Saddleback Valley Lodge #2566

The winter has not kept Saddleback Lodge from having fun! Our annual Carnevale provided a wonderful time for us to get together and prepare for Lent. Most came in beautiful, creative costumes.

The event was greeted with enthusiasm although it was mainly for Saddleback members and not the general public for financial reasons. Thanks to all who helped put this together, especially Bernie and Kerry for the decorations. We served Lasagna and a chicken pasta dish from Claro’s. We hope to go back to our normal level of partying next year. That was our February Meeting.

For our March meeting, we celebrated that famous Italian, St Patrick. Theresa, Andrea Carpenter did an amazing job as Chairperson for the dinner. She coordinated with the following to bring a feast for all of us to enjoy. Theresa and Connie, along with many contributing members, put together a fabulous corned beef and cabbage meal to celebrate. Some members came in costume and everyone had a good time. It always strikes me as humorous that whenever anyone celebrates the Irish, it’s with corned beef and cabbage or Irish stew. It’s soooo good to be Italian! Regardless of our heritage, our lodge provides a great opportunity for friendship and support in good and bad times.

It’s amazing, given our ages, how few of our members have had Covid and those who have, only relatively mild cases. As we come out of the COVID doldrums, we are planning an active summer, beginning with a trip to the Gene Autrey Heritage Museum in April. We are fortunate to retain most of our members through the pandemic, thanks to the diligent work of our president, his council and our membership. We are looking forward to an eventful year with lots of friendship, activities and, of course, food!!