The month of May for Michigan weather has been a chaotic ride. The morning of the Brunch was no exception. It was cold and dependent to where you lived, you may have had clear skies, sprinkles or rain.
Still with all that, we have a great turnout of 87 attendees and 30 Vipers. Members came from all parts of the state, to be a part of one of our largest gatherings. Not only is this our unofficial start of the season, but a festive gathering of fun, food and friends, many we’ve not seen in quite a while. In addition, this is also considered a general membership meeting, with a report from Directors; where we conducted club business and voted on revisions to the By-Laws.
Unfortunately, with all the festivities we were saddened to hear that Diane Cipponeri had contacted Covid. For the safety and well-being of our members, she did not attend the event that she (and Mike) spent countless hours creating.
All was not lost – Diane meticulously plans every facet of any event and all our Board had to do, was follow her instructions. Everything was purchased and readied in advance, so it was only a matter of setting her plan in motion, the day of.
This was the first time we had a function at the Italian American Center in Livonia and everyone was impressed by the grandeur of the facility. Our thanks to Rich Maccani, who is a member of the facility, for helping to get us such great service. Some of us got a brief tour of the facility and spotted a beautiful Bocce Ball court. This will definitely be considered for a future club Bocce Ball event.
We were provided a mouth-watering selection of breakfast and lunch items, and for dessert, we were served the traditional Italian ice cream, spumoni.
There was a jeweler onsite selling beautiful Viper jewelry, who also donated 4 pieces of jewelry to be raffled off to the ladies; numerous gifts for the free raffle; a 50/50 cash drawing (congrats to the Milana’s); and a silent auction (with most items being donated by our members.
At the end of this wonderful event, members could be seen walking out, arms full, with their winnings or purchases. The group then assembled for the traditional group photo around their Vipers.
Our thanks to Mike and Diane Cipponeri and all those who worked behind the scenes to make this a first-class event.