The aim of the Ladies’ Auxiliary is to work together with the Società Caruso within the community and to promote Italian culture. Members should always help each other at all times when the occasion arises. We will always honour our ancestors and the country of their birth, but we swear allegiance to the Government of Canada, our country of birth or adoption.

ABOUT US

The Società Caruso Ladies' Auxiliary has been actively involved in the community over the past several decades and accomplished many projects throughout the seasons. Founded in 1948, our society has a set agenda and we all follow it as closely as possible.

Our main objective in the community is to promote our Italian Culture and Heritage. Our primary source of fundraising is for the Northeastern Ontario Cancer Centre, but we do send donations to other organizations such as the Canadia Diabetes Association, Heart & Stroke, Arthritis Society and many more.

Our ladies work well, hand in hand, with the main membership of the Società Caruso. The ladies assist and volunteer their time helping out all club functions when asked. The Ladies Auxiliary doesn’t stop at just assisting in physical aspects of our society. We have donated numerous things to our society over the past several years; for example, Office equipment, serving supplies for the kitchen, kitchen equipment, several thousands of dollars donated at the Anniversary Banquets.

Our year of events starts with our Annual Pot Luck Supper. This is held in February and is a great way to bring in new members. Our ladies cook a favorite dish and the Auxiliary offers to our members Polenta and Toccio. This traditional Italian dish is a favorite with our members. We enjoy an evening of friendship, food and then close with our general meeting.

We put many long hours in preparation for our Palm Sunday Tea, hosted annually . This is a popular event within the community. It’s very common to see line ups at the door to get in! Our ladies prepare baking, and also offer homemade pasta, crostoli, sauce and Easter bread for sale. The sewing group works from January until the Tea, making many items for sale. No one can resist the handiwork of our ladies. Then, the month of May quickly approaches and our ladies are very well recognized. Instead of having a regular monthly meeting in May, we host a Mother & Daughter Banquet. Every year we honor a woman and/or women in our Auxiliary by presenting them with the Woman of the Year Award. We also honor our newest Life Members. It is an opportunity for members to spend some time together socializing over an exquisite Italian dinner prepared by our chef and to enjoy some light entertainment as well.

Next we prepare for the Italian Festival, held for 4 days with Canada Day kicking off the festivities. This is a fun-filled event that shares our Italian culture and heritage with the community. Again, a great deal of preparation and planning is involved for this event. We make crostoli for sale, baking and working the Caruso booth at the Multicultural Celebration on Canada Day and at the Italian Food Fair during the Italian Festival. The Ladies' Auxiliary runs the Pesca during the whole 4 days of the Italian Festival.

Once summer has ended and Fall is just around the corner, we finally have a chance to relax for a little while. That is, we can rest until our September meeting when we discuss the Northern Ontario Italian Ladies Auxiliaries Convention and the trip to the hosting club. It is a convention that we are proud to be a part of. It is an exhilarating weekend spent with Auxiliary members from the Italian Auxiliaries of Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Copper Cliff, Coniston, and North Bay. It will be a weekend filled with nothing but Italian entertainment, food, history, culture and dance. It is a time where the organizations can get together to discuss ways to promote and share their culture within their own cities and to pool together with ideas on ways to attract new, energetic members.

October brings our Annual Gnocchi & Chicken Dinner. This has always been a very successful event, and a fantastic fundraiser for us.

The Ladies' Auxiliary is very proud to be a part of the Società Caruso and we always look forward to working with them year after year in promoting our Italian culture and heritage throughout the community.