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2008/2009 Activities Enjoy these photos from activities held during the 2008-2009 Benvenuto Club year. (Click on photos to see larger version.) Potluck Lunch This was the first Potluck lunch I've ever attended. This was not because I was unwilling to, but simply because I was unavailable.
This is the reason why I decided to partecipate from the beginning: to see for myself and report back to you how much
work is needed for a potluck lunch (but also for all other activities by the Benvenuto members) to turn out well.
Between pictures I gave my personal little contribution: moving tables and chairs,laying out the plates, glasses, beverages
and all the dishes that numerous volounteers of the Club cooked exclusively for this event.
A whole menu: from starters to dessert. We had the chance to taste delicious specialties from all over the world.
The weather helped too by giving us a sunny day with a pleasant breeze.
Volunteers Lunch It takes a lot of team work to organize events and thanks were conveyed to all the volunteers at lunch offered at Picanhas. The lifetime achievement award to Roselyn Moscato was also given on this occasion. There was excellent coordination between our board and the sub groups. The sub groups besides organizing their own independent activities also collaborated with us in some of the joint activities.
Choir Practice
Fashion Show We had an impressive, beautiful spring summer fashion show with clothes from the designer/tailor shop Pezze & Spilli, which has both ready to wear and "made to order" clothing which are elegant, affordable and easy to wear for all occasions. (Via Meina, 4 - tel.02/6706481). We showed between 30 to 35 ensembles with some of Benvenuto ladies as models. The makeup was done by Clinique. There was also the usual flaunting of interesting costume jewellery, handbags and shoes.
Indian Cooking Lesson Suparna Roy showed us how to make some mouth watering Indian dishes at her residence. We all cooked together and then ate what we cooked. The menu was very tempting and was comprised of one vegetarian dish, chicken tandoori curry, Indian rice and Raita (salad) and pudding. Indian tea was served. Now we can surprise our husband at home with our culinary expertise!
OA Trip to Vercelli We took the opportunity to visit Vercelli a second time in occasione of the exhibition Peggy Guggenheim and the new American paintings, with famous works of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and others. We also completed our sightseeing tour around the old town of Vercelli. Afterwards was not to be missed a typical piemontese (Piedmont's) lunch.
Nature Walk We had a wonderful walk in the Regional park of Spina Verde, which covers a hill strip (fascia collineare) north west of the town of Como. The territory offers several areas of interest: for example, the remains of the medieval Baraldello castle and some breathtaking views of Como and the lake.
2008 Christmas Bazaar On Tuesday the 25th of November at 10 a.m. the Circolo A. Volta opened its doors to our annual Christmas Bazaar. At 1 p.m. the Raffle was drawn, with the help of computer generated random numbers. A fun time was had by all and we successfully gathered profits for our three charities again this year.
Diwali Festival Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is the most popular of all the festivals from India and is also the occasion for celebrations by Jains and Sikhs and Hindus. The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and knowledge over ignorance, although the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different parts of India. The festival of lights really stands for today is a reaffirmation of hope, a renewed commitment to friendship and goodwill, and a religiously sanctioned celebration of the simple - and some not so simple - joys of life. We celebrated Diwali in Milan with all our friends of Orientals Abroad during a fun evening of dinner and Indian Celebration at Aangan Restaurant.
AIM Thanksgiving Dinner The ultimate goal of AIM’s Thanksgiving celebration is to get together family and friends to have fun, to perpetuate American traditions abroad and to give back to the community in which we live. This year, our Thanksgiving celebration took place on Sunday 23rd November at the Gallia hotel which is a landmark in Milan. We had their top floor Art Deco receiving rooms all to ourselves and enjoyed Italian Aperitivi, a traditional Turkey dinner, a raffle with wonderful prizes and dancing! And all the proceeds of the day went to the Benvenuto charities.
AIM Market Tour The wonderful Irene Gambino gave us a tour of the city’s largest market. She guided us through the different stalls and gave us pointers on how to shop at a food market. We ended the tour with a delicious cheese tasting.
Kimono Fashion Show More than a year has elapsed since our Benvenuto member, Shirley Clark (now transferred to Singapore) introduced to us the Japanese group, Asia No Kaze 21 (which literally means Asian Wind 21). Mrs. Eiko Kobayashi, general producer and costume designer of the group, expressed her keen interest in putting on a Kimono Dramatic Costume Show in Milan and asked our help in materializing this project. Her aim is to introduce the beauty and charms of colours, pattern, handwork of Japanese traditional clothes, namely, kimono.
AIM Welcome Back Aperitivo One of the first activities of the year was this joint Newcomers/Americans in Milan welcome back aperitivo. "Aperitivo" or Happy Hour has become a Milanese institution with the accent heavily on food... This event was held at the Indiana Post, a great bar/restaurant where we met up with old friends and new!
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