October/November 2009  – Newsletter

Next Meeting – There will be a change of location for our next monthly meeting on Monday, November 2, 2009.  It will be held at Randi’s Restaurant on Grant Ave. See below for more details.  Hope to see you there!

President’s Message

I would like to ask all of our membership for their support of the Bowling Beef and Beer that we have planned for Saturday, December 5, 2009.  We had a wonderful time the last few times we ran this event.

Upcoming Events

If you are interested in attending any of these lodge events, please contact President Ray Saggese, unless otherwise noted.

Bowling Beef and Beer:  Saturday, December, 5, 2009, 9:30pm to 12:30am at Thunderbird Lanes, located on Holme Ave near Pennypack Circle.  The cost is $25.00 per person; 6 people per lane.  The cost includes unlimited bowling, shoe rental, food, beer, setups, and chips.  You are welcome to BYOB.  Anyone in need of tickets can contact any lodge member listed on the attached flyer.  Tickets usually sell fast, so reserve your lanes soon. There are only 36 lanes! For Tickets and Information Contact Rita Rastelli

The next monthly meeting will be at Randi’s Restaurant,

1619 Grant Avenue in Grant Plaza II, Philadelphia, PA on Monday, November 2, 2009 at 7:00 pm.

This event will include food, beer and wine at a cost to each member of $25.00.   Please let us know if you are able to join us and/or need additional tickets by Friday, October 30, 2009.

You may R.S.V.P. to Angela Cardamone , Ray Saggese or Ron Peluzzo

We look forward to hearing from you!

Children’s Christmas party is scheduled for Saturday, December 19^th 11:00am at the FOP hall located 1300 Spring Garden Ave.

Please contact past, past President Joe Spera or Cathy Peluzzo  if you plan on attending. You will need to supply them with your child’s name, age and gender.  This is a free Party for the children and grandchildren of our lodge members. Children under the age of ten will receive a gift from Santa. There will be food (of course!), ice cream , music, face painting and lots of Christmas spirit.  If you would like to donate something for our sweets table, we would be more than appreciative.  If you don’t have children, you can still attend the event.  It’s a great time to come out and socialize with friends before the holidays.

Vice President’s corner

I want to take this opportunity to express my thanks to our membership.  Without your help, our lodge would not exist. We need your continued support and participation in our events. We are in this lodge because we all have something in common to share – our Italian heritage. As this holiday season approaches, our lodge is going to have many fun filled events. I invite all of you to come on out and spend some time with old friends and make new ones. Thank you, Ron.

Financial Secretary’s Corner

2009 Annual membership fees are now due. Please send your remittance to the lodge address listed at the top of this newsletter.

Contact Ron Peluzzo , for any problems related to membership. -  Please send all address changes to the Financial Secretary at the Lodge address or e-mail: info@custodespacis.org.

DROP Participants: DROP participants and those planning to retire please don’t let your membership with Custodes Pacis lapse; fill out a Retired Pension Payroll Deduction card prior to retiring.

LOTTERY PROGRAM

The November Lottery program is underway; there are still tickets to purchase although opportunities to win are getting smaller. If you desire to purchase a November Lottery ticket, contact Pete Lavini  You may also contact any lodge officer. If you have a favorite number, contact us soon! Tickets are still only $5.00 for an opportunity to win for the month of November.  If the Pennsylvania nighttime lottery matches your ticket number, you will win $50 on weekdays, and $100 on the weekends.  Earnings from this fundraiser go exclusively to the Scholarship Program.

Good and Welfare

We extend our sincerest sympathies and prayers to

• Brothers Frank and Stephen Corso and Sister Barbara Corso on the loss of their father, Stephen Corso
• The family of Brother Alfred Moschella who passed away

We extend get well wishes to Sisters Georgette Bocchinfuso, Theresa Cardamone, Terri Ann Cardamone and also to Cathy Pelluzzo, wife of Brother Reinaldo Peluzzo who were recently hospitalized.

If any member becomes aware of another member’s promotion, retirement, illness, death, good fortune or mis-fortune, please let us know.

E-mail Address Needed

Do you have an e-mail address?  If so, please let us know.  We would like to Go Green and send newsletters via e-mail.  E-mail also lets us get additional information to you quickly.  Please e-mail the lodge at info@custodespacis.org with your name.  Thank you!

Meeting Schedule:

All Meetings start at 7pm and are located at the FOP Lodge 5 Hall, 1336 Spring Garden Street unless otherwise noted.

Monday, November 2, 2009                                    Monday, December 7, 2009.

Monday, January 4, 2010                                        Monday, February 2, 2010

Monday, March 1, 2010                                          Monday, April 5, 2010

Monday, May 3, 2010                                              Monday, June 7, 2010

Get Involved! Attend Meetings and Events. Contribute to our newsletter and our website. We cannot be a success without your help.

It was another sad day for  law enforcemnt yesterday as three fellow police officers were killed responding to a domestic call.  Please remember these officers and their families in your thoughts and prayers.  Be safe out there!

A story from the AP follows below.

Three Pittsburgh Officers Killed in Shooting

Posted: April 4th, 2009 03:13 PM EDT

AP Photo/John Heller

Police walk up Fairfield Street in the Stanton Heights area of Pittsburgh where a gunman shot three police officers early Saturday morning, April 4, 2009. A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said.

RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
Associated Press Writer

WTAE TV News Report

PITTSBURGH –

A man opened fire on officers during a domestic disturbance call Saturday morning, killing three of them, a police official said. Friends said he recently had been upset about losing his job and that he feared the Obama administration was poised to ban guns.

Neighbors described how a quiet street in the city’s Stanton Heights neighborhood turned into a battlefield with hundreds of rounds cracking through the morning air and fallen police officers lying bleeding in the street, their colleagues unable to reach them.

Three officers were killed, said a police official at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity because was not authorized to talk to the media. Police spokeswoman Diane Richard would only say that at least five officers were wounded, but wouldn’t give any other details.

Friends identified the suspect as Richard Poplawski, 23, but police would not immediately confirm his name. The gunman was arrested after a four-hour standoff, police said.

The shooting occurred just two weeks after four police officers were fatally shot March 21 in Oakland, Calif., in the deadliest day for U.S. law enforcement since Sept. 11, 2001. The officers were the first Pittsburgh city officers to die in the line of duty in 18 years.

Neighbors said the shooting began at about 7 a.m. and that two officers were shot almost immediately.

“When I looked down I saw two police officers laying in the street,” said Don Sand, who lives across the street and was awoken by the sound of gunfire.

A short time later, more officers, SWAT teams and other law enforcement arrived and a third officer was shot, Sand said.

“They couldn’t get the scene secure enough to get to them. They were just lying there bleeding,” Sand said. “By the time they secured the scene enough to get to them it was way too late.”

Gail Moschetti, who lives diagonally across the street from the Poplawski house, said she heard hundreds of shots as she and her husband took refuge in their basement. Tom Moffitt, 51, a city firefighter who lives two blocks away, said he came to the scene and heard “hundreds, just hundreds of shots.”

Police planned to release more details at a mid-afternoon news conference Saturday.

Edward Perkovic said Poplawski, his best friend, feared “the Obama gun ban that’s on the way” and “didn’t like our rights being infringed upon.” Another longtime friend, Aaron Vire, said Poplawski feared that President Barack Obama was going to take away his rights, though he said he “wasn’t violently against Obama.”

Perkovic, 22, said he got a call at work from him in which he said, “Eddie, I am going to die today. … Tell your family I love them and I love you.”

Perkovic said: “I heard gunshots and he hung up. … He sounded like he was in pain, like he got shot.”

Vire, 23, said Poplawski once had an Internet talk show but that it wasn’t successful. Vire said Poplawski had an AK-47 rifle and several powerful handguns, including a .357 Magnum.

Another friend, Joe DiMarco, said Poplawski had been laid off from his job at a glass factory earlier this year. DiMarco said he didn’t know the name of the company, but knew his friend had been upset about losing his job.

The last Pittsburgh police officers killed in the line of duty were Officers Thomas L. Herron and Joseph J. Grill, according to a Web site that tracks police killings. They died after their patrol car collided with another vehicle while chasing a stolen car on March 6, 1991.

According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 133 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty in 2008, a 27 percent decrease from year before and the lowest annual total since 1960.

Poplawski had often fought with neighbors and had even gotten into fistfights with a couple, Sand said.

“This is a relatively really quiet neighborhood except for him,” Sand said. “He was just one of those kids that we knew to stay clear from.”

Rob Gift, 45, who lives a block away, said the well-kept single-family houses with manicured lawns are home to many police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other city workers.

“It’s just a very quiet neighborhood,” Gift said.

___

Associated Press writer Dan Nephin contributed to this report.

Next Meeting – The next monthly meeting will be held on Monday, April 6, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the FOP Hall, 1336 Spring Garden Street. Food and refreshments will be served.

President’s Message

This will be the last newsletter I write for Custodes Pacis Lodge. Come April we will have lodge elections and at that time a new administrative council will be in place. I want to thank everyone for allowing me to serve as the leader of our great lodge and I look forward to working with our incoming administration.

Thank you.
Scholarship News
I wish to extend thanks and appreciation to Chairwoman, Angela Cardamone for once again conducting our annual scholarship program. Our recipients this year are:
• Victoria Spera – Daughter of Joseph Spera
• Richard J. Zambino – Son of Richard Zambino
• Laura D’Ambrosio – Daughter of Mark D’Ambrosio.

District Three has also announced their scholarship recipients:
• Victoria Spera – Daughter of Joseph Spera
• Richard J. Zambino – Son of Richard Zambino

The results of the Dante Scholarships were not available at the time of this writing
Congratulations to all!

LOTTERY PROGRAM
Tickets are now available for our Lottery Fundraiser will be held in May this year. Tickets are still only $5. If the PA Nighttime Daily Number matches your ticket number, you will win $50 on a weekday and $100 on a weekend. Earnings from this fundraiser go exclusively to the Scholarship Program. If you would like to reserve a specific number, or would like to become a seller, please contact Pete Lavini. 

Upcoming Events – (If you are interested in attending any of these lodge events, please contact President Maurizio DeLisi. Unless otherwise noted our lodge will provide tickets to interested members at half-price up to a table of ten.)

April 25, 2009 – 25th Annual Purple Aster Award Ball – This year the Grand Lodge is honoring all 2007-2009 Lodge Presidents. Sheraton Society Hill Hotel, 6pm Cocktail Reception, followed by dinner and dancing at 7:30 Dinner. Cost $175 per person; $87.50 for members.

April 25, 2009 – International German American Police Association – 33rd Annual Banquet – Honoring Joey Vento as “MAN of the YEAR”. Cannstatter Volkfest Verein, 9130 Academy Road, 7pm Cocktails followed by dinner and dancing at 8pm. Tickets are $55 per person; 27.50 for members.

May 16, 2009 – 13th Annual Survivors Benefit at Finnegan’s Wake – Tickets are $25 per person; 12:50 for members.
Financial Secretary’s Corner

2009 Annual membership fees are now due. Thank you to everyone who has already submitted their dues payment. If you have not done so, please send your remittance to the lodge address listed at the top of this newsletter.

Contact Rita Rastelli, for any problems related to membership. – Please send all address changes to the Financial Secretary at the Lodge address or e-mail: info@custodespacis.org.

DROP Participants: DROP participants and those planning to retire please don’t let your membership with Custodes Pacis lapse; fill out a Retired Pension Payroll Deduction card prior to retiring.
Good and Welfare
We extend our sincerest sympathies and prayers to the following Custodes Pacis’ families who recently suffered the loss of a beloved family member:

Condolences are extended to the family of Retired Police Officer Ronald Jones who passed away on February 19, 2009.
Meeting Schedule:

Remaining meetings for 2009 are as follows. All Meetings start at 7pm and are located at the FOP Lodge 5 Hall, 1336 Spring Garden Street
Monday, April 6, 2009
Monday, May 5, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Get Involved! Attend Meetings and Events. Contribute to our newsletter and our website. We cannot be a success without your help

Lottery Fundraiser Tickets are now available. Although usually held in April, this year’s tickets are for the Month of May. We are seeking buyes and sellers of tickets. The proceeds from this event go directly to our scholarship fund so your support is essential! If you are interested in buying tickets or if have requested tickets and have not received them please contact Pete Lavini or Maurizio DeLisi at . If each member purchased just one ticket we would have a very successful fundraiser.

Your support is appreciated.

THANK YOU!

Please be advised that our lodge meeting for this evening, Monday, March 2, has been cancelled. The April meeting is scheduled for Monday April 6th 2009. On that night we will hold election as well as the installation ceremony for new officers.

If you have already stated your intention to run for office, please return your ‘Intent to Run’ proxy letter as soon as possible. Also, we still have an opening for Recording Secretary. If you are interested in running for this office or any of the elected offices, please contact Maurizio DeLisi by return email as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Maurizio DeLisi, President