Rotary Club Morimondo Abbey

[Article by Silvia Lodi Pasini] – MORIMONDO – For the Finns of the Rotary club “Finlandia Hall” who last week returned the visit of the Italian “twins” of RC Morimondo Abbazia, it was the right opportunity to discover the rather different habits with which an Italian Rotary club nourishes and develops the partnership that unites its members. But also the opportunity to see the artistic beauties of the Bel Paese up close, thanks to the tourist itinerary specially prepared for them by Rc Morimondo Abbazia, which literally amazed Helsinki's Nordic friends with its hospitality and organizational skills. The visit of past president Jyrki Berner, Erkki Turanlahti, Hannele Kauranne and Sirkka-Liisa Ihalainen sealed the twinning that with their home club, the "Finlandia Hall" of Helsinki, created the "Morimondo Abbazia" last October, through the sending of a delegation led by the principal Giuseppe Resnati to Helsinki. The Finnish "twins" arrived in Italy on April 26, welcomed at the airport by the Past President of Morimondo Abbazia Ambrogio Locatelli. The same one who the following day, Wednesday 27 April, accompanied them to visit the city of Vigevano, to discover its marvelous Piazza Ducale and the lush green area that surrounds it. The same one that in the afternoon they were able to admire as far as the eye could see around the Morimondo Abbey: the "spiritual pearl of the Ticino Valley" of which the Rotary club based in Morimondo takes its name. The visit to the Abbey Museum was followed in the evening by the club's usual convivial event, which was naturally entirely dedicated to the guests and the Rotarian twinning that brought them to Italy, thus taking on an international character. During the evening, for the benefit of all the members of Morimondo Abbazia who were unable to go to Helsinki in October for the actual twinning, the Finns spoke about their club and the main services it has provided at home, in particular in favor of environmental conservation. Furthermore, with the help of slides, they illustrated the main events that mark the activity of their club during the year, also explaining how in Finland the concept of "convivial" as it is understood in Italy does not exist. There, in fact, the weekly meetings through which members meet and discuss take place at breakfast time, before going to work, and not in the evening, as in Italy, in the form of convivial events. An exchange of gifts, together with the usual exchange of pennants, significantly ratified the friendship between the two clubs. The visit of the Finns continued the following day, 28 April, with a guided tour of the Cenacolo Vinciano in Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, which was also attended by Janne Taalas, Finnish consul in Italy.

Silvia Lodi Pasini