to the children.  He is from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation and our Lodge gave $1000 to that charity.  Antonio’s food was amazing, and the raffle and gift exchange was fun.  Antonio Ricci will no longer be cooking for us each month as his plate is just too full.  We will be looking for a caterer, which means a lot will change at our monthly meetings.  We are confident our members will be happy and come forward to help as needed.

We continue our Share the Wealth Board at each of our meetings. Now that we have so many people attending, we do two drawings.  Margaret Spano continues to coordinate The Amici Lunch Bunch, our lunch social each month which is very well attended.

Four long-time members passed away last year: Denis Pilato, Joseph Eidem, Mark Anderson, and Patricia Gianotti.  They are and will continue to be missed.

Save the Date for our Annual Festa Primavera celebrating our 96th year as a Lodge on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Thank you for reading about our Lodge. Tanti auguri di buon anno (all the best for a happy new year).

Please visit our Face book page at Reno Sons of Italy and our website for more information: www.renosonsofitaly.org.  Learn more about our Lodge, your Italian heritage and upcoming events.