By Alex Robinson
A storied social club headquartered in College Point is set to celebrate its 85th birthday Oct. 11.
The Famèe Furlane of North America Club was founded in Manhattan by Friulan immigrants in 1929.
Fruili is a part of northeastern Italy above Venice, which borders Slovenia and has a distinct culture and history of its own.
Many of the club’s original members were stonecutters and mosaic builders, who immigrated to the United States shortly after World War I and worked on mosaics in the city’s public buildings and private residents.
“Originally it was started by around a dozen men, who were lonely at home, living in downtown Manhattan and wanted to meet people of similar backgrounds,” said Carla Dozzi, who serves on the club’s board of directors and has been a member for 48 years.
It started as a place where new immigrants could come to learn English, play cards and eat with other Friulan immigrants, and grew from there.
The Famèe Furlane club, which now has around 250 members, holds special events throughout the year and hosts dinners for members on Friday evenings in the winter and spring.
“It’s become a nice social outlet and it’s still fun after all these years. It’s amazing,” Dozzi said. “It’s nice to have one spot to come back to.”
On its 50th anniversary, the club celebrated its golden jubilee year with a weekend of dinner-dances and was presented with letters of congratulations from then Gov. Hugh Carey and President Jimmy Carter.
The club made College Point its home in 1980 after years of organizing out of an office in Jackson Heights and holding events at a number of locations. A 1976 earthquake in their native Fruili shook the community and pushed its members to adopt a central meeting spot, at 20-10 127th St., as a base to fund-raise to send money back to their homeland.
The club originally was meant for just Friulans and their families, but recently opened up to all Italians as its membership began to lag.
“They are the ones who are keeping the club alive,” Dozzi said of the club’s new membership. “It’s not that there are fewer Friulans, but people have moved all over the place.”
The club’s anniversary celebration will take place at the Jericho Terrace, at 249 Jericho Turnpike, and tickets are $125 a person.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
