The Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America is a national fraternal organization for Americans of Italian descent, with offices in Washington D.C.. OSDIA preserves and promotes Italian heritage and culture and was originally organized to assist Italian immigrants in the early 1900’s. It was founded by Dr. Sellaro in New York City when he realized that the Italian immigrants often had no one to turn to for help with language barriers, prejudice, jobs, housing, and burial expenses. The Order Sons of Italy was begun to assist Italian men and their families as Mutual Benefit Societies.
The John Pirelli Lodge of OSDIA is located at Bella Villa Hall on County Line Road in Kettering, Ohio, near Reynolds & Reynolds and The Greene. We are proud of our facilities and our heritage, as well as the fraternal and charitable works our members do.
We have over 500 members, six bocce courts (men, women, and mixed leagues), and enjoy a host of activities. Members plan, work, and enjoy the World A’Fair, Fall Festa, the Bocce Classic, parties, dances, line dancing, cooking demonstrations, language lessons, Italian Sundays at the movies, potluck & game nights, pizza parties, outings to La Comedia, The Vineyard, The Races, and ball games. Requirement for membership is Italian descent and non-Italian spouses.
Scholarships are available for college age children through the National OSDIA and the OSDIA Grand Lodge of Ohio. Locally, over $15,000 was raised for charity last year (House of Bread, Ronald McDonald House of Dayton, Hannah’s Treasure Chest, Tsunami Relief). Our National Charities are Cooley’s Anemia Foundation & Alzheimer’s Foundation.