L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2018 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 D ear readers, here we are: our last edition of 2018. Before us, a new year is about to begin, after the 110 we have happily celebrated with you this year. A long and exciting adventure to talk about our communities' protagonists and changes, to document the evolution of Italian-American society and to introduce you to tales of emigration and integration, tales of personal and familiar experiences we all pretty much know and lived through. We write about us, about the memories we hold within, about the jobs we do and the talents we proudly show to the world; about our passions and about all those professions that, once transplanted here, found on the West Coast a fertile soil to develop. We never forget to speak about Italy, about the magical places many of our memories are tied to, with the aim of revealing their cultural, social, artistic, architectural and historical wealth; but we also keep in mind the intangible heritage of stories, legends, traditions, folklore, customs and ancient knowledge that makes of Lo Stivale a uniquely marvelous place. Italy is not called Bel Paese for nothing: we try to introduce this country even to those who have never visited it but would like to, sooner or later; to those who only heard about it and saw its charming views only in old family albums and on the net. Thanks to our original stories, to the beautiful photos enriching our articles, which are researched and written exclusively for you (and this makes our publication different from many others), we want to show you Italy in all its beauty and wealth, starting from that of its language. Because L'Italo-Americano, which began writing all those years ago for the first Los Angeles Italian immigrants, never lost its true nature, even if it certainly did adapt to the natural anglophone assimilation of its audience. The choice, in these past few years, to propose bilingual articles, reflects a very precise path, created following the footprints of our paper's first aim, that of offering a service to our community. Reading in Italian, and being able to count on a faithful translation of each article from the English, is like having a "free" language course at the price of our yearly subscription (you can have it all starting from $24!), that allows to learn in the most natural of manner not only Italian lexicon, but also current expressions. Because there Your 2019 with L'Italo-Americano: be part of the network, with community and identity From the director isn't only memories, but also contemporary history, daily life, current events and affairs, all topics you asked us to treat and that we added to both the paper and the online edition, with the latter being continuously updated. But this newspaper is an instrument for our community also in another sense. It has a very noble aim indeed: it helps us networking. Reading it and supporting it means becoming part of the Italian- American community, it means learning about what happens within it, who is part of it and what it does through its many initiatives to promote and spread Italian art and culture. It helps feel part of a large, enhanced group - from first generation immigrants, to italophiles) that wants to become an Italian and Italian- American historical patrimony, but also wants to contribute to the present and build the future of the West Coast's Italian-American community. Our newspaper is a focal point to meet and find unity: it closes ranks around a sense of Italian identity and belonging, it provides a frame to all that is Made in Italy, Italian patrimony and Italian roots. For this reason, it is fundamental to support our efforts. It's not a case our newspaper sought, in various moments of its history, creative ways to strengthen its finances. The raffles with which we periodically offer the opportunity to fly to Italy and discover its most precious corners, is an invitation to keep on helping us reaching your home, either on paper or on your smartphones with our digital version. We need your support not only because we are a no-profit organization and, therefore, all you give us is reinvested in the newspaper itself, but because only by believing all in this marvelous project of transmission of Italianità and sharing of our values, language and culture, L'Italo-Americano can continue to be your own personal link with the community, your way of belonging to the extended Italian-American family of the West Coast. During the next two months, we are going to propose you a new raffle, La Magica Costa di Amalfi. If you want to find an original and cheap way to offer the "Italian Experience" to a loved one, to a friend who doesn't know the Bel Paese well, or if you are looking for an unusual way to start nicely the new year, you'll only need $12 to get two tickets, with the opportunity of winning a trip to the Golfo di Napoli, 7 days in the charming Positano, a place millions of people fell in love with. Dear readers, I truly wish to you and to all your families, along with all the editors and collaborators at L'Italo-Americano - whom I here thank for their passionate work at the service of the Community and of Italy on the West Coast - a peaceful new year beginning and a 2019 filled with joy. Simone Schiavinato, Director NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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