L A V O C E I T A L I A N A

L’ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE ITALO-AMERICANA DELLA VIRGINIA, INC.
ITALIAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL ASSOCIATION OF VIRGINIA, INC.
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May 13 Wednesday
May 14 Thursday
May 16 Saturday(not Sun)
MAY-JUNE 2015
Belle Donne Lunch 12:00 noon
Board Meeting
7:00 p.m.
D.C. bus trip
8:00 a.m.
Isabella’s Bistro
St. Mathias Church
Lowe’s Park & Ride
June 10 Wednesday
June 11 Thursday
June 28 Sunday (change)
Belle Donne Lunch
Board Meeting
IACA Social
Tarrant’s West
St. Mathias Church
Columbian Center
12:00 noon
7:00 p.m.
1:30 p.m.
NOTE TO ALL MEMBERS: If you haven’t received a call from our Telephone Tree Committee
by Wednesday before each month’s social, please call Lorraine Czajkowski at (804) 897-1137 so we
can be sure you are on our reservations list. Also, a request for those of you who receive voice
mail messages: please be courteous and respond before the Wednesday cutoff. It’s extremely
important that we have an accurate head count in order to provide enough meals to go around.
President’s Message:
Ciao to all! Has Spring finally sprung?! Happily, all my long-awaited blooms are blooming wildly and
coloring my world in rainbow hues. And while I’m on the subject, Ray Gargiulo has signed us up for
Richmond’s “Adopt A Plot” for the Columbus Statue in Byrd Park, where we held the re-dedication
ceremony last October. The statue is located in a highly visible area of the park, across from the stop sign
by the lake and has already been cleared, enhanced with fertilizer, peat moss and mulched by Vince
Russo, John Corritone, and Ray. It’s ready for planting and we are requesting that if you have any
perennials or shrubs ready for thinning out, you dig them up and call Ray at 422-3155 to pick them up.
He and his volunteers will plant them so we have a beautiful spot to show for our next Columbus Day
event. If you would like to help with the planning and planting, please let Ray know.
As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we were thinking of starting a MOVIE NIGHT showing Italian films
(with sub-titles). Thinking led to action: Lu Cavallaro has secured the Tuckahoe Library at 1901 Starling
Drive in Henrico 23229 and we will have our first showing on Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30 PM. It is FREE
and open to the public. Bring your snacks and join us for “Divorzio all’Italiana” (Divorce Italian Style),
an Oscar winning comedy starring Marcello Mastroianni. The movie is about a married Sicilian baron
who falls in love with his cousin and vows to marry her but since divorce is illegal, he must concoct a
‘crime of passion’ to do away with his wife. Pietro Germi directed this and 18 other successful films!
This was first presented in the US in 1962, was entered in the Cannes Film Festival that year and was
featured in the Chicago International Film Festival in 1984. It stands up to the test of time…mark your
calendar and prepare to have fun!
We enjoyed another banner attendance at our recent socials…85 in March, 95 in April in spite of the date
change for which I apologize. It was an oversight on the part of the Columbian Center…an annual event
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that was reserved in 2014 but didn’t make it to the 2015 calendar so our social was pre-empted.
Amazingly you “rolled with it” and 95 of you showed up for Alexandria’s slides of Italy the following
week and a very funny dance contest which Freddy orchestrated. Our delicious Italian meal was
provided by John & Freddy Corritone, Sandy Rivera, Barbara Bruckart, Jan McPherson and me. Ray
Gargiulo handles supplies for all our events for which we are very grateful. We will re-schedule Dr.
Trani at a later date so he can give us the background of that bridge between Sicily and the mainland.
Please keep in mind that our June social will be held June 28th (the fourth Sunday) so it doesn’t conflict
with Father’s Day. We do this so that our families can honor their father on his day. Jan has some
exciting plans for the second half of the year so read on.
Last but definitely not least, I want to thank all of you who expressed their sympathies and offered prayers
for me and my family at the loss of my sister in April. When I first joined this club it felt like family to me
and your heartfelt words comforted me when I needed it most. The following note was sent to me and I’m
sharing it for those who have or will suffer the loss of someone close:
“I’m standing upon that foreshore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for
the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength and I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a
speck of white clouds just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side
says, “There! She’s gone!” “Gone where?” “Gone from my sight, that’s all.” She is just as large in mast and
spar and hull as ever she was when she left my side: just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of
her destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at that moment when someone at my side says,
“There! She’s gone!” there are other eyes watching her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout,
“Here she comes!” And that is dying.”
She is with those who went before her, home at last.
Elaine Quinby
Belle Donne Luncheons: All ladies of IACA are invited to attend the luncheons which are held
on the second Wednesday of every month at 12:00 noon. Please RSVP by the Monday before the
lunch to Barbara Bruckart at blbruckart@gmail.com or call her at (804) 364-7001. Leave your name
and the names of others in your party. Calls will not be returned unless you have questions. In that
event, also leave your telephone number.
May 13 Isabella’s Bistro, Sycamore Square Shopping Center, 1358 Sycamore Sq. , Midlothian 23113
June 10 Tarrant’s West, 11129 Three Chopt Road, Richmond, (804) 205-9009
IACA Social- May 16 – Washington, D.C. Bus trip THIS SOCIAL WILL OCCUR ON
SATURDAY. In order to save time and confusion, we will have ONE PICK-UP location. Our
motor coach will leave at 8:00 a.m. SHARP from the Lowe’s Park & Ride (near Costco), 1512 W.
Koger Center Blvd., Chesterfield. To refresh your memory, our first stop is the Eastern Market
built in 1873. Indoors, a European Marketplace selling all different types of imported and fresh
foods (you may bring a small cooler). Outside is a huge bazaar shopping experience – hand made
crafts, artwork, clothing. Lunch on your own at one of the many cafes. We will board the bus at
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1:30 at the Market place and leave for our Second stop, Hillwood Estate, mansion of Marjorie
Merriweather Post. We leave for Richmond at 5:00 p.m. Snacks will be served on bus ride home.
IACA Social – June 28 – Columbian Center Silent Auction: Gather up items that you would
like to donate for this fun occasion. Call Jan McPherson at (804) 530-2836 to give a description of
your item. Jan will make up an identification card to be placed in front of your displayed donation
along with a pad for guests to sign up with a “bid price.” The last bid at the bottom of the pad,
when we call the bidding ended, will purchase that item. There are usually some very interesting,
unusual and fun items to be displayed. Jan is sure everyone has something they can donate. Besides
having fun, the goal of this auction will help to benefit our Scholarship Program! We will serve an
indoor picnic for lunch. The cost is $10.00.
Our Italian Music Heritage: I don’t normally write about movies, but The Big Night, the 1996
film written, directed and starring Stanly Tucci is such a great Italian-American treat that, if you have
not seen it, you’re in for a real surprise. Two brothers from Abruzzi, Italia are set to open an
authentic Italian ristorante called Paradise in New Jersey in the 50’s. Primo, played by Tony Shaloub
and Secondo, played by Stanly Tucci, invite family and friends as well as special guest singer Louis
Prima to the opening night feast. Prima never shows, but the brothers and friends celebrated
anyway digging into courses of antipasti, grilled fish, roasted pig, and the finale, a large “timpano,” a
large pastry drum of pasta, meatballs, salami, and cheeses.
The musical menu of the film is as large and delicious as the feast itself. Louis Prima, his wife Keely
Smith, and Rosemary Clooney play throughout, but from Rome listen to Claudio Villa’s “la Strada
del Bosco” in a romantic tempo about traveling through the countryside and a delightful Tarantella
“il Pescivendolo” (fish monger) sung by Matteo Salvatore from Apulia and many more Italian gems.
The soundtrack is delightful and energetic and fits right in with the story line Also look for salsa
singer, Marc Anthony, making his film debut as Cristiano, a waiter at the Paradise and the always
beautiful Isabella Rossalini. A great food/music movie, but also a great example of the intimate
struggle of two brothers trying to attain the American dream. Freddy C.
Congratulations to our recent new members, Charlie and Martha
Negri, who will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on June 3
with family and friends. We wish them continued happiness and
blessings !
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n case any of your are wanting to move to a home on Three Chopt Rd., Carl and Lu Cavallaro,
long-time members and active Board members and Master Gardners, are selling their beautiful
home of 30 years.
NOTES
Two of our active members are recuperating
from surgeries: Virginia Hudert, IACA Historian
recently had rotator cuff surgery and is improving daily.
Tony Grappone broke some ribs and punctured his
lungs but is now back at work.
Julia White lost her husband Stephen. Introduce
yourself and make her feel welcome. Please remember
them in your prayers.
Virginia Hudert thanks everyone for help after her surgery at home, rides to physical therapy, church
activities and for the beautiful cards and letters.
Cileo, Rita & Anthony
8101 Saddle Crest Drive
Mechanicsville, VA 23111
(919) 672-2740
Rita587@aol.com
Spalt, Taylor & Limor Nevel
2710 Stuart Avenue, Unit #2
Richmond, VA 23220
(401) 339-3339
tbspalt@gmail.com
CHESTERFIELD TRIAD SENIOR DAY
Chesterfield Triad is a partnership consisting of the Sheriff and Police Departments, Fire and
EMS, Community members, and volunteers who host an annual “Senior Day.” There will be
speakers, music provided by our own Freddy C et al, booths with a safety educational emphasis
and others that specifically target senior interests. We never fail to come away without valuable
information that we can’t get any other way. It is held at Victory Tabernacle Church, 11700
Genito Road, Midlothian VA on May 6th, doors open at 7:45, program starts at 9:00 AM till
12:45 PM. Refreshments will be served. This is a popular event and you are advised to arrive
early for parking close to the building. It’s a fun and informative day and well worth your time to
come. It’s open to the public and FREE!
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MOVIE NIGHT
Meet us for our first movie night at the Tuckahoe Library
6:30 Tuesday, May 19th
for our Italian showing of
DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE
Free
Free
Feel free to bring your snacks and ENJOY
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