By Andy Casey
June 2022
We always welcome visitors from OSDIA Lodges all over the country to our special little home, the Dolly Sinatra Lodge here in fabulous Palm Springs, California. It’s an honor to have them visit, and when you receive a thank you, as wonderful as the following one, it brings home the message of just how fortunate we are here at our Lodge! Our entertainment is spectacular, as the thank you says! And the regular entertainers bring special, very talented guests occasionally, and I would like to illustrate with three recent nights at our Lodge, which illustrates just how SPECTACULAR we do have things here at Dolly Sinatra Lodge!! But first the thank you email Lori Harvey received recently…
Thank you so much for including us in your weekly dinner. I’m sure it will be the highlight of our trip but please don’t tell the bride & groom whose wedding we are attending! The food was great, the entertainment was spectacular & sharing our Italian heritage is the best. I certainly hope to return sometime in the future. We would welcome any of your lodge members who may find themselves in Maryland to the Annapolis Lodge 2225. Mary Rose Pagnotto Barron (written May 4, 2022)
Larry Capeloto regularly brings guests to his show, some from his weekly show at the Indian Wells Hotel, and others that are just friends. Such was the case for his show March 16. The guest, Jerry Siggins, who was with, The Diamonds tribute band, for 26 years, amongst other performances by this very talented, might I say, spectacular entertainer. And Jerry saved the day when Larry had an equipment failure and couldn’t play background music. Jerry just strapped on his guitar, and he and Larry started singing Irish favorites amongst many classics. Jerry and his guitar saved the evening and we had a night of SPECTACULAR entertainment!
Not long after that Michael D’Angelo was having his regular show, and his friend, and friend to many of us, Roberta Linn, former Champagne Lady from the Lawrence Welk Show, and popular Vegas entertainer in the 50’s and 60’s with Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, arrived, and was soon singing and entertaining with Michael, which was just SPECTACULAR! Such are the nights here at our Lodge, when you just don’t know whom will be here! This, anything can happen, anyone can show up, all goes to the excitement and wonder of our Lodge.
And every now and then, from down under, no, not Australia, but San Diego, specifically Coronado, they let Mr. Entertainment leave, and return to his old Lodge, and bring his SPECTACULAR show and guests to us. I once said not even God knows what Larry Del Rose is going to unleash, but we know now! This time at least!
Principally he brought his buddy, Tony Calabrese, an outstanding comedian. Tony is a story teller, and his stories are funny, very funny. He talks of his family, his life, with a wit and deep humor. He also told a story that tried, and indeed succeeded, to explain crypto currency which was indeed hilarious! Larry also had Frank Monteforte do a reprise of his stint with a baton, that he originally did at a charity event, proving that he missed a career as a band leader! Larry also passed out kazoos again, and nobody can still figure the bloody things out, thus I do believe this is the last of them! And Larry sang and bantered with us, and we all look forward to his next turn at our stage!!!
And thus another season has ended, as we all look forward to cursing the summer heat, it can be brutal, and the reopening of our Lodge on October 12, 2022! And Frank DiSalvo will be here to entertain, and the amazing group of volunteers that hold the Lodge together with President Joe LaPorta, leading the way! Joe told me to remind everyone our Third Annual Golf Tournament and buffet will be on November 14th. Not to be missed!!
February 2022
To state the obvious, it’s been a weird couple of years, and obviously the hope is that with a waning pandemic, some semblance of normal is going to arrive! At the very least we will learn to live with conditions, whatever is thrown at us, and we will be able to embrace the things we enjoy and enjoy doing. And one of those is our Lodge, and the friends we’ve acquired there, the incredible entertainers who bring their talents weekly, and certainly the volunteers who hold the Lodge together. Let’s acknowledge, it takes a lot of work to put the dinner together, and get it to the table, so to speak, and without them, the volunteers, there is no lodge! So many thanks to them!
And so many thanks to our entertainers too, they sure spice up our Wednesday evenings! Frank DiSalvo comes every first Wednesday of the month, and is as amazing as ever. He is probably the most charismatic entertainer I’ve seen, and so versatile, with or without a guitar in his hands. Frank is as comfortable in one genre as another, and travels through so many in his performances with equal ease. And there to accompany him occasionally, in dance and song is his lovely wife Addy! The second Wednesday brings Michael Di Angelo, who is still as powerful and commanding a performer, if not more so, as ever. He brings the Bronx from his youth to his full range today, to his performances. And he dances up and down the aisle! Third Wednesday is Larry Capeloto, who I once wrote reminds you of Dean Martin, in his easy going style and ready humor! Larry constantly brings different and new material to his performances! I think he learns two or three new songs, a week, of different genres PLUS SOME NEW JOKES. Schools never out for him! And he’s as comfortable with one as the other, but his quest to constantly bring new material to his routine is wonderful. Then on the fourth Wednesday we get Larry Del Rose, and God only knows what we’re going to get. Larry was born to entertain! He brings humor, tears and imagination to every performance. And FUN! Simple wonderful and creative FUN!
And those are just the regular entertainers. You simply never know who will come and accompany the weekly lead performers. As we wind down the season, which traditionally ends at the end of May, there never has been a better time to come to the Lodge and visit with friends and enjoy the repast and entertainment. Our seasons are shortened by the blazingly hot summers, so get in your dues for 2022, and keep coming as things are better than ever! It’s your Lodge to enjoy and President Joe LaPorta is planning new and exciting events to come like the now annual golf tournament, annual dance and special events. See you soon!