FROM OUR PRESIDENT
ROSANN NANCI
Benvenuto alla primavera 2021 • Welcome to Spring 2021!
It’s not exactly what we were expecting after a year of Covid restrictions but here we are patiently waiting for vaccines to kick in – but at least we have the ability to dine outdoors – al fresco – and the weather has been great. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways.
In spite of the pandemic restrictions, the KCIC board has been very busy meeting and organizing. First of course was our online Zoomaversary celebration which commemorated our Club’s 55th anniversary in March. We received so many videos from local dignitaries – even the Prime Minister sent his greetings. We honoured past board members, created a memorium of members we lost over the past year, highlighted all our committees and the various jobs that they do for the club, and presented a beautiful introduction to our Legacy Project. Il Nostro Lascito was the highlight of the event and presented the early contributions of Italians in the Central Okanagan. We are incredibly proud of the video, and it has received accolades from all over the country. If you haven’t seen it, please go to our You Tube channel and check it out.
And Yes! We have a You Tube Channel. So many of our events will be online for the foreseeable future, we thought it was the best way for us to showcase these happenings!
Secondly the board is using this great “pause” to do some reorganizing to adjust some of the club’s events in order to accommodate the changing landscape of our club’s demographics. To this end, we have organized a board retreat this June in order to meet with a facilitator who will guide us through the retreat with the goal of creating a strategic plan which the Club can follow for the short and long term. So we expect great things from this retreat and it is hoped that we can provide direction for future boards... it’s always good to have a plan.
And lastly, I’m sure you have heard via the various news platforms that the Prime Minister of Canada is set to offer an apology to the Italian Canadian community for the internment of 600 Italo-Canadese men during the Second World War. This is an important moment for our community as it is often a piece of history that has been overlooked. The Italian community as a whole suffered a legacy of shame that was in no way earned by either their actions or their loyalties. The apology offers a vindication to the families who were torn apart during this time period, some never really recovering from the ordeal, socially and financially. The apology also offers the Italian Canadian community an opportunity to have that shame acknowledged, and allows our community to heal and move forward.
What are some of the things to look for in the next month? June is Italian Heritage Month in BC, so make sure you see our third installment of our First Families series on Facebook and our website. Our in-house genealogy guide, Don Rampone features one Italian Canadian Okanagan family for each day of June. Don, as you know is currently offering online genealogy research classes every Thursday night. La Nostra Famiglia Italiana Committee is pleased to have had over 50 participants register for the online course.
There are so many other events province wide which you can tune into, check our website, www.kelownaitalianclub.com for more information.
With that, I hope you enjoy your spring. It is a time of rejuvenation, of planting our gardens, of making things fresh and beautiful with flowers, not to mention the start of our outdoor entertaining! We are blessed to live in such a beautiful place, so break out the wine and the barbeque! Salute!
It’s not exactly what we were expecting after a year of Covid restrictions but here we are patiently waiting for vaccines to kick in – but at least we have the ability to dine outdoors – al fresco – and the weather has been great. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways.
In spite of the pandemic restrictions, the KCIC board has been very busy meeting and organizing. First of course was our online Zoomaversary celebration which commemorated our Club’s 55th anniversary in March. We received so many videos from local dignitaries – even the Prime Minister sent his greetings. We honoured past board members, created a memorium of members we lost over the past year, highlighted all our committees and the various jobs that they do for the club, and presented a beautiful introduction to our Legacy Project. Il Nostro Lascito was the highlight of the event and presented the early contributions of Italians in the Central Okanagan. We are incredibly proud of the video, and it has received accolades from all over the country. If you haven’t seen it, please go to our You Tube channel and check it out.
And Yes! We have a You Tube Channel. So many of our events will be online for the foreseeable future, we thought it was the best way for us to showcase these happenings!
Secondly the board is using this great “pause” to do some reorganizing to adjust some of the club’s events in order to accommodate the changing landscape of our club’s demographics. To this end, we have organized a board retreat this June in order to meet with a facilitator who will guide us through the retreat with the goal of creating a strategic plan which the Club can follow for the short and long term. So we expect great things from this retreat and it is hoped that we can provide direction for future boards... it’s always good to have a plan.
And lastly, I’m sure you have heard via the various news platforms that the Prime Minister of Canada is set to offer an apology to the Italian Canadian community for the internment of 600 Italo-Canadese men during the Second World War. This is an important moment for our community as it is often a piece of history that has been overlooked. The Italian community as a whole suffered a legacy of shame that was in no way earned by either their actions or their loyalties. The apology offers a vindication to the families who were torn apart during this time period, some never really recovering from the ordeal, socially and financially. The apology also offers the Italian Canadian community an opportunity to have that shame acknowledged, and allows our community to heal and move forward.
What are some of the things to look for in the next month? June is Italian Heritage Month in BC, so make sure you see our third installment of our First Families series on Facebook and our website. Our in-house genealogy guide, Don Rampone features one Italian Canadian Okanagan family for each day of June. Don, as you know is currently offering online genealogy research classes every Thursday night. La Nostra Famiglia Italiana Committee is pleased to have had over 50 participants register for the online course.
There are so many other events province wide which you can tune into, check our website, www.kelownaitalianclub.com for more information.
With that, I hope you enjoy your spring. It is a time of rejuvenation, of planting our gardens, of making things fresh and beautiful with flowers, not to mention the start of our outdoor entertaining! We are blessed to live in such a beautiful place, so break out the wine and the barbeque! Salute!