History | Ifs Mechanicville

On April 22, 1899 thirty four Italian immigrants banned together to form the Italian Fraternal Society (IFS). The Insignia of the Society became hands clasped in friendship and it has never been changed.

Our Society was one of the first of its kind in the United States. The Society began holding its meetings in a carriage house located behind St. Paul’s Church on Williams St.

Some of the newspapers of the day couldn’t pronounce the names of the members. They usually came out Americanized; for example, our Founder, Guiseppe Della Vigna. In the papers it became Joe Vet. It was also reported that Joe vet operated a bank in the Sons of Italy rooms on Saratoga Avenue.

These are MOST of the fine Italian names the newspaper had to deal with pronouncing and/or spelling correctly. Perhaps you will see a family member listed. Or maybe your current name was shortened by our local press. Here are the names:

Raffaele Pietro – Raffaele Santa-Barbara – Raffaele DeMatteo – Giovanni Izzo – Antonio Antenna

Guiseppe Antenna – Giorgia Ceffarelli – Croce Vernano – Pietranantonio Semele – Saverio Mastrianni

Thomas D’Agostino – Fabie Fabi – Pietro Maraco – Angelo Nicciulla – Guiseppe Fortini

Carlo Vignone – Nicola Chiooitti – Salvadore Fazzone – Angelo Costanzo – Dr. C.P. Baccelli

Pasquale Gozzi – Angelo Argestine – Giovanni Friello – Raffaele Cefarelli – Felice DeMarco

Giovanni Farvone – Alessandra Salvatore

The Feast of the Assumption formed a committee on April 4, 1904 becoming The Feast Committee. This was to be in celebration of the 15th of August or “Ferragosto”. The first firework display was held at a place called Rice Park, and the display cost around $400.00 dollars. The Feast of the Assumption is a rich tradition that lasted hundreds of years. In later years, we purchased the land on Viall Avenue hill from the Dr. Purcell estate; to display the fireworks.

The Society also had very colorful uniforms, somewhat like the uniforms of Italian Police Officers. The last official uniform parade was conducted in 1936.

Some old timers tell a story about a time where the club was down to a few members and only had $1,200.00 dollars in the bank, due to lack of interest. They decided to play a hand of poker, winner take all, which fortunately never took place. Instead, they formed a committee and recruited about 38 new members, all young Italian men. There has never been a membership problem since.

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When Girolmo Fragomeni became President, his leadership guided the membership from a mere handful to 185 members. He was also instrumental in building our club rooms and hall, which were completed in 1939. Girolmo was President for 20 years, which was the longest tenure to date. When our hall was completed in 1939, records show over 400 people attended the opening ceremonies. Rev. Serafino Aurigemma and Dr. Pietro Bacelli were the principal speakers.

There are two members that helped organize the Society and were members of the Society for over forty years, Ralph Martone and John Friello.

Our 50th celebration was a HUGE success. We raised over $4,500.00 dollars and had two firework companies at the time. They both paid $1,000.00 dollars and donated a $500.00-dollar grand prize to be raffled.

In 1960, we had the pleasure of welcoming the newly formed Ladies Auxiliary. Over the years, they have been a great asset to our club. The first President of the Ladies Auxiliary was Lucy Busone. The current President is Deb Christopher. The Ladies Auxiliary continues to flourish and support the club through community and charity events, fundraisers, and Women Only Bocce & Dart leagues.

For the past 20 years Ed Morcone has been the President of the club. Many improvements have been made under his tenure. The hall and bar had been remodeled in the late 90’s early 20’s. Rentals continued to rise; a new electrical system was installed as well. The Society has also paved the parking lot, made improvements to the kitchen facility, including a new commercial grade oven. The building exterior was also resided along with a vinyl fence for the property. The IFS also has four Bocce Leagues, including a men’s senior league, mixed league (men & women) and a Dart League, that are also open to the public to join. The current President of the club is Paul Festa as of January 1, 2023.

Today our membership stands at 126 members, 14 of which have achieved “Lifetime Status”. Which means they are over the age of 70 and have been a full member, in good standing, for five (5) consecutive years.

Our Society, as it stands today, is on very sound ground and has come a long way from the $1,200.00 dollar days when our founders wanted to disband.

The IFS would like to mention a few members that over the years had a very positive impact on our Society. They made our Society as sound as it is today. They are, in no particular order: Slyvester Festa Sr., Slyvester Festa Jr., Gilrolmo Fragomeni, John “red” Piroli, Angelo DeCresente, John Pepe, Enrico Bagnoli, Paul Morcone, Angelo Petta, Pietro Grimaldi, John Carriero, Peter Rocco, Mike DiNallo, Peter Clements Sr., Peter Clements Jr., Al Luciano, Joe Annuruma, John LaValla, Steve DeMarco, Orlando DeVito, Salvadore Cononica and Pete Marzano.

PRESIDENTS of the Society

1899 – Present

Guiseppe Della Vigna – Founder