Published: March 18, 2009 12:49 pm      

NOT SO ODD: Lewiston Odd Fellows energized by Arts Council

Lewiston — Last year there were hardly any Odd Fellows left in Lewiston.

Their meetings had dwindled to just a few minutes so they could deal with the maintenance matters surrounding the historic building they own that is known as the Lewiston Opera Hall on Center Street in the Village of Lewiston. There was none of the secret ritual and ceremony that colored many of their meetings over the past 150 years.

Things were looking grim for the once mighty lodge of the ancient order. They needed to find a way to grow their ranks.

Down the street, some of the leaders of the Lewiston Council on the Arts were worrying about sustaining the location of their classes and seminars in the opera house, which the Odd Fellows were allowing them to use.

They knew that if the Odd Fellows didn’t get an infusion of new members they might surely have to sell their lodge. That might mean the arts council would have to find a new location to provide their services. Worse, council members were concerned that Lewiston might lose a precious piece of history if some new owners decided to tear the building down.

That’s when seven Arts Council members decided to become Odd Fellows, with six taking advantage of a recent International Odd Fellows ruling allowing women to join. Things haven’t been quite the same for either organization since.

“The intent was to help the Odd Fellows save the building,” said Clement Olson, an Odd Fellow whose rank as “patriarch’s militant” makes him the mentor and teacher of the Lewiston group.

But it truly was a matter of self-interest meeting opportunity and both groups are the better for it, members say.

“I’ll admit it was mostly self-serving,” said Kathryn Serianni, outreach coordinator of the arts council. “But, while researching the Odd Fellows’ ideals and mission I began to see the larger picture ... this organization itself was worth saving.”

Recently the arts council contingent went to Hamilton, Ontario, for an eye-opening bi-national Odd Fellows gathering where they learned about the organizations ritual and codes.

Although much of what occurred was secret, they could report their surprise at the extravagant, costumed dramas, music and rituals that transpired.

“It was life changing,” said Nicklas. “I was moved by the rituals. I was moved by the message ... Their emphasis on friendship, love and truth sit really well in my own life.

The infusion of enthusiastic new members has wiped the dust from the rolls of the Odd Fellows, literally and figuratively.

In the ballroom of the opera house the Lewiston organization still keeps their original membership books, dating back to 1868 and citing attendance from some of the most prestigious names in Lewiston history including Samuel Barton and Josiah Tryon, a noted abolitionist.

“What we have here is a treasure trove of history, important not just to the Odd Fellows,” Nicklas said. Art Council members are currently seeking a grant to hire an archivist to help them preserve such important history.

The Odd Fellows organization, much like the Masons, originated around the 1700’s in Britain as a union for trade workers. The Odd Fellows have since become known for their good deeds around the world.

Each lodge contributes to efforts including Odd Fellows’ health care facilities in Lockport and the Bronx. Odd Fellows also contribute to a chairmanship at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University.

Beyond that, each lodge can create their own mission of service and that excites the new arts council members because they are hopeful the lodge will include the arts in their service plans.

The Odd Fellows, grateful for the new infusion of energy, are open to new paths of service. “We wouldn’t be surviving if it weren’t for you guys,” Eric Warren, the group’s chaplain, told the new members at the gathering.As the Lewiston Odd Fellows Lodge begins to grow again the fortified membership plans to re-institute rituals and costumes to some meetings and to seek many more new members so they can enhance fundraising efforts and contribute to state and national service projects.

That’s all going to happen once some housekeeping issues are undertaken by the Odd Fellows on the old Opera Hall.

“First we need to fix the roof,” said Nicklas.

Contact reporter Michele DeLucaat 282-2311, ext. 2263.