Today's Circolo Cittadino (town club) grew out of an idea by Fernando Ronzino, Attilio Linciano, Alessandro Ricci, Lorenzo Cucurachi, Alfonso Martina and Franco Michele Dell'Anna. It was 1971: the six men met at Alessandro Ricci's house and set the initiative in motion.
The first Galugnano town club, however, was founded around the mid-1920s and was named after Dott. Paolo De Santis. The best accounts of it come from the statute of today's club and from the inaugural speech given in 1927 by the president of the old club, Michele Liborio Dell'Anna fu Bonaventura.
Statute
Note: the statute below is translated for reference. In the event of any discrepancy, the Italian original remains authoritative.
Art. 1 — An apolitical association is established in Galugnano under the name "Circolo Cittadino" (Town Club), for recreational and cultural purposes.
Art. 2 — Membership is open to all men who have reached the age of 18, who enjoy full political and civil rights, and whose applications have been approved by the Board elected by the members' assembly.
Art. 3 — Persons who are not members may not enter the club's premises without express permission from a Board member.
Art. 4 — All members enjoy equal rights.
Art. 5 — Members are obliged to conduct themselves as gentlemen, to maintain disciplined behaviour in line with the directions of the Board and the President, to pay their monthly dues promptly (by the 10th of the following month), and to compensate for any club property they damage or destroy.
Art. 6 — Monthly dues and the admission fee are set each year by the members' assembly when approving the budget.
Art. 7 — Ordinary assemblies are held in January (budget, elections, appointment of auditors) and in February (final accounts).
Art. 8 — Members may request an assembly by submitting a request signed by at least two-thirds of the membership.
Art. 9 — The Board may convene an extraordinary assembly whenever it deems necessary.
Art. 10 — Notice of a meeting must be given at least five days in advance, except in documented cases of urgency. An assembly is validly constituted at first call with half plus one of the members present; at second call, regardless of the number present.
Art. 11 — Resolutions of the assembly are binding on all members.
Art. 12 — All games permitted by law are allowed for recreation.
Art. 13 — A member who fails to abide by the statute is expelled following a resolution of the assembly.
Art. 14 — The club's movable and immovable property constitutes its assets.
Art. 15 — An expelled member forfeits any claim on the club's assets.
Art. 16 — Should the club cease to exist, its assets are divided equally among all members registered at the time of dissolution.
Art. 17 — Damage caused by a member is entirely his own responsibility.
Art. 18 — The statute may be amended by the members' assembly.
Art. 19 — The Board consists of a President, two Vice Presidents, a Secretary, a Deputy Secretary, a Treasurer and six Board members, all required to work actively for the good running of the Club.
The 1927 speech
It is 1927, and the town club named after Dott. Paolo De Santis is going through a period of crisis. The Honorary President, Dott. Michele Dell'Anna, hoping to revive the association, turns to the rising Michele Liborio Dell'Anna fu Bonaventura, a Post and Telegraph Officer recently transferred from Schio to Lecce. At the assembly, the new President opens with these words:
"Only out of duty must I accept the invitation extended to me by the President [...] I obey, and I hope that together we will all make the sacred duty of obedience felt by everyone [...] And now my first cordial greeting to the Honorary President, Cav. Dott. Don Michele Dell'Anna [...] then my warm greetings to [...] our Commander, Lieutenant Don Raffaele Boccadamo [...] and finally my greeting to this large and joyful assembly, gathered to promise loyally that it will continue to support our Club and know how to guide it toward what is good and what is beautiful.
Why was the idea of the Club born? Let us go back to the hardships endured in wartime... The soldier, returning home, felt the need for a carefree hour among friends, to talk, to converse, to discuss improvements to the small hamlet of Galugnano. He wanted a place to gather, a place that would help keep the spirit rooted in virtue and goodness.
The Club was born, baptised with the name "Circolo Paolo De Santis", in memory of a man of great intellect. It grew, we watched it thrive, it filled with people like one family of brothers... but later, perhaps through misunderstandings, the small family fell into discord, and the Club became a place of conflict rather than of intellectual life and of learning toward what is good and what is beautiful.
This is what I want to hear from you: that we may all work together, in peace."
A personal experience in the Club
As co-founder of the Club from 1971 to 1978, I served as its treasurer. In 1978, elected President, I proposed a bimonthly local news publication: the idea was met with scepticism, and the scattered enthusiasm it did draw faded after the first and last issue of "Il Banditore", January–February of that same year. The time was not yet ripe, and envy and jealousy played their part too.
The end of "Il Banditore" made room for other ideas: building a large, club-owned headquarters that would free the Club from the burden of monthly rent; strengthening the chess section, already established in the club's earliest years; setting up a resident theatre company and a specialised library on the city of Lecce and the towns of its province. Obstacles and misunderstandings eventually forced me to resign.