A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear Members and Friends

/Cari Soci ed Amici,

As we get into the lazy, hazy days of summer – with family vacations, “prepping” our children who are going off to university, working in our gardens, relaxing at the pool – let’s not forget that AMHS does not take a break. As many of you have come to realize, AMHS DOES remain active and involved throughout the summer! On July 27, we will bring another great program/presentation to Casa Italiana, on three forms of art: mosaics, ceramics, and painting. We will welcome some very talented local artists who will help to explain their form of art, how it has been developed, etc.

We will also hear from the 2nd of our 2013- 2014 scholarship recipients, Christina Iovino. On Sunday, August 17, we will celebrate our annual Ferragosto picnic on the grounds of the Villa Rosa Nursing Home in Mitchellville, MD. This continues to be a highlight of our summer, where AMHS invites friends of the entire Italian American community to join us in food, fun, games (bocce, tombola), and music. This picnic is free – we just ask members, friends and guests to bring their own food. Everything else is provided by AMHS. Additional details for both of these events can be found elsewhere in the Notiziario.

In closing, I must express my deepest appreciation to the Silent Auction planning committee, the hospitality committee, and everyone else who helped at the June 1 Silent Auction. As you will read on page 2 of the Notiziario, the event overall was a great success in terms of meeting a fundamental objective – to raise money for our Scholarship Endowment Fund. Unfortunately, we did not have a lot of participation by our membership, despite the fact that we had advertised the event and promoted it for close to two months.

Given the inordinate amount of work that went into the planning and execution of this event, the Executive Committee plans to take some time to reflect on the results of the auction and the lack of appeal amongst our membership, to determine whether such an event should be held again at a future date. I wish everyone a happy and joy-filled summer, and I look forward to seeing you at the July 27 program and the August 17 Ferragosto picnic.

Cordiali saluti,

Maria D’Andrea