Sacramento #2 Celebrates 175 Years – Odd Fellows Story

Welcome to an International Order of Odd Fellows story, my friends! Now you might be wondering why a charitable organization would be celebrating 175 years of continuous meeting. Well, that’s a good question! Let’s look into that and enjoy this incredible former lodge hall-turned-business building…

A little history of the IOOF

I have shared in the past that my mother-in-love, Gini, has been in the Odd Fellows & Rebekahs orders for many years now. She is 84 years young and has been a Rebekah for over 65 years. She then became a member of the Odd Fellows when it was opened up to women in the 1980’s sometime.

Serving others is what the International Order of Odd Fellows organization is all about. Every year, IOOF lodges donate millions worldwide for student scholarships at local high schools, agricultural scholarships, donations for veterans (we recently collected socks and toiletries for homeless veterans), and other community needs.

The IOOF also has a special service called visual assistance specifically for members as need arises. I was a recipient of one of these donations when I had cataract surgery three years ago.

So what’s the big deal with Sacramento Lodge #2? Well, Sacramento Odd Fellows Lodge #2 has met continuously for 175 years now, whereas other lodges have closed at one time or another due to membership issues or for other reasons then reopened. There were breaks in service, so 175 years of continuous benefit to the community is a big deal… and worth celebrating! 😀

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The Odd Fellows Ballroom

Now getting back to this particular building, you may also have an old building in your community which has the “three links” symbol on the outside of the building somewhere. That’s a lodge hall (or former one) and the three links logo is the international symbol for this worldwide service organization.

This lodge hall was built for the second IOOF Odd Fellows lodge chartered in California. Built in 1871, the lodge was blessed with generous benefactors such as “Leland Stanford and A.M. Winn,” who counted amongst their members. Obviously, this is what helped pay for this lodge’s hand-painted ceilings!

This information was provided by Mary V. Chapman, Secretary, (and my MIL), IOOF Sacramento Lodge #2. 🙂

This past fall, when Lodge #2 was looking for somewhere to celebrate continuous operation of their lodge without any breaks in meeting and service, the members looked no further than their original lodge hall in downtown Sacramento. 🙂

The only reason the lodge ever decided to sell this building was because most lodges meet in the evening due to everyone working during the day. Well, like in many big cities, crime has gone up and members were getting harassed and injured when they had to walk several blocks to the lodge for meetings (there is little parking downtown). The area had become unsafe at night. So they sold the building.

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The Rebekahs Ballroom

The new owners kept the lodge hall as it was making only necessary repairs and renting out the two ballrooms for weddings and other events. A wonderful decision!

Aren’t these ceilings incredible??!!! I think this painting and architecture is what is called Beaux-Arts style. Gramma Gini says that the building has a basement and there are five floors above. During the late 1800’s, the lodge had members coming and going as they met for meetings and events every week.

This lodge hall was also used for annual state meetings of IOOF members, moving between Southern and Northern California lodges in opposite years. I think it would have been fun to come here back then! The whole building was in use pretty much every day with small group meetings by lodge members. 🙂

It is only in today’s age where, sadly, service organization lodges have been closing due to lack of membership. Young families are just not as interested in volunteering as much as they used to from the late-1800’s through the 1970’s.

My thought is that there is just too many demands on families between long work hours, children’s activities, and the need for family-life balance on their time.

However, in the past five years since COVID swept across the world, there is renewed interest in people wanting to become members of service organizations again, which is great! Many new members had grandparents and great-grandparents who were members, so there is a nostalgia thing. However it happens, we are happy to have them join!

Getting back to our ballroom story: Thankfully, when Gini and the committee members asked the building’s current owners if they could hold this 175 anniversary event here, the owners were more than happy to have them return for this special event!

Gramma Gini and other members have been going over during the week prior to the dinner-ball to decorate tables and set out all of the special table and glassware.

I believe they used china originally made for the Rebekahs and Odd Fellows. I have a few pieces of Rebekah china which Gini bought for me at her former Rebekah lodge’s thrift shop (Rebekah Lodge in El Dorado, California).

This is the Rebekah Ballroom of Sacramento #2’s original lodge hall.

Notice the lovely soft pink of the walls? Pink is their signature color and they have special symbols which represent loyalty, peace, friendship and other meaningful words attributed to the Rebekahs.

Well friends, I’m sorry I don’t have photographs of everyone dressed up for this lovely event, but Gini was having trouble sending more photos; therefore, I may have a small follow-up post with the actual event later on. 🙂 But I wanted to make sure and get this post out since it is Valentine’s week and the week of Love…

I hope you have enjoyed this tour of the former building of IOOF Sacramento Odd Fellows Lodge #2 with me. What a grand place!!!

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Enjoy!