Thirty-three charter members, all of Italian ancestry, from the business and professional communities of Amador County followed the lead of the co-founders and the society was established in March of 1881.

In April of that year, the members gathered for a private picnic in Jackson and a tradition was born.  Amador City was selected as the site of the picnic the following year and remained there until 1895.  In 1896 the picnic gathering was more of a dinner in Sutter Creek; however, in 1897, the predecessor to the modern Italian Benevolent Society Picnic was born at the Fuller Brothers' Grove between Jackson and Sutter Creek.

In the summer of 1881, the founders of the Society wrote to King Carl Umberto and asked him for permission and sanction for the Italian Society to celebrate the Italian Statute on the first Sunday in June.  King Umberto replied with an issuance of credential for a grand picnic affair -- and the Italian Picnic was born.

1911 saw the last picnic hosted at  Fullen's Grove when the Society moved to its present 15- acre site on Highway 49.  Actually, Fullen's Grove is only slightly South of the present day grounds.  The current Italian Picnic Park was purchased from George Allen in 1912 and the picnic has been there continuously, except for the three dark war years, '42, '43, and '44.