Italian club marks 50th birthday

Fifty years ago, the Albany Italian Club was a place for the local Italian community to meet others, dance and cook traditional food.

Half a century old this month, the club is hoping to attract a younger generation to its ranks.

Albany Italian Club president Michael Martellotta, whose father Joe was one of the first club members, said Italians who migrated to Albany in the 1950s and 60s - most without families - saw the club, which was formed in 1965, as a place to come together with people of the same background.

"They came together because they had nobody else and (the club) became their family," he said.

"There were builders, farmers and shopkeepers who all dobbed in some money and they started off with a small room.

"It was a social club - they had dances, sausage-making days, tomato sauce-making days - but most of it was somewhere to go and meet and catch up with other Italians on the weekend."

The club had some tough times but Mr Martellotta said the future was looking bright.

"In the mid-70s and early 80s, the club was at its peak ... in the last couple of years we hit a low where the club almost closed down," he said.

"Now we've got a really good working committee, our sausage days have started up again, and we are open to the wider community."

The club will celebrate its 50th birthday at a black-tie dinner and dance next Saturday.