Newsletter:                                                                                                                                                                               AMICI D' ITALIA VOCE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         January, vol. 6 issue 1                                                   Brothers and sisters,   We hope that you had a very safe and merry Christmas and New Years. We also hope that you (and your plants) survived the Arctic blast we suffered through a few weeks ago. We said “goodbye” to 2022 and closed the book on another successful year with our annual Christmas luncheon. We have plans another fun filled year in the works and we hope that all our members will participate in our activities.                                                                                                          *Our general meeting is on Friday January 20th , 6:30 p.m. at our regular meeting hall, Shepherd of the Woods Lutheran Church, 7860 Southside Blvd. Jacksonville 32256. Our dinner this meeting will be a chili, chili and chili (and cornbread of course. This is the south)! We are also looking forward to a visit from our friends “The Vintage Players”. Our monthly meeting fee is still $8 and $12 for visitors. Please make arrangements to attend.                                               *January is the month we collect our annual dues of $50. Most of our annual expenditures are due within the first ninety days of the new year. This includes our website fee, State of Florida Corporation tax and of course our Federal non profit income tax filing fee. We are also assessed a quarterly “per capita” fee based on the number of members in our lodge by our State Council. During the year, we also contribute to our State Council sponsored charities which include cancer, alzheimers and Cooley's anemia (Thalassemia). So our money is allocated to specific expenditures necessary to maintain our lodge. During the year, we sponsor certain fund raising events, such as our scholarship, to maintain our operating funds, so it is important for all of us to attend our fund raising activities.                                                                                                                 *Happy Birthday   With the new year comes our first list of birthdays. This month our birthday babies are Mona Ryder (Jan. 2nd), Mary Jane Roys (Jan 6th), Annette Guarino (Jan. 9th), Donna Auger (Jan. 11th), Gummer Moya (Jan. 22nd), Char Miller (Jan. 24th) and Deacon George Barletta (Jan. 29th). We wish each and every one of you a very Happy Birthday. Have the best birthday ever!                           *Old Business/New Business   All of our scholarship applications were distributed to our area high schools. This will all culminate in our annual Scholarship Dinner in April.   Our OSDIA Christmas Luncheon was a huge success with fifty nine members and friends in attendance. The entertainment and the cuisine were exquisite! The tentative dates for the 2023 luncheon will be December 3rd or December 10th. Don't miss out on the festivities.                        *The OSDIA Book Club met at Dominick and Toni's home on January 9th and had a lively discussion on Adriana Trigiani's The Good Left Undone. Thank you Dominick and Toni for hosting. The next book for review is Lisa Scottoline's What Happened To The Bennetts. The book is available on Amazon and at your local library.                                                                                                                                       Those members interested in obtaining an OSDIA cook book, please see Mark.         *Restaurant Night   They say that “the third time's a charm”. The Amici d' Italia Restaurant Night is scheduled for January 26th at 6:30 p.m. at The Athenian Owl Restaurant, 9551 Baymeadows Road, Suite 21-23, Jacksonville 32256. We tried two other times to reserve this restaurant but luck was not with us. This is a great restaurant with excellent food. You don't want to miss out. See you there!         *Future Plans     We are still in the planning stages of our activities for the new year, but there are a few items on the horizon. Our Grand Lodge Trimester meeting will be held in Deltona, Florida. Many of our members attend and tell us about what a great time they had.   It is time to make plans for our OSDIA convention which means that we will be electing delegates in February. We also have plans to invite our accordion player for a repeat performance.   Also in the planning stages of an April dinner dance. Stay tuned for more information.          *The Good of The Order   Please pray for the repose of the souls of our deceased members especially Silvana Patterson, Patty Cooper, Bob Santare, Henry ”Hank” Pelz, Nino Struzzi, Ed Kopek, Tony Trivasani, William Tabone, Paul and Audrey Dodd, Gabe and Catherine Bove, Phyllis Capotosta, Joseph Cinotti and our other deceased members. Please continue to remember in your prayers Erika Rimmer (Margie Rimmer's daughter). Please keep in our hearts and in our prayers all of our brothers and sisters.