Greetings Brethren!
Sorry for missing last week’s news, I’ll try to catch it all up with this one.
Jefferson Lodge has sure been busy this month!
Seems like we are sort of settling into dealing with our rapid growth… At first the growing pains were ..well painful. Doesn’t it feel good to hear the laughter and fellowship when the Lodge room is full? So much thankfulness!
Announcement from Sovereign Grand Lodge
Let APRIL be a busy month for ALL our Lodges worldwide! Let it be a month full of initiations of new members, strengthening camaraderie among brothers and sisters, helping those in need and serving our communities. In Friendship, Love and Truth!
Also, the following about the Pilgrimage to the Tomb of The Unknowns:
REMINDER: IOOF 2016 Pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknowns is May 6-8. The deadline of March 27 for hotel reservations, banquet and bus tickets is now only 3 days away. If you haven’t made you hotel reservations it is imperative tht you get them made before the end of the day on Sunday March 27. One the deadline passes any remaining rooms will be released and the cost per night will go up to the hotel’s going rate and and is if there are rooms available. March 27 is also the deadline for requesting banquet and bus tickets. No private vehicles or buses will be allowed in the cemetery. The committee HAS made arrangements for roundtrip transportation from the hotel to the cemetery and round trip shuttle service from the parking lot to the Tomb. Please share in order to continue reaching as many members as possible about the weekend. We invite everyone to join us for a weekend of Odd Fellow and Rebekah fellowship as we honor those who gave all they could give that we might continue to enjoy the freedoms of this great and wonderful nation.
Initiations
We celebrated the Ritual of Initiation for Andrea Eller last night. Andrea is the wife of Brother Michael Eller, it is wonderful that she has joined us. Welcome to our new Sister in Friendship, Love and Truth!
Here is one picture from tonight’s initiatory degree. Welcome, Andrea Eller. We are so happy to have you join in our fraternal Oddness! Pictured – her husband, Michael Eller, and Derek Osborne.
4th District Meeting
Annual meeting of the 4th District will be held at the Lincolnton Lodge with District Deputy Grand Master Gerald McAlistair next Saturday, April 2nd. Breakfast will be served from 8-9:30, with meeting to follow. We will need to get a final headcount and make a decision on carpooling down at our next meeting.
For The Good Of The Order
$300 to Trae Simmons Benefit
$100 to Habitat for Humanity ReStore for Sabrina Little’s furniture
$100 to a 6th grader for her class trip to DC
Contributed to the cost of pizza for the young mountain musicians concert at Nathan’s Creek UMC
Hospice patient needs a leaky roof fixed Brothers Donnie Moseley, Michael Eller, and Seth Hilliard are going to assess the situation and let us know what we need to do.
(I am sure I am forgetting something, please forgive me!)
God works in mysterious ways
Before I close, I want to share with you the story of the mom to be, Sabrina Little, that we were helping.
Remember we were supposed to help her move into an apartment a few weeks ago, and for whatever reason, that fell through.
Last Saturday morning , Seth and Blythe Hilliard went to pick her up to go to the ReStore and pick out the furniture the Lodge was helping her get.
When they got there, Sabrina was in labor!! So they took her to the hospital, Blythe stayed with her, and Jim Weaver, Seth, Debbie Grubb and Jim’s son Andrew picked out and delivered the furniture to her apartment.
Meanwhile, Sabrina was having an emergency Cesarean section! Dr Wonsick said Blythe had facilitated a miracle.. The umbilical cord had a kink and little Layla Dawn was in distress! With no phone or car, well.. God put Blythe just exactly where he needed her to be.
The story gets even better! As it turns out .. Sabrina’s daddy, who passed away when she was small, was an Odd Fellow! Brother Tom Little. I’m sure some of our older members will remember him. I feel so much gratitude for being able to, in a small way, have been a part of this tiny
miracle for a Brother long passed.
In Friendship Love & Truth,
Nancy Weaver, Secretary
Ancient Links 