've attended several, and I'm going to be brutally honest about my experiences.
I would imagine at their very best they would be an exceptional meal, a well done ritual, and a riviting professional speaker who was exceptionally prepared, and highly qualified. This is a very tall mountain to climb, and would be at least $200 per plate, and more likely closer to $300 plus. I deleted my previous post because I forgot the include the cost of wine in my per plate estimate)
Ya get what ya pays for, and in my experience these venues fall far short of that hoped for event. The food is either institutional, low budget or both, meaning lots of string beans so tough they are inedible, and meats that are cooked to the point of unconditional surrender, or soupy cassaroles. Bread from the local grocer, meaning at least a day old, and salad packs that should have been left at the produce supply. The good news is that it's hard to screw up the mashed potatoes, and the disserts are usually good...or maybe it's just hunger from not being able to eat the main course. The bottom line is a meal I would never accept in any restaurant.
The speaker is someone we know and have affection for, so if mixed with good humor certainly something, while not particularly enlightening, is enjoyable because of the person.
But there are toasts. Lots of toasts! About every five minutes ( or less ) it's time to raise the decorative shot glass which is next to a full bottle at every plate. That bottle will be empty by the time dinner is over.
In the end, this is a drinking club, and I've met Masons who love to drink. So, for those who enjoy that experience....go enjoy. For myself, I'm too much a family man to participate.
The year I was Master of my Lodge in Louisiana we held a table lodge for one of the stated meetings, it was probably the most successful event of the year, it’s certainly the one I still get the most questions and compliments about when I see people who were there, or who have heard about it second hand.
We set the tables up in an open U with the Master at the head and the Wardens at the appropriate ends, with the other officers interspersed along the attendees on the outside of the U, with the altar in the center. Had ~50 attendees present, reservations were required to get the food headcount right. Louisiana has a law against any alcohol being server in Masonic buildings or at Masonic events, so toasts were with grape juice. For food we catered it from one of the well regarded local Cajun restaurants for <$50/person for a three course meal.
For a program we had member who is very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of “tavern lodges” talk about how degrees were done in those lodges, often around the tables that the brethren would then eat at. We also had a member who was a PhD musicology grad student perform a number of traditional late-1700s Masonic songs, which was pretty amazing. (There used to be a lot of singing in lodges actually…).
It is something that if I were ever to make another trip to the East I would definitely put on my calendar and do again in a similar fashion.
The act of breaking bread together and sharing in fellowship and discourse are the key pieces to the entire thing being a success and well remembered event.
Our lodge had brought back table lodge in 2019 and it was very successful. We had 40 Masons attend which included 12 past masters of our lodge. It was a big help for us that a brother was willing to step up a cook. That did save expense but we still had a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings, including appetizer and dessert. $40pp for the ticket and that included a really nice cannon with custom etching of our lodge name and logo. Alcohol was a separate expense for brothers so figure another $20pp. That was separate because not all of our brothers drink but still wanted to participate in toasts. Toasts were all organized. The only thing we didn’t get a chance to confirm was a speaker.
We’ve got another TL planned for December of this year to now coincide with Feast of St John (as it should) and we will have a speaker this time. For those that haven't done a table lodge before, yes, you get more out of it when you plan the nice details and do it right. You can incorporate PM night and I think we also announced the Hiram award recipient. Table lodge has a prescribed series of toasts and has its own ritual, though that varies from state to state. A true Table Lodge is Masons only and not open to non-Masons.
To help signal to our lodge brothers the type of meal we are conducting, we basically use this:
Dinner- occurs before stated meeting and open to all guests, youth group, etc. dress is dark suit or tux.
Festive Board- open to Masons and our invited guests (those men interested in joining our lodge). Has some feel of a table lodge but no ritual or specific toasts, not formal tuxedo dress. No stated meeting as part of the evening. Can be done offsite given the circumstances. Think table lodge-lite
Agape- occurs after a degree conferral. Formal dress, dinner served in roundtable arrangement facing each other. Masons only with Masonic discussion. Think lodge going from labor to refreshment.
I’m not sure this is the appropriate labeling, but we wanted to come up with a system of how we referred to our different types of meals and they were conducted.
My home Lodge in Tenino is doing a Table Lodge on December 29th of this year. The tickets are $20.
Our Lodge uses wine for the toasts, but in shot glasses. That way there isn’t too much alcohol being consumed at once, and for those who don’t partake of alcoholic beverages, fruit juice is optional (and many Brothers exercise this option.) This year, our featured speaker will be our Grand Orator. In previous years, we’ve had good speakers from many areas of the state, including VWB John Lawson, who came in from Kennewick.
We use nice table furnishings that we don’t use for our usual dinners, and we have things set up very formal. And yes, I wear my tux to the event, although it’s not required for all who attend. Attendance is pretty good. And there’s a level of Tenino joviality that keeps it from being too stuff-shirt, but not to where it loses its formality.
Centralia Lodge held a couple of Table Lodges in the mid 2010’s. They were quite successful. Same general idea, with a good dinner and nice Table Lodge ritual. All had a good time, and were definitely looking forward to the next one.
From my experience, I don’t think you need to run it up to $200 a plate for it to be successful, as you can get pretty good speakers in your local area that can bring a nice attendance. And sometimes, you can get a well-known speaker from another area of the country without much trouble, as Centralia Lodge did a couple of months ago, although that was via zoom. (Now, me typing this brought up another idea, but I don’t think a Zoom Table Lodge would work well. Good topic to debate, though!) And I think $20 a plate worked fine with the food; our Table Lodges never had “SOS” for a main course. In fact, the Brothers went out of their way to pull out all the stops for that main course. I’m confident that it will just as excellent this time as well.
I’ve heard the phrase, “Table Lodge,” but I’m not clear about what it entails or hiow it’s different from dinner before a stated meeting.
've attended several, and I'm going to be brutally honest about my experiences.
I would imagine at their very best they would be an exceptional meal, a well done ritual, and a riviting professional speaker who was exceptionally prepared, and highly qualified. This is a very tall mountain to climb, and would be at least $200 per plate, and more likely closer to $300 plus. I deleted my previous post because I forgot the include the cost of wine in my per plate estimate)
Ya get what ya pays for, and in my experience these venues fall far short of that hoped for event. The food is either institutional, low budget or both, meaning lots of string beans so tough they are inedible, and meats that are cooked to the point of unconditional surrender, or soupy cassaroles. Bread from the local grocer, meaning at least a day old, and salad packs that should have been left at the produce supply. The good news is that it's hard to screw up the mashed potatoes, and the disserts are usually good...or maybe it's just hunger from not being able to eat the main course. The bottom line is a meal I would never accept in any restaurant.
The speaker is someone we know and have affection for, so if mixed with good humor certainly something, while not particularly enlightening, is enjoyable because of the person.
But there are toasts. Lots of toasts! About every five minutes ( or less ) it's time to raise the decorative shot glass which is next to a full bottle at every plate. That bottle will be empty by the time dinner is over.
In the end, this is a drinking club, and I've met Masons who love to drink. So, for those who enjoy that experience....go enjoy. For myself, I'm too much a family man to participate.
The year I was Master of my Lodge in Louisiana we held a table lodge for one of the stated meetings, it was probably the most successful event of the year, it’s certainly the one I still get the most questions and compliments about when I see people who were there, or who have heard about it second hand.
We set the tables up in an open U with the Master at the head and the Wardens at the appropriate ends, with the other officers interspersed along the attendees on the outside of the U, with the altar in the center. Had ~50 attendees present, reservations were required to get the food headcount right. Louisiana has a law against any alcohol being server in Masonic buildings or at Masonic events, so toasts were with grape juice. For food we catered it from one of the well regarded local Cajun restaurants for <$50/person for a three course meal.
For a program we had member who is very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of “tavern lodges” talk about how degrees were done in those lodges, often around the tables that the brethren would then eat at. We also had a member who was a PhD musicology grad student perform a number of traditional late-1700s Masonic songs, which was pretty amazing. (There used to be a lot of singing in lodges actually…).
It is something that if I were ever to make another trip to the East I would definitely put on my calendar and do again in a similar fashion.
The act of breaking bread together and sharing in fellowship and discourse are the key pieces to the entire thing being a success and well remembered event.
Our lodge had brought back table lodge in 2019 and it was very successful. We had 40 Masons attend which included 12 past masters of our lodge. It was a big help for us that a brother was willing to step up a cook. That did save expense but we still had a prime rib dinner with all the trimmings, including appetizer and dessert. $40pp for the ticket and that included a really nice cannon with custom etching of our lodge name and logo. Alcohol was a separate expense for brothers so figure another $20pp. That was separate because not all of our brothers drink but still wanted to participate in toasts. Toasts were all organized. The only thing we didn’t get a chance to confirm was a speaker.
We’ve got another TL planned for December of this year to now coincide with Feast of St John (as it should) and we will have a speaker this time. For those that haven't done a table lodge before, yes, you get more out of it when you plan the nice details and do it right. You can incorporate PM night and I think we also announced the Hiram award recipient. Table lodge has a prescribed series of toasts and has its own ritual, though that varies from state to state. A true Table Lodge is Masons only and not open to non-Masons.
To help signal to our lodge brothers the type of meal we are conducting, we basically use this:
Dinner- occurs before stated meeting and open to all guests, youth group, etc. dress is dark suit or tux.
Festive Board- open to Masons and our invited guests (those men interested in joining our lodge). Has some feel of a table lodge but no ritual or specific toasts, not formal tuxedo dress. No stated meeting as part of the evening. Can be done offsite given the circumstances. Think table lodge-lite
Agape- occurs after a degree conferral. Formal dress, dinner served in roundtable arrangement facing each other. Masons only with Masonic discussion. Think lodge going from labor to refreshment.
Table Lodge- formal dress. Masons only. Ritual, toasts, keynote speaker.
I’m not sure this is the appropriate labeling, but we wanted to come up with a system of how we referred to our different types of meals and they were conducted.
My home Lodge in Tenino is doing a Table Lodge on December 29th of this year. The tickets are $20.
Our Lodge uses wine for the toasts, but in shot glasses. That way there isn’t too much alcohol being consumed at once, and for those who don’t partake of alcoholic beverages, fruit juice is optional (and many Brothers exercise this option.) This year, our featured speaker will be our Grand Orator. In previous years, we’ve had good speakers from many areas of the state, including VWB John Lawson, who came in from Kennewick.
We use nice table furnishings that we don’t use for our usual dinners, and we have things set up very formal. And yes, I wear my tux to the event, although it’s not required for all who attend. Attendance is pretty good. And there’s a level of Tenino joviality that keeps it from being too stuff-shirt, but not to where it loses its formality.
Centralia Lodge held a couple of Table Lodges in the mid 2010’s. They were quite successful. Same general idea, with a good dinner and nice Table Lodge ritual. All had a good time, and were definitely looking forward to the next one.
From my experience, I don’t think you need to run it up to $200 a plate for it to be successful, as you can get pretty good speakers in your local area that can bring a nice attendance. And sometimes, you can get a well-known speaker from another area of the country without much trouble, as Centralia Lodge did a couple of months ago, although that was via zoom. (Now, me typing this brought up another idea, but I don’t think a Zoom Table Lodge would work well. Good topic to debate, though!) And I think $20 a plate worked fine with the food; our Table Lodges never had “SOS” for a main course. In fact, the Brothers went out of their way to pull out all the stops for that main course. I’m confident that it will just as excellent this time as well.