PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
I hope that everyone enjoyed a fun and relaxing summer, whether you travelled far from home, or stayed nearby. I also hope you were able to participate in at least one or two Society events, including the very fun July 31 meeting, and/or the August 14 Ferragosto picnic. Each one of these events provided a wonderful opportunity for Society members, guests, and friends to interact in a warm and welcoming environment. Be sure to read about each of these activities elsewhere in this issue of the AMHS Notiziario.
The next Society-sponsored event will be held on Sunday, September 18 at Casa Italiana. We will hear from Dr. Laura Benedetti, who will speak about her book “Un paese di carta”: Three Generations of Women between Abruzzo and the U.S., as well as some time recently spent in L’Aquila, where she is from. This will be a very interesting program, and we hope you can join us; be sure to read more about the meeting on page 3 of this issue. We also hope you will come out on Sunday, September 11 to support the 52nd annual Italian Festival on the grounds of the Villa Rosa Nursing Home in Mitchellville, MD.
This is one of the “premier” Italian festivals of the Washington, DC region – as in year’s past, AMHS will sell the wine, and we will also have a booth where we showcase the regions of Abruzzo and Molise, and where we can promote the Society. You should have received an email, including a flyer, to promote this event. We are looking for volunteers to help; if you can, please contact me at president@abruzzomoliseheritagesociety.org. Please be sure to read Nancy DeSanti’s article about the festival on page 3; there is also a flyer to promote the event (with additional details) on page 12. In closing, there are two critical issues that I must bring to your attention.
The first issue is that the AMHS nominating committee (Ennio DiTullio, Lucio D’Andrea, Sergio Fresco, and Joe Novello) is looking for candidates for Secretary and the Board of Directors. If a committee member approaches you and asks you to serve, please do consider the request - we need officers who are dedicated to the mission and objectives of the Society, and who wish to make a positive and meaningful contribution to the operation of the Society.
The candidates will be announced in September, and members will vote on the candidates at the November 20 meeting. This is not the first time you have heard our appeal for help. Unfortunately, it has become a bit of a challenge to find able volunteers to serve as officers, and also to serve as chairs of our various committees.
The Executive Committee, comprised fully of volunteers, works tirelessly to effectuate the mission of the Society, and see that we remain successful and vibrant. We cannot do this without your help! Second, the membership will vote, at the September 18 meeting, on whether to formally affiliate with NIAF for a second year. Please see the following article to learn more about this issue, including the EC recommendation on which the membership will vote. I look forward to seeing you at the September 11 Italian Festival, and at the September 18 meeting.
Cordiali saluti,
Maria