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Odd Fellows celebrate 175 years of service

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Valerie Fessler, director of development for the American Rescue Worker, middle, gives a tour of the kitchen and cafeteria for members of the Brady Lodge #116 Odd Fellows of Muncy Tuesday. From left is Art Danley, Odd Fellows treasurer, Valerie, Lucy Temple, secretary, and Glen Temple, Nobel Grand. The Odd Fellows are celebrating their 175th anniversary.

MUNCY — Celebrating their 175th anniversary in this area, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Brady Lodge No. 116, did what they are best noted for — helping those in need.

The lodge donated $1,000 to the American Rescue Workers and also donated bed sheets, comforters and coffee to an organization that helps homeless veterans, to name their most recent acts of philanthropy.

“We are a very charitable organization. We believe in friendship, love and truth,” said Arthur Danley, treasurer and trustee of the group. He noted that the logo of the Odd Fellows has a chain with three links, a white, blue and green hooked together with with the letters F, L and T inside the links.

“In our valediction, we say that we will educate the orphan, visit the sick, bury the dead and assist the living spouse of a family. We try to help our own members and family, but anyone who is outside the organization and requires any needs, we investigate them and very, very seldom do we ever turn anybody down in giving a donations.”

Helping others has been the hallmark of the Order of Odd Fellows groups since they were organized in England in the late 1700s. The first lodge in America was established in 1819 in Baltimore.

No one knows for sure where the unique name of the group originated, but one story, according to Justin Bailey, grand secretary of the state’s group, is that it was deemed odd for people to help one another at the time.

“It was found to be odd to see regular everyday people helping regular everyday people,” he shared.

“Nobody ever asked why they were called Odd Fellows, but that was one of the main ones (stories),” he said.

Traditionally Bailey said its origins goes back to the days of Roman and Greek guilds which traveled from town to town.

“They had signs and passwords to differentiate if you were a part of a certain group,” Bailey said.

He explained that from those early times, things started being recorded and that’s where the beginning of the Odd Fellows originated. The Masons were a group whose membership in the early days was comprised of stone masons. Other groups, such as the the Order of United American Mechanics, was formed for engineers.

He said that the Odd Fellow became known for doing the odd jobs that people had that didn’t fall under any other certain organization.

At one time there were several Odd Fellow lodges that dotted the rural landscape in the area, but over the years as membership declined, they consolidated into the lodge at Muncy. Women, too, are now permitted to join the group, although there are women-specific groups, called the Rebekahs, in some areas of the country.

Today, as the Brady Lodge celebrates their milestone anniversary, the Odd Fellows mainly focus on donating funds to support nonprofit groups, such as Camp Victory at Millville, which provides a camping experience for children with chronic health problems and physical or mental disabilities, as well as supporting visual research at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.

Locally the Brady lodge has donated to several local nonprofits. When the Hughesville Borough decided to add a canine to their police force, the Odd Fellows donated money to help make that happen. They purchased a defibrillator to be placed in the Masonic Temple in Muncy where they hold their meetings and where other events are held, such as weddings and parties. They also helped to buy a Clydesdale horse for a horse therapy program.

Speaking on the work that the Brady Lodge does, Danley, who has been a member of the Odd Fellows for 53 years, said, “It is a very great honor. You learn how to give caregiving and take care of your fellow man. If you see somebody in need, you lend a hand and help them.”

Danley noted that the Odd Fellows are always looking to expand their membership and welcome inquiries from anyone interested in joining.

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