About Us
History of the Lincoln Hills Italian Club
It was late Spring in the year 2003 when Nadine Miller and Vic Albertazzi first met at a party hosted by two members of the Lincoln Hills Tap Company. Mary Albertazzi overheard Nadine and Vic talking about being Italian and approached them with the question, “Why don’t we start an Italian Club in Lincoln Hills?”
That’s all the encouragement Nadine needed. Within one week a meeting was held at the home of Nadine and Lynn Miller with Faye and Manny Carrasco and Stella and Vince Catalano. It was determined by the Board, consisting of these couples, that the name of the club would be “Little Italy of Lincoln Hills” and its purpose was “To promote the Italian culture, acquaint its members with other Italians, and live life to the fullest.” The slogan would be “You’re either Italian or wish you were.”
Plans were made to contact other people of Italian heritage and on July 29, 2003, a potluck held at the Sports Pavilion in Sun City attended by about 30 Italians. At that event, the purpose of the club was discussed and officers were elected.
A picnic was planned at McBean Park for September 2003. The only advertisement for the picnic was word of mouth. More than 60 Italians showed up! Seeing that this club was apparently really going to become a reality, Mary working in earnest using a clipboard to sign up people who were willing to host a monthly event. Again, surprisingly, the next 12 months were covered by separate individuals or couples to form committees and plans for each event.
In those early days, the “newsletter” was the Compass Magazine and the Sun Senior News and publicity was handled by Lynn Miller. The members were told, “If you want to get information, read the Compass and the Sun Senior News.” This is still true today.
Board meetings were held in the homes of individual board members on a rotation basis and refreshments were provided by the host. (Of course, wine was always on the menu.)
The name of the club was eventually changed to the Lincoln Hills Italian Club. Membership meetings were held monthly at the particular event of the month. New members were introduced at each meeting and they were encouraged to provide a short personal background. Activities were open to members only unless space permitted after reservation deadlines.
Today, the Club continues to thrive with over 300 members. Activities are still held on a monthly basis and the venues vary from the Orchard Creek Ballroom, the Sports Pavilion, to local Italian restaurants and even to Reno.
