Hopefully, each of us can say that there are one or two friends in our lives who always made you smile, always told you the truth and who were always there to step up when things were falling apart.
For the women of Dante who have been loving this Society for the last 25 years or so, that member was Nancy McDonald. It seemed like a sudden decision to most of us, but we all understood how much Nancy’s young nephews adored her! When the boys moved back East to Ohio last year, it was tough on everyone. Nancy took charge of her life and decided to solve the situation by moving to Ohio also!
So our friend who was so much a part of our Dante lives, was leaving. She was the person who organized the programs, the pre-Dante dinners, wrote the Dante cookbook, published the Dante brochure, and always solved the questions of struggling events and festivals. We could not let her leave without a proper send-off.
So Gini Harmon had the idea to gather together as many of us as possible for one last lunch together, outside on her deck Friday afternoon, July 10th. Twenty-one friends were contacted, and when all the universe did its job, we had seven ladies come, bearing food, gifts, cards and the best wishes of all those who could not make it, to say goodbye.
Through our masks we told stories, remembered old friends, and then had a wonderful salmon entree prepared by Gini, salads that only veteran Dante ladies could easily create, and a few tears.
We wish you could all have been there to send her off with giant air-hugs, and yet all the Dantes were there in spirit.
In a while Nancy will send the address of her newly built townhouse with updates! Thank you Nancy for making us at the Dante Society a part of your life for so many years.
—Caterina Murone Wartes
From Left to Right: Louise Sportelli, Melinda Jankord-Steedman, Jane Cottrell, Caterina Wartes, Gini Harmon, and Nancy McDonald. Behind the camera: Sharon Leone.
Gabriella Vagnoli was born in Pisa, Tuscany, home of the famous Leaning Tower. She grew up in a multicultural family thanks to her Brazilian mom and remembers teaching Italian for the first time as a child to her Brazilian cousins. She obtained a Laurea in English and Spanish Language and Literature at the Università degli Studi di Pisa and during her college years spent a year in the University of Reading, UK, studying mainly the works of Shakespeare. After obtaining a Certificate as a Teacher of Italian (DITALS II) at the Università per Stranieri di Siena, she has taught in a full immersion school in Florence, a children's full immersion program in Chicago and a Community College in Illinois.
Tiziana was born and raised in Sardinia, a beautiful Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea. She has always been passionate about foreign languages and cultures, and studied French and German at the Scuola Superiore Interpreti e Traduttori in Milan, where she obtained her first Foreign Languages and Interpreter BA degree. She then pursued her MA in English and German Language and Literature at IULM, one of the most prestigious universities in Milan, Italy for Language and Communication studies.
Nicla is a native of Napoli, Italy. She has a Laurea in Materie Letterarie (degree in humanities) and a Laurea in Pedagogia (degree in Education) from the Università degli Studi di Cassino. She earned her M.A in Italian and her PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Washington. She has published articles and book chapters on gender and theater as well as politics and religion in Counter-Reformation Italy and in the last years, has been teaching Italian literature, language, and culture in different institutions. In addition to teaching in our program, Nicla is authorized to cover the role of esaminatrice and intervistatrice in our PLIDA Examination Board.