Serving the Stettler community for more than 100 years, the local Freemasons are opening their doors with an open house this Sunday.
Residents and prospective members are invited to the open house at the Apollo Lodge 27 at 5001 — 52 Street from 2 to 4 p.m.
“We want the community to know we are an open society that serves the community,” said Scott Savage, a member.
“We are not a secret society.”
Established locally in 1908, the Freemasons have assisted with town services, with money for the Stettler Public Library, the Stettler Music Festival and scholarships for students.
“We are strong supporters of local education,” Savage said.
Mason members like to serve the community, and hope to spread that message Sunday, he said.
“People can come and meet members of the Lodge who will explain what Masonry is all about.”
The Eastern Star is the female branch of Freemasonry and is the largest women’s philanthropic association in the world.
Together, the local Freemasons and Eastern Star work side by side as part of the same root organization, Savage said.
Other concordant bodies that meet at Apollo Lodge include the Royal Arch Mason and the Shriners.
Apollo Lodge 27 celebrated its centennial on May 31, 2008.
Fire had destroyed the Lodge building in 1927, along with all the records and contents.
That year, the Lodge assisted in laying the cornerstone of Stettler United Church, which was being established then.
Names of many of the local Freemasons are engraved on this stone.
The first major undertaking of the new Lodge was the sod turning on Sept. 11, 1933, though it wasn’t until Nov. 8 that the cornerstone of the new temple was laid and can be seen on the southwest corner of the present building.
The first meetings of the Apollo Lodge and the Eastern Star were in the new lodge building in January 1934.