Club News

A Message From Our President

Hello everyone. We got through that meeting and announced the names of the new Board of Directors. We also had 7 new members join, the calendar of events is set for 2020 and we are on our way to set up the rest of the committees. The names of the Board of Directors and the new members can be found in this Newsletter. The entertainment committee, amongst other events, is already working on the 2020 Malta Day Celebration which will be held on Sept 19, 2020.

Thoughts are that the club is moving to the 100th anniversary and we owe it to the founders and the ones before us to honor their legacy. When they started the club, they had and tried new ideas. Some worked and some did not. We please ask members to come up with different ideas, no matter how outlandish one might think they are.

The idea is not to ponder on what we cannot do or what did not work in the past. Pulling together we can overcome many of the challenges that come our way. The major thrust is going to be trying to include the younger generation. I encourage all of you and especially those with younger kids to come up with some new ideas. The best way to accomplish this, we think, is by talking and asking your kids for ideas.

I would like to thank everyone for their support and participation. We trust that together we can have fun and prosperous years ahead of us.

Sahha and grazzi
Joe DeBattista

Message from the Honorary Consul General of Malta, Louis Vella

Hon Consul (HC) Vella greeted everyone present. This being the first meeting of the New Year, Hon Consul Vella congratulated the newly installed Board of Directors and all those who were elected to run the business of the club. He also took time to give kudos and appreciation to everyone who volunteers to serve and those who take the initiative to continue to improve our organization and our community. Congratulations, well wishes and applause are wonderful demonstrations of appreciation, but these are not enough. Those who venture to serve need more, a lot more. We owe them our support, our encouragement and our helping hand. All volunteers, members of our beautiful Maltese Community who are actively engaged in promoting Maltese Culture, Heritage, Traditions, Customs, Cuisine, History, Language, and everything that is Maltese deserve our gratitude, assistance and our admiration.

Hon Consul Vella made mention that as the New Year brought about the beginning of a new Board of Directors at our Club, in Malta the year 2020 welcomed a new Prime Minister, The Honorable Dr. Robert Abela from the city of Qormi. Prime Minister Abela is touring various localities in Malta and Gozo, including the 3 inhabitants of the tiny island of Comino. We also welcome a new Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Honorable Evarist Bartolo from the town of Mellieha. We hope that one day we will be able to host them in our community, as we have hosted other dignitaries from Malta in the past.

Hon Consul Vella reminded everyone that a representative from the Embassy of Malta in Washington DC is scheduled to visit his office in Millbrae to process applications for Maltese passports. The visit will be on Thursday February 6th, Friday February 7th and Saturday February 8th. Anyone interested needs to be a Maltese Citizen and needs to have all documents in order before being approved for a Maltese passport. An appointment is necessary. Please contact the office of the Hon Consul of Malta if interested. Appointments slots are filling up fast.

Hon Consul Vella ended his presentation by focusing on the various ethnic language schools we have in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. If there are schools that teach the German language and Hungarian and French and Japanese and Korean and others, why can’t we have language classes that teach the Maltese language?

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