 |
On August 5, 1913, the GM issued a dispensation for a
Masonic Lodge at Peachland to be called Trepanier. The name comes from
the creek of that name which runs into Okanagan Lake near Peachland. RW
Brother Leonard Norris, the historian of the district, says that all the
maps of the lake published for twenty years, from 1858 to 1878, show the
creek which enters the lake just north of Peachland as Jacques Creek,
and the one on the south as Trepanier Creek. Since that time the maps
have been changed, and now show the creek on the north as Trepanier
Creek and the one on the south as Deep Creek.(98) No one knows the true
origin of the name, but |
| Brother Norris
thinks it had something to do with "trepanning", the surgical operation
of removing a piece of bone from the skull, or the instrument made use
of in doing so, and cites an incident related by Ross in his Fur Traders
of the Far West, where such an operation took place, possibly in or near
Okanagan Lake. That there was a family of that name in eastern northern
North America is a certainty, as a lady in the eastern United States
wrote to MW Brother Morley, saying she had learned that a post office of
that name existed in British Columbia and wanted to learn the origin of
it as it was her family name. He made a study of the matter and his
guess was that a landing place of the old fur-traders was at the mouth
of the creek, and as one of the leaders bore that name, this landing was
given it, but he frankly admitted that his was only a guess.
No matter what the real truth is, a settlement grew up there, and .when
it was decided that a Masonic Lodge should be established it was also
named "Trepanier". A dispensation was issued as above mentioned, and the
Lodge was instituted on August 12, 1913 by the DDGM for District 9. At
the Annual Communication of June 18, 1914 the dispensation was continued
for' another year, and at the Annual Communication on June 17, 1915 the
DDGM recommended that the Warrant of Constitution be granted, but the
Committee on Warranted Lodges suggested that the Lodge be continued
under dispensation for another year and that the DDGM for the District
be asked to make a particular examination of the Lodge and report at the
next meeting of Grand Lodge in 1916 as to whether the dispensation
should be withdrawn or not. As the WM was away on military duty, a PM
was appointed in his place. The next DDGM reported to Grand Lodge in
June, 1917 that he had visited the Lodge on April 10 of that year and
that the attendance was very small due to a large proportion of its
members being on active service; that the brethren were very anxious to
keep the Lodge together; recommended that the dispensation be continued
for another year; and the Committee in Grand Lodge agreed with him and
it was so ordered.
In 1918, much the same conditions existed and the
DDGM again reported that he had visited Trepanier Lodge, but said little
about it except that the officers were working together harmoniously. On
June 20, 1918, the Committee again recommended that the incoming GM give
favorable consideration to a continuation of the dispensation and this
was approved by Grand Lodge. In June, 1919, the news was much happier
and the DDGM reported that he had found eighteen members of the Lodge
present; the work was put on in a very satisfactory manner; the Lodge
was free from debt and had a small cash balance; eight members of the
Lodge has enlisted, of which one had been killed; thirty-three young men
had enlisted from the District of Peachland, of whom fifteen were killed
or died on service; the Lodge was unanimous in asking for a Warrant. The
Committee on Warranted Lodges did not think it advisable to grant a
charter at that time and advised a further renewal of the dispensation,
with the hope that as the war was now over conditions would improve and
a Warrant could be issued.
In 1917, W Brother H. B. Morley had arrived in Penticton to reside,
and he had joined Orion Lodge No. 51 and in 1919 he was appointed DDGM
for what was then District No. 9. Shortly after his appointment, he
received' a telephone call from Trepanier Lodge stating that they were
having a meeting and they would like him to attend. It happened
that RW Brother Andrew McCreight Creery, who had just been elected the
JGW, was visiting at his home. He insisted that the JGW go with
him, and he did. Brother Morley says that it was "a rather stormy
meeting". The Lodge had been under dispensation for five years,
and again it was being asked to carry on in the same way, when they
should have been given a charter at the Annual Communication just
passed.' The members were discouraged and indignant, and blamed some of
the officers of Grand Lodge for the delay. Between the two GMs-to-be,
they succeeded in getting the members to accept one year's further
existence under dispensation. During that time, Brother Morley visited
Trepanier Lodge six times and brought members from Penticton, Summerland
and Kelowna to encourage them. The result of all this was that at the
meeting on June 17, 1920 Grand Lodge granted the charter for Trepanier
Lodge No. 83 at Peachland with concurrent jurisdiction with St. George's
Lodge No. 41 at Kelowna over the territory west of Okanagan Lake, and
the Lodge was duly constituted by W Brother Henry B. Morley at an
Emergent Communication of Grand Lodge on August 10, 1920. The Lodge
adopted the Canadian work for its. ritual, has prospered and "burnt the
mortgage" in 1943.(99)
Excerpt from "History of Grand Lodge of British
Columbia AF & AM 1871 - 1970", © 1971 - Grand Lodge of British Columbia
AF & AM
|
![[Company Logo Image]](_borders/s&c_leaves.gif)
