President’s Message

December 2024

REMARKS FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK

By: Angelique Bonanno, Esq.

The holidays are here.  I absolutely love seeing the holiday decorations and lights.  It’s hard to believe another year is drawing to an end.  I would like to take this opportunity to extend the warmest of wishes to you and yours this holiday season and may you have a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

With the holidays upon us, I find it is far better to give than to receive.  I love giving gifts, and for those who know me, I particularly enjoy wrapping gifts.  I strive to make each gift presentation better than the next so the recipient has a beautiful, unique package to open.  It brings me great joy to watch my friends and family open presents.  It also however reminds me of those less fortunate.  This is a wonderful time of year for many, but at the same time can be difficult for others.  Giving is therefore essential.  I hope you will consider making a donation to our annual TOYS FOR TOTS program or some other program to allow those less fortunate the ability to enjoy the splendor of the holidays.

As I prepare to close out my year, I am reminded of many monumental events of 2024.  I express no political or religious statements or beliefs by the following list, rather these are just some of the events that caught my attention.  The year 2024 marked some interesting 100 year milestones: the Winter Olympics turned 100, with the first ever being held in  Chamonix, France in 1924 (one of my favorite places on the planet).  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) was formed in 1924 and Columbia Pictures also celebrated its centenary.  Former President Jimmy Carter celebrated his 100th birthday marking him as the longest-living U.S. president in history.

January:  St. Paul, Minnesota became the first large US city to swear in an all-female city council with six out of seven women of color, and all being under the age of 40.  The world’s largest cruise ship Icon of the Seas, able to house 7,600 passengers and 5 times larger than the Titanic set sail on it’s maiden voyage from Miami.  The California Association of Realtors (CAR) predicted the median home price in California would increase by 6.2%.

February:   Los Angeles saw one of it’s rainiest days in history, causing mud slides and flooding.  Super Bowl LVIII was the most-watched TV program in US history averaging 123.4 million viewers.  The Alabama Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos can be considered children as part of a wrongful death case where frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed at a clinic.  Astronomers discovered J059-4351, a quasar that is 500 trillion times brighter than our sun and powered by a black hole that is 17 billion times more massive than our sun, and growing by the equivalent of one sun per day. Donald Trump and the Trump Organization was ordered to pay $354 million in a civil fraud case.  Russia invaded Ukraine.  We saw the 109th leap year since the first official recording of the same in 1582.

March: The US Supreme Court ruled states can not bar federal candidates from a ballot under 14th Amendment clause.  Sweden officially joined NATO as the alliance’s 32nd member, thus abandoning its 200-year policy of neutrality.  A report by the Pentagon into UFOs declared  there is no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence.  The 96th Academy Awards honored “Oppenheimer” as best film.  The documentary “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” aired detailing the toxic nature of some of the Nickelodeon shows during the 1990s and early 2000s.  Finland was ranked the happiest country in the world by the UN for the seventh year in a row.  Social media company Reddit made it’s debut on the New York Stock Exchange.  A new analysis confirmed climate change is slowing the rotation of Earth due to melting ice caps.  Italian designer Alessandro Michele, previously with Gucci was named the new creative director at French Maison de Couture Valentino.

April:  Florida’s population reached 23 million making it the third most populous state in the US.  A 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the east coast of Taiwan.  A total solar eclipse stretched from Mazatlán, Mexico, to Newfoundland plunging 44 million people into darkness.  Six people were killed in a stabbing at a Bondi Beach shopping mall in Sydney, Australia.  The 88th US Masters Tournament at Augusta saw Scottie Scheffler beat Sweden’s Ludvig Åberg by 4 strokes, for Scheffler’s second Masters win in 3 years.  Police were sent in to remove campus students at Columbia University for protesting, which ignited protests across other US campuses.  Taylor Swift released her 11th studio album setting a Spotify record for over 300 million streams in one day.  The Chevron Championship Women’s Golf Tournament found Nelly Korda’s win equaling the LPGA record with 5 consecutive wins.  Tornadoes tore through Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Kansas and Missouri destroying hundreds of homes.  Madonna’s largest concert of her career was held at Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro in front of 1.6 million fans.

May:  Stormy Daniels testified in Court.  Vladimir Putin was sworn in for his fifth term as Russian President in a ceremony that was boycotted by many world leaders.  A rare strong solar storm reached Earth prompting the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue a geomagnetic storm warning.  The PGA Championship found Xander Schauffele to claim his first major title, with a 1 stroke win over fellow American Bryson DeChambeau.  Sean “Diddy” Combs issued an apology after CNN released a video of him assaulting his ex-girlfriend in 2016, despite his previous denial of the event.  The Pope apologized for using a homophobic term in a private assembly of Italian bishops.  A jury in New York City found Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.  Vermont became the first US state to pass a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for damages caused by climate change.

June:  Mexico elected Claudia Sheinbaum, as its first woman president.  The 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings was commemorated in Normandy, France and was attended by Allied leaders, and likely will be the last major gathering of WWII veterans.  At the age of 98, actor and comedian Dick Van Dyke became the oldest winner of a Daytime Emmy.  French Open Men’s Tennis Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to win grand slams on all three surfaces, with the final against Alexander Zverev lasting 4 hours 15 minutes.  Apple announced it will be using generative A.I. on its devices and in its update for Siri in a partnership with OpenAI.  Elon Musk secured Tesla shareholders approval for a $46 billion pay deal – the largest in American corporate history.  Virginia Hislop, at the age of 105 graduated with a masters in education from Stanford University.  The Boston Celtics beat Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 to clinch the club’s record 18th Championship.  Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un signed a pact to “provide mutual assistance in case of aggression.”  The landmark medical trial in Africa of the antiviral drug Lenacapavir showed 100% HIV prevention in women.  European Space Agency created Lego ‘space bricks’ by 3D printing Legos out of meteorite dust, part of a project to learn how to build a base on the Moon.  The first debate occurred between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

July: Sierra Leone banned child marriage aiming to protect girls under 18 years old, in a country where a third of all girls are married before adulthood.  Hurricane Beryl passed 45 miles south of Kingston, Jamaica as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 140 mph and later made landfall in Texas, knocking out power to nearly 3 million customers.  Sonya Massey was shot and killed in her home in Springfield, Illinois by sheriff deputy Sean Grayson who was later charged with first-degree murder.  Heat wave across Western American broke temperature records including in Las Vegas reaching an all-time record of 120 degrees, and the Mirage Hotel and Casino on the strip closed after 34 years.  A Missouri woman Sandra Hemme was released from prison after her 43 year conviction for murder was overturned, this being the longest known wrongful conviction of a woman in US history.  US President Joe Biden abandoned his campaign for re-election and endorsed Kamala Harris.  Meta announced it removed 63,000 Instagram accounts tied to “sextortion” schemes.  The “Piano Man” Billy Joel performed the 150th and final show of his 10-year, once-a-month residency at Madison Square Garden.  The Opening Ceremonies for the XXXIII Olympiad was held in Paris and for the first time, outside along the River Seine, 85 boats carried the athletes.  American fencers Lee Kiefer and Lauren Scruggs defended her gold medal from 2020.  French sensation Léon Marchand won 2 gold medals on the same day.

August: The US and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap since the Cold War, involving seven countries and 24 people.  Simone Biles won her 3rd gold medal of the Paris Olympics, and a career 7 gold medals.  American swimmer Katie Ledecky tied Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as most decorated female Olympian of all time when she won her 4th consecutive 800m; her 9th individual gold medal.  American swimmer Bobby Finke set a new 1,500 meter World Record to successfully defend his Olympic title.  Noah Lyles became the first American sprinter to win the 100m gold medal in 20 years.  The US women also scored gold medals in weightlifting, fencing individual and team, cycling, discus, surfing, soccer, basketball, and track and field.  The US won more medals than any other county with 128 total; 40 gold 44 silver and 42 bronze.  Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. admitted he put a dead bear cub in Central Park 10 years ago.  Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run.  The death toll in the Israel-Gaza War reached at least 40,000.  A suspicious fire destroyed the Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario, California.  The 1937 structure was used for several movies including “Eight Men Out,” “A League of Their Own,” and “The Babe”.  The largest diamond in more than a century was discovered, weighing in at 2,492-carats.  Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for US President.  Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani stole a base and hit a grand slam in 7-3, becoming the 6th MLB player to have 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in a season.  The British Open Women’s Golf was held at St Andrews Old Course, (one of my favorite gold courses).  The 17th Summer Paralympics opened in Paris.

September: The first NFL football game was held in southern hemisphere in São Paulo, Brazil.  Catherine, Princess of Wales revealed she underwent chemotherapy.  Fashion designer Sarah Burton, former head designer at Alexander McQueen, was named Givenchy’s new Creative Director.  The world’s first whole-eye and face transplant was declared successful for a 47-year-old Arkansas man.  The second US presidential debate occurred between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.  The crew of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission took the first commercial space walk during a five-day journey through Earth’s orbit which was the farthest in space of any human since NASA’s Apollo program.  Sean Combs was arrested and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution.  Norway became the first country where electric cars outnumbered petrol vehicles.

October:  Elon Musk and Tesla unveiled the driverless Robotaxi and Robovan prototype.  A Nobel Prize was awarded to Japanese anti-nuclear organization Nihon Hidankyo “for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.”  After studying genetic material, Spanish researchers revealed Christopher Columbus was probably Spanish and Jewish, not Italian.  NASA’s Europa Clipper launched a mission to investigate the subsurface ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa.  Italian fashion house Prada and aerospace company Axiom Space unveiled the new spacesuit for NASA’s Artemis III mission to the moon.  Teen smoking in the US fell to its lowest level in 25 years, decreasing 20%, to include e-cigarettes.  LeBron and Bronny James become the first father-son duo in NBA history to appear in a game together as LA Lakers beat Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-103.  A long-lost waltz by Frédéric Chopin was reported to be rediscovered after 200 years at the Morgan Library & Museum.  The Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series.

November:  Beyoncé became the most nominated artist in Grammy history, 99 in number.  Former Massachusetts Air National Guard Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing classified information from the Pentagon and sharing it online.  The world’s largest coral, measuring larger than a blue whale, and believed to be 300 years old was found off the Solomon Islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean.

Wow!  What a year (so far).

I wish you all a wonderful holiday season.  Ciao for now.

Angelique