LETTER FROM PRESIDENT FRANK TRAVISANO

Special points of interest:

Tuesday, June 23rd—End of Year Celebration & Installation of Officers

Charities—Local & National

Dues Reminder

Chapter Updates

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This month I am finishing my third year as President of our Chapter in the last five. The experience has been rewarding as well as challenging. During my first two years as President I initiated the revision of our By-Laws & the Scholarship eligibility rules. This past year we sponsored our first bus trip in years, our first Memorial Mass, as well as experiencing about a 10% growth in membership.

This coming year we will be setting some new parameters for our contributions to local charities as well as sponsoring another bus trip (maybe more!). You will hear more about these in the coming months.

Dues payments for the 2015-2016 UNICO year are coming in at a very good pace. What I find interesting is the number of members who have already sent in their dues but whom I have never seen at a meeting. Your loyalty to UNICO is greatly appreciated, but why not attend a meeting sometime if you have a chance? We would love to see you & who knows, you might wind up having a great time!

Elsewhere in this Newsletter you will read about our next meeting on June 23 at which time we will swear in our officers for the coming year as well as award the designated local charities our donations for the year. It will be an abbreviated meeting. Please join us for an evening of fun & food.

Lastly, I would like to mention that the Mayor for the Day Committee is gearing up for Columbus Day which is less than four months away. Letters will be going out soon to local Italian organizations requesting nominations for Italian Mayor for the Day for 2015. They must be in by August 1st to be eligible. Any member can nominate someone also. The committee members are as follows: Chairman Tom Buzzelli, Dawn Maiorano, Peter Petrarca & Bill Summa, all of whom are holdovers from last year & two new appointees, Bill DeMaida & Clare George.

As you can see the work of our Chapter will continue during the summer months.

I hope to see you all at Vasi's on June 23rd for our last meeting until September. President Travisano passing out

cupcakes to children at The Gathering!

La Dolce Vita

www.waterburyunico.com

waterburyunico@yahoo.com

www.facebook.com/waterburyunico

Newsletter June 2015

A NOTE FROM OUR FINANCIAL SECRETARY DIANNE MINARDO

The dues billing for FY 15-16 has been sent & a number of

you have already remitted payment. For your convenience, I

will be accepting payment at the meeting on the 23rd at

Vasi’s. If you haven’t paid yet or are unable to attend the

meeting, you can send in your payment to our PO Box.

For those of you that aren’t aware, our Waterbury Chapter

does NOT keep the entire dues we collect. Annually, we

must pay the National UNICO a per capita (assessment) of

$65 for each regular member & $12 for youth members. In addition, each Chapter in CT District

I pays $600 annually to their District Governor to cover part of his/her costs to attend National/

Regional meetings.

Therefore, your prompt remittance of payment is appreciated. Also, if for some reason you are

not renewing your membership, please let me know ASAP so that I can adjust our invoice &

remove the per capita assessment we receive from National.

CHARITIES—LOCAL & NATIONAL The Local Charities Committee, chaired by Guy Russo, met & submitted for Board

Approval the following Charities to receive donations from the Waterbury Chapter:

SAFE HAVEN OF GREATER WATERBURY,

LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF GREATER WATERBURY,

CAROLYN'S PLACE

THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER WATERBURY.

These non-profits will all receive $300 & a representative from each has been invited to attend the June

23rd event at Vasi’s for a formal check presentation. Also, donations were previously made in the

amount of $135 to St. Vincent de Paul Society, $90 to VNA of Watertown and we received an

anonymous donation of $100 that we sent to the Republican-American Campership Fund.

On a national level, we committed the following to UNICO National Charities:

$100—COOLEY’S ANEMIA $200—JIMMY V CANCER RESEARCH

$150—MENTAL HEALTH $100- SCHOLARSHIP

These checks will be presented at the National Convention. We have already sent in $250 to Italian

Studies.

“Every

charitable act

is a stepping

stone toward

heaven”

Henry Ward Beecher

Page 2 Waterbury Ch ap ter o f UN I CO N at i o nal

UPDATES & KUDOS

Effective immediately, it is the responsibility of the Chairperson of any event/committee for photos, etc at their

events. These photos along with the proper text (names & article) will be sent to WaterburyUNICO@yahoo.com for

review by Vice-President Gelada who will then submit them to the appropriate media outlets. A detailed instruction

sheet will be given to each Chairperson in September outlining the requirements of from ComUNICO & local

newspapers.

Congratulations to Dante Paolino on graduation from UCONN School of Dentistry & to Zachary Keith for receiving

his Bachelor’s Degree from UCONN!!

WANTED: A Newsletter Editor for 2015-2016. Newsletters are sent monthly from August to June. It’s a simple yet

taxing job that requires creativity, MS Word/Publisher skills, the ability to write/develop articles & availability to

attend the Board Meeting. Training is provided. It’s a great way to learn about Chapter happenings & to keep info

flowing!

Nominations for Italian Mayor for the Day are due by August 1st. Candidates should be of Italian-American descent &

have had some type of impact on the Waterbury area community. There is no age or sex requirement & the candidate

does NOT need to be a member of UNICO. Send a brief typed bio & photo (if available) to Tom Buzzelli—38 Old

New England Road—Wolcott, CT 06716. Questions? Need more info? Contact him at tombuzz@comcast.net.

We raised $522.50 from our Duck Day Raffle Sales with one of our ticket sales a winner!!!

Chairperson Bob Rinaldi extends his thanks to everyone who sold & purchased tickets. He commented

on how easy a fundraiser this is to operate & remarked that if every member sold only 4 tickets we

could easily raise over $1,000.

CT-I is in need of a District Governor. If you are a former Chapter President & care to serve in

this capacity, please contact Francine Nido at unicodoll@gmail.com.

Input is being sought as to how & where our Dinner Meetings are being held this upcoming year.

It’s been over 4 years since we changed locations and President Travisano is seeking input from the

membership to see if a change is needed. No ideas will be discounted. Current suggestions include finding a new

restaurant to hold meetings, varying restaurants monthly, holding dinner meetings every other month, incorporating

“field trips” & more guest speakers, not changing anything at all & changing the agenda around to only include action

items. Nothing has been decided upon & input from ALL MEMBERS is requested. Send your ideas to

travfrj@sbcglobal.net.

Our Chapter served as a fine representation of our Italian heritage at The Gathering between the marching & the

booth. The sale of cookies gave us a profit of $249. We have already planned to sell cookies again next year with a few

minor tweeks & also sell Italian Flags of various sizes. Special thanks to everyone who helped bake, bag & sell the

cookies & to those that marched in the parade, rode on the bus & decorated the booth & bus.

We extend our best wishes to “our own” Francine Nido as she runs for her 3rd Term as National Membership &

Retention Director at the 93rd Annual Convention in Newport Beach, California.

“The more you

praise &

celebrate your

life, the more

there is in life to

celebrate.”

Oprah Winfrey

Page 3 N ew sl etter

Waterbury Chapter of UNICO National

PO Box 933—Waterbury, CT 06721

As a switch from our regular dinner meeting, we are holding an End of Year Celebration/Installation of

Officers for our Chapter on Tuesday, June 23rd at Vasi’s Restaurant on Watertown Avenue in

Waterbury. Cost per person is $25 which includes door prizes, dinner, dessert & complimentary glass of

wine. Doors open at 6:00pm for hors d’ouevres & cash bar. An abbreviated meeting begins promptly at

6:30pm & the buffet will be presented at 6:45pm. In attendance to swear in the Officers & Board of

Directors will be Tom Vaughan of Wethersfield, the current National 2nd Vice President.

The night has been planned for plenty of time for informal discussions, socialization, awards, laughter &

fun! Everyone is encouraged to attend. This is the perfect

opportunity to bring your family, friends & not-yet-members.

In order to provide an accurate count to the restaurant, please RSVP

to Francine at 203.510.0276 or WaterburyUNICO@yahoo.com.

Come celebrate the great work we engaged in this past year!!

END OF YEAR CELEBRATION– INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS

JOHN A. SALERNO, M.D.

INTERNAL MEDICINE

573-0300

60 WESTWOOD AVE

WATERBURY,CT 06708

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Proud to be a member of Waterbury UNICO

93 Years of “ Service Above Self ”

The Largest Italian-American Service Organization

Founded in Waterbury, CT 1922

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Waterbury Chapter of UNICO National Check out our website

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Monthly Meeting Schedule (Sept-June) Board of Directors – 2nd Tuesday 6:45 pm - Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall

Regular Dinner Meeting– 4th Tuesday - 6:30 pm - Juniper’s Restaurant

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