A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Dear members and friends:

With the return of baseball, the completion of March Madness, and the full blooming of the Cherry Blossoms, we can be sure that we have crossed the threshold of spring. The month of May brings us warmer weather, pretty flowers, and the prospect of additional events sponsored or supported by our Society. Our expectation is that these events will be as pleasant and enjoyable as our March 24th general meeting, in which AMHS member Kirsten Keppel presented her wonderful film on the Tradition of St. Joseph’s Table. That meeting also marked our return to Alfio’s La Trattoria in Chevy Chase, Maryland, after an absence of a number of years. Alfio’s did a superb job of welcoming us back, with excellent food and service. Together with Kirsten’s presentation, it made for another very successful and informative program. A date to set aside in the month of May is Sunday the 19th, when the AMHS will again co-sponsor the annual Mass at Holy Rosary Church commemorating the assassination of Judge Giovanni Falcone. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the assassination by the Mafia. Our society, as well as a number of other local Italian-American organizations, will honor the memory of Judge Falcone at the 10:30 Mass. The guest speaker will be Vincenzo Romeo, the law enforcement attaché at the Italian Embassy, who will make brief remarks at the conclusion of the Mass. There will be a reception following the Mass at Casa Italiana. Judge Falcone is a real Italian hero, and there is no disagreement that he represents the very best of Italy and deserves the admiration and respect of not only all Italians and Italian-Americans but of everyone who values courage, the pursuit of justice, and the rule of law. Our next general meeting will take place on June 9th at the Casa Italiana Sociocultural Center. The meeting will feature a presentation by Professor Carmine Vittoria, who will talk about the events of World War II in the Naples area as witnessed by himself as a child and his family. The subject matter informs his recently published book “Bitter Chicory to Sweet Espresso,” which is full of remarkable insights and observations. His talk will undoubtedly be interesting, so please plan to attend. If you do, you will also get to savor the excellent cuisine of Fontina Grill. Speaking of June 9th, take a look at Maria D’Andrea-Yothers’ article in this newsletter on the Society’s newly amended bylaws. We will hold a vote for their approval at the June general meeting, so Maria’s article will provide useful background. We are in debt to Maria, Lucio D’Andrea and Jeff Clark for their work in updating and consolidating our bylaws. Over the past month of April, the AMHS Scholarship Committee (Peter Bell, Lucio D’Andrea, Romeo Sabatini, Lourdes Tinajero and myself) was busy evaluating the applications for the two 2019-2020 joint National Italian American Foundation (NIAF)-AMHS scholarships. As usual, the quality of the applicants was extremely high and the task of selecting two winners extremely challenging. The number of applicants continues to increase each year, which is a sign of the value and attractiveness of our program. You will find out who this year’s winners are in the next issue of the Notiziario. Further to the work of the Scholarship Committee, two of its members, Peter Bell and I, visited NIAF in April to deliver the Society’s $4000 contribution to the scholarship program. NIAF matches that amount and together the two organizations jointly fund the program. The collaboration offers a good example of how the Italian-American community can work together to promote and sustain Italian language and culture in the years ahead. Thank you for reading and for your support of our society’s activities.

Best regards,

Ray LaVerghetta