Two Hundred Odd Fellows Take Walla Walla — and an Old Man Cannot Speak
The state grand lodge opens three days of sessions at the Odd Fellows' Temple, elects its officers, and surprises an eighty-year-old past grand master with a veteran's jewel.
With nearly 200 delegates and visitors in attendance, the first day's session of the grand lodge, I. O. O. F., of the state of Washington convened at Odd Fellows' Temple this morning. The sessions will continue for three days and are being held in the dance hall, the lodge room proper being given up to the use of the Rebekah assembly in session also.
The morning session was devoted chiefly to the election of officers — Grand Master R. M. Waters of Spokane; Deputy Grand Master Le F. A. Shaw of Walla Walla; Warden F. R. McLaren of Seattle; Secretary Louis F. Hart of Tacoma; Treasurer John Krienbuhl of Spokane; Grand Representative S. G. Cos[s?]; Trustee of the Odd Fellows' Home, E. S. Isaacs of Walla Walla, for five years — the appointment of various committees, and the reading and adoption of officers' reports for the year.
A pleasing little incident took place at this morning's session in which Olympia lodge No. 1, through Delegate C. M. Moore, presented to Past Grand Master Swan a veteran's jewel in recognition of the honor he enjoys of being the first grand master of the grand lodge of this jurisdiction. Mr. Swan, formerly a member of the Olympia lodge, is nearly 80 years of age now, and has been an inmate of the Odd Fellows' home for several years. The presentation of the jewel to him was a complete surprise and it was with difficulty the aged Odd Fellow could make reply. Grand Master Taylor followed with some complimentary remarks on Mr. Swan's efficient services to Odd Fellowship.
With the election of officers and appointment of committees out of the way, the lodge will get down to hard work from now on to dispose of the vast amount of business this session. This evening the delegates will witness the initiatory degree work, put on by Enterprise lodge. Last night several hundred of the delegates attended a meeting of Trinity lodge, a degree team putting on the initiatory work.
The Rebekah assembly in session at Odd Fellows' Temple failed to finish up its work this forenoon, and the probability is the session will not end until tomorrow. The daily sessions are being largely attended.
“The presentation of the jewel to him was a complete surprise and it was with difficulty the aged Odd Fellow could make reply.”
In 1903 a fraternal lodge was the civic infrastructure of a town — the convention floor, the insurance office, the old-age home and the social calendar all at once. Two hundred delegates arriving was an economic event for Walla Walla and a reunion for men who had known each other for decades. Most of these orders have faded from downtown, and the Odd Fellows' tradition of caring for its own aged members is now the work of an underfunded public system.
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