Newsletter
Fall 2011
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Click for Tribute to Mary daRosa Giglitto
An Evening to Remember: The
Tunaman's Ball & Recognition Dinner 2011
by Odette Virissimo
What made the Tunaman’s
Ball of 2011 an evening to remember? Was it the place,
the food, the music, the people
we honored or a good reason to remember our fisherman and
community? To me it is all of the above!
Saturday, October 15, 2011 was an evening that I am so
proud of and so thankful for. Our community came
together for this
special night to support the PHC and
our efforts to save our past for our future! The Bali Hai set the mood and
how fitting it was that we were just up the street
from our beautiful Tunaman’s
Memorial. The food was delicious and the music by Kicks Band had us all dancing
and singing! No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been
the reward for what he gave, and so we were proud to acknowledge our honorees
that night. They were August Felando for Lifetime Achievement, Mr. and Mrs. Cristiano
Da Rosa for Humanitarian and Sardinha & Cileu Management for Business.
Our St. Agnes Pastor, Father
Ed McNulty led us in prayer as we had a moment of silence
for our fishermen who never made it home to their families.
We keep
them
and their families in our hearts forever.
This was a fundraiser and fundraising
requires both optimism and realism. Without optimism few
if any solicitation efforts would be made. Without realism
few
if any would succeed. So the PHC thanks our sponsors. Their willingness
to
support
our efforts gives us the optimism and realism to continue our mission of
preserving our Portuguese history. Their generosity was overwhelming and
I am humbled
and grateful.
I did not set this evening
up by myself, if not for the PHC board it would have been
very difficult. A big thank you to Rod Guidi and the wonderful
video he
put together about our honorees we viewed that night. It was very touching.
Thanks for your help, especially Natalie A. Virissimo, Daniel Silva our
treasurer, Donna
Calhoun and Therese Garces our President. Like I said in my speech that
evening you would think Therese was getting paid to do all she does for
the PHC.
Her dedication is exemplary. I am very thankful to belong to a board
of
directors that put in their time to get things done and work at saving
our past for
our
future!
The exciting part of the evening
was when our Councilman Carl De Maio proclaimed that October
15 be Tunaman’s Memorial Ball day! To be acknowledged
by our city shows that they are aware of our work that
we do at the PHC. We were very
honored and surprised!
A big thank you to all those
who attended our Tunaman’s Ball! Your presence
inspired us to do more and continue this again! I enjoyed seeing
people of all ages who came from near and far to help support
the PHC that wonderful night.
It was an evening to remember because of the place, the food, the
music, the people, and our community!
Again I want to express my
sincere appreciation for your generosity in support of
the PHC. Your personal commitment was incredibly helpful
and
allowed us
to surpass our goal. Obrigado, from all of us here at the Portuguese
Historical Center!
Odette Virissimo
