Much has changed over the last 75 years around town, but one constant has remained throughout—Powell River Italian Community Club.
“The roots of our community go back a lot further than 1937 in Powell River,” said Tony Culos who has written about the Italian community’s history in Powell River.
Italian pioneers came to Powell River as far back as 1883, according to Culos. They worked in the forest, on farms and in the paper mill started by the Powell River Company. Although Italians and other workers from Southern Europe made up only a small part of the mill’s workforce when the first roll of newsprint came out in 1912, as the mill grew so did the Italian community.
Pioneers like the Errico and De Vito families typify the entrepreneurial spirit of the early Italians, said Culos. In 1912 Joe “Calabrese” Errico started up his own dairy business and began delivering fresh milk to homes around Powell River.
In 1927 the precursor to the Italian Community Club was established and called the Italian Benevolent Society, benevolent because ethnic fraternities were not easily tolerated then, explained Culos.
In an age before social safety nets, workplace injury compensation and even labour unions, groups like these gave immigrant communities the ability to take care of each other, said Culos.
The Italian Benevolent Society disbanded in the early 1930s as membership declined in the new harsh reality of the Great Depression and also in part to the “purges” in the paper mill.
“There was this xenophobic mill manager that didn’t like Italians much,” said Culos. “ We were accused of being CCFers [Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the precursor to the New Democratic Party] or strike-breakers. We couldn’t win.”
Culos said that by 1937 the political and economic climate in the province had changed, and working people were gaining their rights. Some in the community thought it was a good time to start a new club.
“But if they could have seen the clouds of political turmoil coming with World War II,” he said, “they would have known it was a bad time.”
On October 24, 1937, Joe Derton called a community meeting and the Italian Community Club was formed. Membership elected an executive and wrote the club’s constitution.
“It was set up to organize community social and cultural events,” said Culos. “An organization dedicated to getting together and having a good time.”
Over the years the club organized picnics, dinners, dances and bocce tournaments.
When the club started in 1937 only 38 people signed up as founding members, but membership doubled in the second year and continued to increase until June 1940 when Canada declared war on Italy.
The Canadian government designated Italian nationals and Italian Canadians naturalized after 1922 as enemy aliens and forced them to file monthly reports with the RCMP on their activities. The Defence of Canada Regulations in the War Measures Act gave the federal government the power to suspend habeus corpus and round up and imprison suspected enemy aliens without a trial. Although some Italian community clubs were constitutionally bound to promoting fascism in Canada, the Powell River Italian Community Club was not, and to show its support for Canada’s war efforts the club paused until 1949, said Culos.
In the 1950s club membership swelled as the federal government encouraged Italians to start a new life in Canada. By 1961 the club organized a Centenary Dance, to celebrate 100 years of Italian unification, and over 300 people attended, but by the late 1960s the Italian economy had picked up, so immigration to Canada slowed and club membership plateaued.
Up until 1987, only male Italians and their sons could join as full members. Then the club rewrote its constitution to include non-Italian spouses, grandchildren and anyone who wanted to join.
“It’s not easy to change, but you’ve got to go with the times,” said Elio Cossarin, past president of the club. “There’s no other way.”
For Cossarin, opening up the club was one of the first steps in making sure that it would continue.
“It’s up to the third generation members now,” said Cossarin. “The activities that we had 30 years ago don’t exist anymore. We used to have four bocce courts, now we’ve only got one.”
There are currently 227 members in the club.
Vince Candela, current club president, echoes Cossarin’s concern. He said that times have changed and their children are busier than ever.
“I know with my own grandchildren,” said Candela, “they’re involved with soccer and gymnastics and ballet. We have to do something to make the younger generation believe in this club.”
For Culos the club’s future lies in “organizing and sponsoring sports clubs and events for the younger generation.” The club continues, he added, despite decreasing membership simply because “young people enjoy being a part of something bigger than just a recreational club. It gets them in touch with their roots.”
The club will be celebrating its 75th anniversary at 6 pm on Saturday, October 20, at the Italian Community Club hall, 5866 Lund Street. Special guests at the dinner will include Fides Prissinotti, 96, widow of club founder Ned Prissinotti, City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa, Nicholas Simons, MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast, and members of the Italian Consulate in Vancouver. Tickets for the event are $35 available at Massullo Motors and Mitchell Brothers grocery store or by calling Rina Bonnici at 604.485.5602.
