February 2019

Dear Cenacolisti,

Writing this from the Island of Kauaii, Hawaii—yes, Paradise is indeed beautiful! And what a beautiful season it has been in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last couple of weeks. Loving the crisp clear weather and possible false spring after the heavy downpour we experienced earlier in January, but we do need the rain and snow. Still hard to believe that it’s now 2019!

Congratulations to Professor Don Zingale and thank you for presenting your friends from San Francisco State during our Thursday Luncheons last month. Each one was interesting and informative, highlighting various studies and education processes—some of them rooted in Italian culture, such as the Montessori teaching methods which are the basis of pre-school learning throughout the world.

We all look forward to John Benson’s four February presentations outlined above. Please make sure that you all attend and bring friends and relatives to experience what we are all about and hopefully join Il Cenacolo.

Alex Rynecki of our Board of Directors has acquired 28 tickets to Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony on May 24th at 8pm performed by the San Francisco Symphony. This performance will also include Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B minor. Our cost for all of this will be a mere $25 per ticket—a bargain!!  Call our treasurer Ron Derenzi (650) 737-9484 to reserve.

Director Bill Dito is making progress with the San Francisco Opera for tickets to Carmen in June. Stay tuned for date, time and cost to be announced and plan to attend!

Chuck Stagliano is in the process of setting up the 2019 Opera Outing for Sunday, September 22, 2019, again at the Marin Art & Garden Center in Ross. Mark your calendars to attend this delightful annual event and plan on bringing guests—they are always welcome!  And while you are at it, mark your calendars for December 7, 2019 for our annual Holiday Gala! Finally, Ron Derenzi has set up photo albums from our 2018 Holiday Gala. Call him if you are interested in acquiring one.

Finally, on a sad note, our esteemed member Alex Kugushev’s wife Mimi is fighting cancer. Please keep her in your prayers.

Signing off from Kauaii,

Aloha, DTG