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Silver Leaf Rebekah Lodge Celebrates 100th Anniversary The Idaho Odd Fellow – December 1994/January 1995
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Early Day Photo of IOOF members in front of the lodge hall. The local Challis IOOF Lodge sponsored formation of the Rebekahs in 1894. |
A centennial was celebrated in Challis on October 22, 1994. This time it wasn’t a person marking a century of life, but the Silver Leaf Rebekah Lodge. This Lodge began in 1894 under the supervision of Brother J. C. Fox, a member of the Challis Lodge. Throughout the years, Rebekahs have donated money to worthy services, assisted elderly neighbors and done what they could to make Challis a warm and friendly place. Eleven people started the Lodge, but within three months over 110 members came to the Lodge for ceremony and camaraderie. Their first Officers were Hattie Powell, Marion Jackson, Mable Funkhouser, W. D. Pierce, Mary Jinegar, Julia Funkhouser, M. M. Sweet, Al Jinegar, and O. E. Powell.
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The Lodge went unnamed until one of the Charter Members remarked on the beauty of the leaves of the silver maple trees around town. From that point forward, the Lodge would be known as the Silver Leaf Rebekah Lodge. Initiation robes were crafted from satin in 1913. Although they are very fragile, members use those robes today. Ora Rashleigh constructed and painted four banners to accompany Mattie Penwell, the first Representative to the Rebekah Assembly of Idaho. Those banners still grace the walls of the Lodge Hall. Sara Drake and Lizzie Chivers were two members of the early era who received the Decoration of Chivalry, a badge given to members who have done outstanding service to their community and to their lodge. Rita Davis served as the president of the Rebekah Assembly of Idaho in 1952 through 1953. Although Davis later moved to Boise and resided there until her death last fall, she retained her membership in the Silver Leaf Lodge.
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