Northern Solano Lodge #2534

We quietly made it through the 4th of July celebrating America’s birthday at home. Things just didn’t feel the same because it wasn’t, but we felt pride in our country as we watched different states sending up to the heavens an amazing display of fireworks.

Every year we put on different events to help raise money for our scholarship fund. This year we did a “Winner Every Day” drawing, which was to take place in May but had to be moved to July. Our lodge president Mark Rossi along with Juanita Stopponi, Don and Jeanne Cradduck and Jerry and Shirley Firpo gathered all the tickets together and pulled the winning names. We had twenty-nine $25 winners, one $250 winner and one $200 winner. I think all were extremely happy with their winnings. There was a little joy in July.

Time marched on with not much happening until September when our area was hit hard by the LNU Complex Fire. This devastating fire showed no mercy as it roared through Lake Berryessa, and headed toward Solano County with a vengeance. The fire was nothing like we had ever seen in our lifetime. With sadness we learned that one of our members, Rod Neubert, had lost his beautiful home, as the Flames came hurtling over the Hills of Fairfield. Other members had to be evacuated, piling on more stress for the (I am dripping with sarcasm here) wonderful year we were already having. We gained a huge amount of respect for the heroic efforts of our First Responders. We watched as they tirelessly fought almost insurmountable odds, to fight an unquenchable monster, but after a long battle the victory was theirs.

September came and the lodge officers were able to get together at the Odd Fellows Hall in Suisun to discuss upcoming projects such as scholarships, Remember A Vet Project at the Sacramento National Cemetery and a number of other charities we support. The Food Bank team was hard at it in October. Joy and Rod Neubert, Hannalore & Robert, Baffico, Don & Jean Cradduck, George & Kay Locatelli, Juanita Stopponi, Jerry Firpo, Frank Mossa, and Richard Bailoblocki sorted and packed 93 boxes totaling 2,718 pounds of food. Great job food Bank Dream team.

Due to the fact that we were all going stir crazy and craved human contact, a few of our members got together at the picnic area of Jelly Belly in Fairfield just to catch up with each other and see how everyone was doing. Even though we were still under heavy smoke-filled skies, It was nice to get out of the house and see our brothers and sisters of Northern Solano Lodge. We all wore masks, were socially distanced and even picked up some sweet treats from Jelly Belly.

November brought on an idea of having our Pasta Feed after all. We got permission from the Adult Recreation Center to use their kitchen to prepare the dinner. The date of December 10th was saved, and plans were being put together. We also elected our board for the 2021-2023 term of office, with Don Cradduck taking over as president of our Lodge. Congratulations to all who were elected to these important positions.

December came and so did our Pasta Feed. People purchased tickets ahead of time, they were assigned a time to pick up their fabulous dinner(s) and our crew brought out the meals to each car. The dinner consisted of scrumptious pasta and meatballs, a wonderful green salad and an awesome chocolate chip cookie for dessert. A great big thank you goes out to our kitchen team: Frank & Lori Rossi, Carol Urban and Renae Kelly, and thank you also to the Distribution team: Don & Jeanne Cradduck, Hannelore Baffico, Lauretta Graham, Caroline Abughazaleh, Pat Galli and Kay locatelli. You guys ROCK!!!!!! It was a very successful dinner that raised over $700. Again, thank you one and all.

Well, that brings us up to January 2021, and if I left anything out, I humbly apologize as it’s hard to put a whole year, that was crazy enough, into one article. Our new year has already started out with questionable circumstances, but being the optimist I am, I fully believe that things will get better. There’s an old saying that goes something like this, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” and that is just what we are, tough. We will get through this, we will come out stronger and we will stand together as a family.

So, once again, I wish each and every one of you a happy 2021