Circolo at a Glance Sept. 2013 to June 2014
Our general meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at Little Sorrento’s on Route 202 in the Parkside Mall. It is a dinner meeting at which we discuss Italian culture and share the common thread of family tradition. Each month brings a different topic of discussion. We started in Sept. with a focus on Italy, its current government, a brief h
istory of Bologna, the genius of Roman builders, and the long kept secret of the sacrifice of a small village in Italy during WW ll. The month culminated with our annual Bocce Tournament. At the October meeting we viewed the classic Italian film “Cinema Paradiso”. We also participated in Yorktown’s Chamber of Commerce Festival Day with a booth dedicated to our heritage. In November we were privileged to salute and thank many veterans from our community. Represented were men and women who served in WW ll, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It was an amazing evening, as we listened to each one share their memories. Our annual Christmas Party was held in December with dinner, dancing, entertainment and great raffle prizes. We began the New Year in January with a virtual tour of Umbria & Rome. In February, we were brought into the world of” Everything Internet. We also learned about the history of the first church built in the United States for Italians, by Italians.130 years ago. The Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in East Harlem. At the March meeting, we learned about the unique and ancient cave city of Matera , Carlo Levi’s book, “Christ Stopped at Eboli”, where the history of Matera was immortalized was also discussed. Yellow flowers were given to all the women to mirror the Festa Della Donna on March 8th in Italy. In April, we viewed an interesting power point presentation on our water distribution system. Easter and Passover traditions were discussed. We also learned about the life of Alessandro Volta responsible for the first electrochemical battery. Our annual scholarship dinner was held In May, a memorable evening to honor students and our keynote speaker, Ken Langone. June-ended our year with a most interesting visitor JR, a gentleman from East Harlem. He shared his memories of playing stickball on Pleasant Ave, and left us a DVD of memories, and footage of the times when East Harlem was truly Little Italy. His visit stirred up memories which we all shared. It left a feeling of pride in our heritage and culture.
