During the pandemic shutdown at least two Lodges here in Washington built great new social rooms within their Masonic Temples.
In Seattle a Lodge built a beautiful combination bar & library. Wood, leather, and elegance. Cigars and Scotch.
A Lodge in Enumclaw took a different approach with bright colors, pool table, electronic darts, kegerator with fine micro brews.
Both are superb places for men to enjoy fellowship with each other, and reflective of the men who built them.
I believe that these are wonderful additions to their Masonic Temples, well worth the money and time spent creating them. I think that they will serve to improve the Masonic experience for the members of those Lodges, and will result in increased retention of active Masons.
But, what do you think? Do you believe that creating social spaces like this are valuable uses of our financial and human resources?
Would having a space like that in your Masonic Temple improve your own Lodge experience? Make it more likely that you spend more time with your Lodge?
Let’s chat about it…
It’s Thursday, so that means that we will have a Live Open Thread today for all of those with a paid subscription to Emeth. We can chat about whatever Masonic subject might be on your mind. Please stop by with any burning questions or thoughts. The thread will open at 8:00 AM Pacific Time, and I’ll remain on it until 6:00 PM.
Yogi Berra once said, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded", and that's how I feel about many of the public places these days. Can I get a parking spot, is it going to be too loud, etc.? To have a social room at a Lodge would be wonderful. Is it good use of our human and financial resources? Well, we're many things to many people but we're first a Fraternity for each other.
There is just something about having our own space that is quite wonderful. I hope that more Lodges follow the example of the two such that were created during the pandemic. It is good for our Lodge, and I think good for the Fraternity as a whole.
What's a man to do when his social tastes skew to big city luxury but he hates the smells sounds and traffic that go with it?
If you're like me and would like that Seattle style social space but live in the rural areas of SW Washington please help me start a new lodge with that kind of luxury built in from the start. With catered festive boards every month. With social outings every month. It will cost more than any existing SW Washington lodges are willing to pay in dues.
We can't reform those old lodges. So help me start a new one. Icymudpuppy@yahoo.com. 360 508 8115. Reach out and I will send you my draft plan.
I am convinced that men are willing to pay for a quality experience, in quality surroundings.
Before I moved I was a member of a wildly successful special interest club. It was large, continually growing, and did all manner of interesting things. It also cost a small fortune. A single monthly meeting used to cost me about double the yearly dues of my home Lodge, and about four times the dues of my current Lodge.
That cost didn't turn people away, and we had members from all economic levels. The cost was justified by the quality of the experience. I do not doubt but that Lodges that want to do it can find success if it is done well.
There is a lot of things I'd like to see happen with my lodge, but the one thing I'd like to see, past the issues of plumbing and acoustics downstairs, is to spend money to make our lodge room beautiful. Right now, it's...functional. But the walls are mostly bare, the lighting is boring and there are few decorations. Just google "beautiful masonic lodge rooms" and take a look at some of the images you'll find. And then take a look at your own lodge room, does it inspire you? Even some lodge rooms I've been in that have a lot of nice decorations are ruined with the use of old broken down natty theater seating pulled out of some dumpster somewhere. Is that the best we can do?
For inspiration, a drive not too far from your home, I'd suggest a visit to Myrtle Lodge. The decorating that has taken place within the Lodge room, and within the entry spaces is quite superb.
The WM told me some months ago that it was his vision to have the Lodge room eventually serve as a kind of working museum. I think that Myrtle is well on track to that as improvements continue.
Many of our Lodges have veritable treasures locked away in closets and attics that can be pulled out, cleaned up, and shadowboxed to both decorate, and preserve our history.
A dedicated space for fellowship is a must for any Lodge. Ever since renovations have been going on in our banquet hall, we've been meeting in the small second floor landing. Although the space is not as well furnished as the ones described, the fact that it "forces" us to sit closer together has led to some amazing conversations between our members and petitioners and a much more noticeable feeling of good fellowship. One petitioner that has been coming around since before the renovations even remarked to me that he has felt a lot more comfortable and engaged since we started hanging out in the small landing.
While unfortunately we cannot dispense alcohol in the jurisdiction of Florida (which I hope changes in time), I would like to remodel one of our general purpose rooms into a dedicated space to hang out and have good fellowship.
I often wonder if our space doesn't hurt fellowship, and applaud experiments that seek to somehow shrink the space. My Lodge for example will easily seat well over 100, and we have filled it for special things like Installations, but that is extremely rare. When it is a Stated Meeting night and we have 15 or 20 people in it, well it sometimes feels as if there is a vast expanse between Brothers.
As for alcohol, I'm a very firm believer that it has a powerful role in Masonic fellowship, but it is a double edged sword. While it is superb sharing with Brothers before or after a meeting, we must always be vigilant that it is used responsibly. Our ritual points out that ensuring responsibility is the Junior Warden's duty, and our Fraternity is well served by a vigilant man in that post.
My blue lodge in NM had a fellowship area with a pool table, darts, and a couple couches and a mini kitchen, as dedicated sitting area that was set up nicely and a small room to act as a library that was well lit with comfortable sitting as well. I'd love to recreate that to a degree up here some day.
That sounds quite superb, and I think in keeping with why we built our buildings in the first place. I'm quite sure that those who came before us didn't build our Masonic Temples so that they would sit empty all but a couple of nights a month.
Let's make them comfortable, let's make them inviting, and let's use them.
Yogi Berra once said, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded", and that's how I feel about many of the public places these days. Can I get a parking spot, is it going to be too loud, etc.? To have a social room at a Lodge would be wonderful. Is it good use of our human and financial resources? Well, we're many things to many people but we're first a Fraternity for each other.
There is just something about having our own space that is quite wonderful. I hope that more Lodges follow the example of the two such that were created during the pandemic. It is good for our Lodge, and I think good for the Fraternity as a whole.
What's a man to do when his social tastes skew to big city luxury but he hates the smells sounds and traffic that go with it?
If you're like me and would like that Seattle style social space but live in the rural areas of SW Washington please help me start a new lodge with that kind of luxury built in from the start. With catered festive boards every month. With social outings every month. It will cost more than any existing SW Washington lodges are willing to pay in dues.
We can't reform those old lodges. So help me start a new one. Icymudpuppy@yahoo.com. 360 508 8115. Reach out and I will send you my draft plan.
I am convinced that men are willing to pay for a quality experience, in quality surroundings.
Before I moved I was a member of a wildly successful special interest club. It was large, continually growing, and did all manner of interesting things. It also cost a small fortune. A single monthly meeting used to cost me about double the yearly dues of my home Lodge, and about four times the dues of my current Lodge.
That cost didn't turn people away, and we had members from all economic levels. The cost was justified by the quality of the experience. I do not doubt but that Lodges that want to do it can find success if it is done well.
I agree but I'm having trouble convincing enough people.
There is a lot of things I'd like to see happen with my lodge, but the one thing I'd like to see, past the issues of plumbing and acoustics downstairs, is to spend money to make our lodge room beautiful. Right now, it's...functional. But the walls are mostly bare, the lighting is boring and there are few decorations. Just google "beautiful masonic lodge rooms" and take a look at some of the images you'll find. And then take a look at your own lodge room, does it inspire you? Even some lodge rooms I've been in that have a lot of nice decorations are ruined with the use of old broken down natty theater seating pulled out of some dumpster somewhere. Is that the best we can do?
For inspiration, a drive not too far from your home, I'd suggest a visit to Myrtle Lodge. The decorating that has taken place within the Lodge room, and within the entry spaces is quite superb.
The WM told me some months ago that it was his vision to have the Lodge room eventually serve as a kind of working museum. I think that Myrtle is well on track to that as improvements continue.
Many of our Lodges have veritable treasures locked away in closets and attics that can be pulled out, cleaned up, and shadowboxed to both decorate, and preserve our history.
A dedicated space for fellowship is a must for any Lodge. Ever since renovations have been going on in our banquet hall, we've been meeting in the small second floor landing. Although the space is not as well furnished as the ones described, the fact that it "forces" us to sit closer together has led to some amazing conversations between our members and petitioners and a much more noticeable feeling of good fellowship. One petitioner that has been coming around since before the renovations even remarked to me that he has felt a lot more comfortable and engaged since we started hanging out in the small landing.
While unfortunately we cannot dispense alcohol in the jurisdiction of Florida (which I hope changes in time), I would like to remodel one of our general purpose rooms into a dedicated space to hang out and have good fellowship.
I often wonder if our space doesn't hurt fellowship, and applaud experiments that seek to somehow shrink the space. My Lodge for example will easily seat well over 100, and we have filled it for special things like Installations, but that is extremely rare. When it is a Stated Meeting night and we have 15 or 20 people in it, well it sometimes feels as if there is a vast expanse between Brothers.
As for alcohol, I'm a very firm believer that it has a powerful role in Masonic fellowship, but it is a double edged sword. While it is superb sharing with Brothers before or after a meeting, we must always be vigilant that it is used responsibly. Our ritual points out that ensuring responsibility is the Junior Warden's duty, and our Fraternity is well served by a vigilant man in that post.
My blue lodge in NM had a fellowship area with a pool table, darts, and a couple couches and a mini kitchen, as dedicated sitting area that was set up nicely and a small room to act as a library that was well lit with comfortable sitting as well. I'd love to recreate that to a degree up here some day.
That sounds quite superb, and I think in keeping with why we built our buildings in the first place. I'm quite sure that those who came before us didn't build our Masonic Temples so that they would sit empty all but a couple of nights a month.
Let's make them comfortable, let's make them inviting, and let's use them.