The Tsintzina Society

Meeting every summer since 1893

Convention photo from the early 1900s.

The Tsintzina Society is the oldest ethnic, village-based immigrant society in the United States.  The Tsintzinians have been having their annual convention on the shores of Lake Chautauqua in Jamestown, New York, since 1895. It is the only gathering of descendants from one village to have been meeting annually over four or five generations.  It began as a businessman’s association, meant to foster commercial ties and social contacts, and to offer a chance to reminisce and a place to celebrate a shared heritage.  The Tsintzinians also arranged marriages: weddings as well as christenings (like our dad’s) were often held at the summer convention. 

From an early yearbook.

Today, it’s more of a reunion (though there was a wedding in 2013, the first since the 1940s, and the 2020 convention, which had to be canceled, would have celebrated the upcoming marriage of two people who met at the convention), and many treat it as one for their extended families.  The events of the weekend have not changed much over the years: dinners followed by dancing to live Greek music far into both Friday and Saturday nights, midnight snacks, off-site golf tournaments and in-house poker games, talent shows and bingo for the kids, and raffles – similar to the one our parents had a ticket to, and that got them their set of china.

So! Is it time for a Manos family reunion at the 2021 convention? The gathering is always held over the last Saturday in July: easy to remember!