Italia-America Bocce Club

The St. Louis Bocce Club officially began to function in 1975 at 5627 Manchester Avenue. However, for several years prior, its original group played bocce at John and Rose’s on the Hill. With all of the camaraderie of this group, the idea of forming a club of their own was given birth. There was much enthusiasm about the idea, and the decision was made to organize a small group under the name “The St. Louis Bocce Club”. One cold, Sunday morning, after the 9 o’clock Mass, Aldo Della Croce escorted a group to Manchester Avenue to look over the place of their future home. Everyone exclaimed “Are you kidding! This is it? Aldo, you must be out of your wits if you think we can convert this shack into a place to play bocce!”