Italian Education, Culture
& Language Committee
WORTH REPEATING
“Time
is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a
thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and
this too will be swept away.” ~ Marcus
Aurelius
Worthy State President, National Officers, State Officers,
Sisters, and Brothers:
We begin our final report as Coordinator of the Italian Education, Culture and Language Committee by expressing our
fraternal appreciation to our State President, Carlo Matteucci, for our
appointment and the opportunity to serve the New York State Lodges as Coordinator of the Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee during his
administration. Concurrently, we thank the Grand Council for their guidance and
support during our tenure.
We express
appreciation to our State Education Chair, Silvia Montemurro, State Language
Chair, Giulia Prestia, and our district chairs: Michael Cutillo, Carmelo Greco,
Biagio Isgro, Maryann Re, Tony Sclafani and Joseph Zingone, as well as our local
lodge liaisons, for their enthusiasm and support.
200TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI
July 4, 2007, marks the 200th anniversary of the
birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi. This “Hero of Two Worlds” will be honored by many.
Giuseppe Garibaldi is also the theme of this year’s Italian Heritage and
Culture Month in October. We strongly encourage our brother and sister lodges
to plan appropriate ceremonies and functions in July and October to honor the
life work of “Italy’s
Freedom Fighter.”
ITALIAN AMERICAN
MUSEUM
The Italian
American Museum
has purchased three contiguous turn-of-the-century buildings in Little Italy
that will become the museum’s permanent home. The attached four-story
structures are located at 189, 187 and 185 Grand Street, on the corner of
Mulberry Street-only feet away from where Dr. Sellaro founded OSIA. The museum
is paying $9 million for the trio of buildings in Little Italy, and the
conversion of the property is expected to run approximately $10 million. The
corner building, #189, houses what remains of the Stabile Bank, a small
institution that served newly arriving Italian immigrants from 1885 to 1932.
The bank has been preserved by Dr. Jerry Stabile, a retired cardiologist and
descendant of the bank’s founders. The bank’s vault and tellers’ cages remain
intact and will be kept that way by the museum. We are indebted to the Italian American Museum
for acquiring this property in the heart of Little Italy and thereby helping to
preserve the cultural heritage of our ancestors. We thank John Fratta, Founding
Past President of the Giuseppe Lodge for representing OSIA at the news
conference.
IECLC NYSOSIA WEB
SITE
We continue to receive heavy traffic to the NYS OSIA website
to view and download our Italian Heritage
& Culture Report posted on Monday mornings. We are very pleased with
this response. We also appreciate the many OSIA members who are receiving our
report and forwarding it to other Italian American organizations and their
members.
CONVENTION
The Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee will
have a workshop on “Little Italy” and an informational and cultural display
table at the convention.
GARIBALDI MEUCCI
MUSEUM
As an elected commissioner of the Museum, we are
collaborating with the Garibaldi Meucci Museum Chair, John Dabbene, on many
different projects. These materials will be available incrementally and
available for Italian Heritage and Culture Month, which celebrates the life of
Giuseppe Garibaldi. We strongly
encourage our brother and sister lodges to plan appropriate ceremonies and
activities in July and October to honor the life work of “Italy’s Freedom Fighter.”
SPEAKERS BUREAU
We are working with our state Education Chair, Prof. Silvia
Montemurro, on developing a “Speakers Bureau.” OSIA services the
community-at-large with many worthwhile causes and with the perpetuation of
Italian-American productivity. One way
to further our educational goals is to implement a series of guest speakers free
of charge who can present lectures at lodge membership meetings on various
topics not only on Italian heritage and culture but also on contemporary issues
within Italian-American lives. The availability for amassing these speakers can
easily be achieved through a coalition of agencies. Each county in New York State
should provide Consumer Help Brochures that list resources to
locate speakers from various agencies who address over one-hundred different
consumer topics. These speeches would keep us pro-active as Italian-Americans
and alert us to current consumer issues and community information in order to
facilitate a more conducive lifestyle overall.
Lodge Presidents would simply contact any agency from the brochure list
to arrange a speaking engagement before, during, or after membership meetings. Furthermore, advertising these guest speakers
in local and weekly home delivery newspapers under the section, “Upcoming
Events,” would also promote the potential for new membership, for it extends an
invitation to all in the community to attend the lectures as well as to learn
about OSIA firsthand. To empower with knowledge is key to success. If you have any questions, please contact
Sister Montemurro at (631) 242-7280.
ITALIAN HERITAGE
& CULTURE COMMITTEE OF NY
We are collaborating with Bro. Joseph Sciame, Chairman of
the Italian Heritage & Culture Committee of NY, in preparing an
authoritative list of Italians/Italian Americans who perished on September 11,
2001, for the Italian Consulate of New York.
ITALIAN HERITAGE
& CULTURE MONTH
October 2007 marks the 31st anniversary of
Italian Heritage & Culture Month. We strongly encourage our brother and
sister lodges to plan appropriate ceremonies and activities in October to honor
the “discover of the Americas,”
Christopher Columbus and the life work of “Italy’s Freedom Fighter,” Giuseppe
Garibaldi; and, plan other projects and activities which highlight the
achievements of Italians and Italian Americans.
THE LIGHTING
CEREMONY DINNER/DANCE
We will work with our state president and first lady in preparing
a cultural presentation for the evening’s festivity, the official kick-off of
Italian Heritage and Culture Month (October) for OSIA– This year’s theme is: Giuseppe Garibaldi: Hero of Two Worlds.
COMMISSION FOR
SOCIAL JUSTICE
The IECLC will be actively pursuing opportunities to develop
and implement programs/initiatives with the CSJ through productive and
supportive conversation with the CSJ president and executive Board.
ITALIAN LANGUAGE
CURRICULUM
The Curriculum Guide for the teaching of Italian has been
distributed to all our lodges. We encourage each lodge president to appoint an
Italian Language Committee Chair in their lodge and prepare a study program for
kick-off this September. There is no better way to pass on our Italian Culture
and Heritage than through the study of “la
bella lingua” (“the beautiful
language”).
NEW YORK STATE COLUMBUS DAY PARADES
We will be working with each of the IECLC District Chairs to
encourage greater participation from each lodge in this year’s Columbus Day Parades.
There is no more visible way to proclaim your respect and love for our heritage
and culture than to participate in the Columbus Day Parade. Make it a family
event!
CENTER FOR ITALIAN
STUDIES, STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY
We continue to participate in the many wonderful programs at
the Center for Italian Studies at Stony
Brook University.
Dr. Mario Mignone has a fine staff and they are dedicated to presenting
Italian/Italian American programs of significance to the community.
LITTLE ITALY
PROJECT
Little Italy
in New York City
is an historic place and we seek to preserve its character and to highlight its
significance to all Americans and to Italian Americans in particular. Brothers
William Medici and Anthony Sinocchi from the Lt. Joseph Petrosino Lodge #2741
are working towards gaining official governmental designation declaring Little
Italy as an historic landmark. We fully and wholeheartedly support this
initiative and recommend that OSIA continue its presence and participation in
this worthy endeavor.
Respectfully submitted: 29 May 2007
Robert Necci
Coordinator - Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
Chair – Italian Heritage & Culture Committee
2101 Bellmore Avenue
Bellmore, NY 11710-5605
CultureNYSOSIA@optonline.net
