GRANDSONS OF ITALY IN AMERICA

 

Minutes of April 18, 2009 Meeting

   Pres. Vinnie Corbo called the meeting to order and led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer, followed by a moment of silence for our deceased, ill brothers and our servicemen.

  Pres. Corbo rearranged the agenda so the speaker’s program would precede the regular meeting.

 

   SPEAKER PROGRAM: Corbo turned the meeting over to Brother Joe Civitate, who with respect and humor, introduced Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley. Before introducing the guest speaker, the DA commented on our "important" group. "To get the district attorney of the largest county in the U.S. to address you must be some great group." He then went on to introduce Carmen "Nuch" Trutanich, candidate for Los Angeles City Attorney. Cooley, who has been the DA for the past nine years, said Trutanich was great guy, great trial lawyer and more qualified than his opponent, Jack Weiss.

    Trutanich, who is half Italian and half Croatian, joked about the 25 pounds he has lost recently and is now putting it back on with the delicious Italian food he has been eating today. He talked about growing up in San Pedro when the word "Dago" was a term of endearment when used by fellow Italian Americans. He credited Cooley for helping him and said he will be the best partner to Cooley. "Italians are a loyal group and I will be loyal to Cooley," he stressed. He also talked about his debate with Weiss, how the system is broken and that the little people aren’t being listened to. He vowed "to fight the law suits, bring honor, courage and respect to the office." A question and answer period followed. The candidate received a standing ovation.

    Vice President Vinny Oliver introduced Charles "Chuck" Teevan, former FBI agent, who will be a speaker at a future meeting. Teevan said he now works as a contractor investigating health care fraud, which he spoke a little about. He thanked Oliver for his work in bringing this program together. Oliver received a big hand.

    Corbo tabled the meeting due to the lengthy speaking program. Sec. Bill Poleri had already passed out the minutes which will be taken up at the next session as well as the financial report.

Vin Dino donated his 50/50 winnings of $50 to the club.

    Pres Corbo adjourned the meeting. The next meeting will be May 2^nd at Vitello’s Restaurant at 11:30 a.m. followed by the May 16^th meeting. Submitted by Secretary Bill Poleri.

   Directory Update:

 

John G. Aghevli

904 E Cedar Ave.

Burbank CA 91501

(818) 720-3136

jaghevli@yahoo.com

 

Robert L. Budman

1700 Capistrano Cir.

Glendale CA 91208

(818) 244-0716 (H)

(818) 731-5261 (B)

(818) 244-3447 FAX

thebudstwo@sbcglobal.net

 

Michael Federico, Jr.

518 Sterling Pl.

S. Pasadena CA 91030

(626) 441-5553 (H)

(626) 252-5066 (B)

(626) 799-3111 FAX

MikeFederico@earthlink.net

 

Donald M. Webb

14624 Hydrangea Way

Canyon Country CA 91387

(661) 993-7381 (H)

(800) 423-5611ex3244 (B)

dwebb@sjm.com

 

As you all know we have a member who lives in Australia. Recently he and I have been communicating through email. I asked him about himself, his family, business and if he was affected by the recent bush fires that killed several hundreds Australians. He wrote back a very informative and interesting letter not only to me but to the club. I feel that the club would enjoy reading it, especially the part about GOIIA and being Italians.

Here is his letter.

 

 

Thank you Bill all is well!

 

Yes that terrible day of the bush fires was unforgettable. That day my kitchen hand asked me to accompany him to a realty agent for some accommodation, I left my house and it was so hot, the AC took 10 minutes to work in my car. When we got there we had to walk three blocks to the Duplex and believe me, we nearly passed out. When we returned the keys back to the realtor we did not want to leave their office. My car was parked one meter away!! When I got home, about lunch time, there was such a dry strong wind and as I entered my house with relief the first thing I said to my wife was, "God I pray that all in the bush are safe and nobody dies today". We then sat in front of the AC (weather wall) in our undergarments all day and we did not move. We were approximately 40 km away from the fires, but the sky was dark, and there was grey smoke everywhere. My black car was now red and full of ash and dust. That night there was no news of death and we all thought well. The following morning, scenes and news footage showed how this terrible demon blaze wiped out so many beautiful people and their communities. It was a shock how the authorities on Friday announced the "stay and defend or go" policy. There has been 12 years of drought in Melbourne, our water storage is at 23%. The grass was so dry, a single cigarette butt could cause devastation. And yet, no evacuation was made day prior. It is sad that two people have been arrested for deliberately starting these fires. One was a schist, and the other a part time fire fighter. Now nearly 200 dead.

 

Bill I love the minutes you are keeping, it is really concise and pleasing. I would like for you to wish a big hello from a fellow GOIIA (Australian edition) member to all the GOIIA members. If any GOIIA member ever makes a trip down under, I and my family will find it a pleasure in accommodating and hosting our fellow friends. Australia is a beautiful country, the food is great, the scenery is beautiful and we as hosts have hearts of gold, so we await you.

 

My name is Carlo Peter Pavia, I am married to Michelle Pavia nee Taverna. We have three children all girls, aged 8, 5 and 1 in June. Their names are Laura, Isabella and Bianca, respectively. We are in the hospitality business whereby we own and operate an Italian Restaurant in Melbourne CBD, called Vivaldi. We also own and run a canteen at the Melbourne Airport were we serve food to aircraft engineers, predominately those of QANTAS and Lufthansa. The canteen is called Club Aero Café. We are hard workers and love what we do.We cook some of the best Italian food around with all our food made from scratch. Semi dried tomatoes, eggplants, zucchinis, peppers and mushrooms in our panini and antipasti platters are all home made. We serve on average of 500 customers per day. We also do private parties at our restaurant too.

 

My parents came from Italy in 1954 and are from Calabria. My wife's parents are from Calabria and Milan (ex Bari and Rijeka). We are a close nit Roman Catholic family that celebrate all Christian events with large amounts of food and wine. We listen to Italian music, speak Italian to our parents. What amazes me with GOIIA, is that the belief and passion in holding on to the old Italian way is priceless. We know by doing this, the brotherhood you guys are building is admirable and honorable. Your ancestors will be grateful because of this. Well done to all the members, committee and families of GOIIA on all the charity events you do and hard work you all put in.

 

Well done and I hope to hear from you soon. Bill

 

Ciao for now and best wishes to your wife and respective families.

Carlo Pavia and Family