Local business: Fraternity Club steeped in history
Started by a group of Italian migrants, the Italian traditions and culture has been a key element of the Fraternity Club in Fairy Meadow’s success. It’s why it’s important for the club to continue to give back to the local community.
Today it holds the annual Castagne Day in May with up to 15,000 people and three and four generations of Italians.
We spoke to marketing manager Kane Baker about how celebrating the Fairy Meadow venue’s history has paved the way for its success…
Why did the Fraternity Club start and who was instrumental in it being launched?
It was started in 1952 by a group of European migrant families that came over. A group of mates came over and they wanted a place where all the fellow Italians could come together and socialise.
From that, they found a building, which is where we are today. The bricks that were laid for the club are in our hallways downstairs here.
On 29th of August 1953, the club was officially opened.
We’re very family focused from that and the club still has strong ties to the Italian community. It’s really grown and flourishes over the past 68 years.
What were those first years of the Club like? What memories do the local Fairy Meadow people have of the club when it first started?
From what I understand, it was pretty much a place where you’d put on your Sunday best. The gentleman would come around and play bocce, relax, have a few drinks and eat food. Women would do their hair up nice and come on down to a different area. Things were more segregated in those days.
There were famous dance nights at the club. People would come together on a Friday or Saturday night to pick up new relationships or to relax and dance with friends. There are stories of current members who met their partners 67 years ago on those dance nights.
Years later kids would also come along to dance at the disco and the parents would be downstairs.
It was very much the social aspect that drove the club. Food, friends and family are strong in Italian culture.
Why is it important to the Fairy Meadow community in particular?
Wollongong does have a strong Italian community as a whole. But because we have a lot of foundation members who are Italians, it’s kept that community strongly tied to the Fraternity Club.
The foundation members have a lunch at Christmas every year – the men and their partners have lunch on us. They’re the real reason the place started.
Within the club, they’ve embedded how important that history, tradition and the culture are. We’re known as the Italian club and that’s the lane we’ve stayed in.
What type of events do you run at the club?
Our biggest is Castagne Day. Traditionally, before COVID, it was our biggest day of the year. We’d get 10,000 to 15,000 people here.
It’s all about roasting chestnuts, basically. They’re a traditional Italian thing when the change of season happens. You either roast them or they go out of date.
From that event, it’s grown into a massive festival and family fun day.
This year we only had the chestnut roasting and we still sold 900kg of chestnuts. That’s when we see the big generations of families come together. You see the nonnas right down to the grandkids – three or four generations coming together to celebrate the traditional Italian day.
We’ve also got strong ties with the football (or soccer) community – being Italians. Anything to do with soccer and the Italian national teams, we pack out the club at all times of the day. There can be 500 people here.
What else sets the Fraternity Club apart from other clubs in the region, do you think?
What differentiates us is our food and beverage. Most clubs steer towards games. They put lots of energy into the games.
Not counting last year because of COVID, but 2018-19 and this year, we’re going to have more revenue from our food and beverage than gaming, which is unheard of in club history. It shows that part of the reason we’re so successful is because we’ve invested so much into the venue itself.
It’s not unheard of for us to have bookings of 20-30-40 people at a time. That’s when the real family and community feel comes together. They can sit back in a nice relaxed area and enjoy a few hours at the club with family.
Our pizzas, I would say, are up there in the top 3 in the area (I’m trying not to be biased, but I’ve tried a few around town). I’ve heard that from other people too.
We’ve got a wood fired oven and three Italian pizza chefs who were all trained in Italy, so they bring that experience, knowledge and passion.
In the bistro (our Fairy Meadow Italian restaurant) our pastas are huge. Like any Italians, they’re bigger portions than most. That love and passion for food has translated into our dishes.
What plans do you have for the club for the coming years as far as development and growth?
There are a few renovations in the works. We’re looking to jazz up the function spaces a bit better to attract more commercial functions. We’ve got one of the biggest spaces in the area that sits 500-600 people. So that’s a way for us to attract and hold bigger events, like wedding, engagement parties…
We’ve also recently been trying to get more live music. That’s been a bit more challenging with artists and bands the last 12 months not doing much due to COVID. But we want to.show our support for live music and bring bigger acts to the area.
And the renovations that we’ve got in the pipeline are to make it bigger. From Thursday to Sunday we sometimes haven’t got enough space to fit people in, so we want to make it more spacious.
We’ve come from a traditional background and that’s remained at the forefront of what we do – we are always looking at ways to give back to the local community.
We support sports teams and charities with club grants. Mainly we look for ways to give back and reinvest into the club and the local people.
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