We’re getting closer to warmer days and now is the time to prepare for lodge activities that can get your members outside and involve their families. Families are important when planning lodge activities. Surveys show that after fellowship and involvement in the community, men interested in joining organizations such as Freemasonry insist that the organization be involved with the family. In fact, research of men between the ages of 35-55 indicates that if an organization is not actively involved with the family, the decision to join becomes much more difficult.

Most importantly, bear in mind that every Mason is told in our degree work that the fraternity will never come before his family.

Including the family in lodge activities may mean as few as five activities a year where the lodge hosts a meaningful and relevant program centered on the needs and expectations of the family. Additional research found that the most appealing activities to wives were special events where children were the center of the activity, while dinners, especially if the wife must prepare a dish, and ladies-night programs were not.

Here are some family-related activities that are included in the lodge Leadership Manual, which you can download at:  http://www.glne.org/pdf/lodgeleadership.pdf .

• Barbeque

• Day at the State or County Fair

• Ladies at the Table Ceremony (call the Grand Lodge office for a copy)

• Ice Cream Social

• Hold a camping trip

• Mother-child bake-off (& dessert party)

• Family Day-Long Field Trip

• Family Day/Night with nearby lodge (park or other outside location)

• Father-child dinner or cookout

• Father-child softball/football/basketball

• Grandparents Night (consider holding it on Grandparents Day whether they are Masons or not)

• Holiday party for kids (Halloween, other holidays with games & activities)

• Host a meeting of wives within the first few months of the year, and the wives of new members within two months from the date their husbands join lodge. Inform them of the activities you have planned, point out activities you would like them to attend and explain Masonry.

• Inform wives about Masonry using a page in your lodge newsletter, or an entire newsletter. Tell her who can belong, what we do, what we support, what happens in lodge and answer their difficult questions. Be sure they also receive a calendar of events for the year.

• Invite wives to lodge to hear a speaker on a topic of interest while you’re meeting

• Picnic (inside or outside)

• Progressive dinner with wives (serve the courses at different member’s homes)

• Sports Day (at local playground, park)

• Weekend out-of-town with wives shop-ping, historic sites, lake parties, etc.

• Widow’s Night or other activity honoring them.