Lodge History

Adversity and adaptability are not foreign terms within Freemason speech, however few lodges today have experienced them like St. George’s Lodge 41 (Kelowna). The proud and productive Lodge has gathered at 1564 Pandosy Street since 1976, however finding a permanent Masonic Hall had been a challenge previously largely because of one factor – fire.

St. George’s and the City of Kelowna were both officially founded in 1905 and since that time fires impacted or destroyed Masonic Halls four times.

The first St. George’s was a ‘Moon Lodge’ with meetings only held on full moons when the night sky allowed enough vision to travel. St. George’s 41 rented various locations over the years before building a Masonic Hall (second picture on the right) in 1951, which they sold before purchasing their current facility.

St. George’s not only shares its birth year with the City of Kelowna but has clearly held significant influence with the town’s history and growth. A plethora of streets, buildings and key community facilities share the names of former members – such as: Raymer, Sutherland, Day, David Lloyd-Jones, Knox, DeHart, Meikle…

Over the years nine mayors, 49 councillors, four Freemen, and former premier W.A.C. Bennett joined the brotherhood.

St. George’s was honoured to host the 125th Grand Lodge in 1996.

While the pandemic has impacted the current Lodge it remains strong and united and continues as best it can with our community caring and sharing, operating the very popular Cancer Car campaign which During the calendar year 2021, we did 4667 patient trips, and logged 174,320 kilometers in the four vehicles serving the Thompson Okanagan area. The program is now a part of the CCS “Wheels of Hope” Program, financially supported by the Freemasons.