By any measure, this year’s Cave Degree Weekend was an unequivocal success. Starting with the opening of the Richard Brouse Degree Lodge and “Odd Ball” on Friday evening, and culminating with the conferring of the Encampment degree Sunday afternoon, it was a weekend packed with Odd Fellowship.
And to the question, “are newer members interested in the rituals of Odd Fellowship?” Again, the answer is a resounding, “YES!!” From members so new they got all four degrees of Odd Fellowship, to a member who has more than 70 years in the Order, it was a diverse mix of old and new, with everything in between. And people traveled from as far south as the San Fernando Valley in California and as far north as Seattle Washington! But the
longest-traveler award goes to Past Sovereign Grand Master Michelle Heckhart from Iowa, who honored the event with her presence, as did California Grand Master Rita Cooper. From the standpoint of conferring degrees, 20 people received the Initiatory Degree, 32 people received the Degree of Friendship, 33 people received the Degree of Love, and 36 people received the Degree of Truth! In all, 16 lodges sent candidates for one or more degrees.
Additionally, 7 people received the Rebekah Degree and 6 people received the first Encampment Degree. In fact, so many people registered for the event that the registration website had to be closed weeks before the weekend began. Clearly, there is an unmet need for live degree rituals. While a huge mark of success, it was a difficult job for members of the Degree Lodge to tell people that no more registrations could be
accepted.
And the degrees were only part of the weekend. Beginning on early Friday evening, the Richard Brouse Degree Lodge #190 opened their in-person meeting in form. Final nominations and the election of officers for the coming year brought the meeting to its first recess, giving everyone a chance to get ready for the “Odd Ball.” While volunteers from Yreka Lodge were getting their Hall ready for all the events to come, the Odd Fellows retired to the “St John’s Fort Crook Free Masonry Lodge #37” just down the street, to dress and dance the night away. Brother AlanWinston taught and called traditional English Country Dancing, while Brother Toby Hanson and Sister Ashley Hill provided live music. A cake walk and wine pull were also enjoyed by the revelers to raise money for Yreka Lodge #19 and the Degree Lodge.
After breakfast on Saturday, the Initiatory Degree was conferred. Then members of the Yreka Lodge served participants lunch, after which the Degree of Friendship was conferred. But wait – that’s not all! Break-out seminars on how to run a meeting, the history and symbology of Odd Fellowship, how to get and retain members, and getting your lodge online were put on by yet more volunteers. Those who participated did not let a minute of the weekend go to waste. There was always something happening!
Again, the members of Yreka Lodge provided a wonderful dinner to all, after which the crowd carpooled to the Pythian Cave to confer the Degree of Love. Then it was back to Yreka Lodge for berry cobbler and ice cream. Sunday morning saw the conferring of the Degree of Truth, followed by a hearty brunch.
Most folks started heading home after eating, but for those who stayed, there were a few more activities. During the brunch, Past Rebekah President Debra LaVergne organized a conferring of the Rebekah Degree, followed by a formal installation of the Degree Lodge’s officers, personally conducted by Grand Master Rita Cooper. Then Toby Hanson and Michael Greenzeiger hosted a live recording of the “Three Links Odd Cast”, with guests Mason Wolf (now past degree master), Stacy Thomason (the new degree master), and Lizzie Martinez (noble grand of Yreka 19), plus plenty of interaction with the live audience.
Finally, it was back up to the Cave to confer the Patriarchal Degree of the encampment, which was put together by Davis Encampment #21. Accordionist Toby Hanson provided live music for both degrees conferred at the cave, adding a dimension of theatricality above and beyond what the gorgeous location itself was already serving.
But in addition to receiving the live degrees, there is also interest in helping with the degrees, as seen by the steady stream of applications for the Richard Brouse Degree Lodge since the event. To paraphrase a recent applicant, “The younger people in my Lodge are really motivated to help their communities and get involved with the community support aspect of Odd Fellowship, but they are also excited and eager to participate in the live rituals. They really want that.” And this is a good thing, because it took an army of volunteers to make this weekend happen. For the Richard Brouse Degree Lodge, it was obviously ‘all hands on deck,’ but the members of Yreka Lodge fed this crowd throughout the whole weekend. Several Lodges took the lead of the degrees including, Davis #169, True Fellowship #52, Apollo #123, and so many others.
And the members of the Richard Brouse Degree Lodge would be remiss if they did not specifically thank members of the Gold Hill Lodge in Oregon for donating a portion of their t-shirt and hoody sales to help the Degree Lodge, while Brother Jack Cain of Upper Lake #241 Lodge donated RBDL-labeled whiskey to raise money as well. All told, just under $5000 was raised to help defray costs for the weekend and keep these live degrees going into the future.
The Cave Degree, and live rituals, are alive and well in California!