Greetings from the Grand Master
To all Brothers & Sisters of our Grand Order:
Back in 2018 when I was the Grand Master for the first time I talked about ways to attract new members. I suggested several things. I don’t know if any lodges tried them or if they did try them did they get new members . Then Covid came along in 2020. That really hurt us. Lodges went “dark”. I don’t think that we recovered after Covid. There are a lot of members who don’t attend meetings. There are lodges that are just barely making quorum. There are lodges that can’t make quorum. What can we do for these lodges?
I look at photos from our heydays. Standing room only at meetings, parades with Oddfellows proudly marching along. I also see all of the things we did to help the communities that we lived in. These things seem to stop or disappear as our lodges close or become stagnant. What’s the answer?
CONSOLIDATION
If your lodge is weak, low in members and on the brink of collapse then consider consolidation with another lodge that is string. There are ZOOM meetings that allow those of us that are less mobile or infirm to attend meetings without leaving our homes! With a ZOOM meeting you can join a lodge hundreds of miles away which is perfect for a lodge that has nobody close by. In the last 3 years \I have had 2 lodges CONSOLIDATE with my lodge. In doing so they have been able to remain members of this wonderful Order and to continue financing different projects that they have been supporting for years.
If your lodge just closes all of the good work that our previous Brothers and sisters did dies. That is why it is important to look at CONSOLIDATION if your lodge is in dire straits. Let’s not be waiting until there is one man standing and they are overwhelmed with what is facing them Let’s work as a team to help one another.
Brother Gene Dopp
Grand Master 2024-2025 of the Grand Lodge of Ontario.