Betty and Angelo Schianni Oral History | Ordine Indipendente Fior d’Italia (Independent Order Flower of Italy) | 01:16
Fernie Museum | Elk Valley Italian Oral History Project | 1999-04-20
Co-Operativa. That’s what they called it and it was on the highway there.
Mary: “This Order Independente Fior d’Italia?”
We had parties in there and they’d bring us – we’d have a good time
– but we’d flake out on the benches. Lots of food too, eh Ang? There’d be one guy playing the accordion and everybody would all be dancing, and the Tarantella! Oh God, they were so much fun. We didn’t want to go home, it was in the wee hours of the morning and we’d just flake out, sleeping on the chairs. Our parents would cover us with their jackets or something, you know? Oh God it was fun.
They were quite a great Lodge because when something happened, like if somebody was killed in the mine, they would help pay for the funeral. They would even give them money, they did have a lot of money, and it was just by dues. And we paid to get into those parties. It was just an Italian Lodge, just Italian people. They would give so much money for a funeral, if you were in the Lodge and you needed food I think they’d give food too.