Sitting above a paint store on Yonge Street in downtown Aurora, the Odd Fellows are quietly marking the group’s 150th anniversary.
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows Aurora Lodge 148 was founded in September 1874 in what was then the Village of Aurora.
The organization bounced around in its early years before eventually building its permanent home at 15216 Yonge, above what is now the KLEINPAINT Aurora Benjamin Moore Paint Store, in 1887.
Now, 150 years after its founding, a celebration to mark the sesquicentennial of the Aurora Odd Fellows is being held on Sept. 17.
The past
One of the group’s long-term members, Valerie Taylor, has sifted through the artifacts and old log books stored in the lodge to uncover the storied history of the organization.
She wrote a history book, Odd Fellow Founders, documenting the early years of the organization, with a number of notable figures from Aurora’s early days among its ranks.
Names that would go on to be shared with landmarks around town are etched into log books of those early meetings. William J. Fleury, of the Fleury Foundry, Charles Albert Petch, of Petch House, butcher William John Knowles were all Odd Fellows, while Dr. Robert William Hillary, whose house is now a national historical landmark, was an early member and the group’s physician.
In its early days, members would pay dues that would go into an insurance program, helping members when one fell ill, thus meaning many lodges had physicians. The origin of the fraternal society, which has long accepted women members, dates back to the 1700s in England, with the Independent Order branch sprouting from the U.S. in the 1840s.
The Odd Fellows were also focused on philanthropy, the work being focused into four main areas: relieving the distressed, educating the orphan, visiting the sick and burying the dead.
“It’s been great to quietly find these things that are in line with our mottos, that have been in existence for 150 years. They’re still real today,” said Taylor.
The group has been able to fund its various charitable donations through the rent it charges for the storefront on Yonge. That store front has changed hands throughout the years, everything from a pharmacy to its current paint shop.
The present
Roger Baker has been a member of the group for more than 26 years, when it was on the verge of faltering at a low point in membership. He went out for a meal with a few friends who encouraged him to join the lodge, and was “put to work right away.”
Since then Baker has held various positions in the lodge and strove to commit the group to its original tenets.
“I’m the type of guy that if I start something, it takes a lot for me not to go. I’m not afraid to say black is black and white is white.”
“I enjoy helping people,” he said. “So that’s why I stayed a member of the Odd Fellows.”
Taylor herself became interested in joining after researching her family tree and finding a relative had been a member. She said the group tends to do its charitable work quietly.
“It’s just a beautiful organization that perhaps people don’t know,” she said.
“There’s a lot of challenges but we’re a strong, strong group. That’s no exaggeration, I mean we have troubles just like everybody else, but throughout our commitment to friendship, love, and truth, we really stick together.”
The future
While a number of lodges are closing down as membership dwindles globally, both Taylor and Baker said the Aurora lodge has a sizeable membership and has been successful at attracting new members. While there is a religious component, pulling from Christianity for some of the group's ceremonies, this has not deterred new members.
“They’re so diverse,” said Taylor of the people looking to join the lodge. “Over and over as I interview potential members, they’re just looking for a place where they can help, so I think that comes from all walks of life, all faiths and ethnicities.”
Taylor said the group hopes to do more community events and fundraising to help fund its charitable donations.
“You feel better about your donating if you’re doing something about it,” she said.
Taylor said the group also hoped to rent out the lodge more for events, but acknowledged its lengthy staircase to the second floor makes it tricky.
“I think we’re going to be in existence for a long time,” she said. “We’re not averse to moving somewhere else, it’s just this beautiful, historic building, and it’s lovely, we just wish access was a little easier.”
“I believe we’ll keep going strong as a lodge, going forward if we’ve got the people to continue and the will to continue. Even though many lodges around have merged with other lodges, I think this is a strong one in Aurora.
For more information on the Oddfellows’ Aurora Lodge #148, visit auroralodge148.ioof.net.
