Historic Middle Bight Road Orange Lodge celebrating 150-year milestone

By Tyler Waugh, Local Journalism Initiative Report

Don Smith understands the enormity of the 150-year legacy of the Prince of Orange LOL (Loyal Orange Lodge) No. 23 in Kelligrews, both as an organization and as a building.
“It’s humbling, carrying on the work of those that came before us,” said Smith, looking around the Middle Bight Road hall on March 9, just two days before the 150th anniversary. “Humbling to think of the impact of what’s transpired under this roof for generations.”
It was on March 11, 1876 the organization’s warrant was received and the initial officers were installed during a visit by Sir Mackenzie Bowell, the Grand Master and Sovereign of the Loyal Orange Association of British North America who came over from Nova Scotia for the event. The building, which had been built through 1875, was also officially opened that day.
Smith says the Orange Association arrived in Newfoundland in about 1863 through the British military and found its way to Conception Bay when members of the military befriended a few locals.
Standing in the mostly empty hall on March 9, Smith listed off the names of those founding charter members – Butler, Tilley, Porter, Hibbs – families who still call the area home.
“When I walk in these halls I know I do so on the shoulders of all those who came through before me,” says Smith. “Since 1876 there have been just under 700 people come through this Lodge. My great grandfathers on both sides of the family were members. My father-in-law was a longtime member.”
Membership peaked at around 263 people at one point in the early 1880s.
Celebrations are planned throughout this year with the first taking place on Sunday, March 22 with a service at All Saints Anglican Church in Foxtrap. There is also a larger banquet planned for later in the year, likely in the fall when everyone returns from summer break.
“We owe it to them to have a great celebration of this legacy, and we will,” says Smith. “We are hoping to have 150 people, one person for every year.”
Smith, a member of 21 years and the current recording secretary, says part of that celebration is raising awareness of what the organization has represented over the past century and a half. He says the Orange Association started off as a safety net, of sorts, for members whether that took the form of protection, material support, or financial support. He says that over the years that vision has transformed more into community benevolence, supporting a number of causes behind the scenes.
“So, the social fabric of the lodge was protecting your own, providing for your own and supporting your own, but the Lodge as we know it today is not my father’s or my grandfather’s lodge anymore. We’ve evolved into what we are, and we tend to be a benevolent fraternal organization that supports other organizations along the way,” he says.
Daffodil Place, the Janeway, Ronald McDonald House, the food bank and local churches have been beneficiaries of the Lodge member’s donations and good deeds.
The hall in Kelligrews, designated as having historic significance, remains standing pretty true to its original form. Smith says there was one small addition put on the front, but even that was back around 1905.
He points to a centre beam that is more than 30 feet long, and marvels at the hard work and craftsmanship the building represents.
“It was cut from a tree and hand squared with an axe. I mean, the work that went into that. These are the original artifacts. These guys were hard as nails, and they were tough and they didn’t back down from anything,” Smith says. “There used to be a big stove in the middle to warm the place.”
The hall has been a centrepiece of local life over the years, hosting funerals, weddings, dances and special events, even Confederation debates. The space is still used for regular meetings and darts and is available for rent, though not on Sundays.
The current membership sits at around 35. Prospective members can approach a current member to express interest and seek an application. There is then an interview process and a Lodge vote to become a member.

Don Smith, recording secretary of the Prince of Orange Lodge No. 23 in Kelligrews, peruses pictures and honours that adorn the 150-year-old hall commemorating a century and a half in the community. See story page 4. Tyler Waugh photo