Order of the Eastern Star

Sussex women Masons celebrate 100th year

by Fred H. Keller, Sussex Sun Staff Writer

March 31, 2006

Friends, family, former members and 128 members showed up March 4 at Sussex Methodist Church to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Sussex Lila B. Graser Chapter 159 of the Order of the Eastern Star, the women's branch of the Masons.

Sussex Village President Michael Knapp presented a framed village proclamation to the chapter's namesake, Lila Busse Graser, who traveled from her retirement home in The Arboretum in Menomonee Falls for the centennial celebration of the club she has been a member of for 77 years.

The Lila B. Graser Chapter began its second century with 57 members.

Its first century began in September 1905, when nine Sussex area friends�Catherine Buck, Ella Campbell, Lulu Buck Gauthier, Helen Jones, Ida Small, Mary Stier, Jane Worthington, Richard Jones and John R. Small�went to Menomonee Falls in a one- horse shay to be initiated into Menomonee Falls Aurora Chapter 84 of the Order of the Eastern Star, and to look into starting a Sussex chapter.

The Aurora Chapter paid the $7 for the livery service. Mary Rowell and C.F. Henrizi were then the chapter's worthy matron and patron. The grand officers who helped initiate the Sussex chapter in the ensuing months were Emily Evert, Dodelia Davidson, Ada Grogan, Elizabeth Harris, Mary Harland and Don Campbell.

The Sussex chapter charter was granted Feb. 21, 1906, for $20. The group charged $3 for initiation and $1 yearly dues.

Chapter 159 grew rapidly in its first years. It met in the upstairs hall over the Gauthier and Buck store, later Lees General Store (where the Piggly Wiggly Store on Main Street is today). The old building burned down in 1966.

The group raised money for supplies and equipment, including star chairs purchased at the local Malsch Furniture Store for 50 cents each. Each star-point officer painted a chair the color of her station.

During the World War I years, 1914-19, 36 people were initiated into the chapter.

The Ashlar Lodge built the current Sussex Masonic Temple in 1922 at a cost of about $9,200, with members donating much of the material and manpower. Emily Evert and Michigan Elliott were the first worthy matron and patron to serve as leaders of the Sussex Eastern Star chapter in the new building.

The group's growth slowed considerably during the 1920s and '30s, but it continued to stage entertainment after its meetings, which included card playing and dancing in the dining hall.

Members and visitors swung to polkas, the fox trot and waltzes. The chapter also staged local talent plays, such as "The Path Across the Hill," "A Wild Flower of the Hills" and "The Wild Oats Boys," charging 25 cents for admission.

Some other productions were a Lawrence Welk show in 1956, a hat parade in 1958, a Jack Parr show in 1961, School Days in 1964, Blue Buzzard Revue in 1965 and Sussexville Bringling Sisters Circus in 1966. Many of those shows were taken on the road to other chapters.

During World War II, the chapter sent boxes and gifts to those from the local Sussex-Lisbon area serving in the armed forces.

The Past Matrons Club was organized in February 1935 at Cora Wendt's home, with 12 members present. The 97-year-old Lila Busse Graser, the chapter's namesake, is the only member of that original group alive today.

Graser is a 77- year member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Sussex. In September 1957, she was installed as grand marshall of the Grand Chapter of Wisconsin. As the Sussex chapter's first grand officer, it voted in 1961 to rename the local chapter in her honor.

From 1921 to 1974, new officers of the men's Ashlar Lodge and the women's Sussex Eastern Star were installed jointly. That changed after 1974 because of a change in the fiscal year by the men.

During that era, it was customary to have an annual bountiful oyster stew, made in a large copper wash boiler and served by the men. (For those who didn't like oyster stew, sandwiches were also offered.)

Since 1980 there has been more involvement between the men's and women's branches of the Masons in Sussex.

The local chapter had its second state officer when Joy Zastrow-Mulcahy was elected grand marshal of the Grand Chapter in 1988.

As the 1990s began, the Ashlar Lodge and Eastern Star sponsored a joint baked potato booth at Sussex Lions Daze, becoming the two groups' main fundraiser.

That booth has become something of a tradition now in the community as customers say, "We wait all year for one of your baked potatoes."

The Sussex Eastern Star then went on to participate at Falls Fest in Menomonee Falls, as well.

�Sussex Sun 2007