Local History

 

On June 3, 2001, the Buoni Amici Lodge #2772 of Hanover, Pennsylvania was installed into the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.  Our sponsoring Lodge was the Mason Dixon Lodge in New Freedom # 2669.  There were 48 charter members and we are still welcoming new members. 

New officers are voted on in March and installed in April. 

History of Buon’Amici Lodge Events:

2010

June - Pit Beef Sandwich a la Buon’Amici (thanks to a secret recipe by Pit Beef Chef-at-Large Al Novak).  The profits from sales on Saturday and Sunday were donated to St. Joseph Catholic Church.  We organized and staffed this fund-raiser to defray the higher than normal church expenses due to last winter snows.

April – What a busy month!  The weather was beautiful, the golf was challenging but fun and the lodge Scholarship Fund was the big winner at our first Golf Tournament.  Please show your appreciation by supporting our wonderful sponsors:

 

TITLE SPONSOR ($2500)               Windsor Electric Company

ROMAN SPONSOR ($500)             Medeast Post-Op & Surgical, Inc. and Golfin' Goodfellas

TUSCAN SPONSOR ($250)            Wes Gabriel

VENETIAN SPONSOR ($100)       Joe Scarselletta, Frank Kilkelly MD, Nick Popchak, Dave   Umberger,   Wes Wachter and Tim Strouse / Linvatec

HOLE SPONSOR ($150)Vince and Charleen Zetena, Utz Quality Foods, Hanover Orthopedic Associates, Rebound Medical / DonJoy Orthopedics, and DiRienzo Bambini.

 

Many thanks to members, friends and local businesses for the wonderful Raffle Prizes that were happily distributed to winners.

 

Helen Taylor, our Scholarship Chairperson, and her Committee selected our three $1000 scholarship recipients for 2010:  Samantha Luckenbaugh Spring Grove H.S), Brianna D’Agata (Southwwestern H.S.), and Nathan Trone (Littlestown H.S.).  The students and their families were invited to dinner where checks were presented.  See the photos here, here and here!

 

Dave DeLollis has done a terrific job with resurfacing our bocce court and distributing the bocce schedule of competitions. Teams are already underway in our lodge tournament.  Games are going on most week nights at 6:30 at St Joseph’s so if you need some free entertainment stop by and cheer on the players.

 

Margaret Myers has planned a trip to Villa Roma in the Catskills of New York for the weekend of Friday, October 29 thru Sunday, October 31 to attend their Italian Festival. The cost of $389 includes transportation and all gratuities. Contact Margaret (630-2217) to make your reservations.

 

February - Mike Zambito, State Trustee for District 7, was the guest at this meeting and he answered many questions, such as what our benefits are as members of the Order of the Sons of Italy.

 

 If you do an Internet (e.g., Google) search for “Facebook BuonAmici Lodge” it will lead to our lodge Facebook page, BuonAmici2772. This is another tool at your disposal to keep you up to date with the events of the lodge.  Also, try Yahoo Groups for our free site.

 

2009

 

December - A 46 inch Toshiba 1080 Pixel flat-screen TV was raffled at the Christmas Party.  Kelly McNaulty, a Physician's Assistant at Hanover Orthopedics, Dr. Sam D’Agata’s office, was the lucky winner.

 

November – Our guest speaker was Eleanor Pella and Wow, did she ever give a super-charged talk about the benefits of a Mediterranean diet!  We were very fortunate to have Eleanor join us for dinner and to offer us such an interesting and educational talk.  Read more about her and her accomplishments at http://www.speakwellbeing.com/eleanor-pella.php

 

October - Dave and Kathy DeLollis organized a picnic wrap-up for the bocce season. It was held at the St. Joseph’s bocce court on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with lots of fun and good food. Dave and Kathy brought the grill and others contributed to the pot luck. Dave has done an outstanding job this year organizing the bocce league.

 

The Buon’Amici Italian History display is at the Guthrie Library again this year and the library pulled a few of the Italian-related books to entice readers.

 

August – The annual picnic was Sunday, August 16th - Chef Al Novak provided some really good chicken and there were plenty of homemade dishes and deserts. It was hot - hot - hot in the August sun but it was fun!

 

July – The Christmas in July event resulted in lots of donations, plenty of volunteers, and pleasant weather. Al Novak made pit beef that sold out as quickly as he could slice it.  Yes, it was a ton of work, but it paid off well.  So thank you to all who helped by donating or organizing the fire hall, to all vendors, and volunteers.  Our other big event for July was the laying of a wreath at the Garibaldi Monument in Gettysburg on Sunday July 12th. This year our lodge arranged a dinner at LaCucina after the ceremony for about thirty five people.

 

March-April – Time to catch up on what’s been going on – the lodge very successfully participated in the multi-cultural event at the Guthrie Library.  As in years past we provided a lot of good Italian eats and our table was visited by lots of people interested in all things Italian.  Then we had elections and installed new Officers at the April dinner meeting.  Thankfully, Joe Scarselletta agreed to be President for another term and he presided over a wonderful ceremony of thanking past Officers and greeting new ones.  The Officers will continue to consider the results of the recent Survey and the decisions made by the Board will surely have the memberships ideas in mind.  We’re planning the events for the rest of the year (e.g., fund-raisers, picnic) and we’re also going to march in the Hanover Memorial Day Parade.  Remember that Italians represented the largest percentage of soldiers and the most casualties of all nationalities in World War II. 

 

February – Great meeting!  The tables were decorated with beads and crowns to celebrate Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday thanks to our wonderful member Margaret Myers.  See her HERE as she does her 50/50 and Sunshine duties. Lynn Bopp not only showed us photos of her trip to Venice and Burana but provided some interesting historical information too.  See her HERE.   Lodge member, host of our Board Meetings and of our Christmas Dinner at Dutch Country, Albert and Bonnie Margiottiello received a congratulatory plaque that can be seen HERE.

 

2008

 

December - The Buoni Amici annual Christmas Party was held at Dutch County Restaurant from 6:30 to 10:30 on Friday, December 12th.   DJ Darrell provided the music.  There was a collection of toys for the Toys for Tots Program - with the tough economic times Santa was having a difficult time filling all those stockings – and the lodge also donated food to the Hanover Council of Churches.  Below is a very nice “Thank You” that was received by the lodge.  Click HERE to see the letter.

 

November - Crockett and Waters, the popular early morning radio hosts on 98 YCR, were guest speakers at the October dinner meeting.  John Waters, a local guy who grew up in Millers, Maryland and Dave Crockett, from Maryland’s College Park, have been a team since 1998.  They discussed how they prepare for the show each day as well as the future of talk radio. They also spoke of their many experiences as radio personalities.

October – Another successful Pasta Dinner thanks to the coordinative abilities of The Nassar’s and all of the helpers.  The $500 Gas Raffle was won by Mr. and Mrs. Fascetta, guests of members Vince and Charleen Zetena.  And, the Fascetta’s generously donated the funds back to the lodge! 

September – Thanks to the Margiotiello’s the Sept dinner was a wonderful change in venue to Dutch Country Restaurant ( 946 Baltimore St.).   What a great dinner of lasagna, sausage, and meatballs with all the rest.  Joe Nassar provided a very interesting and instructional talk about the joys of wine-making that he shares with Albert. 

August – To quote our great President Joe:  “Just when you thought you had eaten the best food at last years picnic, whammy!  Al Novak tops last year’s pig with some delicious Italian Pit Beef.”  Great food – great camaraderie - another great time!

 

July – On July 13 was the annual wreath laying ceremony at the Garibaldi Monument in Gettysburg.  President Joe Scarselletta and members Vince & Charleen Zetena were in attendance with the York lodge, organized by Peter Cucchiara.  We have a slide-show of photos taken by Vince in the Photo Gallery.  To read more about the New York 39th “Garibaldi Guard” see  http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/39thInf/39thInfMain.htm

 

June - On June 9, 2008 there was a great article in the Evening Sun newspaper about lodge efforts to help sponsor the building of more bocce courts in our area. The article also reported on our charitable efforts to send bocce sets to soldiers, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can link to that article HERE.

 

May - Scholarship Chairperson Helen Taylor presented Nicole D’Agata, Dakota Steinfeldt, and Ashliegh Wagner with $1,000 scholarship awards.  Stacia Hankey, Program Director for Adams County/Gettysburg Literacy Council explained the function of her organization and some programs, such as:  adult education in basic English; tutors for everyday English reading; and English as a second language.  Then, member Anthony Battista, of Country Home Real Estate Company,  spoke about the current real estate market.

 

 April – What a great talk we had from Evening Sun newspaper Editor Marc Charise!  During his talk Marc treated us to a magic trick.  We look forward to working with Marc as he seeks to assist local organizations by providing newspaper space for our lodge events and achievements.  Thank you Marc!

 

This web site is supplemented by another BuonAmici Lodge link on the web at http://www.orgsites.com/pa/buonamicilodge-2772/

Hopefully this will provide more attention and possibly attract more members.

 

March – Our lodge was well represented at the local library for Multi-Cultural Day. See the photo in our Photo Gallery.  In all, 14 countries displayed artifacts and shared cultural information from Europe, South America, Mexico and Asia. There was plenty to interest everyone - from a bocce ball set and belly-dancing to a children’s story teller.  Our Lodge had the largest array of food when it was time to sample ethnic dishes from around the world. The conclusion of the event included demonstrations and dancing by the Temple Guards of York and the De San Jose Spanish Dancers from St. Joseph’s Church.

 

Also in March, the State representative for District 7, Ed Carabin, joined us for the dinner/meeting. He spoke about membership, scholarships and other lodges in District 7. Our lodge has a good reputation as excellent fundraisers, generous at sharing wealth and time with charitable agencies and participating in community events.

 

February - Our guest speaker was Pennsylvania State Representative Eugene A. DePasquale.  Rep DePasquale gave a lively sincere and thoughtful talk on items of importance not only to our members but all Pennsylvanians. There were numerous comments about how fair and balanced his speech was. Rep DePasquale also shared some information on his Italian American experience. He shared personal stories of his student days playing football in high school and college and his path to politics. One of his contributions to the political scene is that he was the first PA candidate to post his campaign donations and expenses on the Internet. Many of his new colleagues were quite unhappy with him for taking that step and therefore forcing them to do the same.  Rep DePasquale is a member of the York Lodge.

 

January – Member Victoria Thompson was our speaker. She is the author of the Edgar nominated Gaslight Mystery series and has published 29 novels in her career. She shared with us the story of how she got published and also some interesting facts she learned about the early Italian immigrants during the course of researching her books Murder On Mulberry Bend and Murder In Little Italy, which feature Italian immigrant families in New York.

 

 2007

 October – Past President Bob Massaroni arranged for a display of Italian/American books at Guthrie Memorial Library in Hanover during the month of October to honor Christopher Columbus.

 

Also in October - Jim Thompson provided an interesting history of Christopher Columbus and the unlikely connection with PA.  In Boalsburg, PA (east of State College, about 122 miles North of Hanover off US-322) you can visit the most significant link with Columbus in North America.  From the Boal web site:  The Boal Mansion is the site of the Columbus Chapel containing the most important collection of Christopher Columbus artifacts in North America.  The chapel was dismantled in Spain and brought to the Boal Estate in 1909 from the Columbus family castle in Asturias, Spain.  Mathilde de Lagarde Boal inherited the estate from her Aunt Victoria Columbus and imported it to Boalsburg.  It contains:
. Columbus Admiral's Desk
. Columbus family archives (1453-1908)
. Two pieces of the True Cross

Please select the links below for more information.  The lodge will investigate a bus trip to this site.

Great photos of the Chapel:  http://www.boalmuseum.com/MuseumViews/Chapel/Index/new_page_1.htm

See the whole Museum web site: 

http://boalmuseum.com/schooltours.htm

http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1155569

September - At the September dinner meeting there was a drawing for two baseballs Ripken signed by the Ripkin’s.  Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken, one of the most admired players in baseball history, was elected overwhelmingly to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.  His record streak of 2,632 consecutive games played stands as a landmark sports achievement.  He was inducted in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 29 so it was wonderful for Buon’Amici Lodge to raise funds by offering two signed baseballs from the Ripken family. 

The speaker for the September meeting was Mike Guman, former professional football player with the Los Angeles Rams (1980-88), formerly playing under Joe Paterno at Penn State after Bethlehem Catholic High School.  Mike is now a VP with Oppenheimer Funds, a partner company with Edward Jones where our own Bob Massaroni manages wealth.  ESPN lists the 100 Plays, Performances and Moments that define college football and Number 6 on the list is Mike’s goal line stand from the Penn/Alabama 1979 Sugar Bowl.  With just 6 inches short, on fourth down, the mid-air collision between back Mike Guman and linebacker Barry Krauss knocked the rivets on Krauss' helmet loose!  The photo of the moment is captured at

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/features/the100?index=6  but you can also watch the whole thing on YouTube http://youtube.com/watch?v=ICkQWWRgapM

 

August - The annual picnic and Salvator Accardi Bocce Tournament was Sunday, August 12 at St Joseph’s Church  (5150 Grandview Road, Hanover) starting at 1:00pm.  Eight (8) four-person (4-person) teams played in the bocce tournament that was organized by Bob Massaroni (630-8264).   The pig roast, cooked to perfection by Al Novak, was a big juicy fun-filled delight!  While members relaxed in the shade of the picnic grove listening to Italian tunes and slicing away at the pig the bocce folks did their thing.  Congratulations to first place team “Galina” comprised of Bob Massaroni, Ken Johnson, Phil Panzo and Jerry Panzo.  Second place went to “La Familia” DeLollis – Dave, Kathy, Courtney and David.  The “Veloci” team of Albert Margiotiello, Joe Nassar, Corrado Faiazza and Gugliermo Di Tanna took third.

 

July - Members of our lodge joined Peter Cucchiara, Past National Trustee and representative of the York Lodge and many members of District 7 lodges to participate in the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the Garibaldi Guard Memorial (39th NY Regiment) at Gettysburg on Sunday, July 8 at 1:30. 

 

June - The 6:00pm Mass at St Joseph’s Church on June 30 was celebrated for deceased members of our lodge.

February  - Rear Admiral Timothy Beard spoke to the lodge members about Homeland Security.  Rear Admiral Beard and his wife, Mary, own and operate the Historic Gray Wolf Plantation in New Oxford, where they grow pumpkins, vegetables and apples.  Rear Admiral Beard is Commander of the U.S. Maritime Homeland Defense Force, a 30,000 person volunteer force for the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy.  The force provides security for 37 coastal, Great Lakes and Navigational Rivers states.  Since he also serves on the PA Emergency Management Association he provided much interesting background on the training and readiness in our area.

January - Our guest speaker for the evening was our own Dr. Sam D’Agata who shared his experiences from a trip to Sicily in search of his heritage and some family fun.  Sam, Gina and their two daughters visited cities where they tried to find relatives and the photos he projected for the lodge members showed the fun his family had.

2006

December 2006 - The regular December dinner/meeting was replaced with the holiday entertainment of a wonderful buffet dinner served by La Cucina at the Guthrie/Hanover Library on December 16.  The tasty dinner was followed with a jazz show at the nearby Eichelbereger Performing Arts Center.  It was a toe-tapping good time for all who listened to The David Leonhardt Jazz Group interpret Christmas songs.  The lodge provided many Italian books plus a financial donation to the library and we will continue to support the library throughout 2007.

October 2006 - Our speaker for the evening was Derf Maitland - Green Party candidate for U.S. Congress in the 19th District.  Derf operates The Reader’s Café coffee shop and bookstore in downtown Hanover.  He is running against Republican incumbent Todd Platts and Democrat Phil Avillo.  Mr. Maitland believes that independent voices should be allowed to speak in a democracy and one of the major reasons that his voice is raised is to better protect the ecology.  Derf enlightened lodge members on the tedious and time-consuming review of signatures on petitions.  The number of signatures required of a third party candidate far exceeds that needed by the two major parties.  Mr. Maitland volunteered to provide our lodge with a listing of Italian-related books that his shop can make available to us at a discount in support of our Hanover Library Italian book campaign.  On top of that, Derf donated to the lodge his share of the 50/50 drawing!  Thank you Derf!

September 2006 -  Wow - We had a wonderful audio/visual travelogue presentation by our member/guest speakers, Victoria and Jim Thompson. Victoria is the best-selling author of the acclaimed Gaslight Mystery series, or they could be called the “Murder” series, since each novel title starts with Murder In or On Lenox Hill, Marble Row, Mulberry Bend, Washington Square, Gramercy Park, St. Mark's Place, Astor Place.  Murder In Little Italy is the new and eighth novel in this series featuring midwife Sarah Brandt and police detective Frank Malloy. Set in turn-of-the-century New York City this series reflects the culture and history of that time, e.g., the animosity between the Irish and Italians.  Victoria has taught at Penn State University and Seton Hill University and we hope she will return at a later dinner/meeting to tell us about being a writer. We also thank Jim for creating the audio/visual materials and especially for donating to the lodge the speaker system that he obtained at the last minute to make the presentation complete! Bravo!

August 2006 - The fourth annual Salvator Accardi Bocce Tournament was held in August at the annual lodge picnic at Scozzaro's Restaurant, New Oxford.  The results of the double-elimination tournament:  Champs were Bob Massaroni/Joe Nassar, Second place was earned by Dick and Don Arigo, and third-place went to Albert Margiotiello and Ken Carta.  Congratulations all!

June 2006 - Guthrie Memorial Library – Hanover’s Public Library is now open and we were fortunate to be addressed by the new Associate Library Director Molly Krichten.  She was enthusiastic about having our lodge represented in special Italian-related library activities.  A Columbus Day event is a possibility.  

Overall space has more than tripled at the library there is an opportunity to fill the shelves with books.  Our lodge could provide Italian-related books.  Anyone can present a book to the library and request that a Honors and Memorials bookplate be placed in the book to commemorate that “Buon’Amici Lodge #2772, Order Sons of Italy in America” made the donation.  We are arranging to schedule the return of Italian classes at the library in the Fall through members Frank DiFatta and Anthony Battista.

May 2006 - The highlights of our May meeting included a wonderful family history presented by our guest speaker, Michael Ciccocioppo, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the presentation of our 2006 Scholarship check to Tony and Tammy Spagnola, parents of Spring Grove High School senior Benjamin, and the awarding of the Raffle (gas grill) to Albert Margiotiello.  Other good news was that many of the issues with our first dinner at La Cucina had been resolved and improvements will continue (e.g., the speaker system should be ready for the June meeting).

Michael Ciccocioppo has a strong love of family and is the eldest child in a family of 15 children. He and his wife Peggy have been married more than 26 years and have four children.  Beginning in 1970 he served in the Air Force in various positions around the world, including Medical Congressional Liaison and Health Manpower Manager for the Air Force Office of the Surgeon General in Washington, DC.  He retired from the service in 1991 with the rank of Major. He was also Vice President for Compliance and Ethics at the Holy Spirit Health System in Camp Hill.   His well documented family history was presented with slide photographs of various locations in Italy where he researched the history of the Ciccocioppo family history.

April 2006 - Fran Hutton and Phyllis Accardi provided a review of their apparently much enjoyed trip to Italy.  They visited Rome, Ravello, Sorrento, Naples, Isle of Capri, Paestum, Pompeii, Positano, and the Amalfi Coast.  They saw Trevi Fountains, Vatican,  St. Peter’s, Sistine Chapel, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Circus Maximus, Forum, Mt Vesuvious and much more.  They ate and they drank wine (no sulphites!) and enjoyed it all.  Fran also provided a detailed recollection of her more than four (4) hour drive side trip to her family’s ancestral home of Roseto Valfortore in the Puglia (Apulia) Region of Italy (her family immigrated to Roseto, PA).  Suffice to summarize that living conditions in this remote mountain hamlet are far from the everyday conveniences that we are much accustomed to in the U.S!  Catch Fran and she’ll tell you all about it.

April, 2006 - In April 2006 we had our first dinner at our new meeting site, the La Cucina Banquet Hall.  Pictures have been added to the Photo Gallery.

March, 2006 - Italy Trip – See "June 2005" below

 February, 2006 - We were fortunate to have member Joseph Bellino address our lodge.  Mr. Bellino is currently Director of Safety, Security and Emergency Management at Hanover Hospital.  He has served in various capacities in healthcare safety and security for over thirteen years.  Mr Bellino currently chairs the York-Adams Metropolitan Medical Response System and is an advisor for the South-Central PA Counter-Terrorism Task Force.  He provided information about the local hospital based on his credentials as a healthcare protection administrator and environmental manager.  We were happy to learn that Hanover Hospital is a leader in preparing for population growth and emergency services.  Furthermore, the hospital is one of the safest in terms of personal theft from patients.  Through a great relationship with the local fire departments the hospital has communication equipment that would serve in any emergency.   For example, since Hanover has a lot of trucking traffic the hospital and emergency services are prepared for an accident such as a truck carrying chemicals

January, 2006.  Nuovo Anno Felice.  Here’s what’s been happening—Friends and family were invited to participate in our very special Christmas dinner/dance on December 21.  The response was GREAT and we were filled to capacity at the hall. We enjoyed entertainment by the Jazzberries Big Band and a special dinner of salmon or chicken with lots of yummy desserts to share.  The January meeting included a lively Question/Answer session with York Daily Record/Sunday News sports writer Frank Bodani.  Mr Bodani provided interesting stories about Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who, true to his Italian heeritage, is devoted to family – his own and his football team..  Sal Valenzisi provided valuable information about the Medicare Part D choices and offered to assist any member with selections using a computer program.  Also in January we had fun at the Hanover Bowling Center, thanks to John Romano who organized the afternoon and bowled some very good games.

 

2005

November, 2005 - The U.S. Post Office has honored a heroic Italian American, John Basilone, with a postage stamp.  Henry Senatore provided background on "Manilla John" at the November dinner meeting.  The story can be found by clicking HERE, and downloading the file to read.

Sunday, October 23 - The Lasagna Dinner was great!   The Nassar’s and Committees did a wonderful job.  There was plenty of REALLY good food, music (Thanks to the Rupp’s) and lots of good cheer among all participants.  The 42” Plasma EDTV raffle was won by Paula Grimsley. 

Saturday, October 1st, 2005:  The Buoni Amici Lodge sponsored a Bocce Tournament at Scozzaro’s Old Mill Inn, in New Oxford.  Twelve teams, including local teams and teams from York and Baltimore competed for $350 in prize money.  There were 48 contestants, including one all-women team, and one mixed team (men and women) competing, as well as a 10 year-old boy who was pressed into service as a substitute for a player who could not make it.  Additionally, we had a number of spectators, friends and families of the players. 

 

Prizes were awarded to two teams from Baltimore, and one from York (all of the the "locals", including a group of ringers from Pidgin Hills, got blown out!!). Pictures of the winning teams are shown in our Photo Gallery tab.

 

We were blessed with great weather and a goodturnout. We received great coveragefrom the Evening Sun, getting a front-page article with pictures in theSunday edition. Everyone had a greattime, and the club got some good publicity. This reinforces our belief that with some planning and work, Boccecan become a major event and fund-raiser for our organization. The teams from York and Baltimore said that they would do it again,andBaltimoreindicated that they could have gottenmore teams to come if we had needed them. 

 

Carl Scozzaro has worked hard with the Old Mill Inn, making it into afamily-friendly venue for sports-minded people. Scozzaro was an affablehost, eager to please and do what he could to ensure a successful outing- and he was successful! Inaddition to the courts, Scozzaro’s supplied a lunch buffet consisting ofBaked Ziti, Rice, Sausage and Peppers, Baked Chicken and a Salad.  Scozzaro’s is also active with the Special Olympics Bocce BallTeam. They use the courts regularly and they're practicing for the statetournament inPhiladelphia.

 

I wish we could have had more of the lodgemembers there to share the day with us, as participants orcheering spectators. It was goodfood, good company and spirited competition, built around the Italianheritage’s oldest game.

June 2005:
After a great dinner, provided by La Cucina, Bob Koch from Collette Vacations offerred an enthusiastic slide presentation of the planned 10 day, 13 meal trip to Italy that was coordinated through the efforts of Dan Saia and Fran Hutton. Bob showed photos corresponding to the detailed itinerary for each day of the trip.  Those who participate will see the Vatican, Coliseum, Roman Forum, “Three Coins” Fountain, the beautiful Amalfi Coast, Capri, Pompeii.  While there will be lots of walking, travel will be by 46-seat air-conditioned coach.  Prices start at a reasonable $2349 and a $350 deposit is required by 10/4/05.

May 10 – Special thanks to Marino Amoruso who reminded us of our deep and strong Italian-American roots during his visit with the lodge.  Here are a few items from his presentation:

Did you know:

1.  The dome on top of the White House was created by an Italian-American? Costantino Brumidi, (1805-1880) who emigrated to the United States in 1852, is the "Michelangelo" of the U.S. Capitol. Among his many achievements is the painting of the huge Capitol interior dome as well as the decoration of the President's Room, where Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Brumidi started his career in Rome where he became known for restoration of classic works. In 1855 he began working on the Capitol dome and dedicated the rest of his life to embellishing the Capitol.  Also, UNION STATION -- Italian construction workers helped build Washington's train station, which was begun in 1905 and completed in 1908, considered one of the most beautiful train stations in the United States. The six statues that decorate the station's facade were sculpted by Andrew E. Bernasconi between 1909 and 1911. THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL -- Neapolitan immigrant Attilio Piccirilli and his five brothers carved the statue of Lincoln, which they began in 1911 and completed in 1922. It is 19 feet high and made of 28 blocks of marble, carefully fitted together.   The gifted sculptors, working out of their studio/living complex in the Bronx, also carved the famous lions on the steps of the New York Public Library, and the facade of the Brooklyn Museum among many other works in New York and across America.

2.  Two Italian-Americans signed the United States Declaration of Independence? William Paca and Caesar Rodney. Paca was one of the first senators in the Maryland state legislature, governor of Maryland (1782 to 1785) and a major general during the Revolutionary War. Rodney of Delaware, descended from the Adelmare family in Treviso, is most remembered for his courageous ride to Philadelphia in July 1776. Though sick with cancer, he rode through thunder and rain to arrive just in time to vote for independence.

3.  The largest bank in America and one of the largest in the world was founded by an Italian-American? The Bank of America, the largest bank in the country,  was established in 1904 by Amadeo Pietro ("A.P.") Giannini (1870-1949) in San Francisco.  In 1919, he innovated the system of branch banking. Originally called the Bank of Italy, it changed names in 1928 and, in 1998 merged with NationsBank Corp.  Giannini financed the Golden Gate Bridge, and the fledgling film industry, including Cecil B. DeMille's "Ten Commandments," and Disney's "Snow White," as well as California's aerospace and agricultural industries.

4.  An Italian greatly influenced Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence?  Filippo Mazzei, a Tuscan physician, fought alongside Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry during the American Revolution. Mazzei drew up a plan to capture the British in New York by cutting off their sea escape, and convinced France to help the American colonists financially and militarily in their struggle against British rule. He also inspired the Jeffersonian phrase: "All men are created equal" when he wrote "All men are by nature equally free and independent."

5.  At least 10% of the U.S. military in W.W. II was Italian?  During World War II, an estimated 1.2 million Americans of Italian descent served in the U.S. military, constituting one of the largest segments of the US combat forces of about 12 million.

For additional insight into Italian-American heritage, see  http://www.niaf.org/research/contribution.asp.

 04/17 – Dinner and Entertainment at St Joseph’s.

04/02 – Heritage Event at St Vincent’s – Buoni Amici Italian table.

 

2004

December - Matt Platania spoke at our dinner/meeting about the Sicilian Network.  http://www.modernsicilian.org/6811.html 

December – Recording Secretary launches new Newslatter.

December – Dine-around at Alfredo’s Pizza & Ristorante  (435 Eisenhower Dr) .

December – Holiday Social Event – John Bessler & Pasttime at Eichelberger Performing Arts Center – Show and rental of Conservatory for dinner and refreshments.

http://www.goepac.com/mainpage.html

November – Halloween Parade in Hanover – Buoni Amici represented in parade and refreshments table.

October – Speaker Michael Alessandroni, Principal of Northeastern Senior High, spoke at our dinner/meeting.  http://ydr.com/story/finding/22563/

September – Lodge sponsored guest Mike Bellone to present “Behind the Scenes at Ground Zero” at the Parkville Fire Hall.  Mike was a volunteer firefighter at the World Trade Towers site after 9/11 and founded Trauma Response Assistance for Children (TRAC).    http://www.tracteam.org/groundzero.php

September – Wreath laying at Gettysburg Battle Field at the Garibaldi Monument.  Henry Senatore provided summary of history at dinner/meeting.

http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/historic/reghist/civil/infantry/39thInf/39thInfMonument.htm

September – Fran Hutton presents a history of her family in Roseto, PA – population 1,653 , located in Pennsylvania's Northampton county, about 23.7 miles from Allentown and 54.6 miles from Paterson. Ancestries: Italian (49.4%), German (20.8%), Irish (9.2%), English (7.7%), Dutch (5.0%), Polish (3.1%).

August – Annual Picnic and Bocce Tournament at St Joseph’s.

See Abby Slutsky’s article on August 16, 2004 in the Evening Sun. http://www.eveningsun.com/Stories/0,1413,140%257E25585%257E,00.html?search=true

May – Mike Rupp & Band played at the Spaghetti Dinner at St Joseph’s.

May – Jennifer Warner, South Western High School, receives $500 Scholarship Award.

May – Coin-drop at Wal-Mart for Alzheimer’s.

April – Dine-around at Amore Restaurant  (1432 Baltimore St).

April – District 7 meeting at Buona Fortuna sponsored by our lodge. (Buona Fortuna Pasta & Pizza Italian Ristorante, 648 Frederick St)

March – Mini-Italian lesson provided by Brother Frank DiFatta at dinner/meeting.  Frank also offers a weekly Italian class when enough members dedicate time.

February – Mixer – attract new members at Buona Fortuna.

January – Glenda Harmon, RN, spoke about diabetes at our dinner/meeting.

January – Dine-around at Mamma Carini’s Restaurant and Pizza.

 

2003

December – Christmas Holiday Social & Ornament Exchange at dinner/meeting.

October – Dine-around at Alfredo’s.

August – Picnic and Bocce at St Joseph’s.

May – The Buoni Amici website launched by Steve Hutton.  The original site was at http://userweb.suscom.net/~horizons/sonsofitaly.htm and that was later changed to this current site at http://www.buonamici.org. 

May – Scholarship awarded to Audrey Giampietro, South Western High School.

April – Dine-around at Mamma Carini.

March – Dine-around at Buona Fortuna.

February – Dine-around at Alfredo’s.

February – Edward Potter, Naylor Wine Cellars, provided a lecture on winemaking and a wine tasting at our dinner/meeting.  http://www.naylorwine.com/naylorwine.asp

 

2002

December – Soprano Karen Bureau compared German and Italian opera and sang an aria at our dinner/meeting.

October – Rep. Steve Nichol was the guest speaker at the lodge anniversary dinner.

June – The first scholarship was awarded to Sara Elliott, daughter of Chris and Rita Elliott.

April – The lodge enjoyed a Spring Fling dinner, catered by La Cucina, at the VFW.