At the sessions held in May of this year, the Grand Lodge passed a resolution to continue funding a legal fight with Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery of Colma, CA. To briefly explain the reason for the lawsuit, the owners of the cemetery removed the headstones from the Odd Fellows section, leaving only one central marker. This means that we can no longer locate many of our past members, including the founder of our California Grand Lodge, Samuel Parker, who was buried there. After years of litigation, the Grand Lodge had to decide whether or not to continue the lawsuit, which has been expensive. The body, rather than only the board of directors, considered the question directly, and ultimately decided that it should, at a cost of $50,000. This was outside the normal budget, and meant the membership would be assessed at a rate of $11 per member.
Our lodge’s portion of this assessment, based on 67 full members, was $737. It has already been paid, but at our lodge meeting of August 5th, the lodge voted to give members the option to make a special $11 contribution. If you want to contribute through the website, the amount is $11.91, including Paypal fees. You can also make a payment by cash or check at a meeting in person, by giving it to our financial secretary, Debbie Shuler. Or to make a payment by Zelle, send $11 to treasurer@true52.org.
This payment is optional. If you choose to make it, it is your way of declaring that you want your share of the assessment to come from you personally. There is no penalty if you don’t, and no reward if you do, though it is appreciated, and does help our lodge.