Press
The odd story of how the Odd Fellows became a refuge for LGBTQ residents, Los Altos Town Crier, September 28, 2022
The Mountain View Independent Order of the Odd Fellows Lodge historically had been “male, pale and stale.” At least, that’s the assessment of Jessica Dickinson Goodman, outreach chairperson for Mountain View’s Lodge No. 244, who pointed to pictures of previous presiding officers (called Noble Grands) from a 30-year period sometime in the 20th century. Every single face in the black-and-white images is male and white.
But with work from Dickinson Goodman and others, the Lodge has been transforming into a younger, LGBTQ-inclusive space at 823 Villa St., on the corner of Castro Street, in the heart of downtown Mountain View.
Youth set to display and sell artwork at showcase event, Palo Alto Weekly News, September 23, 2022
Ready to break the silence around mental health struggles, local youth are gearing up to discuss the importance of art to their wellbeing at Momentum for Health’s annual Art Showcase and Sale in downtown Mountain View.
Juneteenth events mark evolving holiday with art and activism, Los Altos Town Crier, June 17, 2022
Through art creation, fundraising and festivals, local commemoration of Juneteenth expanded this year. Some Bay Area events, like the Freedom Celebration in San Francisco’s historically Black Fillmore District, have thrived for decades. Others, like Justice Vanguard’s third Los Altos Juneteenth Festival, have just begun to grow.
In Mountain View, a weekend of racial justice public art on display at the Odd Fellows Lodge on Castro Street continued a mural series begun during the Black Lives Matter protests in summer 2020. Local Color, a San Jose-based nonprofit supporting artists of color, co-produced the installation with SURJ at Sacred Heart, a racial justice group active in Mountain View. The art pop-up sold prints from the mural series to support their creators and raise proceeds for a variety of local anti-racist projects.
Ep. 35 Progressive FLT, Modern Goat Rider Podcast, July 1, 2021
Why not spend this traditional holiday weekend learning about something Progressive? Jessica Dickinson Goodman and Sinead Toolis are back for part two of their powerful interview from the end of May. [Their introductions are in Ep. 33. Sinead is first to speak this episode] Although there have been struggles at some of their Lodge’s meetings, ok, many meetings; they remain optimistic that the Mountain View Lodge #244 continues to evolve their delivery of the Odd Fellows mandates for progressive members and the evolving community outside the Lodge’s hall.
Ep. 33 Mountain View Reaching Out, Modern Goat Rider Podcast, June 24, 2021
Wondering how to build your Lodge? We do not mean just build it, we mean invest in its growth and then invest in those members to onboard them. Two wonderful members from Mountain View Lodge #244 in California join Tara and Billy to explain how a multi-year campaign of reaching out to small, well lead community groups began with Sinead Toolis becoming a member and then Jessica Dickinson Goodman joined. Powerhouses is under-describing them. They brought so many great ideas there will be a part 2.
Maybe What We Need in 2019 Is to Be a Little More Odd, I Love Mountain View, April 5 2019
Let’s start from the outside-in. The building is at 823 Villa, on the corner of Castro and Villa, housed in the old First National bank (built in 1909). The Odd Fellows have owned the building since 1970, when they bought it from a Christian Science reading room. Some members suspect there is beautiful earth 20th century crown-moulding hidden behind the ’70s-tastic drywall ceiling with its embedded florescent lights. They’re deciding if they want to find out or keep it a mystery for the next generation. It’s not a beautiful space when it’s empty, but if you’ve seen it teeming with children during the Haunted House or filled with laughter during the weekly writing group, you know that looks aren’t everything.
Haunting for a good cause, Mountain View Voice, November 3, 2017
How do you like your haunted houses — terrifying, or not too scary? Either way, the haunted house at the Odd Fellows Lodge in downtown Mountain View had you covered.