Felice Cavallotti Lodge

The Felice Cavallotti Society – Italians
The First Italians to settle here in 1865 were Bartolomeo Corso, Joe Vazzo, and Joe Cuffalo. Corso divided his time between fishing and farming, and occasionally did some logging. Cuffalo worked in the mines and managed to save enough money to build the Wellington Hotel in South Wellington. When this burned down, he built the Italian Hotel (Columbus Hotel) on Haliburton Street in 1885.
On November 4, 1900 the Felice Cavallotti Mutual Relief Society was formed at Extenion, named after the nineteenth century poet and politician who was known for his efforts to bring democracy to Italy. There were 54 founding members of the society, all male. (Women were admitted to membership in 1946.) The first president was John Giovando. Other chapters of the society were soon formed in Nanaimo and Cumberland, The society’s mission was to help Italian coal miners and their families. Since there were no social programs in existence at that time, injured miners or sick people relied on family and friends for aid until a group of miners banded together to help each other. To be eligible to join you had to be of Italian ancestry, and dues were one dollar per month – the going rate for room and board at the time. The benefits in the event of an injury or sickness were one dollar per day up to 100 days., then $15 per month for a further twelve months.