At its January meeting, The Board of Directors confirmed these officers for 2009:
President: Bob Iacopi
Vice Presidents: Kathy Pavacich and Bob Puppo
Secretary: Lorraine Cappellieri
Treasurer: Ed Flory
All of the other directors re-committed for the year: Sue Bacigalupi, Joe Civello, Don DeVincenzi, Nick Lickwar, and Myron Zaccheo.
The fifth annual Wine Tasting, free to all members who had paid their dues by December 31, 2008, was held at Foothill Center on January 10, and drew a crowd of about 140. Wine Supervisor was David Bacigalupi, and chief of the kitchen crew was Sue Bacigalupi. No food was advertised in the announcement, but the Club Board decided to offer cheese and crackers, meatballs, and biscotti. Ed Knott provided the music, including a sing-along.
Our Second Carnevale was held on February 20 at The Clubhouse and was opened to all Villagers for the first time. About 135 members and guests—many in costumes and all in masks and beads provided by the Club—enjoyed a very nice buffet dinner, music by the Milt Posnick Quartet, an accordionist, a palm reader and a selection of games with small prizes. Gift certificates were given away as prizes in the big raffle held after a magic show by Villages resident Ernie Nassimbene. Don DeVincenzi was Chair, and was assisted by a big group of helpful volunteers. Reservation fees were $45 for Club members and $50 for guests. The Club suffered a significant financial loss on the event, but it was a very big social success.
Our annual “Santo Patricko” dinner was held on March 14 at Foothill Center. Chairperson Kathy Pavacich welcomed a sold-out crowd with a buffet dinner provided by Golden Harvest Catering. The Irish Dancers gave their usual wonderful performance, and there was a special appearance by The Three Irish Tenors—Ed Flory, Nick Lickwar, and Milt Posnick. Reservation fees were $20 for members and $25 for guests, which covered all the expenses.
Our first-ever cooking class was held on April 14 at Foothill Center. Reservations were limited to 50 Club members—no guests—with a reservation fee of $15. Our guest chef was John D’Ambrosio, the owner of Giorgio’s and Frankie Johnny and Luigi Too restaurants. He prepared two dishes—chicken Toscana and fettuccini Calabrese–and then the guests were given samples of both, along with wine and water provided by the Club. D’Ambrosio provided all the food and was head Chef Chef in the kitchen, assisted by Sue Bacigalupi and a crew of helpers. We used a video camera and projector to show the demonstration on the large screen. After the cooking demonstration, D’Ambrosio answered questions from the audience. Evaluation forms were distributed to attendees, and the response was overwhelmingly positive
Once again, we made our annual trip to Campo di Bocce on May 20. 29 members played games in the morning and then enjoyed a lunch of pizza, pasta and salads. Chairperson Bob Puppo was able to hold the fee at $27, which covered all our expenses.
The annual BBQ & Bocce party on June 7 at Gazebo Park was another big success, thanks to Chairman Joe Civello and a big group of volunteer helpers. About 130 Club members and 30 guests enjoyed a wonderful dinner of sausages, barbecued steaks, green salad and pasta salad, garlic bread and desserts, all for only $15 for members and $20 for guests. Ed Knott provided a great selection of music, and Bob and Liz Giarratana handled the bocce reservations. Our raffle generated more than $600 for the Club treasury.
Our July 4th cookie sale ran very smoothly, thanks to Chairperson Virginia Gavin and a crew of helpers that took care of baking the cookies, selling them, and keeping track of the money. We made more than $400 for the club treasury, but more important, we made a valuable contribution to The Villages Fourth of July Celebration.
Membership was closed for the year on July 31, with about 310 members on the roster.
At its August 17 meeting, the Board decided to forego Carnevale in 2010 and instead have a 10th Anniversary Party instead. Sue Bacigalupi was named Chairperson. It was also decided to hold membership dues at $12 per person for 2010, and not to limit the membership.
The August 23 Ed Pasquale Memorial Golf Classic drew its usual sellout crowd for both the golf (80 entrants) and the dinner at Foothill Center (100 diners), catered by Tony & Alba’s Pizza and Pasta. Prices were $25 for non-golfers and $30 for golfers. Myron and Carole Zaccheo did another great job of entertaining everyone, providing prizes for all the diners, and a special tee prize of a plastic pizza cutter with the Italian Club logo.
Our second cooking class was held on September 24 at Foothill Center. Diana Vallorz of Tony & Alba’s Pizza did the demonstration of sauteed zucchini and gnocchi. About 45 members in the audience enjoyed samples of the dishes, plus snacks, wine and water provided by the Club. It was a breakeven financially. Sue Bacigalupi handled all the kitchen duties, and Joe Civello did yeoman service with the wine and general arrangements.
The annual Opera Night, again chaired by Kathy Pavacich, was held on October 9. Trio Amore and a mandolin player entertained a very large crowd of 170, including almost 70 guests. Prices were $30 for members and $35 for guests for a dinner of filet mignon or stuffed salmon.
At the October 22 meeting, the Board revised the Club ByLaws with these significant changes:
- There would be no term limits for Board members.
- Membership is open to all Villagers, including renters but not non-resident owners.
- The Board may at any time impose a limit on the total number of members in the Club.
- The Board of Directors is required to meet at least six times a year.
- There must be at least one general membership meeting every year, preferably in November.
First copies of “Tutti A Tavola!” The Cookbook Of The Villages Italian Club were distributed at the meeting, priced at $15 per copy. A general mailing with an order form was sent out this week, and the main marketing push will be at Christmas. The committee responsible for creating the cookbook included David and Sue Bacigalupi, Joe and Maria Civello, Don and Lois DeVincenzi and Bob and Carole Iacopi. The book includes more than 90 recipes, almost all submitted by Italian Club members.
The November 14 Membership Meeting, chaired by Virginia Gavin, drew a sellout crowd at Foothill Center. Tony and Alba’s Pizza provided the dinner of antipasti, salads, pasta and chicken. The Club provided biscotti for dessert. President Bob Iacopi gave a short recap of the Club’s status, and previewed the 2010 events. The movie was “Iris Blond,”, which was well-received by the audience. Price of $20 per person covered all expenses.
At its December 2 meeting, the Board accepted the resignation of Don DeVincenzi and welcomed new member Peg Bougopoulos.
The Christmas Party on December 12, chaired by Don DeVincenzi, drew a crowd of more than 170 and was a huge success. The Clubhouse kitchen served a five-course Italian dinner, including entrée choices of filet mignon, chicken parmigiana, or filet of sole stuffed with crab. Jerry Sauceda provided the music. Guests had their photos taken with Santa. Prices were $45 for members, and $50 for guests. Everyone received free raffle tickets for holiday baskets and cookbooks.
Club dues of $12 per person for 2010 were assessed on the December Villages billing statements. At year-end, there were about 315 members, including about a dozen new people who had already signed up for 2010.
Click on year to go to Italian Club History for that year.