The Lodge in Woodland, Washington started doing a truly amazing thing a few years ago. It transformed itself into a ‘Christmas Lodge.’ Each Christmas their building is amazingly decorated. I’ve not counted, but I imagine that there must be at least twenty full sized and wonderfully decorated Christmas Trees. Not to mention the antique toys, electric trains, model villages, and all the other trimmings of the holiday that overflow the Lodge Room.
They bake cookies, make cider, and install Santa in his chair.
Then they invite the children of their town in for pictures with Santa, and a lot of warm holiday flair.
Free photos for the kids with Santa, in an amazing environment.
Can there possibly be a better way to reach the good young family men that our Fraternity needs in order to thrive in a bright future?
My hunch is no. In fact, I can’t imagine a better form of community involvement for a Lodge.
I’m not saying that every Lodge needs to imitate our Lodge in Woodland and transform itself into the North Pole. I am however saying that every Lodge has an opportunity to look carefully at each of the major holidays our culture celebrates and figure out a way in which the Lodge can become a significant focus for its community on whatever holiday it seeks to adopt as its own.
In order to want to remain active and involved with their Lodge, Masons need a project to believe in. Something that the Lodge can do as a group, and that everyone can be proud to get involved with. An event like Woodland’s Christmas Lodge is something significant that will inspire our Brothers.
Just as importantly, Freemasonry needs positive exposure to the young men of today. An event like this, consistently done, and done extremely well, will give our Craft the exposure it needs.
Pick a holiday, any major holiday, and figure out how your Lodge can make that holiday truly exceptional for your community.
What a wonderful idea. Lodges need more community involvement. All it takes is a few brothers to have an idea and drive it forward. A good lodge would actively support such endeavors.
I really like this idea and am wondering if there was any donation jar or something to bring in some income? While many lodges can handle this financially with ease mine would need some help.