I am still in aww of my Grand Council and all the Delegates that attended our 85th Convention.

Ordinarily, our editor, Andy Pampuro, would write his synopsis of our Convention to go with the pictures he took. This year he was unable to do that, so Arlene Nunziati took all of the pictures, and I was drafted to do the synopsis. Thank you Arlene. I hope we did the Convention justice.

I want to thank all the Officers, Committee Chairs

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our 85th State Grand Convention was very productive and successful with business reported on and approved. State President Barbara Fumosa Wisniewski did a wonderful job running the sessions with a cheerful outlook!

Thank you with appreciation to: Lynn Lawrence Murphy our Convention Coordinator, who did a fantastic job in ensuring everything was in place and on schedule with meals and keeping everyone happy! To Lori Rossi, State Recording Secretary for the preparation before convention. To Ervin,

The OSDIA Convention in June was a success, and everyone had a wonderful time! Congratulations to Barbara Wisniewski, Lynn Lawrence Murphy, Lori Rossi, and Ervin Siax for all their hard work and dedication in making this event a success! On July 16th, the Gold Country Lodge #2705 celebrated their 26th Anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, they honored one of the founding members, Angelo Battaglia. He unfortunately passed away just a few weeks prior to his 100th Birthday.

Angelo was born on July 21st, 1922, in Yonkers, New York to

It was an evening to remember! State Third Vice President, Louis Lodi, swore in 15 new members to our Lodge under a balloon arch of green, red and white, the colors of the Italian flag.

There were over 70 people in

The secret to walking on water is to know where the stones are.

Last month (June) we met at Luna’s, but illness took its’ toll on who could attend; the folks that did show up, however, had a pretty good time. Meri regaled us with stories of growing up in Sicily, in sight of Mt. Etna spewing away in the distance, as it is now. Her Dad’s experience in the Italian army was very interesting. …Reminder: Our meetings are now on the first Wednesday of the month.

With a sad heart, I report on the passing of Victor DeLuca; though he was not

I used to begin a lot of my articles with a Webster Dictionary definition. Remember those thick books with definitions of words in the English Language. Now, it is much easier to get out your iPhone and use Siri to ask, “What is a vacation?” Just like that, you will get a response indicating a vacation is, “an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or in traveling!” Sounds like fun!

I must chuckle when I hear members of the Order indicate, “attending the Grand Lodge Convention is like going on vacation.” Yes, the convention is held away from home and yes, there are parts of it with the sole purpose of providing leisure and recreation along with fraternity, the main tenet of the organization. However, to call it a vacation is a stretch.

When I spoke at the convention on