Forum Meeting Agenda

Support Site Community Center 

Date:    Thursday, October 14, 2010

Time:    Begins 18:30 – 20:30

18:30 - Opening of Meeting & Welcome – Leslie Xavier

18:35 – Lecture – “Matera – The Passion of the Sassi” by Leslie Xavier, President, IAS.

The Sassi is the only place where the “dead are above ground and the living abide below”.  Here you can sence a timelessness as you look out over an area that has been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic Period.  What was once the “Shame of Italy” is now a World Heritage Site.  Join us as we discover why producers such as Mel Gibson are drawn to the Sassi and its rustic cave dwellings and curious rock cut churches.

 After the lecture we will address the following items of business 

• September Tour to Ancient Roman Port of Ostia Antica – Our recent tour to Ostia Antica. Jorge Silva will report
• October Tour – Morbid Curiosity,   October is the perfect month to enjoy a spooky adventure into some of the most intriguing of Neapolitan cemeteries and funerary practices.  A tour of Cimitero delle Fontanelle along with tour of Greek Necropolis at Piazza Cavour – Jorge Silva will give us the scary details.
• November Tour – Matera – Passion of the Sassi, An overnight tour including Parco della Mergio Materno – Leslie Xavier
• Upcoming board elections – we will plan to hold elections for board members November 7 on line.

 This will be a round table discussion of the above topics.  Other topics can be added to the discussion if time allows.  Please note, due to the limited time, tour payments can be made only after the meeting not before.