This website will carry the last two President's Messages. If you need any previous Messages, please contact us from the “Contact Us” section of this website.

November 11, 2008

Brothers and Sisters,

I would like to report that there is quite a bit of activity in the Lodge, and it is all good. There is a new life in the Lodge and I am glad to see it. The excitement and activity is picking up and I am glad everyone is having fun.

We have just completed the financials on the spaghetti dinner scholarship fundraiser, and we have had the most successful spaghetti dinner ever. I would like to thank all the Lodge members, who worked the dinner, the student volunteers, all the people who donated desserts, those who donated gifts, those who attended and the generosity of everyone concerned. The food was delicious and I received many compliments regarding the dinners and the desserts. The sponsors this year were Matilda Chiapparelli’s Cookies, Cozy Closet, Christmas Tree Shops, Brown’s Orchard, Chick-Fil-A, Giant Food Store, Mason-Dixon Restaurant, Mignano Brothers Restaurant, Naylor Wine Cellars, Rutter’s Dairy, Sam’s Club, Saubel’s Market, Travel Concepts and Wal-Mart. Each of these local merchants donated something to the dinner to assist us in the fundraising effort. I want to thank each one for their support. The left over food was donated to the New Life for Children center in Glen Rock. In addition, the Lodge donated $500 to St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Also, the winner of the 50/50 drawing, Brother Bill Schmalzer, donated his winning proceeds, in the amount of $242.50, to the scholarship fund.

We are coordinating with the Maryland Line Fire Company on a bus trip to New York City. I think the busses are sold out but it is a good start for the upcoming bus trips the Lodge is planning. There have been discussions regarding trips to Washington, DC (museums and cherry blossoms in the spring), Wilmington, Delaware (Italian festival in June), New York City, Williamsburg, and more. I believe these bus trips will be starting in the spring and I look forward to the startup and success of this new activity. Watch the Activity Schedule on the website for details.

The Lodge has some additions since the last newsletter. Welcome to the following new members; Dr. Paul Stadler, Chuck Carey, Lisa Carey, Mary Jane Waro, Kristin Talarico, Bill Schmalzer, Teresa Hall, Chris Devlin, Chris Devlin, Jr. and Maria Conigliaro. Welcome Brothers and Sisters, I look forward to seeing you and spending time with all of you.

There is an open position of Chairperson of the Alzheimer’s Coin Drop fundraiser. This is an event that is setup (in the past) for one weekend a year. We collect money to donate to the Alzheimer’s Campaign. As the Chairperson, the coin drop and any other event you wish to hold will be solely dedicated to the Alzheimer’s donation. We have always had a lot of support for this event in the past and I would like to see it continue.

I would like to encourage everyone to use the website as much as possible. We have applications for new members, an activity schedule, and many more things on the site to keep you up to date on the activities of the Lodge. I have been trying to include some of the neighboring Lodge’s events on our calendar so anyone wishing to attend an event with another Lodge is welcome to do so.

This coming year (2009) is election year for the Lodge. All offices are up for election. The offices are: President, Vice President, Orator, Recording Secretary, Financial Secretary, Treasurer, Historian, Five (5) Trustees, Two (2) Masters/Mistresses of Ceremonies and a Sergeant-at-Arms (Guard). In February nominations will be accepted. At the March meeting, elections will be held and in April installation of the new officers will be conducted. Chairpersons of committees and activities are not elected positions and those positions are held until the chairperson of that committee or activity resigns.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Christmas Party. With the holidays just around the corner, I wish all of you, my Brothers and Sisters, a happy and healthy holiday season.

Fraternally,
Joe Colamarino, President
Mason-Dixon Lodge #2669
Order Sons of Italy in America

December 14, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May the Lord bless you and keep you and those close to you. This is a time of year for reflecting on the past, enjoying the present and looking with anticipation to the future. We should be grateful for all we have and be thankful for those who surround us with caring and love.

There are many things to report since my last newsletter. We held our annual spaghetti dinner fund raiser for the benefit of our scholarship fund on November 10. I would like to thank the local community for their attendance to the dinner. We served 30% more dinners than we did last year. This is a testament of the quality of the food and an increased publicity campaign. There were 52 volunteers serving over 300 people in three hours. We had lodge members, high school service hour volunteers and confirmation class volunteers working at the dinner. In addition to the volunteers and lodge members, many thanks to Rutter’s Dairy, Chic-Fil-A, Giant Foods, Mason-Dixon Restaurant, My Three Sons Restaurant, Naylor Vineyards, Sam’s Club, Saubel’s Market, Travel Concepts and Wal-Mart for their generous donations to our scholarship fundraising efforts. These supporters were generous with food items, and gift certificates. Please join me in thanking them for their continued support of the youth in our community.

The winner of the 50/50 raffle at the spaghetti dinner was Judith Hooper. When I called Judith to tell her she had won $185 in the drawing, she asked if she could donate it to our scholarship fund. Our Lodge would like to say, to Judith, thank you very much for your generosity. We have added this gift to the scholarship fund. In addition, Sylvia Seid won the raffle for the gift basket(s) this year. It was overflowing, so it took 2 baskets to carry everything.

We have had 6 more new members join our Lodge in the last month. I would like to welcome Anthony (Tony) Petrucci, Amanda Petrucci, Alex Petrucci, Anthony (Tony) Cirillo, Michele Cirillo and Joseph Cirillo. I have had long conversations with these families and I know they are going to be great additions to our Lodge. Welcome.

The Mason-Dixon Lodge #2669 scholarship program will kickoff the beginning of January. The applications will be available right after the holidays and also as a download off of our website. Eligibility requirements are included with the application. Also, the state scholarship forms are available. All state scholarships are $2,000 each. To be eligible for the state scholarship, the applicant, applicant’s parents or grandparents must be a member of the Order Sons of Italy in America for 2 years before the date of application. Please contact me for the state scholarship forms.

I would also like to announce that St. John the Baptist Catholic Church has a fundraiser in progress. If you have not heard, it is called the “21 Club”. Tickets are $20 each. I will have some at the monthly meetings. If you are interested in selling tickets or have any questions, please contact Kathy or Mary Jane in the church office at 235-2156.

Please note that Diane Alexander (work and personal reasons) and Andrea Colamarino (moving and graduate school) have submitted their resignations. They are still members of the Lodge but lack the time or the logistics to be able to perform their duties. Jeff Driftmyer will complete their terms for them and we will be looking for a new Financial Secretary.

Rose Driftmyer and I will be updating the website during the holidays and I am targeting completion by January 1, 2008. Most of the updates are minor but still need to be done. Please visit the site often, provide your comments to me and tell others about it. I think it is a great site and Rose has done a marvelous job in keeping the quality of our site very high.

The Lodge held our Christmas party on December 9th in Neumann Hall at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. Cele Bodani and Deb Pyne did a great job in the setup and organization of the party. “Daystar”, the Christian vocal group entertained everyone with Christmas carols and had everyone joined in during the singing. There were door prizes and voluntary gift exchanges. We also followed our new tradition of conducting a new member initiation ceremony during the party. As a special follow-up to the party, all the extra food was portioned into individual meals, by our high school volunteers, and I delivered them to the “New Life for Children Home” in Glen Rock. There were 19 women and children there and all were very grateful for the food, thoughts and prayers. There were soups and a bowl of candy made special for the children of the home. I cannot explain the feelings I get when I deliver these items to the residents. This is the second time in a month I have visited the home. I also delivered all the pasta, sauce, salads and a cake to the home after the spaghetti dinner.

Sadly, we have lost two Lodge members recently. Sister Florine Simpson and Brother Chuck Stoecker were called to heaven. We are saddened by their passing, but are consoled by the fact that they are with God and our Lord, Jesus Christ. We will miss them. Additionally, let us pray for the families of Florine and Chuck, that they find God’s strength at this difficult time.

In conclusion, I would like to say that it is an honor to represent such a wonderful group of people. In this season of thanks and giving, I feel blessed by the opportunity given to me. I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. I am looking forward to an even more exciting 2008 and meeting the goals we are setting for ourselves and the Lodge.

Fraternally,
Joe Colamarino, President
Mason-Dixon Lodge #2669
Order Sons of Italy in America