A juke box, shuffleboard and beer for $1.50 might draw visitors to the Italian Society of Butler, but when asked what distinguishes the building on Hickory Street, the answers point to pride in the past.

With a history of uniting those of Italian descent, for many the 100-year-old club represents a lingering tie to their heritage.

"(I joined) because of my father. He was a member and he used to be the bar steward there for 30 years," said Larry Paganelli of Butler Township, who has been club treasurer for 26 years.

"They had some activities going on, like they had a bowling league. So I joined it to be able to bowl in their bowling league with my dad."

"My dad died when I was 16 years old," said Mario Mariotti of Butler, who joined the club two years after the death of his father, who was also a member. "We were allowed to join at 18. … I've been a member for 63 years."

Since full membership in the early years required an applicant's father be Italian, the membership typically continued from father to son. In more recent years Italian lineage on the mother's side has also been accepted.

Launched with 15 members in 1905 as the Italian Fraternal Society, the club began as a way for Italian men and their families to socialize. "They couldn't read, write or speak English, so they became like family," explained Mariotti.

"On Saturdays and Sundays we'd dance to the jukebox. Every place was hopping then."

"There were benches along the walls. Ladies used to sit on the benches waiting for a young man to ask them to dance. It was a nickel a song on the jukebox. It was packed in those days."

"It's surprising how many young men and young ladies met each other here," he added.

Despite the Italian heritage that united many of the club members, Mariotti said the club has always allowed social, or non-voting, memberships to those of all ethnic backgrounds. Mariotti said club members also maintained a rapport with other ethnic clubs in the county."They (sometimes) had dances at the Syrian Hall," he recalled. "We hiked three miles, danced every dance, then hiked home. It's no wonder my legs are bad."Mariotti's remembrances also depicted a neighborhood bustling with life, where markets and other small businesses were part of the landscape.Shoes were repaired instead of replaced and ice for refrigeration was delivered from a plant on Monroe Street."Ice-a-box, that's how you say refrigerator in Italian," he said with a laugh, describing how discarding the melted ice was part of the rhythm of life."The old-timers worked at the Franklin Glass Corp. or were mill workers at Pullman Standard or Armco. Most of them lived right around here locally.""I can remember when the bar was in the basement and there were spittoons on the floors," recalled Paganelli.Just as the neighborhood has changed over time - the club wedged oddly between neighborhood housing - Paganelli described how the club's demographics are also transforming.

In keeping with the tradition of 100 years, the club continues to run the cozy bar that serves as a hub for other events.Regularly scheduled "feeds" and bowling leagues continue to unite some of the members, with bingo games recently added."Everybody knows everybody. Everybody has a story to talk about. There are always sports of some kind going on. (The club is) the place to go at the end of a hard day's work or after a ball game. It's just more fun than going home and sitting in front of your own TV," said Paganelli.Although he is unsure of the statistics, Paganelli estimates membership peaked in the 1970s and '80s - with multiple-generations belonging as sons and grandsons came of age. The current roster includes about 100 full members and about 300 social members, he said. Those numbers show a decline in overall membership as well as a decline in full Italian members, he said."Somebody has a friend and they take them over to the club one day, then they decide to join. It's not quite as much of the father-son (thing) anymore," Paganelli said, attributing the change in part to children who leave the area."The younger generation does not want to be involved to that degree, as the older generation did."There's more to choose from today for the younger generation than what there were years ago. You stayed in your neck of the woods."Now because of the generation changes and people moving away and the older people dying off, there just isn't as much. Clubs are getting to be a dying breed - especially those that are based on a family heritage.""We're trying to survive, but money is getting to be a key issue, and every club today is running into the same problem. They don't get enough constant business, and with the rising cost of insurance and utilities and everything else, it's just getting more and more difficult.""My father, his father before him belonged to the Italian Society. If there's anything today with regards to the club, we're trying to preserve our heritage. It's getting more and more difficult because of rising costs," he said.