As Odd Fellows, we’re heirs to a rich tradition of crafters and artists creating beautiful custom pieces for their lodges, as well as a number of lovely yet mass-produced items that lodges could acquire from the established fraternal supply houses of their time. On April 15, we’ll have a chance to celebrate 175 years of Odd Fellowship in California.
As California Odd Fellows, our forebears in the Order saw roughly 700 lodges that were chartered, operated for a period of time, and then consolidated or disbanded as those lodges, for whatever reason, ceased to be independently viable. And while that’s a somewhat sobering thought, it means that over those decades, quite a few rare and beautiful items have been too precious to simply discard once their owners have lost their charters, and instead made their way to the Grand Lodge’s care. During the renovation of the Race Street Odd Fellows building to turn it into the new Grand Lodge office, they created a wing devoted to displaying some of these treasures.
As District Deputy Grand Master for 107, which happens to be the district where the Grand Lodge office is located, I’ve had a few opportunities to browse the museum wing established at these offices, and I think more Odd Fellows should have a chance to see it. It’s our heritage, and as April is the month we recollect the founding of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, I think we should celebrate it!
On Tuesday, April 15th, you are invited to join us at a “Grand District Party”. It will begin at 6PM at the Grand Lodge building at 122 Race St, where we’ll enjoy some light appetizers provided by Kneaded Culinary Academy while we browse the museum collection. At 7:30, the party will transfer to True Fellowship Lodge #52, which is just 1 mile away (and an easy walk if you want to build up your appetite), where we’ll serve a hearty meal and present a short reenactment of the founding of the first IOOF lodge in North America, Washington Lodge #1 in Baltimore, back in April of 1819.
Dress to impress! Period attire (circa 1850’s) would be admired, otherwise semi-formal attire will be greatly appreciated.
And this isn’t only an invitation to members. If you have friends curious about what Odd Fellows is, they’re very welcome to come as well! You can purchase your ticket at siliconvalleyoddfellows.org.
–By Mason Wolf
