Updates from the Carolina GUOOF “Doing the WORK”

Bro. Page NG
Wayman lodge #1339

Grand United Order of Oddfellows in America and Jurisdiction of South Carolina

I greet you Fellows in the bond of Friendship Love and Truth. Since last I wrote here many things like the seasons, have changed…..The majority of these changes have been for the good as South Carolina has now become a District once again where before we were just a collective of Lodges!

We had a visit from the Honorable Grand Master and in his company we visited our (former) District Grand Lodge in Hartsville.  While there I was presented with a Charter for Wayman Lodge no 1339 for which I am now the Noble Grand! From HGM Green’s hands to mine I realized almost instantly how much progress has been made by my brethren and I for the sake of Oddfellowship!

In case you’re wondering what I mean you can do a simple Google search for the Grand United Order of Oddfellows and nine times out of ten something linked to us will show up. If it isn’t us specifically, it speaks of our Order collectively by the numbers which are less than 3,000 across the entire country and Jurisdiction.

In our heyday, there were 11,000+ men in SC alone, not including the ladies of the Household of Ruth!  Needless to say, we’re not in a state of maintenance because the average member is probably in the 60-80 yrs old! We’re in a state of emergency, as those wise ones go into that forever sleep! We’re all losing a battle for interested candidates to join us because we are stuck in a time zone that doesn’t cater to the youth !

Bro. Jarrett Jenkins and myself put Wayman Lodge in the tattoo shop I own with the hopes that our work would attract new members who want to see, aid, and assist us in our endeavors. And it worked! I am honored that we have brought into the Order it’s two youngest members, twins aged 24, both tattooers that work with us at shop. We started the #oddfellowstattoosociety as a different way to bring more light to the Order.  So much has transpired since then, within the month we have been instrumental in impacting the lives of others just doing what we signed up for, “Visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan” . 

Much needed assistance was provided by simply feeding some underprivileged kids some pizza and taking time to talk to them! We dropped off some educational toys and necessities at the Orphanage and collected a few hundred clothing items to hand out to the homeless veterans who live in the park.

That coupled with teaching the world about who we were, and instilling a sense of pride in being a part of that legacy to members current is not only a job, it’s what we signed up for.  We hit our bumps like everyone else, but we are racing against time and we know and show our purpose.

Ask yourself, what exactly is your purpose in this Order and with a sound mind you’re bound to find solace in your truth. I leave as I came in the bond of Friendship, Love, and Truth!