As one of the founding members of the New Hyde Park Cellini Lodge, Joseph Sciame who, along with John Infranca, started the Annual Scholarship Dinner Dance, was overwhelmed last Friday night at the outpouring of adoration and appreciation for his many accomplishments at the gala dinner/dance held in his honor to benefit the Scholarship Fund. Sciame was particularly honored for having just finished a term as state president of the Grand Lodge of New York.

The format of the dinner dance was slightly altered this year with all of the public officials presenting their proclamations and citations before and during the cocktail hour, thereby avoiding the delay, of prior years, in serving the dinner due to the presentation of the awards. The system worked beautifully and after re-evaluation by the dance committee, it is thought the same procedure will be enacted next year.

In accepting all of the many awards, and words of praise, by the more than 300 in attendance, Sciame said, "Wow, what a terrific night! I stand here tonight just as I once did some 30 years ago, as a young man, assisting the late Brother and Lodge President Anthony Persico. It was Cellini's first dinner dance and John Infranca, who is still an active supporter and charter member of Cellini and I helped with the then new scholarship program. Here I am, now after all these years, almost feeling like the last of many, but proud as can be. I thank you all for being here. I thank all the Sisters and Brothers of Cellini for what many of them have wanted for a few years, a celebration to recognize my achieving the status as the New York State president of the Grand Lodge of New York."

Sciame continued, "In what I have persisted in calling a sense of humility I put them off with this salute, only because you have heard enough about me for four years during the time I was the state president. But, enough speeches. Other lodges so generously gave of themselves in their salutes and it does become a drain of time, money and effort. But this occasion is also the anniversary of Cellini Lodge. It is the celebration of La Famiglia, the family of Cellini. It is a celebration of what a group of men initially, and now both men and women, are accomplishing on a day-to-day basis in a solid community of service to one another. The Cellini Lodge of New Hyde Park is a model lodge. It is a good lodge. It is a lodge in which for the most part, peace, decorum, justice and harmony have persisted, especially when others have strayed out of our lodge. And, thank God, too!"

He went on, "We are known as a non-political lodge, and for many years were perceived as not caring about state matters of the Order Sons of Italy in America. We have been well aware, but we have balanced the state and national activities, but always, always with a solid basis in the community of New Hyde Park and surrounding neighbors. We have achieved and achieved. We are also here to say thank you others, not just me, but to the hundreds who joined over the years and who made a difference and to those who are representative of the 562 members in the lodge as of January 1, 1998, which is a great number."

Sciame also praised former presidents including LoPinto, Bellucci, D'Urso, Quatraro, Mele, Ferrara, DiPaolo and current president, Ken Miller. He commented, "It has been my fortune to assist them all in some way. Imagine that! Each and every one. Not by telling them what to do, but hopefully by earning their respect and sharing ideas. Control has never been the word at the Cellini Lodge, but rather persuasion."

Sciame continued, "All these 30 years I have had enthusiasm and I have paid a price. The price has been fewer intimate friends, fewer free hours and few wasted luxuries. But boy, have I been blessed to have met so many wonderful and beautiful people. And all I ever did was to give them a chance..., like a flower opening up. The four years as state president was an opportunity for us to grow together. Were there disappointments? Definitely! Were there loss of friendships? Definitely! Were there hard decisions to be made? Definitely! But always, and never for a moment otherwise, than for the good of this lodge and for the good of the state grand lodge."

Sciame concluded, "In closing, I thank my mother for her family values, never abating one minute. I recall the hard work of my father, whom most of you would not remember or have known very well, it is almost 25 years since he is gone. They and my grandparents were good people, kind people and loving people, despite the hard work they had before them each day of their lives. I thank my early teachers, such as Sister Catherine. I thank my relatives who are represented by my first and second cousins, for their respect and patience. I thank my friends of 40 years, Madeline and Caroline. I thank my new friends, the Brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon, a fraternity that boasts of virtue, diligence and Brotherly Love, all attributes I've aspired most of my life. I thank the wife of one of our early laymen vice presidents at St. John's for her trust in getting me educated. I thank Father McNamara for his confidence and friendship and for the gift of penance and forgiveness when I have needed it and yes, we all sorely miss the priest we all know so well, Father Licata. I thank my current secretary Ann and Olivia before her for seeing me through all the paper each day. I thank St. John 's University, my church, the government officials, all of whom have honored me many times. Most importantly we need to thank an all loving and all forgiving God for having allowed our paths to cross. Long live this wonderful Cellini Lodge that has been a part of my life for 30 years. Hopefully, it will be a part of our lives forever."

Joseph Sciame, professionally, is the vice president for Government and Community Relations at St. John's University and serves on many committees. As an undergraduate, he contributed to student life organizations through his exacting manner and leadership ability and now serves as an officer of administration at the largest, most popular Catholic university in America. In his professional associations he has been elected and served as president of the New York State Financial Aid Administrators Association from 1980 to 1982; President of the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators from 1986 to 1987; National Chairman of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators from 1987 to 1988, which encompasses more than 10,000 professionals. He has received the Financial Aid Distinguished Service and Leadership Awards and Lifetime Awards. He serves on many professional committees and is chairperson of the prestigious Governor's Committee on Scholastic Achievement academic committee.

Sciame is a long-time resident of New Hyde Park where he is a lector for Notre Dame Church. He was invested as a papal Knight of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 1980 by Cardinal Cooke and elevated respectively in rank as a Knight Commander in 1984 by Cardinal O'Connor and Knight Commander with a star in 1988 by Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. In 1991, he was elected as a Knight with Grand Cross by Giuseppe Cardinal Caprio of Rome. In 1991, he was appointed to the Futures in Education Foundation of the Diocese of Brooklyn and served as chairperson from 1994 to 1997. He is chairman of a sub-committee, established for a Preservation Campaign for St. Patrick's Cathedral since 1992. That same year he was designated as a Cavaliere in the Order of Merit by the Republic of Italy and decorated with the honor in April 1993.

Sciame was presented the the Army Conspicuous Cross in 1997 by New York State Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli, as a former recipient of the Army Commendation Medal. He was appointed to the Town of North Hempstead's Board of Ethics in 1975 and elected its chairman in 1984, a position he continued to hold. In 1995 he was named to the newly created Providence Rest Foundation as an inaugural board member and in 1996 he was elected to the board of trustees, respectively for Dominican Commercial and St. John's Prep High Schools. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Cooley's Anemia Foundation since 1993 and was named to the Diocesan Achives Commission of Brooklyn in 1997.

Sciame was honored in June of 1996 in the Albany Senate Chambers by the Conference of Italian American Legislators for his work in higher education and the Italian American community and again in June of 1997 for his efforts in promoting the Order Sons of Italy in America's Commission for Social Justice.

In describing Sciame in the journal it was noted, "He enjoys and espouses qualities which are necessary to the OSIA, good judgment, patience, empathy, a high level of integrity, leadership vision and justice, a true 'Son of Italy.' Ad multos annos to all!"