UPCOMING SOCIETY EVENTS & ACTIVITIES JULY 31, 2016 PROGRAM WILL BE A “SOCIAL”
Our next program, on July 31, 2016 at 1:00pm in Casa Italiana, will be a “social” get-together. We haven’t had one in a while, and thought our members might like to have a change. So we hope you will join us for an enjoyable afternoon of socializing with your fellow AMHS members and guests. Children and grandchildren are welcome to come.
We will have music, games such as tombola, and a delicious lunch catered by one of everybody’s favorites, Three Brothers Italian Restaurant, with an opportunity to enjoy good food, good music and camaraderie with your friends. As a special treat, AMHS board member Sergio Fresco will play the accordion. And if you have talent as a musician or singer, this is an opportunity for you to show us what you can do!! If anyone is inspired to sing any of the popular Neapolitan songs, we will have our Neapolitan songbook, put together by AMHS Vice President Lynn Sorbara, so the audience can join in. In addition to the social aspect of the event, we will hear from Christina Iovino, one of the AMHS/NIAF Scholarship recipients for the 2015-2016 academic year.
A raffle will be conducted with some wonderful prizes, the proceeds of which benefit the AMHS/NIAF scholarships. So plan to join us for an afternoon of fun!! Your early reservations, by check or online via the AMHS website, would be very much appreciated. The deadline for paid reservations is July 28, 2016. Please see the flyer for the meeting for additional details.
AUGUST 14, 2016 FERRAGOSTO PICNIC
Please be sure to join AMHS on Sunday, August 14, 2016 for the annual Ferragosto picnic, held on the grounds of the Villa Rosa Nursing Home in Mitchellville, MD. The picnic starts at 12:30pm and concludes at 5:00pm. In keeping with tradition, the day will be filled with fun, food and friendship. AMHS will provide all paper products and beverages. We ask that members, friends, and family bring their own food – as this is a picnic, we are very big on sharing our food. (This year, we might explore having the food set up on tables, a type of potluck, so it is shared with all). Please see flyer in this issue of the Notiziario for additional details. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions president@abruzzomoliseheritagesociety.org).
ALL ARE WELCOME!
VILLA ROSA FESTIVAL SET FOR SEPTEMBER
11, 2016 By Nancy DeSanti Mark your calendar now for a day of fun and fellowship at the next Villa Rosa Festival which will be held on Sunday, September 11, 2016. As in past years, AMHS will have a booth stocked with information about our Society, the regions of Abruzzo and Molise, and merchandise. As usual, we will be selling wine. Again this year, we will be recruiting volunteers to help out at this day-long event which runs from 11 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. You will receive an email in late August to solicit your help to volunteer. We can use your help!
AMHS Past President Omero Sabatini will have a stand to sell his book, which is a translation of “I Promessi Sposi,” considered one of the most important works of Italian literature and a favorite of Pope Francis. The Festival will of course feature good food, such as homemade pizza, polenta, Italian sausage, cannoli, gelato and more. Entertainment will be provided by “The NoWhere Men,” for those who love the Motown Sound, and by the “i-Talians the Band” who will perform popular Italian songs everyone knows and loves. Of course, an event such as this requires a lot of hard work and months of planning and organizing. If you would like to help out, please contact Darlene DiBattista, who is once again in charge of organizing the event, at ddibatt@yahoo.com.
Those of you who have come to this popular festival in years past know that it’s a wonderful opportunity to have fun with family and friends. It’s also an opportunity to raise money for Villa Rosa and Holy Rosary Church. And there will be an outdoor Mass at 11 a.m., celebrated by Holy Rosary Pastor Ezio Marchetto. Some of you may remember the 50th anniversary of the Villa Rosa Festival in September 2012, where thousands of people gathered for an open-air festival with music, food, drinks and entertainment for children and adults.
(As we noted in the April 2016 AMHS Notiziario, on Tony Campitelli, the Abruzzese “Renaissance man” who was the architect of Villa Rosa, ground was broken in September 1963. A few days after the groundbreaking ceremony, which was attended by the Italian ambassador and the Apostolic Delegate, the first Villa Rosa Festival was held, and it was called “as authentic an Italian festival as can be expected outside Italy”). This sure sounds like an event not to be missed!!