Italian America Magazine Summer 2013

Silver Anniversary

OTRANTO

Italy’s Frontier Town

25 Years of the NELA Gala

Nick Virgilio A Master of Haiku

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ITALIAN AMERICA

SUMMER 2013

VOL. XVIII No. 3

Italian America T h e O ff i c i a l P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e O r d e r S o n s o f I t a l y i n A m e r i c a

Features

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OTRANTO Italy’s Frontier Town

By Vito Spada

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A MOMENT OF EMOTION The Poems of Nick Virgilio

By Rick Black

18 2 3 4 5 9 10 15

HIGH PROFILE NATIONAL NEWS OGGI IN ITALIA PAGINA ITALIANA BOOK CLUB OUR STORY IT’S “ONLY” A MOVIE

Our SILVER ANNIVERSARY The Sons of Italy Foundation 25th Annual Gala

By Dona De Sanctis

D e pa r t m e n t s 16 ON THE BULLETIN BOARD 17 GIOVINEZZA! 25 YOUR NATIONAL OFFICE 26 OSIA NATION 28 FIGHTING DEFAMATION 29 letters to the editor 30 THE LAST WORD

31 THE SONS OF ITALY SHOPPERS GUIDE

ON THE COVER: Order Sons of Italy in America National President Joseph DiTrapani with SIF honoree Sergio Marchionne and SIF President Vincent Sarno at the May 2013 Sons of Italy Foundation’s 25th Silver Anniversary Gala. See story and photos pages 18-24.

Italian America Magazine is a publication of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the nation’s biggest and oldest organization for people of Italian heritage. To subscribe, see www.osia.org or call 1-800-552-6742.

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ITALIAN AMERICA

High Profile

Italian Americans in the NEWS

By Carol Cummings

DON DE LILLO is the first recipient of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction. The 76-year-old author, who rarely makes public appearances, will accept the award in September in Washington, D.C. On learning of the honor, DeLillo said his first thoughts were of his parents, immigrants from Molise, Italy. “They spoke little or no English,” he said. “It was a new language and new culture and many challenges in every direction, and so I like to think of this prize as a tribute to their memory.”

LISA MONACO, President Obama’s new chief counterterrorism adviser, led the White House briefings on the Boston bombings. The 45-year old Harvard graduate from Boston also holds a law degree from the University of Chicago. She became Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism last March.

Monaco has vast experience in national security, serving as counsel to former Attorney General Janet Reno; chief of staff and federal prosecutor to FBI Director Robert Mueller; and as Attorney General Eric Holder’s assistant for national security. She also is considered to replace Mueller as FBI director when he steps down in September.

JOHN ROLANDO, M.D. gave the gift of hearing to a three-year-old boy who had been born without hearing nerves in his brain. Dr. Rolando, of the New York University Langone Medical Center, used technology funded by the Rienzi Foundation for Cochlear Implant Surgery.

According to the foundation chairman, Michael Rienzi, the Sons of Italy Foundation’s $150,000 donation makes it the “largest single donor and underwriter” to his own foundation.

AND ADDIO TO… PAUL CELLUCCI, former Republican governor of Massachusetts, and U.S. Ambassador to Canada, died June 8 in Hudson, MA from ALS, also called “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” He was 65. Elected lieutenant governor of Massachusetts in 1990, he became acting governor in 1997 when his predecessor resigned to become an ambassador.

Cellucci was elected governor in his own right in 1998, a position he held until 2001 when he was nominated by President George W. Bush for the Canadian diplomatic post. During his 30-year political career, he never lost an election.

MARGHERITA HACK, an Italian astrophysicist who was known for her ability to explain complex research on SUMMER 2013

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the stars in simple language, died in Italy at age 91 June 29. She headed the astronomical observatory in Trieste for 23 years – the first woman in Italy to do so. Dr. Hack also was a fierce defender of Italian civil rights, including legalizing abortion and divorce; and successfully fought the construction of nuclear reactors in Italy. Born in Florence, in her youth she also was a champion athlete in both the long and high jump. A lifelong vegetarian and animal activist, she is survived by her husband of 69 years, but no children.

EDMUND PELLEGRINO, M.D. who was a physician, philosopher, and a former Catholic University president, died June 13 at age 92 in Maryland. He was one of the founders of bioethics as an academic subject, exploring the ethical role physicians play in extending or ending life.

In addition to his academic pursuits, he continued seeing patients, believing that a doctor places the well-being of his patients above his personal gain. He opposed abortion and euthanasia, but supported national health insurance.

The son of a wholesale grocer in N.J., he served in WW II, after medical school. He and his wife of 67 years had seven children.

KEN VENTURI, winner of the 1964 U.S. Open golf championship and longest running lead analyst in the history of sports television died of pneumonia and infections May 17. He was 82. Venturi worked for CBS Sports for over three decades, despite warnings as a young boy that a stutter would prevent him from ever speaking. Born in 1931 in San Francisco, he started playing golf at a public course where his parents ran the pro shop. He won the California state amateur title twice and came to national prominence in the 1956 Masters. He made history when, facing dehydration, he won the U.S. Open on June 20, 1964. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on May 6, 2013.

DISCOUNTS GALORE! Visit www.osia.org’s “Market Place” section for special OSIA membership discounts on Italian products, language lessons, fine stationery products, genealogy research, travel and more!

Also see pages 31-36 in this issue.

ITALIAN AMERICA

National News

Italian American issues and events

Chrysler Group Donates SRT Viper to the Sons of Italy Foundation Car to be auctioned off for foundation’s philanthropic programs Chrysler Group LLC Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne announced last May that the automaker has donated one of its iconic American-built supercars, a 2013 Street and Racing Technology (SRT) Viper GTS, to the Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF).

The foundation will auction the car off at a future date and venue to be determined. The proceeds will be used for its philanthropic programs, which include scholarships, medical research, cultural preservation, and disaster relief. “We are deeply grateful to Sergio Marchionne and Chrysler for this most generous contribution to our philanthropic efforts,” says Dr. Philip Piccigallo, SIF’s national executive director & CEO.

new SRT brand delivers 640 horsepower; has a top speed of 206 mph; a 0-100 mph elapsed time of less than 12 seconds; and a braking distance from 60-0 mph of 106 feet.

Among its standard safety features are electronic stability and traction controls that help maximize traction performance at virtually any speed and under any driving environment. It also has a new anti-lock brake system; a spacious interior; theft-alarm notification; stolen vehicle assistance; and a Smartphone app that remotely locks and unlocks doors, flashes lights, sounds the horn, and pinpoints vehicle location in crowded parking locks.

The SRT Viper features the new Uconnect Access in-vehicle connectivity system that links drivers to M r. M a remergency serchionne, who is vices, greater also CEO of Fiat information S.p.A., was honand entertainored by the Sons ment options The American-built 2013 SRT Viper GTS that the Sons of Italy of Italy Founthrough imFoundation will auction off to further fund its philanthropic programs. dation with its proved graphics 2013 Award for and plots routes th Excellence in Global Business at its 25 anniversary gala on command. A compatible Bluetooth-equipped phone in Washington, D.C. May 23. During the evening, the enables hands-free calling and activates advanced textdonation of the SRT Viper was announced and the vehicle messaging protocols that announce the receipt of a text, was unveiled for the first time publicly. identifies the sender audibly, and reads the message aloud.

The Viper was built specifically for the SIF. Its unique features include Italian inspired, one-of-a-kind, Avorio Perla custom paint; multi-spoke black vapor chrome wheels; a one-inch wide seat stripe in red, white and green; and an Italian flag-themed GTS badge above the glove box.

The all-new 2013 SRT Viper that is making its longawaited return to the high performance sports car market comes equipped with a number of new technologies.

Hand-built in Detroit, the fifth-generation flagship for the

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The SIF is the philanthropic arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America, the biggest and oldest organization for Italian Americans in the USA. Since its founding in 1959, the SIF has contributed $125 million to scholastic, cultural, medical and disaster-relief projects along with other special programs. The SRT Viper auction proceeds will help fund these philanthropic efforts. For more information and more photos of the Sons of Italy Foundation’s 2013 SRT Viper GTS, as well as an auction date once announced, visit www.osia.org.

ITALIAN AMERICA SUMMER 2013 3

Oggi in Italia

Italy’s news, politics and culture

Italy Loses Three Iconic Leaders Although they excelled in vastly different fields, Ottavio Missoni, Bruno Bartoletti, and Giulio Andreotti helped shape the image of Italy during their long lives which ended this spring.

May 9, Italy lost the designer who put Italian knitwear on the map when fashion leader Ottavio Missoni died May 9 in Italy at age 92. In 1953, barely eight years after WW II ended, Missoni and his wife, Rosita founded a company that became world-famous for its zig-zag patterned knitwear.

His was one of the fashion houses that launched ready-to-wear in Italy, according to Mario Boselli of the Italian Fashion Chamber.

A former Olympic athlete, Missoni brought his children and grandchildren into the business which thrives today. Tragically, he died a few months after his eldest son was lost in an airplane accident.

A month later to the day, conductor Bruno Bartoletti died June 9 at age 86 in Florence.

The famed conductor helped place the Lyric

Opera of Chicago among the most respected companies in the world.

Ottavio Missoni

Bruno Bartoletti

Giulio Andreotti

Bartoletti made his U.S. and Chicago debut at age 30 with Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore. For the next 50 years, he led nearly 600 performances of 55 operas that included works by Verdi and Puccini along with more modern composers. “To present opera beautifully takes time. And love,” Bartoletti once told the Chicago Tribune.

And finally, perhaps one of the most polarizing figures in Italian political history, Giulio Andreotti, seven-time prime minister of Italy, died May 6 at his home in Rome at age 94. One of the most powerful post-war Italian politicians, he commanded the Italian national stage for over four decades.

As confidant of Alcide De Gasperi, the founder of the Christian Democrats, once Italy’s largest political party, Andreotti fought to keep the party in power. Throughout his tenure from 1972 to 1992, he faced inflation crises, high unemployment, political terrorism and accusations of ties to the Mafia.

Dummies Have Their Eye On You

By Carol Cummings

Next time you’re in a department store, your shopping habits may be recorded by one of the store’s fashion-model dummies. It might be one sold by the northern Italian mannequin-maker, Almax S.p.A. in Como, as EyeSee. This first-ever technological mannequin has a camera in one eye that feeds data into a computer, including the age, gender and race of the customer. The mannequins also record the number of people who look at an item and the time spent looking at it. However, no images are stored.

These Italian mannequins may be watching you!

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Retailers in three Euro-

pean countries and the United States now use EyeSee mannequins in their marketing strategies, including inventory and displays. An Almax spokesperson said five companies, including leading fashion brands, currently use “a few dozen” such mannequins in their stores, but would not release their names, citing customer privacy. Almax has branches in Paris, New York City and Toronto.

The “all-seeing” mannequin looks like an ordinary mannequin, but costs much more – about $5,000 each.

Retailers can legally use the EyeSee as long as they have a closed-circuit television license.

The mannequins may soon also have ears. Currently Almax is testing word-recognition technology that would allow stores to eavesdrop on what shoppers say about the mannequin’s attire.

ITALIAN AMERICA

Pagina Italiana

Per chi studia la nostra lingua

Giovanni Boccaccio: Il “Padre” Del Racconto Moderno

Quest’anno si celebra il settecentesimo anniversario della sua nascita Tutto il mondo gode un buon racconto – dalle favole per bambini alle novelle scritte per adulti. Ma quante persone sanno che fu uno scrittore italiano che nacque esattamente 700 anni fa che fu “il padre” del racconto moderno?

diverse, che hanno dotato la letteratura italiana di un linguaggio in prosa ricchissimo, elegante e vivace, come prima non esisteva. Il Decameron serve anche come specchio della società fiorentino agli inizi del Rinascimento.

UNA VITA LETTERARIA L’opera è una raccolta di 100 novelle, che Ritratto di Giovanni Boccaccio nacque nel 1313, Boccaccio immagina vengano raccontate da dieci Giovanni Boccaccio probabilmente a Certaldo, un paesino vicino a giovani, una per ciascuno giorno, in dieci giorni. I Firenze. Suo padre lavorava per la potentissima narratori sono sette fanciulle e tre uomini che sono fuggiti impresa finanziaria dei Bardi mentre la madre era una da Firenze, dove l’epidemia di peste fa strage. donna ignota, si pensa di umile condizione.

Per salvarsi dal contagio si sono rifugiati in una bellissima Figlio illegittimo, Boccaccio venne riconosciuto dal padre e avviato a una vita agiata quando il padre si trasferì a Napoli alla raffinatissima corte di Roberto d’Angiò.

Qui il giovane Boccaccio conobbe importanti studiosi e letterati; approfondì le sue conoscenze dell’opera di Dante Alighieri; lesse le opere giovanili di Francesco Petrarca; e cominciò a comporre lui stesso poesie.

Nel 1340, a 27 anni, fu costretto a ritornare a Firenze dove continuò a dedicarsi alla letteratura. Nel 1348 si scatenò a Firenze una grave epidemia di peste e Boccaccio visse questa drammatica esperienza, che troveremo riportata nel suo famosissimo Decameron, l’opera a cui lavorò negli anni successivi.

Boccaccio conosce personalmente Petrarca a Firenze nel 1350, mentre questi si reca a Roma per il giubileo. I due grandi della letteratura italiana rimasero amici fino alla morte del Petrarca nel 1374. L’ininterrotta corrispondenza e Certaldo presso il continuo scambio di testi sono la testimoFirenze dove nianza più tangibile del proficuo confronto Boccaccio intellettuale intercorso tra i due letterati. nacque nel 1313 e morì nel Gli ultimi anni della vita di Boccaccio sono 1375 segnati da difficoltà economiche, crisi religiose e problemi di salute. Morì a Certaldo, presso Firenze, nel 1375 all’età di solo 62 anni.

IL DECAMERON Quest’opera di Boccaccio fu per secoli il modello della prosa narrativa, in particolare della novella. La sua opera più famosa e più bella, il Decameron, raccoglie novelle SUMMER 2013 5 ITALIAN AMERICA

villa di campagna, dove passano il tempo raccontando storie.

Ogni giorno vengono eletti un re o una regina che suggeriscono un tema comune per le novelle di quella giornata.

Gli argomenti sono vari: l’amore, la furbizia, gli inganni, le burle tra i personaggi, le soluzioni spiritose e intelligenti a situazioni difficili.

I personaggi sono i più diversi: uomini e donne di vari ceti sociali, con doti e caratteri diversi. E’ questa la cornice dell’opera Un racconto dal entro la quale si collocano le cento novelle.

Decameron.

L’IMPORTANZA DEL DECAMERON Pittura di John William WaterBoccaccio non si limita a rappresentare gli house (1916) aspetti seri dell’uomo, ma ne descrive anche quelli più divertenti e segreti, spesso anche sconvenienti, come nella letteratura dotta tradizionale non si usava fare. La lettura dell’opera è appassionante per la varietà degli argomenti, a volte drammatici, a volte divertenti, e per la presenza di una qualità di personaggi e situazioni che ci danno un quadro colorito e realistico della società fiorentina del Trecento. La prosa è estremamente raffinata ed elegante, anche quando racconta episodi di vita quotidiana e popolare.

Oggigiorno, Boccaccio è considerato uno fra i maggiori narratori italiani e europei del trecento. Il suo Decameron venne subito tradotto in molte lingue, diviene infatti conosciuto ed apprezzato, tanto da influire nella letteratura inglese, Geoffrey Chaucer. Da alcuni studiosi è considerato il maggiore narratore europeo.

Fonte: “Scuolissima.com” ITALIAN AMERICA SUMMER 2013 5

By Vito Spada

By Karen Haid

The famous 1886 portrait of Verdi at age 73 by Giovanni Boldini

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ITALIAN ITALIAN AMERICA AMERICA

Otranto is at the tip of the Salento, the small peninsula that forms Italy’s heel.

It is believed the town was founded by the Ancient Greeks, built up by the Romans and in the Byzantine age became one of the strongholds in the control of the Adriatic and southern Italy, with a strong presence of Venetians, Greeks, Armenians and Slavs. The uniqueness of its geographic position and excellent port contributed to the strategic importance of the town, which became a focal point for all of Salento. The Terre d’Otranto (Land of Otranto) came to define the Adriatic region south of the city of Brindisi. From Otranto, Boemondo d’Altavilla set sail with his crusaders to free the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. And here, St. Frances passed through in 1219 on his way back from the Holy Land where he had unsuccessfully attempted to convert the Sultan and end the Crusades.

Otranto in Puglia is at the very tip of the heel of Italy’s boot that is popularly known as the Salento peninsula.

The town enjoys a brilliant sun that sparkles on a crystal clear sea, magically changing from blue to green and back again. Visitors and townsfolk enjoy the view as they walk along the ancient city walls where the coast of Albania is clearly visible in the distance. But Otranto is not merely a pretty seaside resort. For 1,000 years, it has been Italy’s frontier town built on the end of the Salento peninsula, making it the easternmost city in southern Italy. Over the centuries, Otranto has survived foreign invasions from the Greeks and Romans to the Byzantines and Normans. But the worst episode was a horrendous siege and massacre by 15th century Moslem Turks. Yet, Otranto has survived it all and even prospered.

AN ANCIENT TOWN

Signs of Otranto’s past, both its tragedies and triumphs, are everywhere. From its walls looms the sea and beyond it, is a world with a different culture, including Turkey, which once considered Otranto the ideal launching pad for invading Italy and the rest of Europe. It is difficult to reconcile Otranto’s peaceful marina and fleets of little fishing vessels with the image of violent foreign invasions.

Otranto’s history and geography set it apart from places like the nearby tourist attraction, the town of Gallipoli. In Otranto, we find more diversity, more “otherness” and the awareness of the beginning of a different world.

Previous Page Top: The cathedral, Santa Maria Annunziata, whose façade was destroyed by the Turks Previous Page Bottom: The 15th century Aragonese Castle, built to defend Otranto from foreign invasions SUMMER 2013 7 ITALIAN AMERICA

The cathedral’s shrine to Otranto’s 800 martyrs whose remains are seen behind the statue of the Virgin.

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Otranto today is a charming seaside town and resort

A VIOLENT INVASION

On a sunny, hot July day in 1480, more than two and a half centuries after St. Francis’s visit, the town woke to find a Turkish fleet on the horizon. The Islamic invaders intended to establish an outpost on Italian soil to support their vessels that were attacking trading ships sailing the Mediterranean. A terrible siege lasted two weeks. Turkish cannonballs devastated the heart of Otranto without letup. In the end, surrender was inevitable and the city was sacked. The Turkish commander, Admiral Ahmed Pascià, then forced the townspeople to choose between decapitation and renouncing their faith to become Moslem. About 800 Christians refused to convert – most of them men and boys 15 and older, whose names are lost to history. They all were beheaded on the nearby hill of Minerva, where a church now stands The skulls of the Martyrs of Otranto have been gathered behind an alter in the city’s 12th century cathedral, Santa Maria Annunziata. The Muslims demolished the church’s facade but spared the interior which has an immense mosaic covering the entire pavement of the cathedral. “It was laid between 1163 and 1165 and is the largest mosaic in Europe,” according to historian Pietro Marino.

On May 12, 2013, after more than 500 years, the new pope, Francis I proclaimed these martyrs, saints. “As we venerate the martyrs of Otranto, let us ask God to sustain SUMMER 2013

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the many Christians who, today and in many parts of the world, now, still suffer from violence, and to give them the courage to be devout and to respond to evil with good,” said the pope in his sermon marking the event.

As a result of the Turkish invasion, in 1485, Alfonso of Naples built the Castello Aragonese (the Aragonese castle) to protect Otranto. L’ora di tutti, a novel by Maria Corti, captures the drama and tragedy that Otranto and its people suffered during that terrible invasion. In the novel, the hopes, feelings and fears of five characters become the symbol of the town and its territory in the face of military aggression. In the supreme moment of choice and the final hour, the characters submit to the force of events and their imminent fate with resignation and innate nobility, together with an impassioned defense of life that, however, forces them to make the final heroic gesture.

And still today, the silence of Otranto lingers -- within the ancient walls, on the sea’s infinite horizon, and in the alleys between the ancient houses, far from the summer crowds. Time seems suspended because “only the living count the years.”

The editor thanks Vito Spada and Bridge Puglia USA, culture and tourism on-line magazine (www.bridgepugliausa.it) for permission to use this article. Photos are by the Archivio Fotografico Fotogramma, Bari ITALIAN AMERICA

The Sons of Italy

Book Club

SUMMER 2013 Selections

Naples Declared

Ferry

Lemons Into Limoncello

Both a history and a love letter to Naples, one of the world’s oldest cities, author Taylor traces almost 3,000 years of the city’s life. Settled by the Greeks in the 5th century B.C. as “Nea Polis” or “new city,” Naples was the cultural center of Europe from the Renaissance through the 17th century. During World War II, it was the most bombed city in Italy. But Naples and its people have survived it all. Today it is Italy’s third largest city after Rome and Milan. [$17.00; paperback; 240 pages with color photos and illustrations; Penguin Books]

Sicilian immigrant, Angelo Marullo moved his family to the U.S. in 1929. For the next three decades he supports them by shining commuters’ shoes on the Staten Island ferry.

The novel takes place on a “typical day” for the popular shoeshine, which makes countless friendships and encounters life-changing situations with passengers making their daily commute to New York City and back. On these pages we learn about romance, camaraderie, illness, and even death through the experiences of Angelo and his family as well as those of his commuter clients. [$14.95.; paperback; 196 pages; Xulon Press]

Aptly sub-titled “From Loss to Personal Renaissance with the Zest of Italy” this self-help book is based on Italian life lessons. Be it death, job loss, or just peace of mind, the author, a psychologist, draws on the wisdom she found in her Italian heritage as a guide for living a happier life. “Italy teaches us to squeeze every drop of pleasure from a day,” she writes. She successfully captures that unique Italian ability to use simple rituals of daily life to recover from life’s misfortunes and even tragedies. [$14.95; paperback; 288 pages; Health Communications, Inc.]

By Benjamin Taylor

By David Mercaldo

By Raeleen D’Agostino Mautner

Also Worth Reading Story of My People

By Chloe JonPaul

By Edoardo Nesi Translated by Antony Shugaar In 2004, the Nesi family textile corporation in Tuscany went out of business, unable compete with local Chinese firms that imported fabric from China, but labeled their products “Made in Italy.” Nesi examines how “globalization” has damaged Italy’s economy through the lens of his family’s loss. His is the first non-fiction work ever to receive the Strega Prize, Italy’s most prestigious literary award. [$19.95; hardcover; 176 pages; Other Press]

Queen Bee of Tuscany

By Ben Downing The English socialite, Janet Ross (1842-1927) was called “the queen bee of Tuscany” for her connections with European authors; Italian nobility; deep interest in local agriculture; and a fascinating personal life that included being a foreign correspondent in Egypt. She and her husband moved to Tuscany in 1867 where she entertained Mark Twain, among others; authored a cookbook still used today; and wrote on Italian history and literature. [$26.00; hardcover; 352 pages; Farrar, Straus and Giroux] Reviewed by Carol Cummings SUMMER 2013 9 ITALIAN AMERICA

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Our Story

Italian American history and culture

Are You Buying “Authentic” Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil?

By Eryn Balch

With so many bottles of “100% Italian Olive Oil” on the supermarket shelf, how can customers be sure they are buying authentic Italian extra virgin olive oil? Easy! These tips will teach you how to read the label and become a more educated consumer.

Choose reputable, established brands. Most belong to the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA), which only accepts as members companies that meet the industry’s quality standards.

(For a complete list, see www. aboutoliveoil.org.)

Read the ingredient statement. It should list only extra virgin olive oil – no additives. Don’t In Mediterranean regions, be confused by terms like olives are harvested in late October or early November. “pure olive oil” or “light olThey are delicately collected ive oil.” Those are a differto avoid bruising. ent grade of olive oil. Extra virgin is the highest quality oil because it is not heated or refined and is made from only the best quality olives.

It also is the most nutritious because it retains natural antioxidants.

Check the country of origin. Don’t rely on front labels that read “Imported from Italy.” While the brand name, picture of olives or the map of Italy may be on the label, it’s not uncommon for a brand to contain oils from Spain, Greece, and Tunisia mixed with some – or even

no – Italian oil. U.S. federal law requires that the country of origin appear on the label. It’s usually near the nutrition panel. Only authentic Italian olive oil can be labeled “Product of Italy.”

Look for industry quality seals of approval. The Cermet symbol is the Italian government’s guarantee that the olives are grown, and the oil is pressed and bottled in Italy without the addition of any foreign oil. The NAOOA also has a Certified Quality Seal that it gives only to olive oils that meet the industry’s standards of quality and authenticity.

The NAOOA CertiLook for a “best-by date” fied Quality Seal is that is as far ahead as possible even given only to olive though storing olive oil away from oils that meet the industry’s stanheat and light in a sealed package dards of quality and keeps it for up to two years. Dark authenticity. bottles or tins are best at reducing potential damage from light.

Avoid careless packaging and handling. These include dust on the bottle, a broken or loose seal on the cap, or evidence of oil drips and leaks. And finally, an orange tint to the oil indicates exposure to fluorescent lighting and/or heat has damaged the oil.

Eryn Balch is the executive vice president of the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) which represents companies that make and/or sell olive oil as well as national and international olive oil trade organizations. Learn more about olive oil at www.aboutoliveoil.org.

Photos by Dan Nahbors

OLIVE OIL QUIZ:

Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil means the oil comes from the best olives and was produced with no heat or chemicals.

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Using the tips above, can you tell what the numbers on this label of Colavita olive oil stand for?

ITALIAN AMERICA

Our Story

Italian American history and culture

A Snapshot of Geniuses

By Dona De Sanctis

In the 1920’s and 30’s, Enrico Fermi and his team of young physicists at the University of Rome were destined to become pioneers in nuclear physics. Despite World War II, Fermi and his team made groundbreaking discoveries in the then-new fields of nuclear physics and quantum mechanics.

Fermi and Emilio Segrè went on to win Nobel prizes in physics.

Fermi received his in 1938, the same year the Fascist government enacted its Racial Laws. Fermi, whose wife was Jewish, picked up his award in Sweden and never returned to Italy.

Instead, he took his wife and two children to America where he became an American citizen and worked on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb in World War II. He died of stomach cancer in Chicago at age 53. Another team member, Franco Rasetti was antifascist and anti-war. He moved to Canada and became the founder of modern paleontology.

Among the other young men on the team was Oscar D’Agostino, who went to Switzerland where he helped found CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Today it is one of the world’s largest and most respected centers for scientific research in fundamental physics, investigating what the universe is made of and how it works.

Fermi’s fifth colleague, Edoardo Amaldi, was drafted and saw combat. Afterwards, he chaired the General Physics Department at the University of Rome. He also co-founded the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and CERN.

(L. to R.) Oscar D’Agostino, Emilio Segrè, Edoardo Amaldi, Franco Rasetti, and Enrico Fermi.

But on a sunny Roman day in the late 1920’s, when they all posed for the photograph below, they still were young, brilliant, optimistic, and blissfully unaware of the devastation that was to separate them forever.

Last Italian Resort in Upstate N.Y. Celebrates 50th Anniversary Villa Vosilla, the last Italian-themed resort in the Catskills, celebrates its Golden Anniversary this year. Described as “an intimate Italian boutique resort,” it is in the village of Tannersville, N.Y., which also celebrates its bicentennial this year. Among the special events planned for the Villa’s anniversary celebrations, are drawings for complimentary stays; gifts from Colavita and other Italian companies.

Special midweek value packages start at $100 per person per day and include three meals, seven-course tasting menus, live bands, nightclub shows and other entertainment, according to Vosilla.

Four generations of Vosillas have owned and operated the resort, which traditionally features Italian cuisine, music and entertainment for people of all ages. “We will keep our rates the same throughout the anniversary celebrations,” says Doria Vosilla, who operates the resort with help from her children and husband, who is also mayor of the town.

The resort is in a part of the upper Hudson Valley which the National Geographic Traveler has named “one of the top 20 world-class best travel vacation destinies in the world.” For more information and information on special group rates for Sons of Italy members and Italian America magazine subscribers, see ad on page 36.

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Poolside at the Villa Vosilla

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A Moment of Emotion The Poems of Nick Virgilio Nick Virgilio (1928-1989) at work in his parents’ basement where he created hundreds of haiku. [photo by J. Kyle Keener]

By Rick Black

Not far from the tomb of Walt Whitman in Camden, New Jersey, lies the grave of another poet, Nicholas Anthony Virgilio, known to far fewer Americans but whose life and works, like Whitman’s, were transformed by war. Whitman wrote about the tragedy of the Civil War. Virgilio penned hundreds of poems, including a series about his youngest brother, Lawrence, a Marine, killed in Vietnam in 1967.

Unlike Whitman whose poems tend to be lengthy, Virgilio penned short, pithy verses known as haiku, a form of Japanese poetry inspired by nature and usually written in three lines of 5-7-5 syllables or less on a specific moment.

A confident yet solitary poet, for more than 20 years, Nick Virgilio created his haiku on a Remington typewriter beneath a bare light bulb in his parents’ basement in his hometown of Camden.

Many were poems like this elegy to his dead brother: SUMMER 2013

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flag-covered coffin: the shadow of the bugler slips into the grave And the family’s dread as...... telegram in hand, the shadow of the marine darkens our screen door “Nick’s devotion to his art was infectious,” says Kathleen O’Toole, a poet and past president of the Nick Virgilio Haiku Association, which sponsors activities to preserve his legacy. “He was always teaching that a haiku was a ‘moment of emotion keenly perceived.’ ”

a blind musician extending an old tin cup collects a snowflake

A Simple Poet’s Simple Life

Born June 28, 1928, Virgilio was the oldest of three boys. His father, Anthony was an accomplished violinist. His mother, Rose was a seamstress. He was born and raised in Camden, N.J. and, after graduating from the local high school joined the Navy in 1946. When he got out two years later, he used the G.I. Bill to go to college and graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia with a B.A. degree in communications.

Virgilio spent most of his life in Camden except for his Navy stint and a move to Texas in the mid-1950s to be a sports broadcaster, but returned home following a broken love affair.

When he came back to Camden, he got a job as the radio broadcaster, “Nickaphonic Nick,” working for the legendary South Jersey disc jockey, Jerry Blavat.

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Walt Whitman Center for the Arts and Humanities (now the Walt Whitman Arts Center in Camden) and was an artist-in-residence there.

Nick Virgilio: A Life in Haiku (Turtle Light Press, $14.95), the newest collection of Virgilio’s work. [cover mural created by Linda Delengowski] In 1963, at age 35, Virgilio discovered haiku by chance when he came across a small volume by Kenneth Yasuda called A pepper pod in the Rutgers-Camden University library.

He was immediately hooked. The form seemed to fit his means of expression perfectly.

in the empty church at nightfall, a lone firefly deepens the silence He lived in his parents’ home in the Fairview section of Camden, where he would take long walks through the city or hop a bus to the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia to buy fresh bread and produce. He often would return to Sacred Heart Church in Camden, where he was a part of the community. He helped found the SUMMER 2013 13 ITALIAN AMERICA

At home in his family’s basement, Virgilio spent hours reading or typing his haiku on the back of sports team roster sheets. He took up yoga and meditated daily. He had little money and wore used clothes; gave workshops and did readings of his poems. He never married. Eventually, Virgilio’s dedication made him one of the most well-known and beloved haiku poets in the country. He helped popularize this Japanese style of poetry in the U.S.; won prizes and acclaim; and was a regular guest on Scott Simon’s National Public Radio, Weekend Edition.

tried,” says de Gruttola, a former president of the Haiku Society of America.

Among his innovations, Virgilio often altered the traditional 5-7-5 syllable verses in favor of shorter versions; used rhyme and was inspired by his own city’s urban blight.

down the ghetto street glittering with broken glass... a barefoot child

having come this far alive at fifty-five: the morning star

A Poet-Pioneer

“Nick Virgilio was a genuine pioneer of American haiku poetry,” says Raffael de Gruttola, the editor of Nick Virgilio: A Life in Haiku (Turtle Light Press, $14.95), a new collection of Virgilio’s work. It features 30 of Virgilio’s classic poems; more than 100 previously unpublished haiku; excerpts from a radio interview he gave on his poems as well as essays on the craft of writing; family photos; and replicas of original manuscript pages.

A 30-minute documentary Remembering Nick Virgilio by Sean Dougherty, also pays tribute to Virgilio’s life and poetic process.

“He experimented with ways to construct haiku that were different from any other haiku poet had ever

Nick Virgilio’s grave in Camden with one of his haiku as his epigraph.

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and...

and also ....

the old neighborhood falling to the wrecking ball: names in the sidewalk

autumn nightfall: my mourning mother hears little brother call “Virgilio’s series about his brother is one of the great elegies in American writing,” says poet Kwame Dawes, a University of Nebraska English professor and editor-in-chief of the esteemed poetry journal, Prairie Schooner.

Street scene in Camden, N.J. where Virgilio grew up. Once a thriving city it has fallen on hard times. (photo by Rick Black] “The poems are very beautiful but they’re gritty, too,” says Louise DeSalvo, who teaches literature and creative writing at New York City’s Hunter College. “They look at the so-called mundane parts of life which aren’t mundane at all because it’s how we connect to and recollect experience.” For instance, she says, Virgilio uses images like the remnant of oil that leaked out of his late brother’s car in the driveway as well as a baby’s high chair, glaring headlights and a jukebox – “I love that he used material like that, the material of our time,” she says.

Thanksgiving dinner: placing the baby’s high chair in the empty space and...

sixteenth autumn since: barely visible grease marks where he parked his car SUMMER 2013

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“It’s a moving, powerful, and evocative sequence that carries all the ideas of what a brother’s relationship with another brother means,” adds Dawes.

“What Virgilio is doing is asking us to think about the implication of war.

He teaches us how to empathize; [he] teaches us to cope.”

deep in rank grass, through a bullet-riddled helmet: an unknown flower Now, Monsignor Michael Doyle, the pastor of Sacred Heart Church, is spearheading an effort to build the Nick Virgilio Writer’s House in Camden. A piece of property has already been purchased across from the church. “Virgilio’s poems are as moving today as the day he wrote them,” says Monsignor Doyle, “especially in light of this country’s recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a great need for solace. He helps us deal with loss and transcend it through his poetry. Whether it’s about war, life on Camden’s streets, or a water lily, we come away uplifted.”

spring wind frees the full moon tangled in leafless trees

The Walt Whitman Arts Center in Camden, NJ that Virgilio helped found.

During a radio interview, Virgilio once explained his understanding of haiku and the way in which he crafts them. “You see the haiku is against any sort of a tag title or any kind of a title at all,” he said. “It’s got to be poetry of the five senses that makes you feel first and think about it afterwards...”

the sack of kittens sinking in the icy creek increases the cold Virgilio died unexpectedly on January 3, 1989 in Washington, D.C. after a heart attack while taping a segment of CBS-TV’s “Nightwatch” with Scott Simon of NPR who was filling in for the regular host, Charlie Rose. He was 60 years old. His grave, which overlooks a pond in Camden’s Harleigh Cemetery, is topped by a granite lectern inscribed with one of his best-known poems:

lily: out of the water . . . out of itself Rick Black, a poet and former foreign correspondent for the New York Times, is the publisher of Turtle Light Press, in Arlington, VA. He runs haiku workshops and speaks to groups around the country. Contact him at rick@turtlelightpress.com ITALIAN AMERICA

How stereotyping shapes the public image of today’s Italian Americans.

Send your contributions to ddesanctis@osia.org or mail to: “It’s Only a Movie,” Italian America Magazine, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. Include name and daytime telephone number. No telephone calls please. Mailed submissions cannot be acknowledged. Contributors’ names, when known, are in parenthesis.

By Dona De Sanctis

• ANCIENT HISTORY Apparently not much is going on in Connecticut these days, so to sell his magazine in June publisher Matt DeRienzo ran a cover story on the history of the Mafia in the state. Written by freelancer Chris Hoffman, the article reaches back more than half a century to profile long-dead Italian American criminals even though Hoffman admits the Mafia is “a desiccated shadow of its former self.” Next issue, perhaps DeRienzo will run an article about Ella Grasso, a former U.S. congresswoman and the first woman ever elected governor in her own right. She governed CT from 1975 to 1980. To complain: contact Mr. DeRienzo at mderienzo@21stcenturymedia.com [Raeleen D’Agostino Mautner, CT] • LOVER BOY? Putting a new spin on the reputation of Italian men as great lovers, the movie, Don Jon’s Addiction, released earlier this year, presents Jon as an Italian American lothario (from NJ, of course), who prefers watching pornography to dating real women. Played by Joseph Gordon-Levi, the former “alien” from “Third Rock,” who also wrote and directed the film, Jon has a boorish Italian American family, led by caveman dad, Tony Danza; the usual Italian American slap fest that passes for dinnertime and even drags in the Catholic Church. The Variety review noted “guido culture takes a hit. Not since “The Sopranos” has Jersey’s Italian-American contingent been so ruthlessly reduced.” [Frank Travisano, CT] • PARTY TIME! Celebrate your marriage with a “1940’s Gangster Anniversary Party” inspired by -- what else? “The Godfather”! The brainchild of owners Karis Walker and Jen Fontanetta, their website gushes, “Naturally, all of the decor would be in black and white with... mug shots and guns” and even the desserts have

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mafia themes (See guns and cannoli cake below). Contact them at (561) 346-7700. E-mail: Karis@thesunshinepartystudio.com or Jen@thesunshinepartystudio.com • DESPICABLE DINNER Tired of the same-old interactive dinner theater starring Italian American gangsters? Well, Calandra’s Mediterranean Grill in Fairfield, NJ has good news for you. Now you can participate in its interactive murder mystery dinner, “Despicable Mobwives.” Billing itself as “a family place” Calandra’s urges customers to “come party with the ‘ladies’, watch the cannoli fly and see who is left standing.” A sure casualty is the reputation of Italian Americans in the state that has the second highest population of people of Italian heritage in the U.S. Contact: calandrasmedgrill@aol.com Phone: (973) 575-6500.

• Da VINCI DEBACLE Is nothing sacred? Not according to Pizzeria DaVinci, which has named its 11 restaurants in New Jersey after the great Italian genius, but promotes them with mafia-themed commercials. Owners Drew and Carrie Sassi directed complaints to the spots’ writer/ producer, Peter Kozodoy, who says he is of Italian heritage, studied in Italy, and wrote a thesis on the Mafia. In his response, Kozodoy chides critics of his ads for “suppressing such an important historical identity, innate to all Italians.” He also claims that in Italy he found that “Italy’s history of organized crime (is) a source of pride for today’s Italian youth.”

He concludes by warning Italian American activists “about the dangers of too much political correctness.”

Wonder what kind of ads he would write for Taco Bell or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Contact: sassipizza@sbcglobal. net or call Kozodoy at (203) 506 0040 in Hamden, CT.

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Bulletin Board

What’s new: discounts, services and events

Ask the Lawyer Advice on Italy’s Legal System

QUESTION: How are Italian & American inheritance laws different?

ANSWER: For both countries, probate legally transfers a deceased person’s property to new owners through a Last Will and Testament which is written, dated and signed by the person desiring to make a valid testament to dispose of property after death, but a will is not valid if it is handwritten or typed anonymously by a third party.

In Italy, however, the Italian Civil Code strictly forbids excluding relatives from inheritance. They must receive a quota of the inheritance. For example, an elderly man makes a young woman who served him in the last years of his life his sole heir. However, upon his death several adult children of the old man reappear. Even though they were absent from his life for more than 20 years, the children can legally claim

a significant portion of the inheritance and the young woman will receive only the remaining portion.

While this may seem unfair by U.S. standards, under Italian Civil Code this “reserve quota” aims to preserve family property, and protect older people from being taken advantage of by relatively new non-family members.

The important Last Will and Testament document is not a do-it-yourself project. The Italian Civil Code is quite strict about estate probate matters, the legal rights of family heirs, and the contents of documents reflecting the wishes of the deceased. It is best to retain an Italian lawyer to create and ensure the document is valid, and the terms and conditions fully enforceable under the Italian legal system.

The fall 2013 column will discuss inheritance issues in Italy if a person dies without a Last Will and Testament.

Giampaolo Girardi, Esq. is a member of the Italian Bar Association and the Managing Partner of Legal And Fiscal, a combined law and accounting firm in Rome. For U.S. contact and support, see www.ItalyLawyerForAmericans.com.

Sons of Italy Speakers Bureau Need a speaker for your club meeting or a special event? Contact these speakers directly. Some may require travel expenses and/or honorariums. For more speakers see: www.osia.org at “Studies in Culture.”To apply, contact Dona De Sanctis at ddesanctis@osia.org.

ANYWHERE, USA Holistic doctor & author David Coppola on new approaches to healthcare and spiritual well-being. Book signing of The Wisdom of Emotions.

Contact: 305 451 1819 (FL); Email: drdavidcoppola@gmail.com. Website: www.DrDavidCoppola.com CHICAGO/MID-WEST Author Dominic Candeloro, professor of Italian American studies (Ret.) on Italian Americans of Chicago; future of Italia Americans; Italian American literature; and more. Book signing of Italians of Chicago. Contact: 708 354 0952 (IL). Email: Dominic.Candeloro@gmail.com. Also will Skype.

NEW ENGLAND Retired FBI analyst Sarah Ann LoFaso on her career with the FBI. Contact: 203 465 1035 (CT). Email: salofaso@yahoo.com or salofaso@sbcglobal.net.

NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY • Author & U.S. Navy Lieutenant (Ret.) Nicholas Starace on his experiences in the Navy; WW II Navy battles and eye-witness accounts of 9/11. Book signing of White Sails Became Me: Memoirs of a Seafaring SUMMER 2013

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Heritage. Contact: 973 376 9026 (NJ). Email: NStaraceii@aol.com. Website: www.whitesailsbecameme.com • Children’s author Patricia Brady-Danzig on bi-lingual children’s stories (EnglishItalian). Book signing of her bi-lingual storybook, La Favola di Fabrizio (Fabrizio’s Fable). Contact: 973 761 0041 (NJ). Email: pbradydan@erols.com.

Website: www.fabriziosfable.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA Novelist Frank Pennisi on his latest book, Sciatu Mio that follows three generations of Sicilians from Italy to America. Book signing of novel. Contact: 843/272-9997 (SC).

Email: fpennisi@sc.rr.com

ITALIAN AMERICA

Giovinezza!

News for Young Italian Americans

How to Get an Italian Degree Looking for a degree program in Italy? Your search is now easier with the website UniversItaly (in English and Italian) by Italy’s Education Ministry. Here are a few facts about the Italian university system and some tips for applying to its institutions.

An Italian Degree: The basics • An Italian bachelor’s degree: laurea triennale takes three years. You need 180 credits (60 per year). Most courses are six to eight credits.

• Specialty degrees in subjects like pharmacy, medicine and law take longer to complete. You begin these as you would a bachelor’s degree program. These singledegree cycles, laurea magistrale a ciclo unico, take five to six years to complete.

• Italian master’s degrees occur in three levels: First level master’s Corso Master 1° livello, a second level master’s laurea specialistica and a second level master’s Master Universitario di secondo livello.

• The first level master’s, Corso Master 1° livello, serves as a continuation of the Italian bachelor’s degree and takes two years to complete. The second level masters’ laurea specialistica takes one year to complete. The second level master’s Master Universitario di secondo livello is considered a vocational master’s.

Italy also offers: • Doctorate degree (Dottorato di Ricerca): You must have a Master’s and pass a selection examination. The program lasts three to four years.

• Specialization School (Scuola di Specializzazione) • Art and Music academies: Often require an audition for admittance Structure • The academic year is split into two semesters: September/ October-January/February and February/March-July.

• The grading system ranges from 0-30. You must score above 18 to pass. The grade is based on one cumulative (usually oral) exam and you can observe other students taking the exam. You can choose from a set of dates (usually three) and you may postpone your exam until the next semester. Exams can be taken until you’re satisfied with your grade. Choosing to postpone an exam or failing to pass an exam may result in what Italians call: Studente fuori corso.

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University students in Italy can take from three to six years to complete their degree, depending on their field of study.

• There’s no exact way to translate studente fuori corso.

It’s best explained as not finishing your degree on time by still having exams to complete. In Italy, if you follow a course but do not take or pass the exam, you must repeat an exam until you pass. After completing courses, you can enroll to only to take the exams that you still have left.

Tips for Applying • You apply through your local Italian consulate who can certify your U.S. degree as equivalent to an Italian degree. There are a certain number of seats (sedie) for foreigners per program. This number is determined yearly.

• You must prove your fluency in Italian by passing an exam, obtaining a certificate from the University for Foreigners in Siena or Perugia or successfully completing levels B1 or B2 in Italian language.

• Additionally, several degree programs are taught in English. If the degree you apply for is conducted exclusively in English, proof of fluency in Italian is not required.

Visa/Stay Permit • For a student visa you must have proof of finances no less than 429 Euros (currently about $550) a month for each month of the academic year. Upon arrival in Italy you must apply in the town in which you study for a residence permit.

• This is not a complete guide. Further information can be found on the Study in Italy website, which was the source for this article.

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Sons of Italy Foundation Celebrates Silver Anniversary of its NELA Gala

By Dona De Sanctis

The Sons of Italy Foundation (SIF) celebrated the 25 anniversary of its National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala May 23 in the nation’s capital. SIF is the philanthropic arm of the Sons of Italy, the nation’s oldest and largest organization for people of Italian heritage. th

During the gala evening, held at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., four leaders in business, government and entertainment received SIF awards: Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne; General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.); actor Gary Sinise and Ski TV’s Robert Corrao.

THE HONOREES Sergio Marchionne, chairman & CEO of Chrysler Group LLC and CEO of Fiat S.p.A., received the 2013 SIF Award for Excellence in Global Business. He was introduced by the SIF Executive Director/ CEO Philip Piccigallo who credited Mr. Marchionne with saving the Italian auto manufacturer, Fiat and the American manufacturer, Chrysler. “Few people have ...have effectuated greater strategic repositioning on a global level [than Sergio Marchionne.]

He is bilingual in Italian and English having been born in Italy and raised in Canada.

In accepting his award, Mr. Marchionne said, “In bringing together the better of our two groups, we’ve embraced both the Italian heritage of Fiat and the distinctly American identity of Chrysler. In many respects it is an idea that is very familiar to the Sons of Italy, which takes pride in an Italian American culture that draws strength from both traditions.”

General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) received the 2013 SIF Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Service for his career in the military and diplomatic fields as the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and 65th U.S. secretary of state. He is also the founding chairman of America’s Promise Alliance that aims to lower the high school dropout rate.

The SIF Lifetime Achievement Award for Public Ser vice is presented to a person who is not of Italian heritage. Past recipients include former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden; and U.S. Senator Jack Reed.

The son of Jamaican immigrants, Gen. Powell referred to the “Now, he is on the SIF Chairman Joseph DiTrapani, SIF honoree Sergio commonality of the verge of consummating Marchionne and SIF President Vincent Sarno immigrant experience, the relationship with a potential merger of these two mighty auto companies into regardless of the origins. “I’m a son of Jamaica…but a true global force. All of this has led to ... hundreds of tonight I’m a son of Italy...because like so many others in thousands of manufacturing and engineering jobs all over this room, I grew up in that immigrant tradition in New York City. And…my story has been repeated millions of the world,” Dr. Piccigallo said. times by immigrants who have come to here...to receive the Mr. Marchionne also serves on numerous boards of blessings of this country.” After receiving his SIF award, directors, including Fiat Industrial S.p.A. as chairman and the general said “I always say that I’m an honorary Italian, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association as but tonight I can finally say that I’m more.” president.

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Actor and activist Gary Sinise received the 2013 SIF Award for Courage & Patriotism. He founded the Gary Sinise Foundation that assists the men and women who defend our country and partners with other organizations that support U.S. service personnel and veterans, including the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which builds customized smart homes for severely wounded veterans. A skilled musician and entertainer, Mr. Sinise has also performed for U.S. troops around the globe with his “Lieutenant Dan Band.”

year round TV programming. He received the SIF’s highest honor, its National Education & Leadership Award for 2013.

Accepting the award, Mr. Corrao said, “All this Italian blood in my heart right now is boiling over. I ...am 100% proud of my Italian heritage – of what it has given me and helped me accomplish.”

In the past, the SIF has honored President Bill Clinton; U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; AIDS researchers Anthony Fauci and Robert Gallo; the late Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro; and entertainers Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Regis Philbin, and Annette Funicello, among others.

Accepting his award after a movSIF honoree Robert Corrao of the Ski ing introduction by Joe Mantegna, Network accepts his leadership award Mr. Sinise he tries to “ lend a hand” because of the gratitude and appreciation he has “for the amazing men and women who valiantly serve our country, SIF SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Also present at this year’s gala were nine young scholprotecting our precious freedom by putting their lives on the line for us. I also admire those in service to the public ars of Italian descent, who received awards ranging from $4,000 to $25,000. They will attend such leading eduwelfare -- our firefighters and police officers.” cational institutions as the universities of Yale, Princeton, Robert F. Corrao is CEO and chairman of the Ski TV Brown and the London School of Economics.

Network, a national high definition television network For the first time, the NELA also hosted several past broadcasting via direct satellite and DSL technology to SIF scholarship recipients, who went on to win awards LCD screens at premier ski resorts across the United States, delivering over 60 million impressions through and excel in their chosen fields. Among them were university professors, business owners, medical researchers, financial investment managers, and teachers of special education and underprivileged children.

About 1,000 guests come to the annual NELA black tie gala, including U.S, presidents; members of the Cabinet and the Congress; and foreign diplomats as well as U.S. military personnel, active, veteran and wounded warriors.

The SIF has long collaborated with and supported the Wounded Warrior Project.

As the philanthropic arm of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) the SIF has contributed to date $125 million to medical research, disaster relief, scholarships, and cultural preservation, along with other special projects. NELA Gala proceeds help fund these philanthropic programs.

About 900 guests attended the SIF’s Silver Anniversary Gala in May

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Dona De Sanctis is editor-in-chief of Italian America magazine, produced at the Sons of Italy’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Contact her at ddesanctis@osia.org.

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General Raymond T. Odierno, U.S. Army Chief of Staff (L) chats with the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Robert “Jim” Nicholson and his wife, Suzanne The 2013 SRT Viper GTS Chrysler Group LLC donated to the SIF will go to auction to raise funds for SIF programs

(L. to R.) Italy’s ambassador to the U.S. Claudio Bisogniero; his wife, Laura Denise Noce Benigni Olivieri; and Gen. James Jones, USMC (Ret.), former national security advisor

Gen. Powell accepts his SIF award from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island

NELA MC and famed actor Joe Mantegna chats with Gen. Colin and Mrs. Alma Powell at the pre-gala reception SUMMER 2013

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Actor Gary Sinise accepts the 2013 SIF Award for Courage and Patriotism ITALIAN AMERICA

Ralph Gilles, SRT CEO with Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television

(L. to R.) Café Milano’s Franco Nuschese with General and Mrs. Powell

(L. to R.) Doug Flutie (profile), Franco Nuschese, Sergio Marchionne, Philip Piccigallo and Anthony Fauci watching tenor Michael Amante’s NELA finale tribute to the troops SUMMER 2013 21 ITALIAN AMERICA

SIF Executive Director/CEO Dr. Philip Piccigallo introducing honoree Sergio Marchionne

Ralph Gilles, CEO of SRT; General Holiefield UAW vice president; and SIF honoree, Sergio Marchionne at the SRT Viper that Chrysler Group LLC donated to the SIF

(L. to R.) Honoree Gary Sinise with General and Mrs. Powell and the SIF’s Philip Piccigallo ITALIAN AMERICA SUMMER 2013 21

LCPL Dustin Sargo, U.S. Marine Corps received the 2013 Wounded Warriors Project/SIF Scholarship but was unable to attend the award ceremony.

Harrison Balistreri receives the Frank J. De Santis Scholarship from OSIA Grand Lodge President of California Maria Fassio Pignati.

Raymond Bartolucci presented with the 2013 National Education & Leadership Award. (L. to R.): SIF Chairman Joseph DiTrapani, SIF Vice President Anthony J. Baratta, Raymond Bartolucci, SIF President Emeritus Paul S. Polo.

Donata Secondo receives the Banfi Educational Scholarship for a Finer Wine World from John and Pamela Mariani, owners of Castello Banfi Vineyards.

The 2013 Sons of Italy Foundation National Scholarship Winners SUMMER 2013

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Adrienne Visani receiving the Frank D. Privitera Family Scholarship from the Privitera Family.

(L. To R.): SIF Trustee Philip J. Privitera, Presley Privitera, Adrienne Visani, Peyton Privitera, Toni-Ann Privitera

Law Student Christopher Pagliarella receiving the National Italian American Bar Association/Sons of Italy Foundation Scholarship. (L. to R.): OSIA National Historian Richard Della Croce, Christopher Pagliarella, and the Honorable Francis M. Allegra, U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Singer Nova Y. Payton with a choir provided the Gala entertainment

Tenor Michael Amante during the evening’s rousing finale to the troops

(L. to R.) NIH’s Dr. Anthony Fauci; former NFL quarterback Doug Flutie; and the Alzheimer Association’s Harry Johns SUMMER 2013 23 ITALIAN AMERICA

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Adam Zufall receives the Charles Evans Foundation Scholarship from Linda J. Munson, the foundation’s president.

Mia Di Rienzo receives the Italian Language Scholarship from SIF President Vincent Sarno.

Elizabeth Gaccione receives the Henry Salvatori Memorial Scholarship from Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases.

“I would like to leave you with one final thought. It has to do with the importance of choosing hope. Not wishful thinking, but hope driven by the courage to assume the responsibility for our actions. Our technical and communication advances have made this a smaller world, but we are too often pulled apart by ethnic, political, social and religious differences. The Sons of Italy Foundation provides a shining example of humanity at its best, caring for each other and celebrating our diversity instead of letting it divide us. I hope that the Fiat-Chrysler partnership, reaching across cultures, can also serve as a symbol of hope in a world whose people need to learn to live together. All of us need to summon the will to make our time an age of action and hope.” Excerpt from acceptance speech of Sergio Marchionne at the Sons of Italy Foundation 2013 NELA Gala.

Photos by Max Taylor SUMMER 2013

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News from National

WHAT NATIONAL DOES FOR YOU

The Washington Post’s “Toxic Tactics” Earlier this year, the Washington Post ran an editorial about Silvio Berlusconi that also charged Italy with anti-Semitism during World War II. OSIA National Executive Director Philip Piccigallo sent a letter to the editor detailing the Italian wartime rescue of the Jews.The Post ignored it so we are running it below.

With reference to the editorial, “Berlusconi’s toxic tactics” (Jan. 30), that rightly criticizes Berlusconi’s indefensible defense of Mussolini, the editorial unfortunately leaves the impression that there was widespread persecution of the Jews in Italy during World War II. It is important to clarify that although the Fascist government passed racial laws that discriminated against Jews and other minorities, Italians – including Italian military officers and diplomats -- broke those laws, risking their lives to help Jews – many of them refugees from Nazidominated countries.

Italian military in Italian-occupied territories in Yugoslavia, Greece and France refused to help round up Jews and hand them over to the Nazis. In Rome, Pope Pius XII ordered convents and monasteries to open their doors to Jews – even hiding families in the Vatican and in his summer home, Castel Gandolfo. In Assisi, a famous underground network created false identity papers and passports that saved all 300 Jewish refugees who had fled there from other parts of Europe.

In the south, the internment camps where Mussolini sent his political enemies as well as Jews were far different

from the concentration camps in Germany and Poland. In the biggest camp, Ferramonti di Tarsi in southern Italy, for example, the 3,800 Jews interned there (of which only 141 were Italian) were allowed to receive care packages of food and clothing as well as mail. Families were kept together.

No one was killed, tortured or harmed. Instead, the authorities helped the internees organize a nursery, library, school, theater and a synagogue. The director of the camp and a Capuchin monk repeatedly protected the internees from deportation to Germany, as the Nazis ordered, and eventually released all of them.

Bear in mind, that many of these rescue efforts took place in 1943 after Italy capitulated and was itself occupied by the Nazis. It is estimated that 80 percent of the Jews in Europe perished during the war, but thanks to the heroism and humanity of the Italian people, more than 40,000 Jews in Italy survived, according to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

OSIA National Executive Director, Washington, D.C.

OSIA Founder Descendant Interns at National HQ Every summer, the Sons of Italy’s national headquarters in Washington, DC gives an Italian American college student the chance to intern in its offices. This year’s intern, Brandon Pinto, happens to be the great great grandson of Dr. Vincenzo Sellaro, who founded the Order in 1905.

Brandon, 20, is from Demarest, N.J. A middle child, he will be a junior this fall at the University of Maryland where he is majoring in communications with a minor in technology entrepreneurship. “I have a passion for sports and would love working in the sports industry,” he says.

“I am also very interested in marketing and social media.”

He studied Italian for four years at his high school and has visited all the major cities and Pompeii. “Sorrento and Florence were my two favorite spots and I can’t wait to go back eventually,” he says.

SUMMER 2013 25 ITALIAN AMERICA

Brandon traces his connection to Dr. Sellaro through his father, Ron, a managing director at a telecommunications firm. One of Vincenzo Sellaro’s daughters was Ron’s grandmother. Before coming to intern at OSIA, Brandon knew his great great Summer intern grandfather was had founded the Brandon Pinto, Dr. Order and also established Columbus Sellaro’s great great Italian Hospital in 1902 where all grandson, at work at the Sons of Italy the staff spoke Italian, but Brandon national headquarters didn’t know much about the Order. in Washington, D.C. “I knew that OSIA had done a lot of [Photo: Krystyne Hayes] charity work and I can now say that I am very proud to work at the Sons of Italy,” he says. We are proud to have him!

ITALIAN AMERICA SUMMER 2013 25

OSIA Nation ®

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

VIRGINIA

CALIFORNIA

For the past 13 years, the Peninsula Italian American Lodge #2145 in Newport News has participated in the Hampton International Children’s Festival in April. Members design a craft so children will learn about Italy.

This year, they made macaroni necklaces. Lodge member Brenda Wrightington painted these necklaces. Over 1,000 children got “passports” that were stamped by each country’s table they visited. Afterwards, the lodge donated left-over materials to a local Montessori school. Brenda also prepared maps of Italy with the regions highlighted and the food from that region. The lodge also raises funds for its charities by selling Italian memorabilia (shirts, hats, key chains, etc.) at three local festivals held every fall, according to Lodge President Michelle Romanello.

One of the Sons of Italy’s lodges’ most important obligations is honoring the men and women who died in the line of duty, protecting their community and our nation. Keeping with this tradition, the Grand Lodge of California announced the formation of its newest lodge, the Ryan Bonaminio Lodge #2879 in Riverside last June. Officer Bonaminio, a local policeman and Iraqi War veteran, was shot and killed in the line of duty November 10, 2010. He was 27 years old. Present at the inauguration were many OSIA state officers and committee chairs and civic leaders, including Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz.

The lodge presented Ryan’s father, Joseph Bonaminio, with a framed photograph of his late son.

Lodge member Brenda Wrightington working on her pasta necklaces.

NEW YORK What is their secret? The Rockland Lodge 2176 in Blauvelt is consistently increasing its membership. Founded in 1970, by 2008, it had only 67 members and was in danger of closing. Last June, it swore in 14 new members, bringing current enlistment to nearly 195 men. Much of the credit goes to Past Lodge President Kenny Lee who initiated a membership drive that continued under Immediate Past President Tom Buzzel and current President Nick Sfraga. With the enormous success of the lodge’s annual Italian Feast, held in September, many men joined to support their heritage and their community. See their site: www.blauveltsonsofitaly.org

Rockland Lodge’s newest members are sworn in.

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Photo l to r: State President Maria Fassio Pignati, Joseph Bonaminio holding the photograph of his son, and newly installed Lodge President Marsha Bolls Scribner.

GOT A GOOD STORY? Have you or your lodge done something remarkable that makes a difference to your community or promotes our heritage?

Send details with your lodge’s name and number (photo optional) to: ITALIAN AMERICA Magazine, 219 E Street NE, Washington, DC 20002 or E-mail ddesanctis@osia.org. Include daytime phone number.

Entries not acknowledged and photos not returned unless requested.

ITALIAN AMERICA

OSIA Nation ®

OSIA LODGES AT WORK OHIO

Special recognition ROY BARBIERI, Esq., of the New Haven Lodge #37 in Branford, CT, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, a national organization of 225 independent commercial arbitrators, who have distinguished themselves within the profession, and devote time to commercial arbitration.

ARTHUR COLA, a member in Burlington, WI, read from his books at the Italian American Museum in New York City’s Little Italy last August.

He also did book signings of his novels, The Stone Cutter Genius, The Brooch and Stolen Christmas.

DAVID COPPOLA, a holistic expert and author, in the Upper Keys Lodge #2943 of Key Largo, FL, has published a book on holistic medicine, The Wisdom of Emotions: Building Genuine Happiness and Finding Inner Peace. See www.DrDavidCoppola.com JOE & HEIDI FIORENTINO, National At-Large members in Illinois, ran a benefit event where Joe taught self-defense to underprivileged and special needs kids in The Next Contender Foundation last June.

PHILIP R. PICCIGALLO, OSIA’s national executive director, represented the Order and its philanthropic arm, the Sons of Italy Foundation, at a ceremony at Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland last June that presented a custom-designed modified van to Captain Edward “Flip” Klein (West Point ’06) and his wife, Jessica. In Afghanistan last October, Capt. Klein lost three limbs to an IED. The van was presented by Help Our Military Heroes (HOMH). OSIA and SIF are also strong supporters of the Wounded Warrior Project.

Homeless children in Akron got a special Christmas last year, thanks to the Akron Sons of Italy Lodge #685, whose members collected, donated, and wrapped over 300 toys, games, art and school supplies as well as clothing and hygiene products for children served by Project RISE (Realizing Individual Strength through Education). RISE is a federally funded program that involves Akron’s public schools, local shelters, and the community. It provides supplemental educational services to nearly 1,000 homeless children and teens.

Project RISE delivered the lodge’s gifts to local shelters five days before Christmas. In March, the lodge was honored during the Akron Public Schools Volunteer Banquet and their gesture made the local newspapers.

This marked the lodge’s fourth year participating in Project RISE.

THE ROMA LODGE #71 in Washington, D.C. celebrated its 100th anniversary last June. In 1913, it merged with an older lodge, founded in 1911, six years after OSIA was established, according to President Nina Baccanari, who believes hers is “the oldest continuously meeting lodge in the Order.”

FLORENCE “FLO” SALTARELLI of the Pompeo Coppini Lodge # 2712 in San Antonio, TX, conducts the all-volunteer Saltarelli String Orchestra, founded by her late husband 45 years ago. A violinist, Flo now 85, is a retired public school music teacher. Her orchestra gives a monthly concert. In April, the City of San Antonio and State of Texas gave her an award for the orchestra’s 45th anniversary.

Akron Sons of Italy Lodge members doing good work for homeless children.

Attention All Lodge Officers!

Are your members complaining that they are not receiving their magazines? Here’s some information that might help them. As lodge officers, you must send the names and addresses of all new members to your state’s Grand Lodge.

You also must inform your Grand Lodge of all address corrections and changes, too! It is best to do this every month.

Grand Lodge contact information is listed at www.osia.org under “About OSIA” or call OSIA National at 202/547 2900.

Grand and Subordinate Lodges must observe the following deadlines in sending their updated mailing lists to ABR, which prepares the labels for our magazine mailings. They are: December 1 – winter issue March 1 – spring issue June 1 – summer issue Sept 1 – fall issue SUMMER 2013 27 ITALIAN AMERICA

ITALIAN AMERICA SUMMER 2013 27

®

The Commission for Social Justice

fighting defamation

The CSJ Perspective

By SantinA Haemmerle, CSJ National President

This one is a first! Finally, the media have paid attention to a recent case of negative stereotyping, forcing the perpetrator to apologize. All this happened thanks to the efforts of our alert OSIA members in New York and joint efforts by me; OSIA Grand Lodge of New York President Joseph F. Rondinelli; and New York State CSJ Chairman Louis Gallo. Here’s the story.

Next November, New York’s Nassau County on Long Island will elect a new county executive, as head of its executive branch. The post is similar to that of mayors and governors. Two Democrats are vying to be their party’s candidate in a coming primary: former Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Adam Haber, a businessman.

Last June, Mr. Haber ran a negative ad on Cablevision Channel 12, the largest television station on Long Island. The spot features “hacks” toasting the good old days of Suozzi patronage [when he was county exec] guzzling wine; slurping pasta; and menacing a lone guest who dares to criticize Suozzi.

NYS GL President Joe Rondinelli put out a “call to action” to all OSIA members in his state, urging them to send letters of protest to Newsday, Long Island’s biggest newspaper. He also asked them to contact Mr. Haber’s campaign headquarters, giving them the address and phone number. Finally, in a stroke of genius, Joe encouraged them to go on Facebook or Twitter to ask friends and relatives to add their voices to ours.

Meantime, Lou Gallo and I sent a letter via e-mail to Newsday, demanding that Mr. Haber apologize and pull

the political ad immediately.

The next day, the newspaper ran a feature article entitled “Italian Group Assails Ad.” News 12 Long Island picked up the story; interviewed me and aired the story on TV. As a result of these efforts, Mr. Haber capitulated. He pulled the ad and apologized!

We add this victory to the defeat of the California measure that would have replaced Columbus Day with Native American Day; and the success of the North Shore School District in New York that returned Italian as one of the required languages a high school student there needs to study in order to graduate.

But even more significant is that our members in California and New York worked together under the leadership of people like California Grand Lodge President Maria Fassio Pignati and New York’s Joseph Rondinelli and Louis Gallo. The unity and cooperation that brought us such success are evidence that we are, indeed, making progress.

It feels good, very good to leave on such a high note.

For the past four years, I have been your CSJ national president. Soon you will have a new leader. I leave with the CSJ leadership at the local and state levels at an extraordinary level of quality. Thank you all for the support you gave me during my two terms as your CSJ national president. I cannot close without thanking our OSIA National President Joseph DiTrapani, for his support and encouragement.

I leave office, but I don’t leave you, our CSJ and our beloved Order. This is “ciao” and not “addio.”

Proposed Italian Museum for Philly Italian Americans in the City of Brotherly Love want to establish the first Italian Museum of Philadelphia, featuring the contributions Italians have made to there.

“Many are unaware that Columbus’s expedition in 1492 was funded by the Medici, and the first boat service to Italy left Philadelphia in 1760,” says supporter Michael DiPilla.

Once 18th century America’s busiest port for international trade, Philadelphia was home to nearly 100 Italians. DiPilla says the city’s first Italians include Giuseppe SUMMER 2013

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Batacchi, the first Italian surgeon (1765); Giovanni Gualdo, the first importer of wines (1767); and Vincenzo Pelosi, who opened the first Italian restaurant in 1784;. The museum also will showcase Italian music, visual arts, cuisine, winemaking and genealogy research. For more The proposed information, call 215/922-4067. Email: site for Philapostmaster@philadelphiaitalians.com. delphia’s first Italian museum.

Web: www.phildelphiaitalians.com ITALIAN AMERICA

Letters to the Editor Re your article, “Italian American Crime Fighters” in the spring 2013 issue and specifically, with regard to retired detective, Frank Serpico. I write to refute the article’s reporting that corrupt fellow officers did not come to his aid when he was shot because he was a whistle-blower.

I was a NYC police officer for 14 years and was on patrol the night Detective Serpico was shot. Many units from all precincts within the 14th Division acknowledged and responded to the call to aid a fellow police officer, including myself and many other brother officers. Detective Serpico was rushed to Greenpoint Hospital in a patrol car. A few moments later, a call for blood donations went out. I responded, but was told that more than enough volunteers were present. I resumed patrol and completed my tour. I was appalled, angered and embarrassed when I read “he was shot in the face and fellow officers did not come to his aid” since I knew the facts as I lived them that night.

The Perfect Gift Looking for a unique present for family or friends? Give the gift of your rich Italian American heritage with a one-year subscription to Italian America magazine, the most widely read publication in the U.S. for people of Italian descent. We will contact your gift recipient telling him or her (or them) of your present. Fill out the form below and return to us ASAP.

During my police career, I worked with many brave and incorruptible fellow officers so it is impossible for me to think that a member of New York’s Finest, especially one of Italian American heritage, would not come to the aid of a person who is in need, no matter who he or she may be. I hope my eye-witness account will give your readers a better idea of what really happened that night.

Louis A. Tannazzo, New York City Editor’s Note: Mr. Tannazzo is a retired NYC police detective whose career ended when he was injured in the line of duty. We apologize if our article gave the impression that corruption was rampant in the NYC Police Department. That was far from our intent. Our account of the night Det. Serpico was shot was based on Peter Maas’ biography of him and the 1973 film adaptation of it. We thank retired detective Tannazzo for helping to balance the scales.

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SUMMER 2013 29 ITALIAN AMERICA

GIFT SUBSCRIPTION Italian America Magazine 219 E Street, NE Washington, DC 20002

ITALIAN AMERICA SUMMER 2013 29

Italian America The Official Publication of

The Order Sons of Italy in America 219 E Street N.E. Washington, DC 20002 Tel: 202/547-2900 Web: www.osia.org OSIA National Executive Director Philip R. Piccigallo, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief Dona De Sanctis, Ph.D. ddesanctis@osia.org Contributing Editors Eryn Balch Carol Elfo Cummings Rick Black Vito Salvo Graphic Designers Krystyne Sacchetti Hayes Diane Vincent

Italian America is the official publication of the Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA), the largest and longest-established organization of American men and women of Italian heritage. Italian America provides timely information about OSIA, while reporting on individuals, institutions, issues, and events of current or historical significance in the Italian-American community nationwide.

Italian America (ISSN: 1089-5043, USPS: 015-735) is published quarterly in the winter, spring, summer and fall by OSIA, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. © 2013 Order Sons of Italy in America. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any method without permission of the editor is prohibited.

Statements of fact and opinion are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily imply an opinion on the part of the officers, employees, or members of OSIA. Mention of a product or service in advertisements or text does not mean that it has been tested, approved or endorsed by OSIA, the Commission for Social Justice, or the Sons of Italy Foundation. Italian America accepts query letters and letters to the editor. Please do not send unsolicited manuscripts. Italian America assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Annual subscriptions are $20, which are included in dues for OSIA members. Single copies are $2.98 each.

OSIA MEMBERS: Please send address changes to your local lodge. Do not contact the OSIA National Office.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Italian America, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002. Subscriptions are available through the OSIA National Office, 219 E Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. OSIA membership information is available at (800) 552-OSIA or at www.osia.org. Archives are maintained at the Immigration History Research Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minn.

Printing by Printing Solutions Inc., Sterling, Va. To advertise: Call Pat Rosso at 215/206-4678 or email her at pieassociates @comcast.net. Also see www.osia.org for advertising rates, specs, demographics, etc.

SUMMER SUMMER 2013 2013 30 30

By Joseph DiTrapani, OSIA National President As I submit my final “Last Word” column to you, OSIA members and officers throughout the country, I do so with equal measures of pride, humility, and relief. Pride in having served as your OSIA National President for four years. Humility in knowing that you have entrusted this singular responsibility to me. Finally, a sense of sincere relief that I have done my best with the invaluable help of my colleagues on the Supreme Council and you, the members, to complete what I set out to do in 2009. I think we have been true to our Mission.

First, we have worked hard to bring the overall finances of the Supreme Lodge into balance by reviewing every expenditure with a keen eye. Wherever possible or plausible, we cut costs by renegotiating contracts, eliminating equipment lease and service agreements, raising insurance deductibles, and replacing telephone and mail usage with electronic and IT technology. Our National Office staff sacrificed personally, working harder with the same or fewer benefits. Supreme Council members footed their own travel and hotel bills for two Supreme Lodge Sessions. Together, we made a substantial difference.

Next, we underscored the “oneness” of our national organization by conducting Executive and Plenary Sessions, and (soon) two National Conventions in various cities and sections of our country. By doing so, we celebrated OSIA’s unique position as the one truly national and most prominent voice on behalf of the nation’s Italian Americans. At our gatherings, we discussed issues of great importance to the future of OSIA and the Italian American community in a democratic and civil manner, without rancor or emotional posturing. We emphasized fraternity, fairness, and politeness.

We advanced the Mission of the Order in so many ways: our universally popular national publication, Italian America magazine continues to please ever-wider audiences; our website , www.osia.org, continues to improve and garner awards; our Social Media outreach continues to broaden, with the OSIA Face Book, Twitter and daily Blog reaching now many thousands of followers and friends; our annual salute to Italian American education, philanthropy, and excellence, the Sons of Italy Foundation’s National Education & Leadership Awards (NELA) Gala, continues to wow and awe nationally and globally influential audiences who cannot help but see OSIA/SIF in a different light after experiencing NELA; and our philanthropy continues to thrive, as we find ever new ways to make our communities, nation and world a better place.

A special note of thanks and a salute goes to my father, Sam, who probably, more than anyone else, would have been the proudest of my role in OSIA. Finally, I could have done none of this without the tireless support and love of my wife, Carol, and my entire family.

I am deeply proud and honored that you have afforded me this opportunity to serve these past four years. From the bottom of my heart, please accept my gratitude, and know that I will always cherish these memories – even as I work hard to build new ones with you and OSIA. Together, let us firmly commit to preserving the legacy of OSIA, while ensuring its vibrant future. Sempre Avanti!

ITALIAN ITALIANAMERICA AMERICA

The Sons of Italy Shoppers Guide

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Remember! Sons of Italy members receive a special discount of 15%! Repeat advertisers also receive a discount. For more information, contact Pat Russo at 215/206-4678 or email her at pieassociates@comcast.net.

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SUMMER 2013 31 ITALIAN AMERICA

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Problems With Your Magazine?

Italian America magazine is produced by the Sons of Italy’s national headquarters in Washington, D.C. Every month, the national office receives letters, phone calls and emails from readers who are not receiving their magazine.

“The reasons are varied, but the solutions are simple,” says Editor-in-Chief Dona De Sanctis. “Simply follow the instructions below and the problem will be solved,” she says. So….if you are: A LODGE MEMBER: You can only verify, correct or change your address through your local lodge. Please do not contact the national office. It cannot accept address changes.

A LODGE PRESIDENT: To ensure that all new and renewing members of your lodge get their magazines and that former or non-paying members do not get it for free, you must send updated member rosters to your Grand Lodge on a regular basis. Check with your Grand Lodge to find out its deadlines.

A GRAND OR SUBORDINATE LODGE REPRESENTATIVE: Please update your rosters with ABR Services every three months according to the deadlines for 2011: Mar. 1, June 1, Sept.

1, and Dec. 1. Refer to the instructions sent to you in late October. If you have any questions, please contact Diane Crespy at dcrespy@osia.org or 202/547-2900.

A SUBSCRIBER OR NATIONAL ATLARGE MEMBER ONLY: Please send address changes to Laura Kelly at the National Office. Phone: 202.547.2900, email: lkelly@osia.org, or postal mail: Laura Kelly, Sons of Italy National Office, 219 E St. NE, Washington, DC 20002.

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ITALIAN AMERICA

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On The Bookshelf Books by and about Italian Americans

Imagine The Sopranos transplanted to the French countryside . . .

Soon to be the major motion picture

THE FAMILY

starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Tommy Lee Jones

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Price: $18.45, including shipping. To order, send check payable to SONS OF ITALY FLORIDA FOUNDATION, 14 South Jupiter Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33755 - (PH: 727/447-6890) Or contact: vincenzad@verizon.net

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REMINDER Order your books through OSIA and Amazon.com. Just go to www.osia. org, click on “Sons of Italy Book Club” and choose either a Book Club selection or another book. Orders are shipped within 24 hours. As a special bonus, Amazon.com will donate a percentage of book sales ordered on our site to OSIA.

ITALIAN AMERICA

On The Bookshelf Books by and about Italian Americans

When in Rome, cast your wish and watch it come true...

“Sciatu Mio,

you are the reason why I breathe.”

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A rich and multi-layered romantic novel.

Historical events are interwoven with stories for control of the sulfur mines in Sicily, and the wars between the Irish and Italians for control of the N.Y. docks.

“Family Tale Captivates with Sicilian intrique, romance, drana and history.”

- SUN NEWS “A Riveting True Story...would make a Compelling movie.” - CREATESPACE

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“An Earnest, Vivid Portrait about a family that stands up to the Mafia.”

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Italian Identity in the Kitchen, or Food and the Nation massimo montanari Translated by Beth Archer Brombert “Eminently readable, fascinating, and a pleasure to read.”

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Travel and Tours to Italy

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Italian Gifts Christmas Ornaments Souvenirs Home Décor Apparel For information call: 585-381-5540 Or email: BearXpress@aol.com

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ITALIAN AMERICA