When most people think of secret societies, they picture flowing robes, archaic symbols and dark incantations chanted in Latin. What they probably don’t think about is crafting. On a stormy Thursday night in July, the Burlington Odd Fellows‘ Queen City Lodge buzzed not with spooky rituals but a warm, welcoming energy.
About a dozen people of all ages sat around folding tables, engaged in various art projects — sewing, knitting, collaging. It was Craft & Skillshare Night at the lodge. Folks drifted in and out throughout the evening, and the few who hadn’t met each other before were quick to introduce themselves. This inviting scene has lately become a familiar one at the New North End lodge.
The Burlington Odd Fellows, a social order similar to the Elks and the Eagles, have been around since 1845. The organization they belong to, the International Order of Odd Fellows, dates back to 1819 with even earlier roots. With a mission of community betterment and service to those in need, the group’s motto is “Friendship, Love, and Truth.”
For years, the Odd Fellows’ membership in Burlington and across the country has been dwindling in numbers and prominence. But recently, the Queen City Lodge has seen remarkable growth and is beginning to reclaim its role as a community center.
Ryon Frink, 38, a product manager at Vermont Oxford Network, joined the Burlington Odd Fellows in 2021 and is the current state secretary for the international order. He was drawn to the organization through his involvement with the North End Food Pantry, which operates out of the Queen City Lodge basement. He had been searching for a social group such as the Odd Fellows to join because he recognized that the decline of civic organizations has contributed to people living in greater isolation.
At the time, the Burlington chapter of the Odd Fellows was largely inactive, composed of five or six members. The upstairs portion of the lodge was used for storage, and the food pantry in the basement was the only activity in the building. But Frink immediately saw potential in the space.
“Especially after the COVID lockdowns, and just given the state of general anxiety in the world, people are looking for ways to get out of the house and interact with their neighbors in a real place,” Frink said. “That’s a thing that these organizations used to provide.”
Frink and other new members worked to “get the word out,” he said. They commissioned a mural that transformed the lodge into a New North End landmark and helped raise awareness of the organization. The colorful artwork, which features a banner with the Odd Fellows’ motto and iconography, was done by local artist group Anthill Collective.
Over the past three years, the lodge has grown in membership from six to 55 members, including Burlingtonians and others who live up to an hour away. Members pledge friendship to each other and all who belong to the international order, which encompasses 60,000 people in 30 countries.
As part of the initiation for new members, the Odd Fellows perform secret rituals, which Frink compared to “community theater performances.” During these ceremonies, members don antique costumes ranging from 100 to 150 years old and put on plays that teach “some of the specific principles of the Odd Fellows as an organization,” Frink said. People have a lot of fun with the tradition, which contributes to the “secret society” aspect of the Odd Fellows, he said.
Alongside their mission of public service, the Odd Fellows maintain a tight-knit community built on trust, providing a safe, welcoming and private space for members to be themselves during meetings.
“We are here to be friends with each other.” Ash MacKenzie
Ash MacKenzie works in digital services for the State of Vermont and is a newer Odd Fellows member who was inducted last year. The 31-year-old emphasized the importance of maintaining a non-performative space in the age of social media.
“There’s no audience of people that you don’t know. Everybody who’s there had to have been inducted into our organization,” MacKenzie said. “The idea is that we are here to be friends with each other.”
Although member meetings are private, most events at the lodge are open to the public. “We aren’t just focused on the internal club,” Frink said. “We’re focused on building community at large.”
Along with supporting the North End Food Pantry, which operates independently but maintains close ties with the Odd Fellows, the Burlington lodge puts on a variety of community programming, from games for kids on Sundays to plant swaps to live music.
The lodge has a history as a music venue. In the early 2000s, the Odd Fellows rented the space to bands for live shows, which “got way too chaotic,” Frink said. “But now, there’s a lot of folks in town who very fondly remember coming to shows here in their youth … and are now wanting to help it be a more sustainable experience.”
The local punk scene in particular has embraced the lodge. On July 5, Odd Fest! featured eight local bands and a craft and flea market. The event drew more than 300 people and raised $2,700 in donations for the food pantry.
All Odd Fellows programming is free or by donation. Alcohol and drugs, including nicotine, are strictly prohibited. MacKenzie said the group by no means condemns the use of substances in other settings, but “it’s just not part of who the Odd Fellows are.”
Another thing that stays outside the lodge? Discussion of politics or religion. “It’s one of our more important ground rules that allows us to pull this off,” Frink said. “You pretend [politics] doesn’t exist while you’re inside the building so that you can all just kind of hang out and be together. And, you know, the next weekend you might be on opposite sides of a protest. And so be it.”
The original print version of this article was headlined “Hi, Society | Burlington Odd Fellows reclaims its role as a community hub in the New North End”
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