Frank Nechvatal
The March meeting opened with a pizza party with pizzas from Barro’s Pizza. Thanks to Maureen and Mario Scrivano for arranging this little festival, molto bene! The meeting was opened by President Bob Sciaretta about 6:40 p.m. Emily Hardy read the minutes from the last meeting; Herb Zielke started his treasury report with his usual joke. Our treasury amount is $2,426.68. Next season we will deliver the SunBird News from Robson Publishing (October through March) and this will infuse an additional $963 into our treasury. We had 33 attendees at this meeting. The Election Committee read for the second time the proposed slate of candidates for the offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. Additional nominations were requested and when none were made there was a call for a vote. The following individuals were elected: President Frank Nechvatal, Vice President Ellisa Romero, Secretary Emily Hardy and Treasurer Patricia Pacelli. After the election Don McMullen asked for volunteers to deliver papers next October through March. Don was able to secure enough volunteers to cover the routes with several substitutes. Great job, Don. The meeting was adjourned after the 50/50 drawing and the $10 drawing.
In our last article we left off with the arrest of Benito Mussolini and his subsequent execution. Days after the death of Mussolini the German Army in Italy surrendered to the Allies. In June of 1944 the Fascist Party leader Ivanoe Bonomi was replaced by Ferruccio Parri who in turn gave way to Alcide de Gasperi in December of 1944. De Gasperi supervised the transition to a Republic after the abdication of Vittorio Emanuele III on May 9, 1946. He became the acting Head of State as well as Prime Minister; however, he gave up the former role to Provisional President Enrico de Nicola 10 days later. The elections of 1946 saw the creation of a 556 member Constituent Assembly of which 207 were Christian Democrats, 115 Socialists and 104 Communists. In 1947, after the adoption of a new constitution and the creation of a parliament, the Americans pressured the new government of Italy to expel the communists from the government. The following year saw a landslide victory for Christian Democrats who dominated the government for 40 years. Italy joined the Marshall Plan and NATO. By 1950 Italy’s economy had stabilized and started booming. By 1957 Italy was a founding member of the European Economic Community, which later turned into the European Union (EU). Next month: the ‘60s and beyond.
Remember, the American/Italian Club is open to any new members with an interest in the Italian culture. Meetings are the second Tuesday of the month from October through April. Come join us!
Ciao