The St. Andrew Society will hold its annual “Blessing of the Fleet” Sunday (June 11, 2017) at 1 p.m. in New Haven Harbor. Boats will line up at 12:30 p.m. off Dock AA of the Bruce and Johnson Marina in Branford and then proceed to New Haven for the ceremony. 

The blessing requests heavenly protection for boaters and commemorates the heritage of Italian-Americans from the Amalfi area, which reveres St. Andrew as its patron saint. The St. Andrew Society was founded in 1900 in New Haven by Amalfitani immigrants whose ancestors made their livings largely from the sea.