[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The existence of the Regional Committees and their close coordination with the central office\u2014that is, with me\u2014made possible the establishment, implementation, and success of two events of an entirely regional character: the first was entitled \u2018L\u2019Azalea della Ricerca\u2019, and the second was called \u2018Le Arance della Salute\u2019. A national event of such exceptional importance had never before taken place in our country, which also testified to the members\u2019 conviction\u2014even those far away\u2014of the soundness of the Association\u2019s methods, and of the correctness, indeed transparency, of its everyday conduct.<\/p>\n
In our case, we also tried to support Italian floriculturists, but we soon discovered that Italy\u2019s production of azaleas was very limited. It was therefore necessary to resort to two countries\u2014Belgium and the Netherlands\u2014which together are able to supply large quantities simultaneously at the same time of year. As for the oranges, I confess that I was also inspired by reasons of national solidarity. Sicily, whose Committee was chaired by Arabella Salviati, had shown tremendous interest, and Sicilians embraced the Association\u2019s cause with such enthusiasm that an extraordinarily high number of memberships was registered in the fundraising campaign for their region.<\/p>\n
The explanation for Sicilian enthusiasm was also psychological\u2014I played on that: Sicily considered itself cut off from the mainland. Engaging it with such a vital issue as cancer research proved decisive for every citizen who gradually became aware of it, and also for researchers\u2014some extremely capable\u2014who, however, had never felt they had a nearby point of reference or received any support until then. (\u2026)\u201d<\/p>\n
Even today, every year, azaleas and oranges appear throughout Italy\u2014even in town squares\u2014announced by posters and advertisements with the now-familiar graphics, and invariably achieve great success, always reaffirming the hope that Guido Venosta envisioned and that remains a strong symbol of AIRC in every corner of the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sources:<\/b>
\nAlbiate (MB), Villa San Valerio, Villa San Valerio Archives, Guido Venosta Archive, \u201cMemoirs\u201d (1997\u20131998), unpublished, pp. 42bis\u201346bis.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Among the most distinctive public events organized by AIRC are \u201cL\u2019Azalea della Ricerca\u201d and \u201cLe Arance della Salute.\u201d Both hold great promotional value and have become a focal point for public attention in the cities where they take place, ultimately evolving into symbols of AIRC across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":67905,"template":"","tags":[57],"class_list":["post-67602","protagonista","type-protagonista","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-airc"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/67602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/protagonista"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/67602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67906,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonista\/67602\/revisions\/67906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazioneguidovenosta.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}