Woodmen of the World celebrates 100 years in Cleburne lodge - Cleburne, TX
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WalksfarTX
N 32° 20.903 W 097° 23.228
14S E 651773 N 3580195
Woodmen of the World is celebrating its 100th year at the West Wardville Street lodge from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. The Woodmen will host an open house to showcase the deep history of WOW in the Cleburne community.
Waymark Code: WMYGPK
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 06/14/2018
Views: 1
Cleburne Times Review
“We were chartered in 1891 only a few months after the founding of the organization by Joseph Cullen Root,” said Louis Homesley, member of Celburne WOW. “We have been a part of Cleburne for 125 years though we have only been in the building for 100 years.”
The Cleburne lodge has about 1,200 members and is one of the oldest nonprofit fraternal organizations in the county. With 800,000 members nationwide and an active life insurance company, WOW supports communities and families nationwide, Homesley said.
“Times sure have changed,” Homesley said. “They paid $20,000 for the building in 1912 and raised the dues from a nickel to a dime in order to pay for the building. Nothing quite like that today.”
Saturday’s event includes displays of the WOW’s history in Cleburne and refeshments. The chapter has given back to many parts of the community over the years including American flags to anybody that wants them, and playground equipment to public schools, said Morris Derting, president of the Cleburne chapter.
“We have been a fixture in the community for many years,” Derting said. “Back in the 1950s we used to have a community dance hall upstairs, in the 1970s we held community events in the same room.”
The vision of Woodmen of the World set forth in their charter in 1890 by Root is “to provide communities and members with safeguards for the future.”
WOW has to give back 60 percent of their income to be considered a nonprofit and they leverage that by making donations to schools, fire departments, Meals-on-Wheels of Johnson and Ellis Counties and others, said Derting.
Derting said that after the 9/11 terrorist attacks WOW distributed flags to the entire community and chapters all over the nation spread patriotism as part of their community efforts.
“We are about helping those in need,” Derting said. “We are about helping the community and making it better, and trying to improve ourselves as the years go by.”