NAVIGATOR S E P T E M B E R, 2 0 1 4 The House of Italy (HOI) Mission: HOUSE OF ITALY Our mission is to offer to its members and the public through its cultural and social programs, an understanding and appreciation of the history and culture of Italy. Our vision is that our HOI members celebrate their Italian heritage and culture with the people of San Diego. would start. On a sunny Sunday in June our dearest Luisa Nagy, on duty hosting for the HOI alerted us that the work had started and the HOI was closed. The theater appeared as follows: (Continued on page 4) From the President: Saluti Sorelle e Fratelli, The warm summer of San Diego has not been favorable to our organization. In June we found out that the City needed to do major work at the Hall of Nations to preserve the safety and security of the premises and bring the structure to code. However, the City did not inform us when the work The House of Italy
HOI Hotline 858 212 3300 P A G E 2 House of Italy Attn: President 415 Laurel St. #301 San Diego, CA 92101 Executive Board President: Roberto Ruocco 1st Vice President : Richard Tomasello 2nd Vice President: Rich La Rocca Secretary: Dale Jones VP Communications: Victor Laruccia V P Hospitality: Barbara La Rocca & Nina Crochet Vice President Weekly Activities: Robert D Amico Treasurer: Carol Patterson VP, Membership Rich La Rocca Web Master: Don Santamaria Cari Amici, House of Italy Future Events As most of you know, the Hall of Nations building which houses our monthly meeting room and the House of Italy is closed for repairs. The City is conducting an extensive renovation to the building s foundation along with upgrading the restrooms. We anticipate that the building will be closed through November and possibly later. However, the good news is that we will continue having our monthly meetings as scheduled on the third Sunday of each month at various locations. Please review the Calendar on our HOI Website: www.houseofitalysandiego.org for more information. Further, we will discuss future endeavors, including participation in December Nights at our September meeting. Our September 21st membership meeting will be held at the Convivo Center in Little Italy, 2157 India St. For more information about Convivio, go to their Website: www.conviviosociety.org/convivio-center This Website includes a map with the exact location of the Center. There are some commercial parking lots in the area and I will address them in a separate EBLAST to the membership shortly. Street parking should be easier on Sunday. The dinner portion of our meeting will be catered by a local restaurant in Little Italy. Of course, there will be wine! We will also have a very unique presentation The Fiat 500 (Cinquecento) is truly an Italian icon and our own Andy Renwick will be bringing his award winning, fully restored 1972 Cinquecento to our September meeting. It will be parked right in front of the entrance to the Convivio Center! And, you can have your picture taken in the seat of a car that is synonymous with Italy. Italy s storied City car (9 feet long, 4.3 feet tall, 2 cylinder engine, 13 HP with a top speed of 53 mph) was produced from 1957 to 1975. There will be a short presentation on the history of the Cinquecento including a few of the ads that captured our imagination after the Fiat 500 was reintroduced at its 50th anniversary in 2007. This will be fun! Ci vediamo! Don Santamaria N A V I G A T O R 2
The June House of Italy meeting 3
Status of the House of Italy and future events (The President s remarks continued from page 1) Our furniture stuck to the wall A gigantic hole in the wall The kitchen entrance sealed. Dust and dirt covered our beloved artifacts like the ashes covered Pompeii in 79 AD. As of today, we don t know when works start and when they finish and if we will regain possession of our territory. More details will be given to us at the next meeting. For the future months we will wander and vagabond like in the Nabucco of bearded Verdi in search for a land where we can rest our.. lasagnas and vino. Pazienza, che dobbiamo fare. SCOCCIAMENTO!!!!!! In September we will be hosted by Convivio in India Street. Then we will be given some room by the Balboa Park administration. I would like to thank Convivio where our September 21, 2014 meeting will be held for their gracious hospitality. Non possiamo dire piu per il momento: Venite a Casa Nostra, La Casa d Italia. Andy Renwick s prize winning 1972 Fiat 500 4
HOUSE OF ITALY TEAMS UP WITH THE SD ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL On Sunday, October 19, the San Diego Italian Film Festival will show Virzi s newest film, Il capitale umano, made possible through the generous support of the House of Italy. The movie will be shown at 7:30 PM at the Museum of Photographic Arts. In addition to sponsorship of the film, House members can also take advantage of a special dinner and a movie opportunity planned for this HOI meeting day. The Italian Film Festival and the House of Italy are collaborating on a program for a fun night Italian film and food. The House will be selling tickets that include a dinner at the October meeting and a pass for the movie. The schedule for the October meeting is being arranged to give all an opportunity to enjoy a great meal and have enough time to take a leisurely walk over to MOPA in time for the movie. The cost of the ticket, discounted to match the standard SDIFF member discount, will be included in the event price. The seats will be reserved in the theater until 10 minutes prior to the start of the show. Dinner is at the Balboa Club near the HOI. The buffet-dinner begins at 5:00pm and the movie begins at 7:30 pm. The movie is at the Museum of Photographic Arts, (MOPA) which is the SDIFF s Balboa Park venue. Please be on time so we may have dinner and still have time to walk to the MOPA theater. To Make Your Reservation To reserve your place send an email to: houseofitalysandiego@gmail.com indicating the number of reservations desired. Another option is to call Rich LaRocca at 858-523-0409 Please make your reservation by Oct. 16. The cost for both the dinner and a movie is only $18.00. Dinner only is $10.00. Payment is to be made at the door. 5
2014 San Diego Italian Film Festival Special festivale 2014 IS COMING! A year of finding the best films for you finally comes to fruition on October 16, when the San Diego Italian Film Festival begins its eighth film festival. This is the cream of the crop, prize-winners, thought-provoking, sensually satisfying. Make your plans now. And sign up for the SDIFF newsletter so you don t miss a beat at www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com. 6
PAGE 7 H O US E O F I TA L Y AT T N : P R E S I DE NT 415 L A U R E L S T. #301 S A N D I E GO, CA 92101 www.houseofitalysandiego.org For information about the San Diego Italian Film Festival events, please go to: www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com. Sunday HOI Hosting Due to the construction in the Hall of Nations building which affects the HOI, Sunday hosting duties are suspended until further notice. For all other club information, call (858) 212-3300 or email: houseofitalysandiego@gmail.com Sunday, September 21: House of Italy membership meeting @ 5:00 pm at the CONVIVIO Cultural Center. Location at 2157 India St. in Little Italy. For a map go to: http://conviviosociety.org/convivio-center Sunday, October 19: House of Italy Membership meeting at the Balboa Park Club ( A three minute walk south from the HOI) Plus the SDIFF film: Il Capitale umano after dinner! (See Page 5) 7