(Past Letters from the President )
Tradizioni - May, 2010
Dear Members,
As we quickly move through yet another year, I look back on 2008 and 2009, and think about the difficult position our organization was in financially. Between the economic downturn - which ultimately affected such critical areas as membership renewal, charitable donations, and overall attendance to our annual conferences - along with the purchase of our new expansive website, IFAFA's available funds were at one of their lowest points in all my years with the organization.
Since that time, however, we've managed to make a strong recovery, and have once again secured our stability and assured a long-term position for our financial future. We had a tremendously successful membership drive for 2010, with almost all individuals renewing their current membership, as well as several new individuals joining for the very first time. First-time membership this year also included a new performing group out of Fitchburg, WI. The revived group, Italian Folk Dancers of Madison, is now headed up by Raul DeLuna, whose email is listed on our website. Please help me in welcoming them to IFAFA.
With the above in mind, I continue to see 2010 as a rebuilding year. Our goal is to build upon our current status as the authority in Italian Folk Arts, by presenting some new publications via our website. The first is going to be a new IFAFA cookbook, where each member will have the opportunity to provide his or her favorite recipe and story. The second publication will be a new Italian folk arts book, similar to Elba's book, but with a new set of dances and other new informative pieces. Along with the publications, we plan to promote other various items that will ultimately help provide our knowledge of Italian folk arts to those interested in the Italian-American community.
The most important detail of our rebuilding, however, is the fact that we will not be hosting an annual conference this year. Taking into account the instability of our finances last year, as well as the uncertainty of what 2010 would bring, the Board of Directors made the executive decision to postpone this year's conference. The decision was difficult, but at the end of the day, the fiscally responsible thing to do.
Plans for our 2011 conference - to be held in Hartford, CT - are already well underway. Paolina Kavanagh andt he host group Cuor d'Italia, is very enthusiastic and I have nothing but the highest confidence that they will present a spectacular conference. There's certainly a lot more information on this topic to follow in the very near future. As always, continue to check the website for up-to-date details.
Finally, some very bittersweet news - I Gagliardi Italiani of Canton, OH, a long-time member group, has recently notified IFAFA that they have decided to disband. The group notes shrinking membership as the main cause. I wanted to share a small portion of the letter we received from Alice Cleary, President of I Gagliardi Italiani:
"......So after 36 years, we have dissolved. Our final funds have been divided in half to donate to St. Anthony Parish and IFAFA. Enclosed please find a check for $370.27, our donation to IFAFA. We put no conditions on how it should be used.
I have enjoyed all of the trips and activities we have shared in IFAFA. Glad to see the website looking so good!
Most Sincerely,
Alice M. Cleary, President"
This is very sad news indeed. Yet another group, once extremely strong and filled with vivacity, has been forced to disband due to a general lack of interest in keeping our Italian traditions alive through music, dance, song, and costume. I'm sure I speak for the entire membership when I say Thank you, members of I Gagliardi Italiani, for working so hard over the past 36 years to keep our heritage alive here in America. Your tireless efforts are much appreciated, as well as your extremely generous and thoughtful donation towards the work of IFAFA. It will be used to produce informative publications on how to get children involved in their heritage at an early age, the key to keeping interest alive in the future.
If anyone has any suggestions or comments for IFAFA, please don't hesitate to contact me directly via email or through the website. Please also contact Jackie Capurro, editor of the newsletter and overall workhorse for IFAFA, if you have any articles or contributions you'd like to make to Tradizioni or to the website itself.
I hope you're all having a wonderful year so far, and I look forward to speaking with all of you again in the near future!
Sincerely,
Mark DeSanctis
President
Italian Folk Art Federation of America
Past Letters from the President: