Perth Amboy evening news., 1919-05-07
ODD FELLOWS
At CELEBRATION
Or. CroWther and Other Fine
Speakers at Biz
Event

Independent Order of odd Fellows
of the five subordinate lodges of this
city and Woodbridge. with the mem
bers of their families and invited
guests gathered at Washington hall
last night for the celebration OF the
one hundredth anniversary of the in
stitution of h first lodge of Odd Eel
lows in this country. There were more
than five hundred that gathered with
In the hall for the event which is said
to have been the most successful ever
held on an occasion of this Kind by
the order here. Past Grand Samuel
G. Garretson, of Lawrence Lodge No.
81, the second oldest member of the
lodge was master of ceremonies and
introduced the speakers of the even
ing.
The program opened with singing of
the "Star Spangled Banner" by the
Singing Society Frem, in which the en-
tire audience standing Joined. h
was followed by a prayer by Rev. WI
bert Westcott, pastor of Simpson
Methodist church, who invoked the
blessing on the gathering. Past Grand
Master +. Howard Lloyd was the first
speaker of the evening and he was
followed by William t. Robbins, grand
representative. who came here with
the greetings from the grand master
| of the state of New Jersey.
Congressman Frank Crowther, oil
| Schenectady, n. Y. a past grand
master of the state of New Jersey,
who was the principal speaker of the
evening, gave an interesting talk or
"Odd Fellowship" The remarks oil
all three speakers were along the
same line and what the order. has
accomplished during the past hun
bred years.
r. r.ou-tbar -ybo te a memher nj
Lawrence Lodge, In his remark
brought back to memory many OF the
| good times that he had while here as
ISOLATED with its members and others
| outside of the lodge. Mr.. Garretsor
made the opening address and ex'
tended a hearty welcome to all on the
toccasion of the anniversary. During
/ the speech making the Frem Society
rendered selections n Miss Buchar
sang, accompanied on the piano by
Miss Agnes Steed. After the pro
gram the ladies of the Rebekaf
| lodge served refreshments in the bal
cony of the hall. The lower fiooi
was then cleared and dancing was en-.
poyed until a late hour. The hall wa:
decorated with flags and bunting.
Berthune Durham, ninety years
old, of South Plainfield, the oldest
odd Fellow in this section of the
state, was present as guest of honor
Mr.. Durham has been q member OF
Lawrence Lodge for the past sixty
six years. Aaron Stillwell, of South
Amboy. a member of the order fol
about sixty years. and John Martin
of Hasbrooks Heights, a member oil
Lawrence Lodge for many years
were also present. Mr.. Garretson
the second oldest living member OF
Lawrence Lodge, has been a m
of the order for forty-flve years.
The first lodge of Odd Fellows was
Instituted in the city of Baltimore
April 26, 1919. with five charter
members and today there is a lodge
lin nearly every city and town in the
limited States. All have had celebra-
lions during the past week or more
flor the event.
The lodges here that were Joined
in the celebration wereNLawr zee No
60, Valhalla No. 275. Hornet En-
campment No. go and Violet Rebekaf
mo. Sc. of this city, and Hobart No
270 of Woodbridge. Past Grand Clif
ford Gillis was the chairman of tn
arrangement committee for h at
fair and he was assisted by three
members from each lodge in arrang'
ing the details for the celebration.