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Billerica Mixed Lodge No. 2268, Order Sons of Italy
Billerica Mixed Lodge No. 2268, Order Sons of Italy
Billerica Mixed Lodge No. 2268 is the Billerica lodge of the Order Sons of Italy in America, now the Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, the Italian American fraternal society founded in 1905, and it belongs to the order's Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. The lodge has given scholarships to seniors of Billerica Memorial High School since at least the 1980s, keeps a scholarship fund in the town's trust funds, and has long supported the Senior Center and the town's recreation programs.
The order first held land in Billerica through its state Grand Lodge. In May 1948 the executor of Mary J. McElligott sold the forty acre Bridge Farm in the southerly part of the town, the farm of the old Samuel Hill House on Concord Road, for $13,000 to Salvatore Vasta Jr. of Everett, who the same day mortgaged it to the Death Fund Commission of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and deeded it, "No consideration for this deed," to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Camp, Inc., Independent Order Sons of Italy. In September 1957 the camp corporation sold the farm, less about 1.83 acres taken by the Commonwealth, to Imperial Development Corp. of Lynn, which set off the old house in 1959.
The local lodge appears as the Sons of Italy Billerica Mixed Lodge #2268 in the Warrior yearbooks of 1988 to 1997, whose senior awards list its scholarship in memory of Salvatore Grieco each year; the yearbook of 1997 also lists a Sons of Italy Massachusetts Grand Lodge Scholarship. The Polk directory of 1985 lists "Sons Of Italy Lodge 2268" at 6 Lowell Street, the address of Father Mathew Hall in North Billerica, then the home of Chapter 47 of the Disabled American Veterans. The town holds a Sons of Italy scholarship fund among its trust funds, with a principal of $12,609.97 in 2004; it has been listed since 2008 as "Sons of Italy #62", and its principal was $21,510.66 in 2013.
The lodge has worked closely with the Billerica Council on Aging, which named the Sons of Italy among the community groups it collaborated with from 2006. The lodge provided the annual luncheon, named for Carmela "Chickey" Grieco, at which the council honored the Senior Center's volunteers: the fourth was held in 2009, the sixth in 2011, and at the eighth, in 2013, the council recognized 397 volunteers who had given 39,886 hours. Members of the lodge adopted the bocce courts at Vietnam Veterans Park, noted in the Recreation Commission's report for 2013, and the Recreation Department thanked the Sons of Italy for its volunteer hours in its report for fiscal 2020.
Robert J. Calabrese, superintendent of schools from 1984 to 2006, was a member of the lodge, and Brion M. Cangiamila, state representative and selectman, was a past president of the Billerica Sons of Italy. The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts lists Billerica Lodge #2268 among its active lodges in 2026. The date the lodge was chartered and its meeting places before and after 1985 have not been found.
References
- Warrior 1988, senior awards: Sons of Italy Billerica Mixed Lodge #2268 Scholarship in memory of Salvatore Grieco
- Warrior 1991, senior awards: Sons of Italy Billerica Mixed Lodge #2268 Scholarship in memory of Salvatore Grieco
- Warrior 1994, senior awards: Sons of Italy Billerica Mixed Lodge #2268 Scholarship in memory of Salvatore Grieco
- Warrior 1995, senior awards: Sons of Italy Billerica Mixed Lodge #2268 Scholarship in memory of Salvatore Grieco
- Warrior 1997, senior awards: Sons of Italy Billerica Mixed Lodge #2268; Sons of Italy Massachusetts Grand Lodge Scholarship
- Polk Lowell City Directory 1985, organizations, benevolent and fraternal: Sons Of Italy Lodge 2268, 6 Lowell St (B)
- Billerica Town Report 2004, trust funds: Sons of Italy scholarship fund, principal $12,609.97
- Billerica Town Report 2008, trust funds: Sons of Italy #62 scholarship fund
- Billerica Town Report 2013, trust funds: Sons of Italy #62 scholarship fund, principal $21,510.66
- Billerica Town Report 2006, Council on Aging: worked with groups including the Sons of Italy
- Billerica Town Report 2006, superintendent Robert J. Calabreses affiliations include the Sons of Italy
- Billerica Town Report 2009, Council on Aging: 4th Annual Carmela Chickey Grieco luncheon provided courtesy of the Sons of Italy
- Billerica Town Report 2011, Council on Aging: 6th Annual Carmela Chickey Grieco Luncheon provided courtesy of the Sons of Italy
- Billerica Town Report 2013, Council on Aging: 397 volunteers, 39,886 hours, 8th annual Grieco luncheon courtesy of the Sons of Italy
- Billerica Town Report 2013, Recreation Commission: bocce courts adopted by members of the Sons of Italy
- Billerica FY20 Annual Report, Recreation Department: volunteer hours from the Sons of Italy and others
- Order Sons and Daughters of Italy, Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, list of lodges: Billerica #2268
- Wikipedia: Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, Italian American fraternal organization founded in 1905
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 1948 | Quitclaim | Salvatore Vasta Jr. of Everett, unmarried | Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Camp, Inc., Independent Order Sons of Italy, of Boston | Salvatore Vasta Jr. to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Camp, Inc., Independent Order Sons of Italy, Bridge Farm, 1948 | 1090/352 |
Acknowledged in Suffolk County in May 1948 before Frank Ramacorti, notary; recorded May 6, 1948 at 10:42, a minute after the executor's deed. With quitclaim covenants and "No consideration for this deed," the land in Billerica "with the buildings thereon," with the 1851 bounds from the Bedford road and Benjamin L. Judkins to the Concord River, the late widow Susan Jaquith and the old Middlesex Turnpike, "Being the same premises conveyed to me this date by Thomas F. McElligott Jr., executor of the will of Mary J. McElligott," subject to the first mortgage recorded the same day and the 1948 taxes. Vasta acted as a straw for the lodge.
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| September 16, 1957 | Quitclaim | Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Camp, Inc., Independent Order Sons of Italy | Imperial Development Corp. | Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Camp, Inc., Independent Order Sons of Italy, to Imperial Development Corp., Bridge Farm, 1957 | 1382/85 |
The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Camp, Inc., Independent Order Sons of Italy, of Boston, conveyed to Imperial Development Corp. of Lynn "a certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon, formerly known as the Bridge Farm, situated in the Southerly part of said Billerica, containing forty (40) acres," with the old bounds, "excepting, however, approximately one and 83/100ths (1.83) acres of this land which was taken by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," being the premises conveyed to it by Salvatore Vasta Jr. in 1948. Imperial Development gave the lodge a mortgage the same day (Book 1382 Page 87).
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.