Dear Odd Fellows and Pledges,
1. A Special Movie Showing Tonight. Tonight, Sunday, December 20, our Lodge’s Classic Movie Committee will offer you a special showing of the holiday comedy classic: “A Christmas Story” [you’ll shoot your eye out] in the Lower Hall of the Lodge. This special showing is only open to members, Pledges, family and their guests. The movie is fun for all ages. This is a family-friendly event and we encourage you to bring the kids! Only a few chairs will be set up so you are asked to bring sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, bean bag chairs or lawn chairs. It’s going to be a big, fun sleep in. Our full bar will be open for the adults. We will have popcorn and hot apple cider for all. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the movie will start at 6:00 p.m.
2. Year-end Thank You to Our Community Support and Bingo Committees. In 2015, these Committees provided great benefits to our Davis and Yolo County Community. The Bingo Committee ran monthly games for every month of the year except May, and provided a total of over $7,700 to 11 community and charitable organizations in town, while offering fun Bingo games at the Lodge. Beneficiaries included Team Davis, YoloArts, Madrigals, Camp Kesem, the Yolo Community Care Continuum, the Elderly Nutrition Program, the Yolo SPCA, and others. At the same time our Community Support Committee provided free co-hosted use of the Lodge to several community groups, and provided grants totaling about $6,500 to 19 charitable and community groups including the Yolo Crisis Nursery, Davis Community Meals, Yolo Food Bank, CASA, NAMI, Yolo Concilio, and others. Odd Fellows can be rightfully proud of the support we give to our broader community.
3. We Have 10 New Three-Degree Members. Ten Odd Fellows received their First, Second and Third Degrees at the Lodge last week. Congratulations to Kevin Sitz, Roberta Savage, John Knotts, Dianne Knotts, Jeff Oblinger, Elizabeth Lasensky, Heather Barnes, Timothy Wilkinson, and Ed Lewis – our new Third Degree Members. Past Grand Dave Rosenberg instructed on the three degrees, and incoming Noble Grand Jean-Paul Montreuil and incoming Vice Grand Stewart Savage also attended.
4. New Year’s Eve Party with Mumbo Gumbo. December 31 and into the wee hours of January 1 – welcome the New Year at the Odd Fellows Lodge. Our Lodge’s 2nd Annual New Year’s Party with Mumbo Gumbo is open to the public and is our way of helping the community welcome 2016 in style. The party starts on December 31 and ends on January 1. Doors open at 8:00 p.m. and the music starts at 9:30 p.m. Lots of fun music suitable for dancing; light fare of gumbo and corn bread will be available, no host bars will be open. Tickets are $50 each – tickets are now on sale at Avid Reader Active, or you may purchase them on line at www.showclix.com/event/MumboGumbo1231. Juelie Roggli is the overall coordinator of the event and you can contact her at juelrog@gmail.com. Only 225 tickets are available for this popular event, and they are on sale right now.
5. A-Hiking We Will Go. The Lodge’s “Take a Hike” Committee has another trek planned for Sunday, January 3, 2016. The hike is on the Smittle Creek Trail on the west side of Lake Berryessa. It is a 5.2 mile trek, described as “moderate”. For more information and logistics, contact Dave Reed at dreedng@gmail.com.
6. Reserve Your Seat Now for Our Installation & Awards Dinner. Our annual dinner is coming up on January 9, 2016, but the RSVP deadline is January 5. The invitation is attached to this Noble Grand Report. The dinner is open to members, pledges and guests. At the dinner, we will install our 2016 Lodge officers, announce the names of appointed officers for the year, and present awards to some Lodge members who made major contributions in 2015. This is really a fun evening. And come by to support new Noble Grand Jean-Paul Montreuil, Vice Grand Stewart Savage, Secretary Jim Smith, Treasurer Janis Rosenberg, and Financial Secretary Duff Devine.
7. Movie Matinee Committee Launches in January. Diane Steele is organizing a “4th Tuesday Matinee Committee” for members and pledges and friends interested in catching a matinee at a Davis movie theater. After the show, participants may gather at a local coffee house, or the new club room at the Lodge, to chat about the film. This new committee launches on Tuesday, January 26, 2016. Contact Diane for details and logistics at steeledome@gmail.com.
8. Odd Fellows Classic Film Committee Continues. The Odd Fellows Classic Film Committee has scheduled the next series of classic films, at screenings open to the public. Movie reviewer and critic Derrick Bang will give you the back-story for each film. The next series will feature classic Hollywood comedies. Reserve the dates, all Sunday evenings: January 24, January 31 and February 7.
9. Gearing Up for 2016. As we say “good bye” to 2015, we also say “hello” to 2016. And we have some big events coming up in 2016. I have identified some of them coming up in the next few months below in this Noble Grand Report. These events include: Breakfast with the Bunny, the Picnic Day Float, the Picnic Day Pancake Breakfast, A Taste of Davis, and the Davis Chocolate Festival. Each of these events has a committee planning and hosting the event, and we invite YOU to volunteer to help. More information on these events follows.
10. We Have Breakfast with the Bunny Co-chairs. I’m delighted to announce that we have three new Co-chairs for our Breakfast with the Bunny Committee (BWB). I want to thank Zita Demaree, Kathryn Hemness and Ed Lewis for stepping up to volunteer to chair this annual and popular event. I have been chairing it for many years, and it is time to pass the torch. Breakfast with the Bunny in 2016 will take place on Saturday morning, March 26. The event provides a continental breakfast, an egg hunt, and a carnival and “eggstravaganza” to 120 happy children and parents. If you wish to volunteer to help as a member of the BWB committee, please let me know and I will pass your names on to Zita, Kathryn and Ed.
11. Volunteers for the Picnic Day Float? Even though Picnic Day is not until April 16, 2016, our Lodge’s Picnic Day Float Committee, chaired by Janis Rosenberg and James Bledsoe, is already planning for our Lodge Float. In 2015, our Lodge float one won one of the top prizes in the parade, and the committee is determined to do it again. Plus, the committee members have a lot of fun, with potlucks and other activities, while building the float. The theme this year for the floats is a challenging one: “Cultivating Our Authenticity.” If you are interested in joining the Picnic Day Float Committee, please contact Janis Rosenberg at janisrosenberg@outlook.com.
12. Picnic Day Pancake Breakfast. Since the mid-1950’s our Lodge has provided a Picnic Day Pancake Breakfast to the community on the morning of Picnic Day. This coming year, Picnic Day is April 16, 2016. Last year we had a very successful breakfast Co-chaired by Jeff Oblinger and Tony Marigo. We are looking at them to co-chair it again in 2016. If you are interested in being part of this committee, please contact Jeff Oblinger at jeffnstella@yahoo.com.
13. A Taste of Davis – Our Biggest Event. The single biggest event we host at the Lodge is “A Taste of Davis.” We use both floors and host about 24 restaurants, wineries and breweries, and hundreds of guests. It is a huge social event for the community. I will chair this event again in 2016, and the date we have picked is Thursday, April 28. If you would like to serve on the committee organizing this event, let me know! We will set our first meeting next month, in January.
14. Chocolate Festival Being Planned. We are at the beginning stages of organizing the Davis Chocolate Festival for the Fall of next year. Any member or pledge interested in helping organize this event – which we hope will become a signature event of the Lodge – is welcome to join the Chocolate Festival Committee. If you are interested, please contact Mary Superak at mericanary@mac.com or Kurt Roggli at Kurtroggli@gmail.com. The Chocolate Festival Committee has a meeting planned at the Lodge on February 2, 2016, at 6:30 p.m. Please come if you want to help plan and host this event.
15. Events/Meeting Canceled in December. Due to the holidays, we will not have Club Night at the Lodge on December 24 and 31. The next Club Night at the Lodge will be Thursday, January 7. Also, our regular Fourth Wednesday evening meeting of the Lodge on December 23 is canceled due to the holiday. Our next Lodge meeting will be the Second Saturday breakfast meeting on Saturday, January 9, 2016.
Lea Rosenberg
Noble Grand