St. Francis Society
(Società di San Francesco di Paola)
Frankfort, N.Y. U.S.A
The St. Francis Society is a men’s Italian religious organization and was incorporated in 1927. This not-
The St. Francis Society operates almost identically as it did over 85 years ago when it started. The society has continually grown and has more than 200 members today. Because of this, the society has been able to expand its facilities since its inception.
Our original chapel was built in 1927 which was small and modestly made from wood and was located on Orchard Street on a plot of land that was owned by a member. The Society held their yearly festival on this land. In 1947 we purchased a farm on Palmer Street, where the Society is now located, and turned the farm house into a club house. Some of the members carried the chapel from Orchard Street to Litchfield Street and placed it on the property. A beautiful new chapel was then built from stone with the masonry accomplished by some of our members. This chapel is a real work of art not only because it is made from stone but because there are two hand painted murals of scenes from Oriolo, Italy. A story was told that a man, with the last name of Carter, painted these murals and was locked in the chapel because this was the only way that they could get him to finish the job. A bandstand was also erected behind the chapel, and was used for entertainment purposes. The original chapel was then emptied out and used as a shed. In the 1970’s, the shed was moved to it’s present location and restored to it’s original purpose.
In 1980 the society built a new club house which contained a social center for its members and dinner hall with a newly renovated kitchen. An outside pavilion was built in 1985 mainly for our outdoor festivities such as our yearly festival which gives praise to St. Francis of Paola. Over the years since, we have added a second pavilion that houses a walk-
Our yearly Festival which honors St. Francis of Paola has been running since the clubs inception and runs for three days on the weekend after Memorial Day. The festival begins with a Prayer in the Chapel. A procession from our chapel to the Our Lady Queen of Apostles church for a small service and then the procession heads back to our chapel is held on Saturday. We also have nightly entertainment that has in the past featured talent such as La Banda Rossa, Main Event from Utica, N.Y., Classified, and the Frankfort High School jazz band among others.