GUSTINE — For more than a century, the Gustine Odd Fellows lodge has stood as one of downtown’s earliest landmarks, a reminder of a long tradition of fellowship and community service. Brent Tanner, president of the Gustine Odd Fellows, said the organization’s roots stretch back about 200 years to England before spreading across the United States and into California.

“Basically, the idea was to help each other, help people,” Tanner said, noting that the group’s name came from the idea that helping strangers was once considered unusual. The Odd Fellows’ motto — Friendship, Love and Truth — remains central to the organization, which Tanner described as non‑political and non‑sectarian.

The Gustine lodge was established in 1910, with its building completed in 1912. Tanner said the structure has long served as more than a meeting place for members. Over the decades, the upstairs hall hosted Girl Scout meetings, classes and even office space. Much of the original layout remains intact, including decorative glass and side windows that once defined the room’s character.

The lodge also keeps its original 1910 membership book, a record Tanner said helps connect current members to the earliest Odd Fellows in Gustine. “You can go through and look at anybody’s name in there when they joined,” he said. “That’s neat.”

Tanner’s connection to the lodge is personal — his father was an Odd Fellow in the 1940s, and Tanner grew up around the group’s community events. One of his strongest memories is the Fourth of July chicken barbecue, when members cooked hundreds of chickens for the community. “As a kid, I was helping do chicken and the whole thing,” he said.

Today, the lodge faces challenges familiar to many long‑running service organizations: fewer members and fewer hands to help. Tanner said the lodge has about 10 members, with five or six active. “We need new members,” he said. “The people are great. Good times together, wonderful.”

The organization has evolved over time. The Rebekah branch, once a separate women’s auxiliary, is no longer active locally, but women can now join the Odd Fellows directly. Some lodges in the foothills still maintain older traditions, uniforms and meeting styles, Tanner said, offering a glimpse into the organization’s past.

While some nearby lodges have closed — including Newman — others, such as Los Banos, remain active. Tanner said the historic buildings themselves are part of what makes the Odd Fellows unique. “That’s one of the exciting things,” he said.

For those interested in joining, Tanner said the process is simple: reach out and express interest. He hopes more people will get involved and help shape the lodge’s future. “I like doing this stuff, but I’d like to be doing some other things,” he said, noting he wants to see the lodge take on new projects.

Though not as widely known as it once was, the Gustine Odd Fellows lodge remains woven into the story of downtown Gustine. Tanner and the remaining members hope to honor that history while opening the door to a new generation of Odd Fellows.