March 2025 LaCarota
President’s Message:
Ciao a tutti! How are you all doing? As always, I hope that you are all happy, healthy and safe! Are you all feeling healthy and is everyone following through with their New Year’s resolutions? Are you in the gym, pumping iron, doing cardio, Zumba classes or just including a brisk walk, here and there? Go for a walk with the dog and a friend, and get to know one another better. We want to see you all around for a long time! We really got our 1st cold snap of the year today, which is supposed to carry on for the next few days. 25 degrees and lower at night. No thank you! I would love to spend my winters in Arizona, Texas or any other southern state with heat! You all know my story by now, and if you do, you all know, I am the son of the sun and heat. Canada was just a cover up for me! LoL! Anyway, stay warm, and hopefully we’ll see the thermometer rise in the up-and-coming months! Here’s to the sun and sand. Who’s with me?
Club Paesano “Big Game Watch Party”;
On Sunday February 9th, we hosted our annual “Big Game Watch Party”. As usual, it did not disappoint. Our guests came in and enjoyed the festivities! Club Paesano offered up an “All you can eat” buffet, with all of our favorite Super Bowl food favorites. Pizza, Chicken wings, Italian sausage with peppers and onions, chili dogs, nacho bar, nuts, chips, etc. We sold tickets for $15. Where else could you go to watch the game, eat, drink and have tons of FUN, and bet on the game? No where!! If you weren’t able to make it in 2025, please get your family and friends together for next year’s event in February. It proved to be a great time, over and over again! The best deal in town, for sure! Special thanks to Marc Battilega once again for manning the kitchen by himself and keeping our guests fed. Marc went out to purchase all of the food, came in on Saturday to prep, then cooked it all up and kept it coming for hours! Our guests were very impressed with the spread. Thank you, Marc! Also thank you to Jimmy Calcagno, Mario Pompei for working the bar with me. Geno Benagni for making and manning the betting table. John Benagni for your tech support. Kelly Barasch for selling swag, Dino Garvazza and Chris Siri as well. As always, we thank our Treasurer and constant doorman Johnny Kern, for working the door and taking admission all game. Washing pots and pans too! We couldn’t do it without you all. Thank you for getting there early and making it run. I’d also like to thank all of the members that came out and brought guests. Every little bit helps to make our events a success! Thank you!
Carnevale Dance:
On Saturday March 1st, we will be celebrating our annual Carnevale Dinner & Dance. We are changing things up a small bit. At this dance our entertainment will be a pair of DJs. DJ Destiny & DJ Mark Lion. We’ve been wanting to try this for a while now. The DJ will offer more variety and flexibility as far as the music they play. They can take just about any request and this pair knows how to work a crowd! I would like nothing better than to see our older members out on the dance floor, dancing to a nice Italian waltz or polka. Perhaps the “Chicken Dance”? I feel like they never get a chance to get out there and shake a tailfeather because our bands have a set list which is usually just top 40 dance hits. I’m very confident that we’ll still have a great time and it will be as fun as usual. Don’t fear though, the rest of our events will have live entertainment. I feel that we are at a point and time where we need to start trying different things at our events. We need to spark new interest and get all of you out to support all of our events and have fun! Please invite family and friends and let’s make every one of our events a SELLOUT! There really should be no reason why they all are not! I really want you all to come out to this one, obviously to support one of our events, but to also support our charity partner. “Creations for Cures” will be our partner for this dance. They are based in Gresham and when I met with their founder and survivor Renee Deifendorfer, I knew that this was a special one. Their cause really pulls at my heartstrings, and should pull at yours as well! Renee was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was 28 yrs old. When she was going to her chemo treatments, she found that creating art and painting really kept her mind positive and away from the cancer treatment. I’m very happy to say that she survived and decided to create this charity. She decided to focus it on children and adolescents that have been diagnosed with some kind of cancer. The monies that are raised through her charity events are then used to buy art supplies, package them and then send the kits out to hospitals and treatment centers, so the children can create art while going through their treatment. All at no cost to the hospital or family. She supplies many hospitals in multiple states. Wow, what an undertaking, and God bless her for taking this on! What an amazing person. I brought her in as a guest speaker at last month’s meeting, so some of you may have had the pleasure of meeting her. She’s a lovely person. Again, I can’t think of a better reason to come to the dance, support your club and support a beautiful cause!! To raise funds for her charity, she will have a silent auction and raffle. If you have something that you would like to donate for her auction / raffle please get a hold of me ASAP. I can give it to her. Let’s show her some Club Paesano love and support and let her know that we Paesano’s know how to support our community! Ticket sales are very low as of now, so if you haven’t purchased yours yet, please get them soon! Invite everyone you can, and remember, if you can’t make it to the dance, please sell or give your tickets away to someone that you feel will enjoy our events and hopefully will want to come to our next one. We can’t do this without all of our support. You’ve been cooped up in the house all winter so why not bust out and celebrate a fantastic night with your fellow members and friends while supporting such a wonderful cause! See you all there!
Club Paesano Scholarship Fundraiser:
On Sunday March 16th, Club Paesano Scholarship committee would like to invite all of you to our Pasta feed fundraiser. This will be an “All you can eat” dinner including pasta, meatballs, salad, rolls and a dessert. We will also include one adult or soft drink beverage with your dinner. We will offer a “No host” bar after that. The cost will be $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 yrs to 6. Kids under 6 yrs of age are free. Along with dinner, we will have a Raffle / Silent Auction, going on to raise money for the scholarships. All the money raised will be put into our scholarship fund. Last year we were able to award 3 scholarships at $1000 each. That was great, so we would love to match that, or even add more money to each if we raise enough. That’s where you all come in. Come and support it all. It’s a great way to support our youth and future while covering your dinner plans for that night! No cooking and doing dishes, we’ll do it all for you, while you eat, drink, have fun and support a fantastic Club Paesano cause. If you have a teen, grand-teen or relative that is a senior and is intending on extending their education to a university, college or trade school, please have them apply. The scholarship application will be on our website very soon. Go to www.clubpaesano.org and follow the instructions. This will be their 1st test! LoL! Have them fill out everything needed, then email it back to me at [email protected] so our committee can start going through them. Let’s get together to support our future professionals, tradespeople and the kids that will be running everything very soon. We are still in great need of raffle and silent auction items, so if you can help us procure items, or if you have something that you would like to donate, please let me know. Anything will be appreciated and will help to raise money. Our doors will open at 3pm and we will go till 8pm. You can come at any time between to eat and support the raffle. We will be serving food the whole time. You can also take it to go if you can’t stay. Our raffle / Silent auction will be drawn at the end of the night but you don’t have to be there to win as we will have you put your name and phone number on the tickets that you purchase. Let’s support our future Paesano leaders. I hope to see you all there.
Paesano Bocce News:
There is not a lot of Bocce being played as of now, but the Paesano Bocce Club Board of Directors have been very busy getting things done for this upcoming year. We have been meeting regularly, getting by-laws in place, dealing with our new 501-C3 status and getting our schedule locked down for not only our league but our tournaments as well. This year will not disappoint!!! Big money tournament, with players coming in from as far as Dallas TX and California. We have exciting times ahead. We met up with the City of Gresham to discuss our project to cover our courts. It was our initial meeting and they had a lot of information for us to take in and digest. It was a lot, and there were things that we learned. Like any project, you figure out a way to work through everything and our “Roof Committee” will do that. We are still quite away, but we know what we have to do now! Raising money is one of our primary commitments. If you would like to donate to the roof, we can give you a receipt so you can write it off on your taxes. We are always open to monetary donations! As we get closer to the construction of our new roof, such things as building materials, labor and advertisement can be written off too. If you are currently a bocce member and would like to be more involved with our board and in our decision making, we are always looking for people to run committees and have good ideas that will help us. Not only in our fundraising, but in running our league nights and tournaments. If you have any interest in doing that, please reach out to one of our board members and let them know. As always, if you are interested in joining our league nights, please see one of our board members or go on to our website at www.paesanobocce.com It doesn’t matter if you’ve played before or you’re a rookie, we have a skill set to match your play. Come with a team or by yourself as we will find you a team. It’s a fun time and a way to get to know other people and some of your fellow Club Paesano members as well. We have several CP Members that are currently playing. Come out and enjoy while learning a new sport, who knows, you just may get the “Bocce Bug”! Let the good times ROLL!
Cedarville Park Shares:
Need a good reason to purchase Cedarville Shares? Get Astronomical savings on Park Rentals and save Thousands!
If you are interested in owning a piece of this fantastic place and would like to purchase shares, please contact Steve Petruzelli at 503-620-3447 or email him at [email protected] . The Cedarville Board of Directors is holding a shareholder’s meeting on Wednesday November 22nd from 7pm till 9pm. Information about the Lodge and what’s been happening will be discussed. If you are a shareholder, you should plan on attending. Also, to our new members you can purchase at any time.
Club Paesano Dues:
Our Club Paesano membership dues were due in June. If you haven’t paid John Kern as of yet, please make plans on paying him soon. You can mail him a check, or pay him at our next meeting. John will accept Credit cards, cash or checks. John’s a busy man, so please don’t make him chase you. If you need to pay your dues or any other payments, please take care of it. Thank you.
Cedarville Lodge & Park Rentals:
If you or someone you know are in need of a beautiful venue to rent for an event, please think Cedarville Lodge first. The club’s bookings are finally starting to pick up again, after this pandemic, but we can still use a little help. Please contact our Venue Director, Maria Duong, at 503-577- 8471 and she will be more than helpful and gracious in getting you all the info that you may need, and to also help you with coordinating your event.
Columbus Day Dinner & Comedy Show:
Mark your calendars for Saturday October 11th. Our Columbus Day committee has formed and have had a couple of meetings so far. They have our entertainment for the night booked. “The Uncle Louie Variety Show”. The boys are very excited to come out to the PNW. They’ve never been out here before, so let’s show up and show them how we Italians from Oregon roll! They’re a very funny duo that promises to have you laughing all night! If you haven’t seen them before, I encourage you to look them up on “Youtube” or Facebook. We will be treated to a 5-course meal served at your table, created and headed up by our very own Greg DeMaestri and his crew. If you would like to join the committee to help and add your ideas to it, please reach out to Joe Castellano (Committee Chair), Anna Fazio Nassib, Marc Battilega or Greg DeMaestri. It’ll be a fantastic night, and we’ll be bringing back our old Italian tradition along with all of the other Italian clubs in the area, the Columbus Day Dinner! Stay tuned for more information and ticket sales as it arrives.
Calendar of Events for 2025:
In our last month’s Board meeting, it was asked, “Can we put our events with dates in the Carota” So everyone can see it?” Ok Giovanni, here they are!
March 1st ~ Carnevale Dinner/Dance
Mach 16th ~ Scholarship Fundraising Dinner
May 17th ~ Spring Dinner/Dance
June 4th ~ La Polenta Dinner
August 2nd ~ Concert in the Park
September 14th ~ Members BBQ
October 11th ~ Columbus Day Dinner and Show
October 25th ~ Halloween Dinner/Dance
December 7th ~ Christmas Dinner Party w/Santa
Thoughts & Prayers:
Last month I forgot to mention the passing of Doug Burchak’s father Jay. Jay passed away last month. He used to be the music teacher at David Douglas High. Our condolences go out to Doug and his family. Thoughts and prayers to all of our families and friends. May God keep us all healthy and strong! If you have a person that you would like me to include in the newsletter, please let me know by mid-month, so I have time to add their name. Thanks.
LaCarota Question:
Well, it looks like the Wine King has some heavy competition peeking over his shoulder. Just when Mario “The Mauler” thought that he was back in the driver’s seat of winning, along comes another. Chris “Superfly” Siri, has been creeping up the winner’s board, and is solidifying himself as a true contender. “Superfly” has been another constant in answering the question every month and it’s been proving to be successful. As I always say, “You can’t win, if you don’t play”!
If you would like to be a contender, then you need to put in the work, and answer the question. Success may come your way too! So, let’s get on with this month’s question. Seeing yesterday was Valentine’s Day; I want to focus my question around old St. V himself. As we all know, Valentine’s Day is surrounded by love, happiness and a lot of sweets! Chocolate, candy, flowers and romance top the day. With all the love and happiness surrounding the day, did you know that it wasn’t so bright in the beginning? When St. Valentine first started out, it wasn’t all love and roses. So, my question is this. Tell me why St. Valentine’s history wasn’t so great. There’s a couple of reasons, so I will accept them both. There you go. A little twist on a loving day! I bet Hallmark wouldn’t want to know about this! LoL! All correct answers will be entered to win the coveted bottle of Vino!
Final Thoughts:
Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and I hope that you were all able to enjoy it. I know that the snow may have hindered some of our plans, but hopefully you were still able to make it work. I hope that you all got to spend time with the loved ones in your lives. I know that sometimes life and everything else gets us so involved and focused that we don’t get that special time to spend with the ones we hold so near and dear to our hearts. Hopefully we can show one another love and appreciation every day and not just on February 14th. I know that most of us do, but every once and a while we need to be reminded of the little things too. Here’s to love peace and harmony to all of us, our families and friends. May love rule!
Ti Salute, Rick.