Blaze destroys town social club, a 50-year Everett institution

No one injured; cause unknown

Firefighters from Everett, Boston, and Chelsea battled a fire in a building in Everett. The blaze at Orsogna Plaza, a storefront building on Main Street, was reported about 5:30 a.m. yesterday. (John Bohn/Globe Staff)

A fire destroyed an Everett social club yesterday, two months after it celebrated 50 years as a community institution.

The blaze started overnight at Orsogna Plaza, a storefront building on Main Street that serves as a banquet hall and meeting room for the Sons of Orsogna social club.

The cause of the fire and damage estimates were not available last night, but the club's vice president said the fire apparently began in the basement kitchen. It was reported about 5:30 a.m.

Everett fire officials could not be reached for comment.

The Sons of Orsogna was established in the late '50s by area residents who traced their family lineage to Orsogna, a city in the Abruzzo region of Italy, east of Rome. Orsogna is Everett's sister city; and the Italian city's mayor attended the club's anniversary celebration.

"We are so sad," said Giovanni Saraceni of Everett, the club's vice president. "This is a really bad day for us. So many people worked to build this 'second home.' "

Saraceni said the club had recently completed renovations throughout the building, which had a banquet hall on the first floor and a members' lounge in the basement. He said the building was to be demolished yesterday following the fire.

There were no injuries, club officers said.

Carmen D'Angelo, a Stoneham resident who is the club's treasurer, said the biggest losses from the fire were "memorabilia, plaques, and pictures from Italy."

"The membership is still intact, but it is undetermined what will happen going forward," he said.

The club has about 200 members, mostly from the Boston area, D'Angelo said. There were no events scheduled for the facility Saturday night, Saraceni said.

"Usually on a Saturday afternoon, there are only 10 men playing cards, but they don't use the kitchen. They don't cook," he said. "They usually stay until 5 or 6 on Saturday, and then they go home."

In November, the club hosted Mayor Alessandro D'Alessandro of Orsogna, who had come to celebrate the anniversary and invite Everett leaders to visit Italy.

Everett's mayor, Carlo De Maria, held the kick-off rally for his mayoral campaign at Orsogna Plaza last summer. Club officers met with De Maria at Everett City Hall last night. Saraceni said the city will probably help the club rebuild.

Saraceni said he was taking solace in an Italian saying about good things rising from bad events.

"Maybe it will be something for good, and we will be able to build it better than it was before," he said. "But this moment is just a sad day."

Globe correspondent Emily Canal contributed to this report. John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.

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