BULLETIN TEMPLATE (May 09, 2017)

Among our visiting speakers today, we heard about and from our 2017 PJHS $1,000 Community Service Award recipient, Eve Milusich, who was accompanied by her French teacher, Heather Pisano. Eve will soon be a freshman at Scripps College in Claremont, California. What did Eve do to merit this year's Rotary award? Initially, Eve explained, her goal was to create a French Club at her school, but she was informed by the administration that such a club had little hope of successfully forming, as the probable membership would be rather limited. Then, Eve came up with the idea of forming an International Club, which could draw interest from a much larger pool of students. After a lot of thought, research, and persistent efforts, Eve was finally successful in founding the high school's International Club, which was approved to start up during her junior year. The goal of the club is to create interest in learning about, understanding, and sharing other cultures. Last year, the club members created a "buddy program" which works with the ESL students at the elementary school. Club members paired with and worked to get to know and help out the international students new to the District. Eventually, junior and senior high international students were invited to join in working with the elementary youngsters- all learning to appreciate cultural similarities and differences through working together. The International Club raised funds to financially support its activities via weekly pizza sales ($2 per slice). Some of the profits were spent to purchase PJ Royals sweatshirts for the international students. Funds were also donated to help needy students. The club especially enjoyed a celebratory social gathering that included a talent show (including a demonstration of international songs and dances) and an opportunity to sample international cuisine. The club allows members and international students to benefit a lot from their reciprocal relationship as they share and learn to appreciate each others' cultures.

Lou Gallo, Miller Place resident and a retired history teacher from the Longwood School District, was our second presenter. Lou, a leader on the Committee of Social Justice with the Sons of Italy- "the stewards of Italian culture and history", actively works to fight stereotyping, bias, and bigotry against Italians by educating people of all ages about the richness of his culture and heritage. This was his 48th presentation on behalf of the Sons of Italy. The Sons of Italy promote their culture in many ways, including by sponsoring "A Taste of Italy" in Brookhaven, teaching wine making, holding car shows, etc. (October is Italian Culture & Heritage Month.) Lou brought with him a box filled with "artifacts", objects connected to the history and heritage he advances. He removed the objects from the box- one by one- and told of their connection to his purpose. The 1st object, a piece of cement, represented the limestone, sandstone, and volcanic ash originally mixed together in ancient Rome to build the city's first roadways, buildings, and other structures that still endure today. The 2nd object, a spoon, was also an Italian invention (as were tables of all shapes and dimensions). The 3rd, a fork ("la forchetta") was invented in Florence by the woman who married King Henry II of France, Catherine de Medici, who also taught the court the art of fine cuisine. Object #4, a glass of water, represented the invention of the water filtration system by Lucas Antonius Portius, leading eventually to modern sewers,drains, lead pipes, aqueducts, water tanks, water heaters, tubs, etc. Lou next informed us that it was Thomas Jefferson's neighbor and mentor, Filippo Mazzei, who introduced to him the concept that "all men by their nature are created equal", and that two Italians signed the Declaration of Independence, William Paca of Maryland, and Caesar Rodney of Delaware, who cast the deciding vote to accept the Declaration. Also, Ben Franklin was mentored by Gaetano Filangieri, another Italian. The real inventor of the 1st telephone? Not Alexander Graham Bell, who gained the patent and the fame, but Antonio Meucci from Staten Island in the 1850's. The inventor of the radio (and beginning of the system of Morse Code) was Guglielmo Marconi- in Babylon, NY. In 1593, the thermometer was invented by Galileo Galilei, who also improved the telescope, while Alesandro Volta, in 1800, created the battery, and Evangelista Torricelli, in 1643 was responsible for the barometer. In 1916, William Ghiglieri invented the electric, automatic transmission traffic light. In Pennsylvania James Delligatti created the 1st Big Mac; and in 1965, Fred DeLuca set up Fred's Submarine- which became the 1st in the Subway restaurant franchise. In the 1890's, the 1st pizza was created in Naples by Queen Margherita. In 1903, Italo Marchiony patented the wafer cone. The creator of ice cream? Francesco Procopio de'Coltelli. Guido D'Arezzo invented the music scale. The point of all this information? It's time that we recognize that we are surrounded by all kinds of great Italian innovation and culture.