Lodge Transformations Bring Growth and Community
Good Samaritan Lodge No. 336, Gettysburg, recently finished its latest renovation project, providing members more space to cook meals for meetings and accommodate larger charity events from a brand-new, commercial-grade kitchen.
The $6,000 project, paid for entirely by donations from lodge members and appendant bodies who use the space, features a five-burner electric stove, a three-bay kitchen sink, stainless steel appliances, a new floor and cabinets and more. But mainly, there’s better flow to maneuver and prepare food from the space, said Brother David Jenkins, Worshipful Master and project leader.
“It was an exciting project,” he said. “The kitchen is the same size, but more functional. We re-arranged where things are located so it’s an easier kitchen to work from.”
David prepared and put cost estimates together for months. He initially approached the officers and asked for their feedback. “A lot of Worshipful Masters just plan everything on their own,” he said. “I think it takes a village and a team, and it’s important to have broad support from our officers.”
After getting the green light, David shared with the 50+ members a floor plan he created and photos of appliances he wanted to purchase for the project, so they knew what to expect.
“It’s a lot easier to get support when you provide a clear picture of what you plan to do,” he said.
All the construction work was done in-house, since many of the brothers have skills ranging from plumbing and painting to electrical work and carpentry. The lodge hosted weeknight and weekend “work parties,” where brothers socialized while assisting with different tasks. The project was completed in time for the lodge’s September stated meeting.
David has years of leadership experience and was in a good position to lead the team, plan a project and see it through.
“I’m pretty handy and have done lots of project planning in the past, so I understand how to do it,” he said. “We have brothers who are willing to put the time and effort into the different tasks, so that’s great. That way, you don’t have to spend two and a half times more to hire someone to do the work. You just need to purchase the supplies and manage the project.”
Brother William (Bill) Mooney, who has a restaurant background and cooks most of the lodge meals, is particularly excited about the new kitchen. The lodge previously used a caterer to cook for the monthly meetings, but he was no longer available during the pandemic. In 2022, Bill was able to find Mason-owned restaurants to donate dinners for a short time. After that, he began cooking the dinners on his own, thanks to food donations. Today, he still prepares most of the meals and is looking forward to using the new kitchen.
“It has been a labor of love,” Bill said. “When I cook for my brothers, it’s like cooking for actual family. I always put effort and dedication into it.”
Cooking for 25 to 50 people out of a small space with poor flow had become increasingly difficult, Bill said. In addition, brothers wanted to start hosting larger charity events where they could prepare, cook and serve their own food.
In addition to their stated meetings, David hopes to use the kitchen for one-off events, like Super Bowl parties and the Civil War dinner the lodge hosts twice a year, which includes a speaker and a home-cooked meal based on recipes from a Civil War-era cookbook.
The lodge also holds spaghetti dinner fundraisers to raise money for a local soup kitchen. These events are open to the public.
“We recently had a silent auction (attended by 100 people) where people could bid on different items in our dining room,” David said. “We were able to raise a lot of money for the Children’s Advocacy Center and the Masonic Children’s Home.”
David is currently exploring future projects for the lodge building, including installing a new floor in the dining room.
“If you do something each year, and not all at once, it’s more manageable and not cost-prohibitive,” David said.
“Last year, we repainted the dining room and main hallway and started on this path of refreshing and updating the building. It’s a great way to get some of our newer members involved and build relationships by working next to each other to get things done.”
David is confident that upgrading the building will improve its look and visibility, potentially making it more attractive to new members.
Over the past few months, the lodge initiated six members, and they expect the number to grow.
“When we have events where we invite the public, they get to see who we are, what we’re about and what we’re raising money for,” he said. “There’s a real appeal to know there’s an organization out there that cares about the community.”
Fritz Lodge No. 308, Conshohocken, has gotten a facelift.
Thanks to a partnership with the Borough of Conshohocken, the lodge’s property on Fayette Street has been transformed into a peaceful “pocket park,” filled with trees, benches, picnic tables and a walking path, all of it open to the public to enjoy. The borough paid for all the enhancements and is responsible for snow removal and lawn maintenance. The project includes a newly paved parking lot and a large, double-sided digital sign out front, announcing township updates and lodge events. LED streetlights were added to make the building more visible at night.
“We have a prominent, town-facing property on the main Fayette Street,” said Brother Brenden Shaw, W.M. “We see people using the park now for somewhere to sit. It has been nice to see more presence from the public on the property. The whole building looks great.”
The lodge, which has met at this location at 8th and Fayette Streets since 1931, has more than 200 members. The lodge signed a 20-year lease agreement with the borough for the pocket park. The project, which took a little over a year to complete, was finished in September 2023.
Z. Raymond Sokolowski, Executive Director of Operations for the borough, said the borough was interested in the project because of the lodge’s location on the upper end of Fayette Street.
The goal is to bring more foot traffic from the bars and restaurants on the lower end of the street to the more central area of Fayette Street.
“We had a town meeting just after the [pandemic] and someone from the community brought up the idea of a pocket park,” he said. “Immediately, the lodge came to my mind as a good area for it.”
In fact, Ray was so impressed with the lodge members, he decided to become a Mason himself after the park project was completed.
“We [the town] had a meeting with the [lodge] membership once or twice to discuss the pocket park,” he said.
“We had never really had a relationship with the Masons before. I’ve lived in this town all my life, and I was a police officer, but I had never been in the building. I knew someone through the police department who was a Mason and he told me about it, and I became interested. It’s a great organization.”
Brother Sheldon Simpson, P.M., said he appreciates the visibility that the park brings to the lodge and Freemasonry as a whole.
“We are happy to see people coming out to see our building,” he said. “We’ve gotten some inquiries about membership. We hope to host more community events here on the property.”
Fritz Lodge has been part of the annual car show and the Soap Box Derby. Both events take place along Fayette Street, and now people can sit in the park and observe them. Ray said the town plans to organize more events with the Masons to get the word out about the park.
Glenn Quinn, who was Worshipful Master when the pocket park was being planned, agreed. “It’s nice that the people of Conshohocken want to be a part of this.”
Some of the benches located on the property memorialize Conshohocken residents who have passed away. There’s also a small mobile library with a bench, courtesy of a local Eagle Scout whose father is a member of the lodge.
Brian Coll, who co-owns Coll’s Custom Framing and Photography on Fayette Street with his father, Brother Jack Coll, a member of Fritz Lodge, is thrilled with the creation of the park, just four blocks from their building.
Brian and Jack wrote their own history book and operate the website Conshystuff.com, with news about what’s going on in the borough.
“I do a lot of walking around Conshohocken, and this park is one of the stops I gravitate towards,” Brian said. “It’s weird to find a moment of peace near a four-lane highway. It was done well enough where you feel like you can sit down and just kind of relax for a few minutes and take your mind off the world.
“On the Masonic side of things, it brought needed visibility,” he added. “The average Conshohocken resident has no idea what the building is and what it’s used for. This type of crossover between the borough and the lodge makes a lot of sense.”
Whether your lodge needs an internal upgrade or an external revitalization, these two lodges have shown that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Exploring partnerships, taking on one project at a time and soliciting brothers willing to contribute some elbow grease can yield greater benefits than you’d ever imagine: quality socialization, enhanced visibility, increased opportunities in the community and even some membership applications.
