Local Lodge History - The History of the Moose - The Birth of Mooseheart

Local Lodge History - The History of the Moose - The Birth of Mooseheart. . , Local Lodge History , The Marietta Moose Lodge was officially chartered on June 1, 1957. The Lodge has been located in four different locations over this time including the basement of Willard School (this building has since been razed), the upper floor of the building that now houses Spagna's in Harmar Village, at Third and Butler (currently the Marietta College PA Program Building), and our current location on Front Street., Our Lodge and Chapter are made up of over 1100 men and women that share a common belief that having fun and helping children, seniors, and the community go hand in hand!, If you are interested in learning more about our Organization, we encourage you to visit one of the following websites… ,

. Mariettamoose1823.com , . Facebook.com/mariettamoose1823 , . Ohiomoose.com , . Mooseintl.org

, The History of the Moose , The Loyal Order of Moose is a fraternal and service organization founded in 1888, with nearly 800,000 men in roughly 1800 Lodges in all 50 states and four Canadian Provinces plus Great Britain and Bermuda., Along with other units of Moose International, The Loyal Order of Moose supports the operation of Mooseheart City and School, a 1000-acre community for children and teens in need. It is located 40 miles west of Chicago. These units also support Moosehaven, a 70-acre retirement community for its members near Jacksonville, Florida. Additionally, Moose Lodges conduct approximately $50 worth of community service (counting monetary donations and volunteer hours worked) annually., The Loyal Order of Moose conducts numerous sports and recreational programs at the Lodge, State and international levels., Though the Moose fraternal organization was founded in the late 1800's with the modest goal of offering men an opportunity to gather socially, it was reinvented during the first decade the 20th century into an organizational dynamo of men and women who set out to build a city that would tighten the futures of thousands of children in need all across North America!, When Dr. John Henry Wilson, a Louisville, Kentucky doctor organized a handful of men into the Loyal Order of Moose in the parlor of his home the spring of 1888. He and his companions did apparently for no other reason than to form a string of social clubs., Lodges were instituted in Cincinnati, St. Louis, and the small Indiana towns of Crawfordsville and Frankfort by the early 1890's, but Dr. Wilson himself became dissatisfied and let the infant order well before the sum of the century was just the two remaining Indiana Lodges that kept the Moose from disappearing altogether, and the fall of 1906, when James J. Davis was invited to enroll into the Crawfordville Lodge. On October 27th, his 33rd birthday, Davis became the 247th member of the Loyal Order of Moose., Davis, a native of Wales who had worked in the Pennsylvania steel mills and had also been a labor organizer. He immediately saw potential to build the tiny Moose fraternity into a force to provide protection and security for a largely working-class membership. At the time or no government "safety net" existed to provide benefits to families of a breadwinner who died or became disabled. Davis proposed to pitch Moose membership as a way to provide such protection at a bargain price: annual dues of $5 to $10. Given a green light and the title of Supreme Organizer Davis and a few colleagues set out to solicit members and organ in Lodge across the United States and Canada. In 1926 the Loyal Order of Moose's presence extended to the United Kingdom with the founding of the Grand Lodge of Britain., Davis' vision proved to be correct. By 1912, the order had grown from 247 members in two Lodges to a mighty 500,000 in more than 1000 Lodges. Davis, newly appointed as the Order's first chief executive bearing the title of Director General realized it was time to make good on the promise. The Moose began a program of paying sick bees to members tool to work., The Birth of Mooseheart , Davis' most ambitious venture to date was the institution of a "Moose Institute" to be centrally located somewhere in the Midwest that would provide a home, schooling and vocational training to members of deceased Moose members., After care consideration of numerous sites, the Moose Supreme Council in late 1912 approved the purchase what was known as Brookline Farm-more than 1000 acres along the dirt surfaced Lincoln Highway between Batavia and North Aurora on the west side of the Fox River, about 40 miles wast of Chicago. Ohio Congressman John Lentz, a member of the Supreme Council, conceived the name Mooseheart for the new community: "This," he said, "will always be the place that the Moose fraternity will collectively pour out its heart, its devotion and sustenance, to the children of its members in need.", So it was on Sunday July 27, 1913, that several thousand Moose men and women gathered under a rented circus tent and placed the cornerstone for Mooseheart., As the march of time went on, Mooseheart opened its doors to all children in need through the Lodge/Chapter sponsorship program. And child, regardless of if they are related to a member, in need can read the words emblazoned on the gates of Mooseheart. Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve!