Walk to End Alzheimer's in East Meadow, NY

Walk to End Alzheimer's in East Meadow, NY

On Sunday, October 1, 2023, many Pythians participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer's® in East Meadow, NY. Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, the Alzheimer's Association Walk to End Alzheimer's® is the world's largest fundraiser for Alzheimer's care, support, and research. This inspiring event calls on participants of all ages and abilities to join the fight against the disease. It is wonderful that Pythians came together for an inspiring community event that celebrates the commitment to ending this disease. Special thanks to PCDGC/AGT Sir Marty Nyear and PACDGC Scott Geffon for being our team leaders, the Third Pythian District, Alliance-Mid Island Lodge #801, and Island Lodge #623 for their generous donations. Our Pythian team raised over $2,800. This year, the charity of the Knights of Pythias Order is the Alzheimer Association. Thank you to all who participated and donated to fight this dreadful disease. Association. Respectfully submitted, DGC David Salem.

Fall Event Suggestions

Fall Event Suggestions

Greetings, fellow Pythians! As we approach the fall season, we have exciting opportunities to serve our communities and celebrate our friendship, charity, and benevolence. In this blog post, the Supreme Lodge will share ideas for Halloween and Thanksgiving service projects for your local lodges or Pythian groups to consider.

Berkley Lodge #162 Refurbishes Pythian Cave

Castle Hall of Berkely Lodge No. 162
Knights of Pythias, Domain of California

At the regular lodge meeting of Berkeley Lodge No. 162, Knights of Pythias, at Albany, CA (instituted on July 13, 1889), the brethren voted to contribute $250 towards refurbishing the Pythian Cave in Yreka, CA, the home of the Odd Fellows Cave Degree since the Pythians turned the cave over to the Odd Fellows in 1962. This donation was made in memory of the late Odd Fellow Dick Brouse, who had organized the cave and Yreka Odd Fellows degrees for many years.

Before the vote was taken, the Pythian Knights reviewed the history of the Pythian cave from both the Knights of Pythias and Odd Fellows history. The Knights of Pythias had been the first fraternal group to town the cave, originally belonging to the Yreka Lodge No 168, Knights of Pythias, which was instituted on July 30, 1890. Prior to Yreka Lodge No. 168 building a Castle Hall in Yreka, it had held its meetings and Rank Work at the cave. Berkeley Lodge reviewed a newspaper report from the Yreka News from 1916 speaking to the strength of their late sister lodge at that time:

The Knights expressed their pleasure that after Yreka Lodge No. 168, Knights of Pythias, closed, that the fraternal baton was passed to Yreka Odd Lodge No. 19, IOOF, to preserve the cave for fraternal uses.It was understood from the histories reviewed that for the sum of $10, the cave and its 40-acre surrounding area passed to the Odd Fellows, with a reservation that the Pythians could use it at least once a year. The Knights found it gratifying that with few exceptions, the Odd Fellows have used the Pythian Cave every year for fraternal purposes. The Knights’hope is that their small contribution to help refurbish the Pythian Cave in memory of Dick Brouse will help this outstanding fraternal use continue long into the future.

Meets on 2nd Tuesday at 7:30 PM at 1325 Portland Ave, Albany, CA 94706
Mail Delivery: c/o Sir Herb Leaderman,1469 Camino Peral, Moraga, CA, 94556-2018
Submitted by: Stanley Bransgrove, Chancellor Commander, Berkely Lodge No. 162, KofP
4 Lomita Drive, Mill Valley, CA 94941–(415) 306-1415

Winners of the 2023 Supreme Lodge Poster Contest

$1,000 First Place Hand Drawn Poster
Tony Saucedo – Grade 11
Nacogdoches, Texas

$500 Second Place Hand Drawn Poster
Emily Messenger – Grade 11
Springfield, OH

$250 Third Place Hand Drawn Poster
Bella Matney – Grade 11
Shelbyville, IN

$100 Fourth Place Hand Drawn Poster
Glen Lane – Grade 11
Duck River, TN

$100 Fifth Place Hand Drawn Poster
Kiara Puskas – Grade 12
Wallaceburg, ONT Canada

Grand Lodge of Tennessee Convention

Grand Lodge of Tennessee Convention

The Grand Lodge of Tennessee convened for its annual convention in Pigeon Forge on Jun 2-4, 2023. The event was well-attended and led by GC Dennis Kelly. The Supreme Lodge was represented by the Supreme Prelate Tim VanBoeing, who delivered a keynote speech. The convention also elected new officers for the next term, including Mike Melton as Grand Chancellor, Mike Hartley as Supreme Representative, and Steve Gregory as Grand Secretary. The outgoing officers, Jim Lynn and Bobby Crowe, were honored for their long and distinguished service to the Order.

Monte Bello Lodge #10 Donates Book to the Florence Library

Monte Bello Lodge #10 Donates Book to the Florence Library

When a member of the local Florence Lodge passes away it is customary for the membership to donate a book to the Florence Lauderdale Public Library in memory of that member. Harry’s family recommended that the Lodge donate “The Fight in the Clouds” by James P. Busha. The book is about pilots who flew the P-51Mustang during World War II. Harry’s father, the late George Williams, another longtime resident of Florence, was a pilot in a P-51 Mustang during World War II.

Message from the Supreme Chancellor and Challenge Coin Fundraiser

Message from the Supreme Chancellor and Challenge Coin Fundraiser

In February, I had challenge coins created. The coin is similar to other coins developed by Past Supreme Chancellors. The obverse has the Knights of Pythias Logo consistent with other challenge coins, but on the reverse is the symbol of the five countries where Pythian Lodges exist. For those who don’t know (US, Canada, Philippines, Italy, and England).

I have been awarding the coin for a $10 donation to the Alzheimer’s association. We can continue to chip away at the incredible challenges this disease brings. Many of the Supreme Lodge Officers have taken a small amount to sell. Thank you to all that have made a donation to get a coin. If you have any questions, please send me an

2023 Read & Ride Program

2023 Read & Ride Program

This year’s read and ride program has been completed and without a doubt it was the “best” we have ever had. This year the Pythian Sisters helped distribute the bikes to the students of Teays Valley School District.

This was the first time we pick a student (2nd grader) and he looked at the principle and said, “may I have the microphone?” He proceeded to tell everyone in the room that he wanted to give his bike to a classmate that deserved (needed) it more than him. At that time everyone in the room was wiping tears from their eyes. Later he told me that his parents just got him a new bike for his birthday. He wanted to “pay it forward !!!”

Sidney Lodge No. 85 Welcomes Male and Female New Members

Sidney Lodge No. 85 Welcomes New Members

Left to right: Michael Syvrov, Cynthia Adams, Brenda Wiley, Betty Depee, Charlene Halsey, Tracy Larson, and Patricia Christensen.

Sidney Lodge #85 is the first lodge in Domain of Washington to initiate women as members. The group to the left just completed their Rank of Esquire.

The Pythian Sister Temple in Port Orchard, Washington closed due to multiple deaths. The remaining sisters were left with traveling long distances to attend temple sessions. As such, two sisters decided to join the men in the corresponding Pythian Lodge, Sidney #85 in Washington, along with one man and four new women members. The women were already attending a lot of the Pythian events, so giving them the opportunity to join with the men made perfect sense. This is a big boost to the lodge membership.

Pennsylvania honors two Brothers with 50-year honors

Pennsylvania honors two Brothers with  50-year honors

On Saturday, April 29, 2023, Defiance Lodge #335 held its Annual Ladies Night at the Northampton Valley Country Club in Richboro, PA where we honor and thank our ladies for all they do for us. After a fine Social Hour and Dinner our Chancellor Commander, John Duggan and the Secretary of the Lodge, Charles “Corky Swartz, III presented 50 Year Certificates and Pins to our Brothers PGC John “Eric” Johnson, DSC and I. Edgar Fulmor who is currently serving as the Grand Chancellor of Pennsylvania.

Read and Ride Program

Read and Ride Program

Gaston lodge #104 presented 14 bikes and 100 helmets to the students at the Gaston elementary school on May 5, 2023. The bikes were presented to students who read extra books during a 3-week period. The awards were given during an assembly of the whole student body. The lodge had 5 members present to give 14 bikes to kindergarten through 6th grade book readers.

Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

Annual  Cherry Blossom Festival

Robert C. "Toad" Hayes Memorial Lodge #174, Cherryville, North Carolina participated in the Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, April 21 and 22, 2023. This is a community "Kick-Off" to the start of summer. The Lodge hosted a very successful food tent and sold hamburgers, hotdogs, funnel cakes and fried oreos. All proceeds support the Lodge Scholarship fund.

Special Olympics Medal Presentations

Special Olympics Medal Presentations

On March 4, 2023, members of the Grand Lodge of Florida Knights of Pythias and the Pythian Youth Foundation presented Director Rick Fleming, host of the event, checks totaling $5,000.00: Pythian Youth Foundation, Inc. $3,000, and the Smoller' Fund, Inc. $2,000. The event was held at the William T. Dwyer High School. We handed out hundreds of PythianSpecial Olympic Medals to all athletes participating in the various events; there were no losers. One and all had an awesome time, and I look forward to next Year’s Summer Games.

Haunted House Since 1989

Haunted House Since 1989

The Knights from Cheyenne Lodge #122 and Capital City Lodge #123 along with the Pythian Sisters Cheyenne Temple #1 have been putting on a haunted house as their major fundraiser since 1989. The only time the haunted house has not operated was 2020 due to the pandemic. Thanks to the efforts of a wonderful group of volunteers the haunted house runs for 10 or 11 nights every October in the basement of the Pythian Castle basement built in 1888. The proceeds from the haunted house are then used to help support charities in the Cheyenne area.

The Massachusetts Grand Lodge is now on the Supreme Site!

The Massachusetts Grand Lodge

Knights of Pythias

https://www.pythias.org/massachusetts-grand-lodge

We have some exciting news to share with you! The Massachusetts Grand Lodge has moved its website to a new home on the Supreme Lodge Site at https://www.pythias.org/massachusetts-grand-lodge. This means that the Grand Lodge can enjoy a free and secure web presence, thanks to the generous offer from Supreme Chancellor Mark Mead. The Supreme Lodge also thanks Supreme Secretary Allen S. Morris, the Massachusetts Grand Secretary, for his assistance in this endeavor. This is a great opportunity for all grand lodges to publish events and announcements on the web and connect easily with existing and prospective members. Please join us in welcoming the Massachusetts Grand Lodge to the Grand Site!

We invite other Grand Lodges who do not wish to maintain their website to contact the Supreme Lodge. Your Grand Lodge and Subordinate Lodges can have web space and assistance in posting updates.

Join Us and Serve Your Community

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to share some of the fantastic things happening in our communities lately. You know how they say, "Be the change you wish for your community"? Well, that's exactly what we've been doing!

 

The Knights of Pythias have been organizing events, fundraisers, socials, and more to make our community a better place for everyone. We've been spreading kindness, generosity, and positivity wherever we go. We've been supporting, learning from each other, and growing together.

 

But we're not done yet! There's still so much more we can do to make a difference. That's why I'm inviting you to join us in our next projects. Joining the Knights of Pythias is a wonderful opportunity to meet new people, share skills, and have fun.

 

If you want to join us, please sign up on our website or contact any Knight. We have lodges across the United States and internationally. We can assist you in creating a new lodge in your area if one does not exist. All you need is a willingness to help others and a passion for change.

 

I hope to see you soon in pictures and in person at the community events. Together, we can make our community a safer, healthier, and happier place. Remember: be the change you wish for your community!