Join us for the 4th of July celebration party at Ta’ Kenuna - Gozo

More information about this event, including adult and children's menu can be found at http://www.starsandstripesmalta.com/News201106.html#ID20110610.

See you there!!!



The 2011 Stars And Stripes Malta Survey Results

The survey we mailed out to each and every member in March and April was an important occasion for SASM. Everyone who registers with us receives an email in which he or she is told that SASM is an organization by members for members. The survey asked you to voice your opinion on matters that we feel you should be involved in and response was very encouraging.

My first duty is to share with you the results of the 4 multiple choice compulsory questions and the optional comment listed as Question 5. The first 4 questions were of the multiple choice type while the 5^th was an open ended comment box into which one could write whatever they wanted. Besides giving out the results, I have taken the liberty of adding my own thoughts at the end of each result.

Question 1: Should the annual SASM dinner be moved to the summer months rather than be held in winter?

Yes –  85.3%, No – 14.7%

Many of you recall that in Malta, winter peaked last February, specifically on the day when we were going to hold our first annual get-together event. It was so windy that ferry service between the islands was suspended. To make matters worse, half the committee members were in bed with the flu. Summer is the time when we enjoy nice weather, calm seas, long hours of daylight and the flu viruses are normally dormant, probably they are planning how to make us sick the following winter. Besides, the 4^th of July take comes in summer and we can therefore combine SASM anniversary with this great day. Summer is also the time when our members who live abroad are more likely to visit their country of origin or country of their ancestors. This means that we stand a better chance of their meeting these people and getting to know them better.

Question 2: Would you attend SASM’s annual dinner if the event is held in:

Malta:  Yes – 41%, No – 22%, Don’t Know – 37%
Gozo: Yes – 41%, No – 15%, Don’t Know – 44%

The members of our association are split between Malta, Gozo and abroad. The result of this poll clearly indicates that almost half of SASM members will attend and event irrespective of which island the event is held on. Up to now all events organized by SASM have been located on the island of Gozo but, based on this information, we need to also include Malta in one of our annual meetings.

Question 3: Do you think SASM should include news items that originate from Maltese communities other than the USA?

Yes –  77.9%, No – 22.1%

Since March 2010 we have regularly included information about electronic publications by Maltese communities other than the USA. Up till now this has been unstructured and was never organized in a manner that ensures that you are consistently informed when a new issue comes out. Likewise, we normally did not carry news originating from communities outside the USA. Your input will change all of that. Over the next few weeks we will be implementing the necessary mechanisms to ensure that you remain up to date on all that is happening away from our shores.

Question 4: Should SASM’s statute be changed to officially include people of Maltese descent who do not live in the USA?

Yes –  30.9%, No – 69.1%

The majority of those who entered a voluntary comment under question 5 directed their comment at this point.

Question 5: Other comments / suggestions

The absolute majority of comments were directed to the fact that SASM is an organization with US roots and that this should remain status quo. More than one comment pointed out that Stars And Stripes refers to the US flag and not the flag of any other country.

Other comments complimented SASM’s committee for their hard work and dedication. We appreciate your kind comments.

If I could select a star comment it would be the following: “By knowing about activities taking place in Maltese communities outside the US, we can help our members to take up such initiatives if they are non-existent in the US-Maltese community. Furthermore, if such activities exist then they can liaison together to share knowledge or organize joint events.”  In my opinion it summarizes what SASM is all about.

Now it’s the committee’s time to act.

Your Comments on Dr Douglas Kmiec as Ambassador to Malta

We published the news of Ambassador Doug Kmiec's resignation at http://www.starsandstripesmalta.com/News201105.html#DK20110511. We received many comments from you on the matter and have decided to create a space where you can recall and recount your impression of this man during his stay in Malta. 

You can either post directly here or, if you prefer, email us on info@StarsAndStripesMalta.com. Those who email us should  specify that you would like your email to be to publish to our blog.

SASM Annual Report – 2010 / 2011

Stars and Stripes Malta is an organization that, over the past year, has worked hard to make a mark in the Maltese and US areas of play. Admittedly relations between the United States and Malta have always been positive. The recent decisions by the United States to take hundreds of refugees who reside in Malta demonstrates beyond any doubt that this great country is sometimes more of a friend than other counties geographically closer to us.

One of the tasks that SASM has been involved in since its inception is to try to help materialize project requested by its members. Over the past year we were involved in projects to trace people who lived a century ago or more for our members, projects relating to education, projects relating to citizenship of both Maltese who wanted to get their US citizenship or Americans who wanted to get their Maltese citizenship. We even got a request by a member to help trace down basketball players of Maltese descent who live abroad. Even though we do not have a 100% success rate, we are satisfied that many of the projects we embarked on ran to fruition.

Besides these projects, SASM has become a hub that distributes relevant news and information to its members. Whenever I meet an acquaintance on our mailing list they always comment positively about our regular mailings. Many like the short and concise format of the news and everyone I have spoken to seems to agree with the frequency of the mailings which is set to an average of one every two weeks.

The two countries from where the majority of our members originate are Malta and the USA—we are called Stars and Stripes after all. Having said that, we now also have a decent following from Australia. Recently we began to communicate electronic publications produced by Maltese and those of Maltese descent living over there.

SASM is an organization by members for members and we want like to keep it that way. For example, the survey we are conducting amongst all members will give us direction as to what we should do to better serve our current and future members. Even after the survey comes to an end and the results are tallied we will still want your input and direction as to how we can be more effective.

In my previous paragraph I mentioned the phrase “members for members”. These three words sum up the most important ingredient to the success of an organization like ours. It is thanks to those who can spare a couple of hours researching the Internet for a school in New York that may want to pair up with an equivalent school on in Malta; calling a relative to inquire about basketball players; or who encourage us and suggest ways we can improve, that we can become better.

I would like to conclude by thanking the other SASM committee members: Louis Vella, Joe Meilak, John Mizzi and Joyce Grech who work as a team to make most of what SASM is in reality. Every one of these persons, in their own special way and with their own special abilities and skills, constitutes SASM’s main driving force.

SASM 2011 Questionaire / Kwestjonarju 2011

Stars And Stripes Malta (SASM) is conducting a survey so that we can better serve you and direct our resources where they are most required. We started life with the goal of becoming the most effective US-Malta friendship not-for-profit organization.

When we set up SASM we listed 9 points in our statute as being our organizational goals (you can read about these in our “About Us” page on our web site). Following the Convention for Maltese living abroad, many people of Maltese descent who live in Australia, Canada and the UK registered with us. We started getting feedback from these people and suggestions that SASM should also carry their activities.

We would like your input to help us provide the best service to our members. On the next two pages, we have a very short questionnaire. These are very important to us.

This survey is open to everyone who has a say in the matter. To participate in the survey direct your browser to http://www.kwiksurveys.com/online-survey.php?surveyID=INDEGI_ac49bc98.

Tell your family and friends about SASM's survey.

Membership to SASM is free and open to anyone who has an interest in Malta-US-Malta events and relations.

The Journey of Gaining Maltese Citizenship

My name is Marc Sanko, I am a member of Stars and Stripes Malta and a third generation Maltese-American. Over the course of the past year I have worked with the organization in an attempt to claim my Maltese Citizenship. It has been filled with many ups and downs and great stories of along the way. These next few blogs will be the story of this journey and about my background and hopeful future.

The story starts in the 1920’s with my great-grandparents who moved from Malta to America, and unusually it was not because they were searching for higher paying jobs and the typical promises that awaited everyone in the United States. Instead it was for medical reasons. My grandmother, it turns out, as a child would get very sick from the sun in Malta and the doctors advised that they seek a milder climate. So it was off to America where my great grandfather immigrated to Detroit, Michigan and found employment at the Ford Assembly Plant. It was from this job that he was able to make enough money to build a home and send for the rest of his family to move to Detroit and rejoin him after a considerable time apart.

By the end of World War 2 most of my grandmothers and grandfathers families made the move to Detroit and joined the Maltese Community living in Detroit’s Corktown on the South side of the city. As the years wore on the families began drifting slowly apart, some had begun to move over the river into the Canadian city of Windsor and others gravitated towards the new and expanding suburbs of Detroit. That is where I come into the story; 22 years ago I was born in the suburbs of Detroit to a Maltese family.

At this point in time (late 1980’s) the Maltese community in the Metro-Detroit area had long lost its sense of closeness, no longer would you walk out your door and hear all your neighbors conversing in Maltese, rather it was a time where everyone was raised to speak English and be American. However in the mid to late-1990’s there seemed to be a revival among the older generation to share with us the roots of our family, the Maltese stories and many times even attempts to teach our generation the language. Unfortunately in my family the language didn’t stick very well as those who knew it and spoke it began to die off before any substantial teaching could be done. Needless to say it did inspire me.

All through grade school and even into my undergraduate studies in college I have been deeply interested in the history and lifestyle of the Maltese and myself and many of my cousins have done as much as we can to immerse ourselves in the Maltese culture. From learning to make pastizzi to more (failed) attempts at learning and conversing in Maltese, and it was at this point I personally began to want more of a true connection with my ancestral homeland. So I began to formulate a plan to study abroad in Malta or at least get my Graduate Degree at the University of Malta. I thought, ah ha! What an opportunity to also get my Maltese citizenship and all the advantages that would bring. It was about a year and a half ago that I finally contacted Stars and Stripes Malta to inquire about the process.

I have also found this book to be very insightful and full of pictures of Maltese in Detroit. Check it out, even if you just look at the pictures online!

http://www.amazon.com/Maltese-Detroit-Images-America-Andreassi/dp/0738583375

Next Blog – Uncovering my past to find my future, the process of gaining citizenship.

Respect towards the Flag

Few countries revere their flag as much as the United States. This could be because the United States’ flag is designed such that each part of the flag is so closely associated with the country’s history and depicts so well the struggle of this land to become a nation. The fifty stars on the flag represent the 50 states and the 13 stripes represent the original thirteen colonies that rebelled against the British monarchy and became the first states in the Union. 

The United States has a Flag Code. This code incorporates a set of laws relating to how the flag should be handled, folded, when it should be displayed and during what times of the day. The flag code also lists how the flag should be taken care and disposed of. 

In my opinion proof of the United States’ respect towards its flag lies in the rules on how the flag should be disposed of.  The flag code states that “The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning”. Veteran service organisations such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Marine Corps League, Disabled American Veterans as well as the Boy and Girl Scouts offer free flag disposal services. Those who wish to dispose of the flag themselves should burn the flag in a dignified manner and should bury the ashes. On the Internet one can find ceremonial scripts one could follow to dispose of the flag honourably. 

Flags made of nylon and other synthetic materials should not be burned since these can create hazardous gases when they are burned. A good alternative to dispose of synthetic flags is recycling. To recycle a flag, simply write "Recycle" on the header of the flag before handing it over to one of the organisations mentioned above. 

All nations have a flag; for some the flag is seen to be a living emblem of their country, for others it is just a piece of cloth marking territory or a ceremonial object.