A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear members and friends:

I hope that this note finds you safe and healthy. It is remarkable to think that, as we move closer to the fall, we are still very much in the midst of a dangerous pandemic — one that has taken the lives of thousands of Americans, Italians, Italian Americans, and people from all over the world. It has been a difficult crisis for many countries, including (and especially) our own. Throughout this pandemic, many of us have cancelled summer vacations, travel to Italy, celebrations of weddings and graduations, and all manner of social gatherings. It is of course appropriate not to lose sight of the fact that we are lucky to be alive and lamenting such inconveniences. One of these inconveniences has been the inability to get our AMHS community together and enjoy a good meal, an interesting presentation, and each other’s company. There is little doubt that, once we are able to resume physical gatherings, hopefully next year, we will have plenty to talk about, reflect on, and catch up on.

We already have multiple programs planned for our regular bimonthly general meetings next year. You can get an idea of what they are by reading First Vice President-Programs Nancy DeSanti’s article in this edition of the Notiziario. You will see that the high quality of speakers and presentations to which we have been accustomed will continue next year. In addition, please note that our September general meeting for this year, scheduled for the 20th, will actually take place — virtually. AMHS member and Board member Sonny Scafetta will speak about Italian American professional baseball players with roots in Abruzzo. Please remember to tune in at 1 PM on the 20th for a Zoom presentation (minus the food) of how these Italian Americans made their mark in America’s national pastime.

We will send out details on how to join in the presentation as we get closer to the date. Please also note that in this edition there is an article that introduces you to the AMHS scholarship winners for the 2020-2021 academic year. It provides some background on them and reprints the letters that they each have sent to the Society, in which they express their gratitude to the AMHS for the awards. This year is the first one since 2007 in which the Society has operated the scholarship program independently of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). In practice, this means that we fully administer the program and raise all the funds required for both scholarships. The program could not exist, of course, without the generosity of our members and friends, whose contributions to the year-end scholarship fundraising campaign and to other fund-raising events keep the program functioning and Italian culture alive across the generations.

I hope that you have been able to make at least one of the four virtual meetings that we have held in an effort to keep us together in some way during the pandemic. Participants in these meetings have watched a film with an Italian American theme before the get-together and then joined in on a Zoom discussion of the film, led by Italian American film producer Jim Toscano. While not the same as one of our Sunday afternoon lunches and presentations, the discussions have provided a way for AMHS members and friends to stay connected and were interesting and informative. Stay tuned for additional virtual events (such as the one on September 20th), while we wait for the time when we can safely get together again. Be safe and thank you for your continuing interest and support.

Best regards,

Ray LaVerghetta