Oddfellows - Four members of the Oddfellows Lodge gathered for a photo at the home of C.J. Hendrix in Sparta. They are Roger Hendrix, C.J. Hendrix, Odell Crouse and Luther Marlow.

Oddfellows sell building and donate funds to charities

After more than 40 years of serving the community, five of the six remaining active members of Sparta Oddfellows Lodge No. 112 opted to sell their building located on N.C. 18 south and donate the proceeds to four different causes.

According to treasurer Clarence "C.J." Hendrix, who joined in 1963, he and four other members, Odell Crouse, Luther Marlow, Leo Collins and secretary Roger Hendrix, recently gathered at the treasurer's home to discuss the closure of the local organization and the sell of its property.

A sixth member, John Boyer, was unable to attend the final meeting due to health problems. "We had a meeting here and all five of us agreed on what to do with the money," Hendrix said. "There wasn't no disagreement at all. We wanted to keep it here in this county. We divided it (the money) up to where we thought they needed it the worst. We didn't keep any (money) for ourselves, we just divided it up."

Hendrix said on Monday that he had spoken with Howard Moxley, a member who recently passed away, about the possible distribution of the buildings' proceeds.

"He told me it was a good idea to divide it four ways," he said. The proceeds of the sale of the building were divided among Alleghany Memorial Hospital, Sparta Elementary, the Sparta-Alleghany Volunteer Fire Department and the Alleghany Rescue Squad. The hospital and the school received $12,000 each, while the fire department and rescue squad received $6,487 each.

The hardware store proprietor stated the primary reason the members opted to stop meeting and sell the building was the older members of the organization were passing away and the younger members were losing interest in participating in the works of the organization.

"We didn't have but five or six left and we thought it the best thing to do," Hendrix said. "I hated to give it up, but I got to where I wasn't hardly able to go (to the meetings). The Oddfellows isn't as strong as it used to be, no way. They used to have 260 some in North Carolina and I think it's gotten down to less than 100 now. I was talking to a man the other day...he'd been everything in the grand lodge and he told me it was going down fast."

A number of Oddfellow grand lodges were owned by the country-wide organization itself. However, Sparta Oddfellow's grand lodge was built and owned by its members. Hendrix recalled going to a grand lodge meeting in Atlantic Beach about 15 years ago, asking for assistance in putting a roof on the building.

"They said, ‘If you'll deed it to us, we will,'" Hendrix said stating he told the members of the grand lodge, consisting of lodge members across the state, no.

"So we kept it and put a roof on it ourselves. (It) cost about $4,000 I think. We put a roof on it and didn't give them a chance to get a part of us. So, we didn't have to give the money to the Oddfellows. If they had owned the building, we would have had to give it all to them."

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