Mount Zion Lodge No. 12
The Lodge undertook a modest amount of repairs in the 1950’s including painting of the exterior ($350) and shingling of the roof ($421). The Brethren organized card parties in the Hall during the winter of 1958-59 to fund the painting
In 1961 a water line and sewer line were added. The kitchen was remodelled and the Banquet Room floor was painted. Regent Chapter No. 52 contributed $400 toward the cost of improvements and provided new drapes for the Lodge Room in 1962. The washroom was added 1965.
Several individual projects were carried out throughout the 1970’s. A fire escape was built in 1972. Floor joists were replaced in 1974. Forty seats were purchased from Ken Pidgeon’s Theatre for $80 in 1974. The Banquet Room was carpeted in 1976. Bro. Roger Clark and Bro. Don Thompson installed new lights in the Banquet Hall in 1978. W.Bro. Arthur Larkin PM was given a budget of $1200 and was able to arranged insulation for the attic, north end wall and twenty feet along each side. (Minutes, November 1, 1979)
A major renovation was carried out in 1984-85 as a Winter Works Project. The total cost of the work was $47,435.13. The chairman of the Fundraising Committee was W.Bro. Ira Moase PM while the Building Committee was chaired by the Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Don Thompson. The building was raised and a new foundation was poured. The roof was shingled and new siding was added (Interview V.W.Bro. Roger Clark PM, November 23, 1999). The Minutes of the December 6, 1984 state that the project also included new wiring, new plumbing, window and door replacement, new furnace, new flue, and new ceiling. The Lodge borrowed
$9,000 from the Grand Lodge Benevolent Fund in 1985 while the membership pledged to raise $14,000. The Brethren were justifiably proud of the new-look Lodge and plans were made to enter the Masonic Hall in the Rural Beautification Competition. ( Minutes, May 2, 1985)
The Lodge did not celebrate its Centennial in 1978 with great ceremony and based on Lodge Minutes the milestone was not a big deal. Bro. Charles Rogers advised the Brethren in February, 1978 that it was the Lodge’s Centennial. He suggested an ice cream social to celebrate the occasion. The social was held on July 13. The most noteworthy project was the preparation of an impressive framed Scroll displaying the names of the Charter Members, Past Grand Masters, Worshipful Masters since 1878 and the names of the seventy-one members in the Centennial year. The Scroll was prepared by Thomas Hamilton Irving at a cost of $75. W.Bro. Arthur Larkin PM to Mrs. Larkin donated the frame and did the framing. The Brethren of the Lodge also presented a Centennial Plaque featuring the names of the Officers in 1978. The Brethren also resolved to procure and display portraits of all Past Grand Masters from the Lodge as a Centennial Project. Those were proudly displayed on the south wall. During the Visitation of Grand Lodge on September 13, 1978, W.Bro. Carl K. Thompson PM shared a brief history of the Lodge. Coincidentally, one hundred Brethren attended that Communication.