Around the year 1955 a fraternal visit was instigated between Jefferson Lodge No. 553 of St. Clair Shores, Michigan and Grand River Lodge No. 151. The minutes as recorded in 1955 read as follows: that on October 29, 1955 the Worshipful Master O. M. Keffer accompanied by approximately 30 officers and members journeyed by bus to Jefferson Lodge No. 553. Lodge was opened in the First Degree and Grand River Lodge exemplified the Entered Apprentice Degree for the benefit of the Jefferson Lodge brethren. We have travelled back and forth for over 50 years.
The year 1961 was an important milestone in the history of Grand River Lodge as it signalled the completion of 100 years of its existence. W. Bro. George Jaggs was Worshipful Master. Many special events were scheduled, one of which being a reception for Most Worshipful Bro. R. W. Treleaven on September 26th, 196 1. Another event of note was a degree team of Past District Deputy Grand Masters of Wellington District, headed by the dean of the district, R.W. Bro. E. Flath, who initiated our centennial candidate W. Bro. Roland D. Barrett. Lodge equipment and paraphernalia was replaced with gold plated trim, mostly by donations from other lodges and individual masons.
Rt. Wor. Bro. Frank Barrett was elected Grand Registrar in 1961 and represented Grand Lodge in a very capable manner. He continued for many years as an ambassador.
In 1965 the City of Kitchener advised the Temple Board Directors that they wished to purchase the Temple property for use as a secondary school which was named Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute. Sale of the property was subsequently made and temporary accommodation was arranged with Waterloo Lodge at 6 Princess Street South. On June 14th, 1966, W. Bro. Harold Rothaermel, the secretary made this notation in the minute book at the close of the last meeting in the Cameron St. Temple: “and so ends another chapter in the long history of Grand River Lodge. This is our last meeting in this lodge room which we have considered our Masonic Home from October 1957 to June 1966. This building was laid to the wreckers hammer. Buildings come and go but Masonry will march on so long as men seek the truth and better way of life. This is not the end of the book but only the end of a chapter”.
January 1st, 1970, dues were increased to $20.00 for local members and $14.00 for those residing outside Waterloo County, with a discount of $2.00 if paid by May 1st. In 1996 the dues are $ 100.00 for local members. If paid before February 1st of the current year there is a $20.00 reduction. For out of district members and members who have attained the age of 65 years and have been a member of The Grand River Lodge No. 151 for 25 years, the 1996 dues are $85.00 and reduced to $65.00 if paid before February 1st of the current year. There is a yearly increase of $5.00 each year until 1998. The cost for initiation in 1996 is $250.00 and to affiliate the cost is $35.00.
In 1954 Rt. Wor. Bro. Allen C. Mason was elected District Deputy Grand Master (D.D.G.M.) of Wellington District. He served as Master of Grand River Lodge No. 151 in 1936 and again in 1952. Rt. Wor. Bro. Mason passed away on March 24th, 1970. District Secretary for 1954 was Wor. Bro. Harold Rothaermel who was appointed a Grand Steward the following year.
In 1970 Wellington District split with two Districts coming into being. The name Wellington District remained with Wellington County. The twelve lodges in Waterloo County became Waterloo District. The first District Deputy Grand Master of Waterloo District was Rt. Wor. Bro. Garfield Weber who was a member of Ayr Lodge No. 172. Since 1970, Waterloo District has grown to 17 lodges. Heritage Lodge became a roving research lodge in 1988. Sixteen lodges remain in Waterloo District.
In 1972 the Lodge was again moved, this time to a brand new temple at 440 Weber St. N. Waterloo. This temple was built to accommodate all of the lodges in the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo. On April 7th, 1972,the new lodge rooms were dedicated by Most Wor. Bro. Win. K. Bailey assisted by many Grand Lodge officers and distinguished brethren. Grand River Lodge acted as the host lodge assisted by Temple Lodge No. 690, Waterloo Lodge No. 539 and Twin City Lodge No. 509. Two hundred and forty masons from a parts of the Grand Jurisdiction sat down to the banquet which followed.
1973 saw the election of Rt. Wor. Bro. Robert J. Carse to the office of District Deputy Grand Master of Waterloo District, an office which he filled to the betterment of Masonry in general and to Grand River Lodge in particular. He passed away August 23, 1989. The District Secretary was Wor. Bro. Harvey Krueger who was appointed a Grand Steward the following year.
In 1978 Brother Alex H. Welker was presented with his 75th Year Pin. He joined Grand River in 1903 and received his 50 Year Pin in 1953. His brother, Franklin Edward Welker had previously been presented with his 50 Year Pin. Alex was born in July, 1883 and died June of 1983, 4 weeks short of being 100 years old. Alex and A. B. Pollock joined together to form Pollock/Welker Industries, the forerunner of Electrohome.
In 1980 Rt. Wor. Bro. Ralph Green was elected Grand Registrar and served the office well. He was elected to the Board of General Purposes several terms and held various chairs with this assembly of Masons.
On Feb. 10, 1981 Rt. Wor. Bro. Frank Barrett had the honour of installing his son, Roland, as Master of Grand River Lodge. James Cameron served his first term as Master in 1982 and his second in 1994. Norman Platz, owner of Stephen’s Jewelers, was Master in 1983, and his father-in-law, William Woodend, was Master in 1985. Nobody will forget Bill’s handle-bar moustache, fine deportment and booming voice. During Norman Platz’s term the Installation was changed from February to June, in order to ease the travel problems of the many visitors which we generally welcome.
In 1984, when Don Steeles was Master a Cowan successfully passed a Board of Trial and sat in Lodge one night with us….even though the Board of Trial consisted of three Right Worshipful Brothers! No permanent harm was done but it was a little embarrassing for the Master when the true situation later became known.
In 1985 the lodge through its Benevolent Committee donated money to the North Waterloo District Boy Scouts to build a cabin at Camp Everton. In recognition they named the cabin “Grand River Lodge”. Through the Benevolent Committee the Lodge has helped many local causes through the years, including all the local hospitals.
On Saturday, November 15th, 1986, The Grand River Lodge celebrated its 125th Anniversary, The Worshipful Master was Wor. Bro. Warren Wolfe, Senior Warden, Bro. Kenneth Gardner and Junior Warden, Bro. Norman Bobier. Lodge opened at 4 p.m. and the present Altar Cloth was dedicated by Most Wor. Bro. Ronald E. Groshaw. Following the dedication ceremony a 125th Anniversary Reception was held at The Waterloo Motor Inn where many Grand Lodge Officers and their ladies shared the occasion. The Lodge donated two Red Maple trees to the Temple Co. as a living memorial to this anniversary. They still stand at the front of the property.
Rt. Wor. Bro. Arthur G. Wolfe was elected District Deputy Grand Master of Waterloo District in 1987 and worked diligently for the betterment of Masonry within and outside the district. Rt. Wor. Bro. Wolfe died in 2003. The District Secretary in 1987 was Wor. Bro. William J. Parker who was honoured by being appointed as a Grand Steward the following year.
Brant Lodge # 663 of Burlington visited in 1988 while Ken Gardner was Master, and later that year, while Norman Bobier was Master, the Scottish Rite Degree Team visited. In the 1989 the lodge bought a computer with a 40 Megabyte hard drive.
In appreciation for his many years of Masonic support and for his musical ability on the organ, V.W. Bro. Vincent B. Whitehead was appointed Grand Organist in 1990 to the pleasure of the Brethren of Grand River Lodge. Later that year, Most Wor. Bro. David Bradley visited and was made an honourary life member of Grand River Lodge. He was also given a gallon of maple syrup.
April 14, 1992 was Grand River’s 1500th meeting and John Dickie was Worshipful Master. In December of that year the Diabetic Clinic of KW Hospital was refurbished and a plaque recognizing the support of Grand River Lodge was installed. In May, 1993, while Al Pomeroy was Master, we hosted a visit from Temple Lodge #690, and they conferred a degree in our lodge.
The Grand Master, Most Wor. Bro. Norman E. Byrne attended Roy Chadwick’s installation in June 1993. Earlier that day, at CKCO TV, he taped interviews to be used at any Masonic function. This was accomplished through the efforts of Grand River brethren Don Wilcox, Garry Holmlund, and Henning Grumme.
That year the Scottish Degree Team from St. Catherines visited and Wor. Bro. Allan Baker donated a collection of books to start a Masonic library.
December 13, 1994 saw Grand River Lodge with the assistance of Rt.W. Bro. Donald Attridge, District Deputy Grand Master of Waterloo District present ten members with their 50 Year Pins. Bro. Max Neuman who was unable to attend was presented with his 60 Year Pin at his home. In 1996, Bro. Claude Dubrick, founder of Dubrick Realty was presented with his 60 year pin. He passed away in 2005.
In 1996, while Gary Holmlund was Master, W. Bro. Norman Bobier was honoured by Grand Lodge when Most Wor. Bro. Durward Greenwood appointed him Grand Standard Bearer and commented "that because of his steadfast loyalty to the craft and the service to our lodge this honor is being bestowed upon you". Along with his long service as Secretary of Grand River Lodge and in various District roles, he had led Waterloo District to raise $6000 to buy and train a Seeing Eye dog.
W. Bro. Kevin Brooks sat in the East in 1997 and we often surmised that if W. Bro. Rene Shuts and W. Bro. Brooks did all the work we could put an Entered Apprentice Degree on and finish it in half the time that it normally takes.
Grand River went through some lean times for candidates in the nineties. We often had to exemplify degrees to keep current. In fact Bro. Werner Czurlok set a record for receiving second degrees: between 1991 and 1994, he was passed four times! Wor. Bro. Harlen Whetham had to be Master twice in a row in 1998-9, an occurrence that had not happened in Grand River Lodge in over one hundred years. He did a fine job and went on to become District Secretary in 2004 and a Grand Steward in 2005.
In 2002-3 first Doug Richardson, and then his son, Don Richardson, assumed the chair of King Solomon. When Doug Richardson was a junior officer he moved from Kitchener to the family farm in Chatsworth. Despite the commute he continued to serve as a faithful officer. During his year as Master he never missed a meeting of Grand River Lodge nor an Official visit or Installation due to bad weather. It is calculated that he drove over 18,000 km to attend lodge meetings that year.
Don Fisken, a retired engineer at Uniroyal in Elmira, was Master in 2000 at the same time that he was First Principal of the Royal Arch.
In 2001 Dr. David Cameron, a local physician, was installed as Master in the presence of the Grand Master, Most Wor. Bro. Robert McKibbon. Wor. Bro. Cameron is the son-in-law of Rt. Wor. Bro. James Hanna, PDDGM of London East, a connection which helped entice St. John’s Lodge No. 20 to visit and exemplify an Irish Third Degree on W. Bro. Cameron. During his tenure regular monthly Masonic Education was revived. He started when he was Junior Warden by presenting ethnic food preceded a talk on some related aspect of Masonry (e.g. Arabic food and a talk on the Shrine) calling it “education through the stomach”. In 2005 he was made Assistant Grand Chaplain and became editor of The Newsletter of the Committee on Masonic Education. He was also a charter member and fourth Master of the daylight lodge, New Light No. 744. In 2007 he was elected to the Board of General Purpose and received the position of Past Grand Senior Warden which gave him the title of R.W.. He was also given the chair of Grand Lodge’s Committee on Masonic Education. On June 11, 2002 he presided at our 1600th regular meeting.
Rt. Wor. Bro. Roy Chadwick was elected DDGM for Waterloo District for 2003, a position which he served with distinction. He led the District to raise over $ 11,000 for a local substance abuse support group.
Jim Harvey, an official with the United Steelworkers Union, became Master in 2004. He presided over a set of officers of whom four were native Scots. When listening to a degree, one sometimes wondered which country we were in.
In 2005, Bro. Grant Fotheringham, a faithful member of Grand River Lodge became Potentate of Mocha Shrine, and the Ceremonial was held in Kitchener.
In 2005 W. Bro. Robert Callander became Master. On Tuesday, April 14, 2006 Grand River Lodge held a special evening to honour V. Wor. Bro. Norman Bobier on his reaching 50 Years A Mason. Most Wor. Bro. Gary L. Atkinson was in attendance and presented V. Wor. Bro. Bobier with his 50 Year Pin. During his speech he told the brethren to follow the examples of V. Wor. Bro. Bobier. He is in every sense of the word – a true Freemason! Twenty-four hours a day – Seven days a week – he lives by the principles and teachings that this fraternity is founded on.
The year 2006 saw W. Bro. Bob Rischel in the East. Capt. Bob was a career soldier who had been initiated in Trenton and brought his marching precisions and skills as a manger to Grand River Lodge.
W. Bro. Rene Schuts took over the next year. During these years we had about a dozen initiations and year, and Rene’s speed of diction let us do several degrees each night and still be home at a decent hour. Who else could do the Junior Warden’s lecture in 12 minutes?
When W. Bro. Derek Wildfong joined the lodge we wondered what we were in for as he had hair down to his waist. As a junior officer he volunteered to have his head shaved for charity, and he gave all the hair to an organization that makes wigs for children undergoing chemotherapy. His great great uncle had been a member of Grand River Lodge in 1900. His former military training put him in good stead in organizing and drilling us in the Ritual.
W. Bro. William Kelly, who had once lived in Castle Dean in Scotland, brought the brogue back to the chair in 2009.
W. Bro. Ian Spence’s company does laser etching. He produced the wine glasses we will use at our 150th Anniversary. W. Bro. Spence worked very hard during his year as Master. It showed with the respect that his officers had for him and in the quality of the work that was done. R.W. Bro. Richard Kaufman reported to Most Worshipful Bro. Raymond S. J. Daniels that he had never witnessed a degree that was done as well as Grand River Lodge performed it.
In 2011 Grand River Lodge was invited to join an organization which called themselves Association of River Lodges. Most of the lodges are in England. After
receiving permission from our Grand Lodge we made application and were accepted.
Our sesquicentennial year saw W. Bro. David Byers in the Chair of King Solomon. On Oct. 22 we formally celebrated this anniversary. Lodge was opened at 3:00 pm with the Grand Master, M.W. Bro. D. Garry Dowling in attendance. Over eighty Masons were present including both Grand Wardens, twenty-five other Grand Lodge Officers and delegations from Jefferson Lodge, No. 553, St. Clair Shores, Michigan and la Loge des Coeurs Unis, No. 45, Montreal, Quebec. The Grand Master commented on this visitation by our brethren from grand jurisdictions to the East and the West of us. A new VOSL was donated by VW Bro. Norman Bobier and it was dedicated along with new officers' collars and wands. A wall hanging made by Bro. Harold Miller's mother was presented by W. Bro. Les Brown. In the evening a gala banquet was held which was said by many to have had the best food of all the banquets this year. Additional guests at the banquet were M.W. Bro. Raymond S.J. Daniels, IPGM and M.W. Bro. Ronald E. Groshaw who presided at our 125th Anniversary.
For the first 55 years from 1861 to 1916, it was customary to elect a secretary from amongst the Brethren in the north and south. The Brother served for at least one year and sometimes 2 to 3 years before starting his journey towards the East. Not all secretaries aspired to the master’s chair.
Bro. Peter Fisher was elected and invested as secretary in 1917 and served the office faithfully for the next 35 years and until 1951. Bro. Fisher was awarded the William Mercer Wilson Medal in 1947, the second year of its existence. This medal is the highest honour a brother who is not a past master can receive and is given for Masonic service far beyond the usual expected of an officer or a member.
VW Bro. Harold Rothaermel performed the duties of the office for the next 23 years and until 1974 with a remarkable attendance record and a disciplined attention to detail.
Rt. W. Bro. Frank L. Barrett, a world traveller filled the office to the requirements of Grand River Lodge for the next 13 years, retiring in 1987. W. Bro. Donald Steele held the office for the year 1988.
V. W. Bro. Norman Bobier has been performing the duties of this office since 1989 in a very commendable and efficient manner and continues to serve to this revision.
In the beginning there were 12 charter members. This nucleus steadily grew to 410 members in 1931. During the great depression and halfway through World War II, until 1943, membership declined to 346. The next 13 years saw a surge in membership. In 1947, 33 new members were initiated. They also did 21 Second Degrees and 18 Thirds that year! Membership in our lodge peaked in 1955 at 447 members. By the late 1990’s our membership had dropped to 141, but in the twenty-first century we have seen a dramatic turn-around. In 2005, while Jim Harvey was Master, there were 13 initiations, including five on one day.
Afternoon Program in Lodge
Lodge (Masons only): 3:00 pm
440 Weber St. North, Waterloo
Open Lodge
Bring in visitors
History of the Lodge – Rolland Barrett
Presentation of 50 year pins to W. Bros. R. Barrett and C. Atkinson
Presentation of new VOSL – VW Bro. Norman Bobier
Dedication of new collars, wands and VOSL
Presentation of Wall Hanging – W. Bro. Harold Miller
Closing
Banquet Program
Social Hour: 5:00 p.m.
Banquet: 6:00 p.m.
St. George’s Hall
665 King St. North, Waterloo
Ladies and Guests Welcome
Welcome - R.W. Bro. Roy Chadwick, PDDGM
Invocation - R.W. Bro. Jeff Hawkins, Grand Chaplain
The Royal Anthem
Toasts: “To The Queen And The Craft” and “To the President of the United States of America”- W. Bro. Eric Ward
Dinner
Introduction of Head Table - R.W. Bro. Roy Chadwick
Introduction of Grand Lodge Officers and Special Guests -
R.W. Bro. David Cameron, PGSW
Toast: “The Grand Master and the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario” - Bro. Mark Ouseley
Response - M.W. Bro. D. Garry Dowling, Grand Master
Appreciation - V.W. Bro. Norman Bobier, PGSB
Introduction of Officers and Past Masters of Grand River Lodge - W. Bro. David Byers, Worshipful Master
Toast: “To Grand River Lodge” - R.W. Bro. Brian Lowery, DDGM Waterloo District
Toast: “To Our Visitors” - Bro. David Wiggins, Jr. Warden
Response – W. Bro. Robert Casaceli, WM Jefferson Lodge No. 553, St. Clair Shores, Michigan
Toast: “To The Ladies” - Bro. David Bate, Sr. Warden
Response - Mrs. Wendy Dowling
Presentation to Mrs. Dowling - Mrs. Joanne Byers
Closing Remarks - R.W. Bro. Roy Chadwick
Junior Warden’s Toast - R.W. Bro. N. Fred Bryant, GJW
The Star Spangled Banner
O Canada
Menu
Minestrone Soup
Mixed Salad
with Italian Dressing
Prime Rib
Gravy boats
Yorkshire Pudding
Roast Potatoes
Mixed Vegetables
Chicken on platters
Mushroom Sauce
Red or White Wine
Assorted Cakes
Coffee and Tea
150th Anniversary Committee
W. Bro. Jim Harvey
R.W. Bro. Roy Chadwick
R.W. Bro. David Cameron
V.W. Bro. Norman Bobier
W. Bro. Ian Spence
W. Bro. David Byers
Bro. David Bate
Bro. David Wiggins