Glendale Moose Lodge looks to reconnect

More than a year after moving out of its headquarters where it had been since the 1920s, the local chapter of the Moose Lodge is looking to reconnect with the community and will kick things off with a pancake breakfast for local firefighters on Sunday.

At the gathering, lodge members will present three dozen “Tommy Moose” dolls to stations 24, 28 and 29. The dolls, which are distributed by Moose lodges nationwide, are meant to be handed out to children by police and fire officials during emergencies.

“It gives them a little comfort,” said Don Thompson, administrator of the local chapter, in a phone interview. “That’s what they’re designed to do.”

Tommy Moose dolls have been given to Glendale firefighters in the past and doing so again is part of an effort to reestablish ties with the department, Thompson said.

Moose Lodge #641, the Glendale chapter of the service organization, sold its property at 357 Arden Ave. in July 2014 at a time when its membership was dwindling.

“The old lodge was too much for us to maintain,” Thompson said.

The fire department even used the nearly 90-year-old building for training.

“Because we had a basement, they would fill it with smoke, and they would go in there and try to find somebody,” Thompson said.

Since this past December, the Moose Lodge has been leasing office space out of the Knights of Columbus building, located at 2515 Canada Blvd., where the pancake breakfast will be held.

On Aug. 12, the current membership voted it would prefer to lease a new space with an option to buy that would be no more than 7,000 square feet in size.

Richard Burrola, governor of the local chapter, stated on the organization’s website that the new location should have a social quarters room, meeting room, kitchen and banquet room.

“This would provide us with some time to build up the membership with some active members who would be willing to support the lodge activities with their attendance and willingness to volunteer some of their time toward the welfare of the lodge,” he wrote.

Finalizing a move relies on approval by current members and the Moose Lodge organization at a national level.

The Glendale lodge currently has about 130 members, but some of them just may not have the energy to be as active and volunteer in the community anymore, Thompson said.

“One thing you should know is that a lot of these members are old-timers. They’re just too old to come and participate anymore. They’re in their 70s, 80s and 90s,” he said. “What we’re trying to do now is enlist and enroll young members that are more interested in community activities today.”

Part of that effort could entail relying on branching out and using social media, Thompson said.

“I’m optimistic we’ll get a new generation to carry the flag, so to speak,” he said.