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Members |
Cataldo
Lodge members are located on the Kitsap
Peninsula, Washington. Current members reside in
the towns of Allyn, Belfair, Bremerton,
Grapeview, Poulsbo, Port Orchard, Silverdale,
and Seabeck. The Lodge has 50 members of which 7
are charter members. |
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History |
The idea has occurred to
many people over the years to establish an
organization of American citizens of Italian
extraction in Bremerton. Finally on January 1,
1973, two Bremerton businessmen, Messrs Antonio
Zampella and Salvatore Fontana, did something
about starting an organization. They requested
Mrs. Maria T. Ellwood to help them organize a
lodge. The incorporation founders of the Cataldo
Lodge consisted of these three people.
Mr. John Grosso, Grand
Venerable of the Northwest council of the Sons
of Italy and Supreme Deputy Michael A. Rivisto
were consulted and assisted in organizing the
lodge. The first meeting was held on January 24,
1973. The first Venerable of the Bremerton Lodge
was Salvatore Graziano.
Mr. Rivisto suggested
naming the lodge "The Cataldo Lodge" in honor of
Father Joseph M. Cataldo. Father Cataldo was a
humble Italian missionary priest who left a
vivid and lasting mark on the Northwest
Territory. Father Cataldo was born in Terrasini,
Italy near Palermo, Sicily in 1837. He arrived
in Eastern Washington as a Jesuit Missionary in
1866. He founded missions at Nez Perce and
Lewiston, Idaho. His work was with the Coeur
D'Alene Indians. He was later appointed Superior
of the Rocky Mountain Missions and established
his headquarters at the Cataldo Mission of the
Sacred Heart located near Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.
His mission still stands and has been designated
as a Historical Monument by the United States
Government. In one of his last public
appearances, Father Cataldo in 1926, he was then
90 years old, conducted Mass at the mission and
spoke to the Indians in Salish, their native
tongue. The mission no longer is within the
boundary of the Coeur D'Alene Indian Reservation
but annually on August 15, the Feast of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, the Indians
make a pilgrimage to the mission.
Father Cataldo was
interested in education and in 1877 founded
Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Father Cataldo's career of service is a living
example of peace and fraternal harmony during
his time. In order to promote the Italian
experience in Bremerton, our lodge celebrated
its first Columbus Day in 1973 with a
dinner-dance. It was well received by the
citizens of Bremerton. The lodge also celebrates
the day of its establishment in March. |
