What a wonderful evening was had by all on Friday, April 16th! Our 22nd Golden Lion Dinner was a tremendous success with over 300 guests gathered at the newly renovated “five star” Garden City Hotel.
The committee had been working late into the night the few days before the affair and arrived Friday in mid-afternoon to be sure that all plans were moving along according to schedule. Seating arrangements were checked over and over again …. Hundreds of gift bags were prepared with “goodies” donated by our honorees … beautiful shades of red, pink and lilac rose floral arrangements with flickering candles were placed on the tables … exquisite dinnerware was set … commemorative journals were placed throughout the room … the dais was set with presentation pieces, banners and flowers. Every detail was being attended to for what turned out to be both a wonderful social and financial success for the New York Grand Lodge Foundation, Inc.
Guests began arriving about 7:00 P.M. to pay tribute to our 2004 Golden Lion Honorees, Nicola Arena, President and CEO of Mediterranean Shipping Company, Vincent C. Vesce, Executive Vice President of Business Services and Administration of the New York Power Authority and International Vocal Artist Cristina Fontanelli. Also honored for his philanthropic endeavors was Citizenship Honoree, Joseph Farber, Partner at Farber, Rosen & Kaufman. What a grand array of honorees for this event! Each had a story to tell about achieving the “American Dream” and how very proud they were of their heritage. Nicola Arena, Vincent Vesce and Joseph Farber have all reached the pinnacle of success in their respective fields of endeavor and benevolently give back to the community at large. Cristina Fontanelli is a stunning Italian American woman with a true gift of “voice” who also spends many hours of her precious time portraying a positive Italian image and gracing people all over the world with her gift of music! Ms. Fontanelli gave her gift of song to all of us by singing the Italian National Anthem and Star Spangled Banner to commence the event … and also sang a few Italian favorites during the evening.
NYSOSIA was honored and privileged to have United States Senator Charles A. Schumer stop by to greet everyone and pledge his support to assist in a few important issues being pursued by National OSIA.
Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi was in attendance and after welcoming all on behalf of Nassau County, expressed his deep pride in having such a rich Italian heritage. We were also privileged with the presence of our former Nassau County Executive and New York Grand Lodge Foundation Board of Advisor … Hon. Thomas Gulotta.
Consul General Antonio Bandini also addressed everyone and spoke of our shared heritage and how proud the Italians were to be a supportive force to the United States during the current fighting in Iraq.
Sincere thanks to our National and State Officers, filial lodges and special dignitaries for supporting this event. Whether you purchased a journal ad … or attended the dinner, your support of this main fund raising event of the New York Grand Lodge Foundation is sincerely appreciated.
Heartfelt kudos and recognition to Dan Colantone, Connie Conte, Ralph Gangi and Sylvia Summa for their solicitation of so many of our journal ads. Without their persistence and dedication to this project, our journal would never have been such a financial success.
To our OSIA Golden Lion Dinner Committee … First Lady Carol DiTrapani, Annette & Bruce Lankewish … and to our Grand Lodge office staff … Executive Director Marianne Principe O’Neil, Eileen Stavis and Kathy Astrackon… many thanks to each one of you for “putting it all together”! Finally, to our dynamic State President Joseph DiTrapani … thank you for making us proud and for your total confidence in this exceptional committee!
We hope to see many more Brothers and Sisters next year as we celebrate the 23rd Annual Golden Lion Awards Dinner along with celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Order Sons of Italy in America.
