DMC is making a difference. One Lodge at a time. It is my pleasure to publish the letter, below, sent from Lewisburg Lodge 96 from the Jurisdiction of Pennsylvania. I urge you to read the letter from Lewisburg. This Lodge has decided to open its windows, toss complacency out one of those window, and move into the 21st Century. The journey to change is never easy, but the journey is invigorating and the results are remarkable. This Lodge is adding members and is growing! Congratulations to Lewisburg, and all the other Lodges that have become three-dimensional Lodges. (A three dimensional Lodge is one that honors the history and ritual of our Order, but also reaches out to do worthy projects in the community, and makes sure to organize fun social events for the members. All three elements are necessary for success in this new century.)
If you or your Lodge wish to help Lewisburg Lodge raise funds to pay for the costs of their barn restoration and construction project (they are hoping to raise $100,000 through donations), you can do so by mailing your check (payable to IOOF Lewisburg Lodge #96) to the following address:
IOOF Lewisburg Lodge #96
10491 River Road
New Columbia, PA 17856
This is an amazing story of grit and progress. Let’s help this Lodge write another chapter.
F – L – T
Dave Rosenberg
Past Grand Master
Jurisdiction of California
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************
Dave –
It’s been a while since we’ve spoken. Our Lodge has been very busy, growing and building! Since we started the journey of revitalization, we now have an historic property, and 1870’s farm. Complete with a beautiful Victorian brick house and a huge barn. We’ve grown from 5 active members to 20 active members…several in the pipe to join…and an Oddziliary! So, in the span of about 2 years, we are doing amazing things with only a handful of members and supporters! We have an outreach PR presentation, are filming a documentary of our journey, and have presented to local groups, the Masons, Rotary, businesses, etc.
We are still in the process of doing modifications to the house to make it ADA compliant, and have started restoring the barn and designing our Lodge for the inside of the barn. We’ve spent close to $100k of our own money just to stop the deterioration of the barn and repair 150 years of weather damage and age. We even preserved and re-built the interior silo – a very rare and historic feature. We have designed the Lodge, and the venue section of the barn, and are now ready to begin construction on that phase. We’ve also got a lot of furniture, a pipe organ, and a complete Bingo set up, and the historic door knockers and wickets from the Allentown Lodge that recently closed. So we are doing amazing things, not only for our Lodge, but the entire organization. We are active in the community, helping people, and folks once again know who the Odd Fellows are! We also have our first female member and teenager since 1844! Now we are getting more women to join and it’s great! We lost several members in the process, but we knew that would happen. Our Lodge is now viable once again and we see a bright and prosperous future!
We are even reproducing beautiful collars to replace the old and worn collars. They make us look great and are real eye-catchers! We just celebrated our 175th Anniversary a few weekends ago with a great ceremony and dedication.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting, and your DMC newsletters really hit home. With purchasing the property, modifying the house, and barn repairs, we are almost our of money. There is no way we will be able to finish the new Lodge and the barn with the remaining funds. So, we approached our Amish builder (God bless him!). He holds a special place in his heart for us, not only because of the work we are doing for others and the community, but, at the age of 10 he was orphaned, and he knows the history of the Odd Fellows. He also sees the income potential of the barn as a venue. We are one of only 2 in the entire region that would be a LEGAL venue barn. Other barns in the area are renting from $4,000-$6,000 for a one-day event….and they are not legal, just wait until someone gets hurt! Not good. So he knows we will be making money in the future. We asked him if he could help us out financially and “pay it forward.” He didn’t even hesitate and said yes! Love the Amish! But, we don’t want him to foot all the costs, nor should he, so we are doing fundraising events and campaigns. One of the campaigns is “Buy A Board.” Folks and corporations can buy a board in the barn and we will laser-etch an inscription on it. See our website for the campaign. We have also reached out to other Pennsylvania Lodges.
Here’s where it really gets interesting… The PA Grand Master wants to see this project complete so we can hold our Spring rally in the barn, and he wants to help! So we began reaching out to other Lodges for financial assistance (donations). Crickets. Really? About that “helping others”, “we are in this together”, “open your hands and hearts”, etc. I am learning that we really are “Independent”. A neighboring Lodge is sitting on over $600k and they are renting space from the Masons. Their average member age is in the 70’s, and they do nothing…meet and go home. Another Lodge just closed and had nearly $700k in the bank! Yet another Lodge is sitting on over $2m. What the heck? They won’t help us? What we could do with even a fraction of their funds! We are working our butts off to make this happen, and other Lodges won’t help! Wow.
A Lodge told us that they would try to get us a sizeable donation. Well, it went to the meeting and got shot down. Why? We were told, “They will never finish the barn”, and …this one really gets me… “They are running it like a business, not a Lodge.” Well, duh, yes we are! I just don’t get it. One would think these other Lodges would want to be a part of a success story, and make our organization great! But, I guess not. It’s a shame.
Your newsletters hit home, and I share them with the movers and shakers of our Lodge, and use the Davis Odd Fellow Lodge as an example of success. But, with the no-help, no-reaching out, and I hate to say it, but selfish attitudes of some of our Lodges I really wonder about the viability of the other Lodges. It is very discouraging that our own Lodges don’t see the future potential and won’t lend us a hand. In spite of them, we will be a tremendous success and we will be THE Lodge in Pennsylvania….and we will continue to collect things from the Lodges that fold (LOL!). We will just have to work a bit harder to get there and we will have to do it on our own.
I wanted to touch base and thank you for all of your advice that you have shared to get us on this road, and thank you for the DMC newsletters! I will continue to use the Davis Lodge as our example of what a Lodge can and should be! We will complete our new Lodge and the barn. We will grow the organization. We will be a success story….heck, we already are!
You can check out our website and see some of the stuff we are doing.
Thank you for everything you are doing for our organization, and the one thing we need in the IOOF…change!
Regards,
Scott Robinson
Vice Grand
IOOF Lewisburg Lodge No 96
(570)541-3494
www.iooflewisburg.org