Odd Fellows lodge formed in Lehigh

Newly elected officers of the Lehigh Acres Odd Fellows Lodge No. 2009 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows are from left to right, Janice Martin, treasurer; Michael Crouchelli, vice grand; Edward Potter, grand master of the Grand Lodge of Florida, installing officer; Bill Martin, noble grand and Gerald Pokorny, secretary. Many distinguished guests were present from throughout the state for the institution of the new lodge,the election and installation of the new officers. Photo by Ada Thompson
Lehigh Acres Odd Fellows Lodge 2009 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, under the jurisdiction of the Florida Grand Lodge was recently instituted in Lehigh by the Florida Grand Lodge officers.
Meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of the month at 3 p.m. at the Masonic Temple on Ashlar Ave.
Anyone wishing to become a member can stop at the Hall and pick up an application form or contact a member, said Ada M. Thompson, a spokeswoman with the group.
This is the first Odd Fellows Lodge in Lehigh, she said. there has been a Rebekah Lodge here since February 1975. The nearest Odd Fellows Lodge is in Punta Gorda.
The Odd Fellows is a fraternal order, originating in England as a Universal Brotherhood established to protect the window and the orphan; to bury the dead; to help each other in want; to improve and elevate the character of man and woman.
The IOOF is identified with the three links of Friendship, Love and Truth.
Some 15 people received the four degrees of Odd Fellowship in a one-day session, through the technology of a modern DVD issued by the Sovereign Grande Lodge. The unwritten work was exemplified by Bill Martin of Lehigh, a Past Grand Master.
Grand Lodge officers installed the following offers of the local lodge: Noble Grand, Bill Martin; Vice Grand, Michael Crouchelli; Secretary, Gerald Pokorny, Treasurer, Janice Martin,; Right Supporter, Noble Grand Ernst Blatter; Left Supporter, Noble Grand, Rebecca Darcy; Right Supporter, Vice Grand, Ed Potter; Left Supporter, Vice Grand, Helena Drazez; Warden, Geneva Griffis; Conductor, Ada M. Thompson; Chaplain, May Thurston; Inside Guardian, Arthur Pokorny; Outside Guardian Frank Lanzetti; Right Scene Supporter, Alice Ledicauskas; Left Scene Supporter, Aletha Chalker.
The installation team of Grand Lodge officers are: Grand Master, Ed Potter, Cape Coral; Deputy Grand Master, Horace LePrell, Jacksonville; Grand Secretary, Aldo Farradez, Hialeah; Grand Warden, Hector Obregan, Miami; Grand Chaplain, John DeVore, Tarpon Springs; Grand Treasurer, Ed Morrow, Tallahassee; Grand Parliamentarian, Pepe Garcia, Miami; Assistant Grand Guardian, Charles Adams, Winter Haven; Grand Marshal John Zeleny, Miami; and Grand Herald Ernst Blatter, Punta Gorda
Distinguished guests present were president of the Rebekah Assembly of Florida, Virginia Elliott, Lake Panasofkee; Grand Matriarch, Grand Ladies Encampment, Geneva Griffis, North Fort Myers; President, Ladies Auxiliary Patriarch Militant, Lady Myrna Waite, Zephyhills; International representative, Marcia Garcia, Miami and the Noble Grand from Fort Dallas Lodge 44.