Post on 25-Jul-2016
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I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Now that we are in the new year we are
approaching the busiest time period for our chapter. We have many important events
scheduled during the next six months. You can read about some of them in this newsletter.
To continue my comments on UNICO's anti bias work from the last
newsletter I wanted to mention to you that last fall our Board of Directors
voted to officially join the Italian American One Voice Coalition. This
organization was founded a few years ago by our national anti bias
committee chairman Dr. Manny Alfano and others to become the only
organization in America whose mission is strictly to promote a positive
image of Italian Americans in the media and to fight discrimination, bias, and slander against
Italians and our culture whenever and wherever it appears. The cost of membership is $100
per year for an organization and $60 per year for an individual. By becoming a member as
an organization we have joined other UNICO chapters from around the country as well as
individuals in funding and supporting this important work. If you would like to learn more
about the coalition and its work you can go to their website at IAOVC. org. I know you will
find it interesting and informative.
One of the things the coalition has been very concerned about is the
increasing attacks against Columbus Day. Many municipalities and
school systems have eliminated the Columbus Day holiday completely
and/or have replaced it with "Indigenous Peoples Day" based on false
narratives of Columbus such as claims that he enslaved the natives of
the Americas. These claims are patently untrue but have gain traction
in recent years. Indeed last fall the Board of Education in Bridgeport
voted to eliminate the Columbus Day holiday. If anyone of you ever learns of attempts to
downgrade or eliminate the Columbus Day holiday in our area please let me so I can get
the word out to other organizations and activists around the state. We are not against a
day being set aside to honor Indigenous People but we are against attacking and what he
represents to us and all other immigrants who came to North America to start a new life.
I hope to see you all at our next meeting this coming Tuesday.
~Frank
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT FRANK TRAVISANO
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Chapter Newsletter
January 2016
“Service Above Self”
www.waterburyUNICO.com
WaterburyUNICO@yahoo.com
www.facebook.com/WaterburyUNICO
Don’t Forget….Our January Dinner Meeting will be held on
Tuesday, January 26th in the Our Lady of Lourdes Church Hall!!
UNICO CAR MAGNET Are you looking for a way to show others that you are a member of the largest
Italian-American Service Organization in the USA???? UNICO National sells Magnetic
Stickers for your vehicles. Our Chapter is placing a group order
and invite you to join us!! Cost is $5.00 . If you want to
participate, reply by February 9th. You can send checks, payable
to UNICO National, to PO Box 933— Waterbury, CT 0672.1.
VOLUNTEER THANK YOU Special thanks are extended to our UNICANS who
helped out at the WARC Christmas Party and Ringing
the Bell for Salvation Army. We are blessed to have
committed members who took time out of their
schedule to assist those in need.
Don’t forget to bring your
pennies & any loose
change for St.
Vincent de Paul to our
next meeting.
Page 2 WATERBURY CHAPTER OF UNICO NATIONAL
UNICO MEMORABILIA UNICO National sells a number of items on line with the UNICO Insignia. Locally,
Signatures on South Main Street in Waterbury has our “Waterbury UNICO” logo
available for embroidery. You can bring your own shirt or
purchase one from there. It’s a great way to show your
UNICO Pride! Questions? Contact Francine Nido at
UNICOdoll@gmail.com.
On January 27th , the Palace Theater in Waterbury presents An Intimate
Conversation with Lidia Bastianich: Host of Public Television’s "Lidia’s Kitchen”.
Join Lidia Bastianich, for an evening of conversation and storytelling
celebrating our love of Italian food. The evening will be moderated by
Faith Middleton of heard on WNPR and WNPR.org.
Use code UNICO when you order tickets and
our Chapter will receive $5.00 from each sale.
PUBLIC RELATIONS Our Chapter is looking for someone to serve as Public
Relations Chair to handle getting articles/photos into
ComUNICO and local publications. Right now, Event Chairs are responsible for
getting the photos and article together, but we need one person to be the point
person to send the information to the news outlets.
Interested? Talk to President Travisano for more info!!
ITALIAN CORNED BEEF DINNER
It’s Italian Corned Beef Dinner Time!! Tickets will be available at the January meeting and
then will be mailed to all members. Please, please, please—sell as many as you can! This is
our major fundraiser and we need everyone’s support. Also—note the change in venue and
price from last year. We are also looking for items for our raffle table. Letters are available
to give to local vendors. Most importantly, we will need volunteers that evening. Please
send an email to Waterbury UNICO@yahoo.com to let us know what time on the 9th
you’re available.
Did you know
that at our
Christmas
Party we
collected 65
packs of
diapers and 50
packs of wipes
for donation to
the Waterbury
Diaper Bank
operated by
Catholic
Charities???
Page 3 JANUARY 2016
Waterbury Chapter of UNICO National
PO Box 933 Waterbury, CT 06721
Waterbury—The Birthplace of UNICO
Our next meeting is
Tuesday, January 26th
and it will take place at
Our Lady of Lourdes
Church Hall at 6:30pm.
Catering by D’Amelio’s
Italian Eatery.
$25.00 per Person
This is the District Meeting
so we are expecting a few
members from CT-I
Chapters to join us.
Tom Vaughan from the
Wethersfield Chapter and
current 1st Vice President
for UNICO National
will also join us to discuss
what’s happening
on a National Level
and update us on his rise
to Presidency.
Since we are having thie
meeting catered, we need a
count of attendees so we’re
sure to have anough food .
Please reply with your
intent to attend by
Monday, January 25th to
WaterburyUNICO@yahoo.com.
Menu includes:
antipasto, 2 pastas,
escarole & beans,
meatballs, eggplant parm,
sausage & peppers,
baked chicken & salad.
Don’t Forget!!!
founded by Gerard J. Somma in 1939 with customers nationwide & overseas
located on Scott Road since 1957
www.sommatool.com
Manufacturers of tooling
for the Precision Turned Parts Industry
109 Scott Road Waterbury, CT 06705
JOHN A. SALERNO, M.D.
INTERNAL MEDICINE
573-0300
60 WESTWOOD AVE
WATERBURY,CT 06708
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS
Tim Clark, Realtor Cell-203-592-5201
timmclark@optimum.net
Proud to be a member of Waterbury UNICO
94 Years of “ Service Above Self ”
The Largest Italian-American Service Organization
Founded in Waterbury, CT 1922
SUPPORT OUR
SPONSORS
Integral Psychiatric Services
203-430-0315
Adver�se your
business with us
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
Want informa�on included in the next newsle�er? Care to receive the newsle�er electronically?
Contact us at waterburyunico@yahoo.com
Memorial Section
Waterbury Chapter of UNICO National Check out our website
www.waterburyunico.com
Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WaterburyUnico
Contact us at waterburyunico@yahoo.com
In Loving Memory to our parents:
Charles and Louise Gerace
Ralph and Lillian Santopietro
~ With love from Bob &Marilyn
In Memory of my Grandparents:
Giovanni “John” and Theresa Meoni Gelada
Giocondino and Amelia Fusco D’Amico Santopietro
~With Love, your grandson, Louis C. Gelada Jr.
In Memory of my parents:
William and Dora Samela
~From Bianca Daniels