At Port Orchard Lodge, we tried several times to organize game nights with varying degrees of success. We had anywhere from 30 folks show up (family game night) to five for the brothers only. I've even bought a number of fairly expensive board and card games (not monopoly or sorry) that you have to buy from a game shop, not at walmart. I bought them specifically to play in lodge with my brothers, which for the most part just gather dust. I guess part of the reason is that for most people, a game that costs $70+ dollars, with an unusual premise, intricate rules and well crafted presentation are not as enjoyable as yatzee.
We also did movie nights with mixed success. It's difficult to pick the right movie that everyone would agree to. We provided the movie, popcorn, sodas, etc. We'd get maybe 6-10 folks to show up.
Now, that lodge had at that time over 140 members. We also had OES and all three youth groups. You'd think we'd do better.
The holiday parties were usually about the only really successful events.
I guess what I'm driving at is that lodges should throw ideas at walls and see what sticks.
>>>I guess what I'm driving at is that lodges should throw ideas at walls and see what sticks.
Yes. I think this is exactly right. We too tried Movie Nights, and we too didn't find much success with them. But I know of another Lodge on the other side of our state that has had tremendous success with them.
Our Holiday parties were always successful, as were our Game Nights generally. We too found the simpler games to be the most popular. I think maybe because they don't require too much concentration, which allows for lots of socializing.
But the craziest night of all was at a 'Masons only' Game Night when we played Cards Against Humanity. It wasn't our largest group ever, but when the sun came up the next morning, the Brothers were still sitting around the table, playing. Not the most Masonic of games of course, but seemingly wildly popular.
At Port Orchard Lodge, we tried several times to organize game nights with varying degrees of success. We had anywhere from 30 folks show up (family game night) to five for the brothers only. I've even bought a number of fairly expensive board and card games (not monopoly or sorry) that you have to buy from a game shop, not at walmart. I bought them specifically to play in lodge with my brothers, which for the most part just gather dust. I guess part of the reason is that for most people, a game that costs $70+ dollars, with an unusual premise, intricate rules and well crafted presentation are not as enjoyable as yatzee.
We also did movie nights with mixed success. It's difficult to pick the right movie that everyone would agree to. We provided the movie, popcorn, sodas, etc. We'd get maybe 6-10 folks to show up.
Now, that lodge had at that time over 140 members. We also had OES and all three youth groups. You'd think we'd do better.
The holiday parties were usually about the only really successful events.
I guess what I'm driving at is that lodges should throw ideas at walls and see what sticks.
>>>I guess what I'm driving at is that lodges should throw ideas at walls and see what sticks.
Yes. I think this is exactly right. We too tried Movie Nights, and we too didn't find much success with them. But I know of another Lodge on the other side of our state that has had tremendous success with them.
Our Holiday parties were always successful, as were our Game Nights generally. We too found the simpler games to be the most popular. I think maybe because they don't require too much concentration, which allows for lots of socializing.
But the craziest night of all was at a 'Masons only' Game Night when we played Cards Against Humanity. It wasn't our largest group ever, but when the sun came up the next morning, the Brothers were still sitting around the table, playing. Not the most Masonic of games of course, but seemingly wildly popular.