OSIA LODGE MEETING CULTURAL PROGRAM IDEAS
Learn the Italian National Anthem 'Hymm of Mameli' so all can sing it at ceremonies
Learn the Italian Christmas song 'Tu Scendi delle Stelle' so all can sing it at Xmas party.
If you have members who are native speakers or Italian Language teachers, ask them to start lodge Italian lessons.
Create a Wreathe-Laying ceremony at a Columbus monument geographically near you.
Lodge trips – many options !
Create a Block party to celebrate Festa di Republica in June.
Create an Italian American Festival in your town. Pick a saint if you want to honor one.
Have a talent night
Show DVD's on Italian topics or movies. There's a 15 minute DVD on the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum in Staten Island, NYC (that belongs to our National OSIA)
Italian Regional night- pick one region per month: Abruzzo, Calabria, Le Marche, Sicilia Puglia, Campania (Naples), Lazio (Roma), etc. Committee members presents the history, culture, music, & food of that region that their ancestry may have come from.
Programs on Italian / Italian American music nights 'By the Decades'.
Italian American Book Club discussion. Great one to start with: 'Under the Southern Sun -Stories of the Real Italy and the Americans It Created' by Paul Paolicelli of PA.
Italian Food Demonstrations – 'Making Homemade Ricotta Cheese, Gnocchi, etc.'by Maria Verzilli of Piazza Nuova Lodge or whoever can do such programs in your lodge.
Annual Group Attendance Mass on a Sunday during November in remembrance of our departed members / ancestors.
If lodge has knowledgable persons in their ranks who can give a talk on their profession or avocation, ie: Italian Dual Citizenship Process, Local hospital volunteer director, etc.
Book Author signings – One who gives a great talk is author Gus Graybill of Western PA
Speaker from a local college or HS on a topic relevant to Italian / Italian American History.
