Happy December, all you “odd” people! Check out our 2 NEW Holiday events, below.
East Bay Symphonic Band’s Open Rehearsal
The East Bay Symphonic Band, which practices weekly at the lodge, invites you to their Open Rehearsal on Monday Dec. 5 at 7:30 pm, in the lodge hall. There will be a holiday flare! Masks and proof of negative test or vaccination is required. See image below or flyer attached.
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December Holiday Outing: Thurs. Dec. 8 at 6:30 pm
This month, after getting into the holiday spirit with music at the EBSB’s Open Rehearsal, we will then take a field trip to get more holiday spirit by seeing the lights on the local Meek Mansion! Hayward Area Historical Society (HAHS) and Hayward Area Recreation District (HARD) are hosting this event on Thurs. Dec. 8 from 5:30-7:30 pm at the Meek Estate Park: 240 Hampton Rd, Hayward, CA 94541. Odd Fellows will meet on the front steps at 6:30 pm. HARD is planning fun activities, hot chocolate, and a self-guided tour through the Victorian-style Meek Mansion decorated festively for the holidays. There is no charge, but a suggested $5 donation at the door is appreciated. See image below or flyer attached.
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Peace & Pizza Fri. Dec. 9 at 7 pm
Peace & Pizza meets monthly on Zoom, always on the second Friday of the moth. They usually feature a discussion, guest speaker or documentary, organized by Sycamore Member Stephania Widger at oceankayak@aol.com
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Social & Business Meeting Mon. Dec. 12 at 6:30/7:30
Our monthly Lodge Social and Business meetingis always on the second Monday of the month – the Social starts at 6:30 and the meeting at 7:30. Alas, we are still doing it via Zoom, although we know that many people are getting tired of the remote stuff. Come visit and say hi for a bit, or stay and find out what is going on at the business meeting. The Zoom link, agenda etc. will be sent out closer to Monday. Let me or Noble Grand Gary Howe or Secretary Laura Brady know if you have an item that you wish the lodge to discuss. I will send out the agenda and all the additional items to members via a separate email on Monday.
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2023 Events being planned
The lodge Special Outing Committee is hoping to have one Special Outing a month in 2023. Here are some of the possible events:
- Tour of the Historic Linekin Building
- Visit to local wine shops
- Visit to local Art Galleries – Sun Gallery, John O’Lague Galleria
- Visit to Sulphur Creek Nature (if open)
- Lodge Open House – if there is enough interest, see below
- No-host outdoor lunch at the Castro Valley Marketplace
- Visit to Carlos Bee Park (or other park)
- Hayward Area Historical Society visit
- Visit to the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center (if open)
- Visit to the Ghirardelli Outlet and get no-host ice cream
- Japanese Garden visit
If you have a special interest in any of these, or have ideas of outings you would like to participate in, or if you would like to help plan these events, please let the Committee Chair Julie Machado know by replying to this newsletter or emailing her at juliemac@pacbell.net
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2023 Lodge Open House?
Is there interest in having a lodge Open House in 2023? It could be a simple or more complicated event, but either way it would require the participation of a number of people to plan and attend the event as lodge members/hosts. If you are willing to help with this, please reply to this newsletter or contact Julie at juliemac@pacbell.net If there is enough interest, we will schedule one.
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2023 Clean Up Day?
Is there interest in having a lodge clean up day? Much of the lodge has not been used for the last 2 years, and there is some dusting and spiffing up to do. If you are willing to help with this, please reply to this newsletter or contact Julie at juliemac@pacbell.net . If there is enough interest, we will schedule one.
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Report on recent 2022 Lodge Events
Sycamore’s resident big band 3 O’Clock Jump has wrapped up their season playing at the nearby Turf Club outdoor Tikki lounge. They hope to return on Saturday afternoons in the Spring.
We had a nice turnout of about a dozen people on Sunday. Oct. 30 to explore the Sycamore cemetery plots in South Hayward. While we were there, we shared a toast to Sycamore’s 156th Anniversary.
We also had about ten people join the Friday Nov. 11 tour of the Hayward Veterans Memorial Building. We worked with Alfredo Rodriguez to open their building to public tours for Veteran’s Day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2022 Activities Calendar
Here’s the Events & Activities calendar for the rest of the year on our website here . We are working on the 2023 calendar.
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Looking for Volunteers to support your Lodge
We are still looking for a few volunteers. We have a few spots where we could use some help in running the lodge, if you are interested in stepping up with a few hours a month.
We have an elected Trustee position that is opening up: the five Trustees meet usually once a month for an hour and are mainly in charge of deciding on and recommending to the lodge on issues regarding our beautiful lodge building. This would be a 2-3 year position.
Also, we will need people to fill appointed positions such as Inside Guardian, Outside Guardian, Warden, Chaplain, Right Supporter, and Left Supporter, which sometimes involve reading lines at the monthly lodge meeting (and sitting in the big chairs, when we meet in person!); these are yearly positions.
Also, we re-elect our Noble Grand, Vice Grand, Secretary and Treasurer every year.
If you are interested or willing to do any of these positions, or want to know more, please contact me (Julie – reply to this newsletter) or our Noble Grand Gary Howe at c)510-427-5596
We will be doing installations for all the positions in January 2023.
As always, Friendship, Love & Truth,
Julie Machado
Sycamore #129
Communications Committee, Chair