West Nipissing Ouest-Our History

The history of Sturgeon Falls and its masonic lodge, wnpl_00375_p10.jpg

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Ontario. That night, the lodge was overflowing with Grand Lodge Officers, but Right Wor. Bro. Ross Fenton installed the Coronati Lodge as beautifully, as he regularly installs the Sturgeon Falls Lodge officers. At the end of April 1979, the Sturgeon River flooded and all of Field Ontario was submerged under water, including the telephone office, which couldn't even be saved by the sand-bagging efforts of the Army. Bob McConkey and his staff had to finally pull the power to the Bell Telephone office, and the whole community was without telephone service. The Emergency Measurer's Organization, headed by Walter R. Cockburn, organized the evacuation, crime prevention, boat shuttle service and food kitchens, during the disaster. The power house at the Sturgeon Falls mill also sustained damage and Lake Nipissing levels were high enough to cause many residents in North Bay to sandbag their homes. On April 9th 1987, Right Wor. Bro. George C. Warren made his "Official Visit", with his secretary, Wor. Bro. Haig F. Clark. Right Wor. Bro. George Warren had been a steady, reliable lodge worker and helped in running the lodge, during many lean years. He and his travelling companion, Very Wor. Bro. Ernie Rosene, looked after masonry, in the western part of the district, for a long time. CHAPTER 11 The "Big Dig" began in 1991, on King Street, in Sturgeon Falls, with the first two blocks north of the highway receiving a major face lift and rejuvenation. Aspen trees were planted to enhance the downtown business section, as well as interlocking sidewalks, pedestrian cross walks and paving. A pedestrian mall with a fountain and benches were also added. Money, from government grants ran out and the last block, from John to William Streets wasn't completed until the fall of 1994. Interest in church activities, organizations and clubs appeared to fade, during the 1980's and the membership in the Sturgeon Falls Masonic Lodge also fell off. Concern for this in the North Bay lodges led some of their members to affiliate with the Sturgeon Falls Lodge. The first affiliate to work his way through the chairs was Bro. A.E. John Grove, who succeeded in bringing new life into the lodge. He was installed as Master of the lodge, on January 10 1993 and worked very diligently, with the assistance of other lodge members, in restoring the lodge building back to the original friendly, comfortable lodge it had always been noted for. Right Wor. Bro. Ross Fenton looked after the furnace fund and the installation of a new gas fired unit. However, the Gas Company waited too long to install the gas line into the lodge and the October meeting was held without a furnace. Therefore, for the November meeting, Wor. Bro. John Grove obtained permission from the North Bay Temple Board to hold the Sturgeon Falls Lodge meeting there and on November 18th 1993, Mr. Pierre Hardy was initiated into the Sturgeon Falls Lodge. This was the first time the lodge was ever held outside of it's own meeting room. During the next months, further work was done on the interior of the lodge. All of the volunteers for the work were lodge members, newly retired . The recession of the 1990's had caused many companies to "down size" and offer employees "Early Retirement Packages". Wor. Bro. John Grove took advantage of the situation and his group of well skilled craftsmen, went to work to complete the main lodge room and rework the lunch

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