Club News

A Message From Our President

There will be no General Membership Meeting in the month of June, so that everyone can attend the Maltese Cross Foundation Picnic, to be held on Sunday, June 24th.

Hello all. Well, we are rounding off June and the summer vacation season is upon us. To those travelling, may your journey be safe. The club will be open as always and we have Father’s Day coming up and “Jamri” is coming out of retirement and cooking for that occasion.

I would like to share the emails I received from Her Excellency and Mr. Preca.

Dear Joe,
Thank you so much for your email and your kind words. I can assure you that I already miss you all. Our working visit to San Francisco will stay with me all my life. Being together with all the Maltese American families is definitely a unique experience. My comfort is that everyone seems to be doing well and thriving and this gives me peace of mind. Please convey my deepest gratitude and best wishes to the members of the Committee at the club, to all those who helped to organize our events and to one and all.

Thank you for making Malta GREAT.

Take care
God bless you all

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
President of Malta

Message from the Honorary Consul General of Malta, Louis Vella

Hon Consul (HC) Louis J. Vella greeted everyone present at the meeting on Sunday May 20th. He started his report by acknowledging the good job that the secretary and the new acting chairman who was running the meeting for the first time in a very long time. The treasurer, Mr. Joe Vella was the person chairing the May general membership meeting and what a great job he did indeed.

Mr. Louis J. Vella talked about and reinforced how important it is for members of the Maltese Club to share their e-mail address with the secretary of their own Club. Most everyone nowadays has an e-mail account or have access to e-mail messages. It is understood that some members prefer to receive their monthly club’s newsletter in paper form. That can still continue, however, it should not be a reason not to share the e-mail address with the secretary of the Club. Nowadays information travels faster than ever. By the time the newsletter is prepared and mailed, some information may already be outdated. As an example, whenever the Consulate Office needs to send news or information to be distributed, that information normally goes to all Maltese groups in the area. Each group will then e-mail the information to their respective e-mail lists. If e-mail addresses are not shared with the secretary a lot of important information may not get to you or your family in time. When you eventually receive it, may be too late. We have well over 230 members. There is no reason the secretary should not have at least 90% e-mail addresses of all the members. Some members come from the same family and at least one e-mail from the family should be shared. We hope that by the end of this year we will reach or at least come close to that goal of having 90% of the members’ e-mails on file with the secretary.

After a lot of preparation, meetings, communications and a million other things, and yes, a few uncertainties, the visit of Her Excellency Marie Louise Coleiro Preca President of Malta and her delegation, resulted in one of the most successful visits of a Maltese dignitary. The Hon Consul shared that he does not ever remember receiving so many messages, phone calls, e-mails, cards, and letters from people saying how much they enjoyed the Gala Dinner and the entire visit of the President of Malta in California. Even people who could not participate in any of the events but followed on face book or other social media sent congratulatory messages. The President also expressed her appreciation, joy and connection with the Maltese American Community of California. She became very emotional when she saw the crowd of people, especially young children and babies, waiting for her with Maltese flags waving at the airport upon her arrival. The President also had very productive meetings with the Mayor of San Francisco at City Hall, the UCSF Cancer Research Institute, the Governor of California at the State Capitol, and the Mayor and the entire Council of Millbrae. Her Excellency the President met also with the Maltese Community in the Sacramento area and the community North of the Golden Gate Bridge. She also met a group of Maltese at a local Care Facility, at St. Dunstan church, at Mosta Grove in Millbrae and of course the Maltese American Social Club where she received a very warm and friendly welcome. At the club, the President spent time with our youths and young adults, with the committee and members and she also unveiled the latest addition to the club, namely the Laurel Leaf Crown brought over from Valletta, Malta. The highlight of the visit with the Maltese communities was without a doubt the wonderful Gala Dinner event organized by the Maltese Community Network in her honor, on the evening of May 5th and meeting with the guests who were in attendance. The President thoroughly enjoyed learning about the activities of the different Maltese Groups and Organizations in the Bay Area by visiting each of their respective display tables at the Gala Dinner.

It was an extremely very busy 3-day visit but when things go right it makes it all worthwhile.

Hon Consul Vella expressed his deepest gratitude to the many people at every level and at every different venue who helped to make this visit so successful. The Maltese Community is proud of you and now all of Malta and the Maltese diaspora all over the world know a lot more about the Maltese Community in Northern California. The President mentioned more than once that she is proud of each and every member of the Maltese-American Community of California and that we should always and forever feel welcome and at home in Malta.

Always remember that, it is not what we take but what we give that make us rich.