THE MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT

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 15th anniversary celebration on June 28; the July 26 general Society meeting; or the August 16 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 Notiziario. I am very pleased that our next Society-sponsored event – the general meeting on September 27, at Casa Italiana – will take us on a musical and food journey of Naples, whereby we will discover the history surrounding some of the most famous Neapolitan songs (e.g., “Finiculi Finiculà”); and enjoy traditional pizza margherita. This will be a very fun and social event, so we hope you can join us; be sure to read more about the meeting on page 3 of this issue. In addition to the above-mentioned social events and activities, the Society has been busy working to redesign the website and to develop a new logo, which you can find as the banner to this issue of the Notiziario. With the support of the website management committee (Helen Free, Sarah Scott, and myself), we are working with a web developer to create a crisp, clean, more modern look for the website. Of course, none of this would be possible without the wonderful foundation laid for us by Romeo Sabatini, who developed our existing website and has maintained its content for over 10 years! We hope to have the new site ready to launch by the end of September. In closing, we have a very critical issue to address, which requires a vote of the membership at the September 27 general Society meeting. To summarize the issue at hand, The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), which provides matching funds for the two AMHS annual scholarships, is turning its focus to building the Italian American Leadership Council (IALC), whereby a person or organization gives $2500/year to NIAF. In return, that person and/or organization receives several benefits, including invitations to participate in all activities open to the NIAF Board of Directors, like the Annual Leadership Retreat and the summer Mission to Italy. Furthermore, organizations that join the IALC will continue to receive matching scholarship funds and, every member of that organization becomes an affiliate (associate member) of NIAF. The Executive Committee received a presentation by NIAF President John Viola at its July meeting, and we have subsequently discussed this issue in great detail and have come up with a recommendation. 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 27 meeting.

Cordiali saluti,

Maria