The Festive Board & German Table Lodge
The Festive Board
After all of our formal meetings, the Junior Warden hosts the “Festive Board,” or “Agape,” which is a family style banquet. During the Festive Board, our brethren embrace good fellowship through the experiences of mirth and merriment, and enjoy good food and drink. Each senior officer of the Lodge presents a formal toast, with additional toasts proposed and suggested by the Brethren. The Festive Board is concluded after each meeting with the final toast given most eloquently by the Tiler.
German Table Lodge
Part of our Lodge’s German heritage is the annual hosting of a Table Lodge. A few other Lodges in Erie County hold similar events, but only Harmonie Lodge presents an unparalleled feast of traditional German (Bavarian) food, drink, and music. The Table Lodge is a time for our brethren to feast and toast to the health of our Lodge, our Brethren, and our Fraternity. Unlike the usual Festive Board, the Table Lodge is modeled after early Masonic meetings in Europe and America, which were literally held at the table. These types of meetings were standard practice for many of the colonial Masons of early America, and were common in the homelands of our founding members. While this type of meeting fell out of fashion around the turn of the 19th century in favor of a more formal meeting, many continental European lodges maintained this tradition. It is from contacts that our brethren made in German lodges that this tradition has been brought to our home in Buffalo.
140th Anniversary Celebration & German Table Lodge - July 14th, 2010
139th Annual German Table Lodge - July 8th, 2009