RIDGEFIELD DAYLIGHT LODGE NO. 237

Chartered: June 15, 1921

Lodge History

             Ridgefield Lodge No. 237, located in Ridgefield, Washington, was sponsored by Woodland Lodge No. 217, Woodland, Washington.

             On October 29, 1920 M.W. Grand Master James H. Begg granted a request for dispensation by William S. Miller and fifteen others for a Lodge of Masons in Ridgefield, Washington.

             On  June 15, 1921 Ridgefield Lodge No. 237 was chartered with twenty three members.

             The M.W. Grand Master John Gifford and M.W. Brother James H. Begg. Grand Lecturer, as his Special Deputy, constituted the Lodge on July 25, 1921 and installed  its officers: W.M. William S. Miller; S.W. Walter E. Lentz and J.W. Phillip J. Frewing.

             Originally, Lodge was held every Monday night in the I.O.O.F. hall upstairs on the corner of Pioneer Avenue and Main Street in downtown Ridgefield.  In 1964 the Lodge decided to plan a temple of their own and appointed a building committee.  Early in 1967 the Temple Corporation by-laws were passed and approved by the then M.W. Grand Master Haskell Johns.

             The Cornerstone was laid on April 13, 1968 during a special communication of the M.W. Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington.  M.W. Audley F. Mahaffrey Grand Master and W.M. Lloyd Hinds Master of Ridgefield Lodge No. 237, were the most prominent in attendance.

             The Temple was completed in 1971 and was located at 210 South 8th Street, with meetings on the first and third Mondays of the month at 8:oo PM.  Membership at that time was 72 and the officers were: W.M. Philip C. Caples, S.W. Robert D. Ray and J.W. William A David.

             Due to loss of rent from the Ridgefield Eastern Star Chapter (which merged with Martha Washington Chapter) and the Ridgefield Rainbow Assembly.  The Lodge was no longer able to afford the building.  A motion to sell the building was made at a stated communication of the Lodge held on October 7, 1991.

             That motion was voted on at a stated communication held on November 4, 1991.  That motion passed and the Temple building was put on the market.  The building was sold in the summer of 1992.  The decision to move the meetings to and rent space from the Vancouver Masonic Center was made in late spring of 1992.

             The by-laws of the Lodge were changed to reflect the new meeting location and the meetings to be held on the first Saturday of the month at 9:00 AM with the Lodge being dark during the months of July and August.  Ridgefield Lodge became Ridgefield Daylight Lodge, the third daylight in the Grand Jurisdiction of Washington.

             A subsequent by-laws change was made and the meeting time was changed to 10:00 AM on the first Saturday of the month with the lodge being dark in the months of December and January.

Further changes in the by-laws changed the election of officers to the June stated meeting with the installation of officers to take place no later the Lodge’s stated communication in September.

             Current membership of Ridgefield Daylight Lodge No. 237 is 60 members.  The lodge enjoys an average turnout of members at stated meetings that regularly exceeds 40% of the membership.  In addition the Lodge has gained a reputation as a “friendly” Lodge and is often graced with many visiting brothers from other area Lodges.

             Ridgefield Daylight Lodge participates in the “Operation Outreach-USA” in the Ridgefield elementary schools and attempts to have an entry in the annual Ridgefield 4th of July parade.  In 2003 Ridgefield’s entry of the Grand Lodge Masonic Float won the Grand Marshall’s award.