Tag: Lodge

Building Dedication – An Incredible Event

by Admin, posted in Celebration, Lodge

Saturday, November 16, 2019 Oakland Lodge #140 F&AM officially dedicated their new building! It was an incredible event with approximately 75 persons in attendance. We were blessed to have the Indiana Grand Lodge Officers presiding over the event. Thank you Brothers for taking your time to make this day such a special event for us. It is one that all those attendance will not soon forget.

We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to the Greenfield York Rite Knights Templar. To open our ceremony they did the Presentation of the Flag – this was both an impressive and moving ceremony. Looking around the room during this heartfelt lecture, you could see the awe and respect of all in attendance. They then followed that up with their Arch of Steel ceremony as a show of utmost honor and respect for our most distinguished Grand Lodge Officers. The precision and impact of this is one that personally, I know I will never forget!

Special thanks go to our Oakland OES ladies who work so hard to help us. These special ladies provided the desserts that all enjoyed during this event. But there is so much more that they contributed. Their time, their love, their patience – without their assistance, we would not have been able to have such a smoothly running event. Between helping serve all of our guests, and then working tirelessly to assist with the clean up efforts – you are all such special ladies, and we are so fortunately to have you there supporting us!! From the bottom of my heart – THANK YOU for everything that you do!!

After the conclusion of the ceremony, everybody was asked to join us in a meal in our newly dedicated “Blackburn Hall”. There they were treated to a delicious home cooked meal of chicken and noodles, green beans, and bread – all provided by South 113 (https://www.south113.com/) located in Rushville, IN. Not only was the food great, but the folks that prepared the meal were top notch. I highly recommend you check them out for all of your special event needs.

We will be adding numerous pictures from this event to our photos page, but for now, I will leave you with this image….

A Brother Returned…

by Admin, posted in Past Masters

As part of our new website, we pay tribute to those individuals who served as Worshipful Master. The history of Oakland Lodge #140 is long and there have been several good men presiding over the years. As part of our process to get this website up and running, and to embrace current technology, we undertook the task of digitizing images from our past. If you have taken the time to browse our pages, you have likely run across our pictures of our past masters. The ultimate goal is to obtain a photo of each individual who has served as Worshipful Master.

Some individuals we currently have nothing but the dates of when they led our lodge. While there are others whose photo has succumbed to the ravages of time and water damage. For some reason one individual stood out. We had a photo – but water damage had taken its toll. The face was completely gone. What better place to start.

This individual served Oakland Lodge #140 as Worshipful Master in 1939. His name – Milton A. Newhouse, P.M. A quick search of the internet was done and very rapidly an obituary came to light – but no picture. The next step was to reach out a broader audience – to see if we could possibly get a response from a relative. Within 24 hours of the online search beginning, information was coming in. Within 48 hours we had a photograph. Though not the image when Mr. Newhouse when he served the lodge, but of the 18 year old boy that would grow to be the man who led our lodge. But that was not all. Among the articles received, there was a very interesting snippet from a local newspaper regarding Mr. Newhouse, and when he was raised to the degree of a Master Mason.

Reintroducing – Mr. Milton A. Newhouse, PM…
Milton Azariah Newhouse – born 21 April 1905, died 1 March 1978 in Rochester, IN. He was married to Bernice Milton. It was noted that he had a World War II draft card, and professionally he was a doctor. He was raised to the degree of a Master Mason in 1930

Milton A. Newhouse 1923 photo from Arsenal Technical High School – Indianapolis, IN

Welcome home Brother.

Welcome to our New Lodge and Website

by Admin, posted in Posts

There have been many changes for us this year.  Some happy and momentous, and others sad.

To start with the sad – we mourn the loss of our brothers who have gone before.  We feel comforted in the fact that they will be lighting the way for the rest of us.  One brother that instantly comes to mind is Brother Elmer “Blackie” Blackburn, P.M..  Blackie was an individual that we all should aspire to emulate.  Not only was he Worshipful Master of the Lodge in 1957, he was a 75 year member of Oakland Lodge #140.  He is the only person who could state that he attended meeting in all three of our lodge buildings.  Brother Blackie – you are missed.

For the new news, we now celebrate the completion of our new lodge building.  It has taken two years and countless man hours to complete, but we are now “up for business”.  Special thanks to all the brothers who have dedicated their time and effort to make this dream a reality.  Our dedication ceremony is November 16, 2019 at 11 am.  The Grand Master of the State of Indiana – Kenneth E. Roy will be officiating the dedication ceremony.  We hope to see you all there!

This is also a new website for us.  As with all things digital, these things take time to flush out and square away.  Please check back often for updates and highlights of our lodges activities.