This past month I attended a beautiful 100th anniversary celebration of the Eureka Lodge at the Wharfinger Building in Eureka, CA with Past State President Vera Girolami.   It was a long rainy ride up and back but well worth the trip  It was an honor to meet and sit with Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel.  A beautiful invocation was given by Fr. Mike Cloney.

Honored guests and congratulations were given to Betty and Gene Senestrano.

I presented certificates from both the Grand Lodge and National Lodge for the special anniversary.

Special certificates and pins from the Grand Lodge were awarded to the following members:  25 year Members Lorene Luster,

Brothers and Sisters,

They say, “April showers bring May flowers,” well, someone left out snow! On April 14 th , past State President, Barbara Wisniewski, Joy Bruno, and I traveled up to Weed, California for the 100 th Anniversary of the Weed Lodge #1269.  President, Richard Negro, and his fantastic members put on a fantastic event.

There were nostalgic pictures of all the previous members throughout the years, including great pictures of the Weed baseball

All lodges …    

Please send your event flyers to the IL Leone email address we want to include them in the following months issue. It’s a great way to let your brothers and sisters at neighboring lodges know about your events so they can attend and support your Lodge.  The deadline is the 15th of each month, 

Send your articles and event flyers to: illeone.ca@gmail.com

Our goal is to ensure that your IL Leone is in your mailbox on or before the 1st of every month.

On March 10th our lodge held a Bocce Tournament at the Peninsula Italian American Social Club in San Mateo. The event was an enjoyable event by all who attended with good times, good food and good friendship. We had 48 players who participated in the bocce tournament.

The winning teams were:

1st Place:
Captain: Phyllis Tognotti
Players: Pat Cacciatore, Craig Srabian & Rich Trammell

2nd Place

Tom Loliva was refreshments chairperson for the April meeting and delighted the members of the Hanford Sons of Italy Lodge with a delicious spaghetti dish, complete with green salad.  Members added to the meal with bread and “butter balls” and an array of desserts and drinks.

Our 95th Anniversary plans

Granted it’s not the MASTERS (yet), nor the US OPEN (yet) or even THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, (yet) but tournament golf is coming back to the desert! Yes, THE FIFTH ANNUAL DOLLY SINATRA GOLF TOURNAMENT, which has now been renamed the JOE LaPORTA FIFTH CLASSIC GOLF TOURNAMENT is coming, and will be played this coming November 18, 2024, at The Indian Canyon Golf Resort!

The tournament will now honor the founder, and chief catalyst, Joe LaPorta. Always inspired to do more, Joe came up with the idea for the tournament and buffet, to further enhance our fund raising efforts, and to bring fun, sport and camaraderie to our Lodge members, and associate Lodge members. Yes, the tournaments is open to ALL LODGES, so please join us! Joe has worked unceasingly from the inception of the first tournament