, 1908-04-29
A DANCE BY
THE |. O.. OF.
JOINT CELEBRATION OF ORDERS
BIRTHDAY BY LARAMIE AND
ALBANY LODGES.
Brilliant Assemblage and a Splendid
Time, Including Historical Ad-
dress BY Past Supreme Represen-
tative and Presentation Of vete-
rams Jewels to Five Members.

Laramie lodge No. 2 and Albany
lodge No. Z, Odd Fellows, last night
celebrated the e~ighty-ninth anniver-
sary of the founding Of the order in
the United States with a joint dance
and supper at Maennerchor hall, which
was attended by more than one hun
dred couples, including a very large
turnout of members of the two lodges
and of Laramie Rebekah degree lodge.
the insignia of the order during the
grand march, which started at $3.50,
led by Mr.. and Mrs. Jacob Berner.
air. Berner is a past supreme repre-
sentative and one of the leading Odd
Fellows of the state.
Historical Address.
Just before the dancing began the
members of Laramie and Albany
lodges we're assembled on the stage,
when MI. Berner made a brief his
torical address, stating that on April
26, 1919, five men just from England
assembled at Baltimore and formed
the first lodge in the United States,
from which has grown the magnificent
order of today. He told of the amount
of money expended for the relief of
members and their widows and or
phans, of the present number OF mem
bers and of the grand work being
done. The sovereign grand lodge,
which meets at Denver In a few
months, and which will be attended
by the largest gathering of Wyoming
Odd Fellows ever recorded at a similar
meeting of this body, is the controlling
power all owe the world, the ritual
used by the Laramie lodges being prac-
tically the same form, varied only in
used by the other lodges of the order
in Ch~ristenjom.
Veterans Honored.
Mr.. Berner stated that there are
several members of the order who
have completed sixty years of mem
bership, representing the life of an
old man, and scores who had passed
the half-century mark In the member.
ship list. He then presented jewels
to five members of the lodges here
who had completed twenty-five years
of membership. The list included
Paul May, now of Portland, Ore, the
jewel being sent to him with a suitable
letter. Among those in the hall who
received the six-pointed enameled star
were Joe Erne of No. 2, the seventy
cnyoDfh unfaron in tho inriS1iotipn Of
Wyoming, Henry Koch, past grand of
No. 2, the s~eventy-sixth member in
Wyoming; Mike Erne, a past grand
of No. 2, the seventy-ffth veteran in
the state, and John Goetz of No. Q, the
eighty-third veteran in the grand jur-
isdiction. In each case suitable re-
marks accompanied the presentation
of the jewels.
Brilliant Decorations.
The dancing followed the grand
march, which was kept up until long
after midnight, Niethe's augmented or
chestra furnishing excellent music.
The hall was beautifully decorated in
the colors of the order, with h ban
ners of the several lodges fittingly dis
played. One of the neatest and most
effective decorations was a triple
link of electric bulbs ver the stage,
glowing and scintillating with the col
ors of the order. The affair was one
of the pleasantest ever given by the
Odd Fellows and brought one of the
largest attendance of members of the
two lodges eve assembled at Maen'
nerchor hall. Supper was serve on
the stage by the ladies of Rebekah
degree.