There are many historical connections between Texas and Tennessee, from country music to Davy Crockett to Willie Nelson to the many brave Tennesseans who helped defend the Alamo. Because of those links, it's appropriate that we follow up two very Texan episodes with one from Tennessee. Recently, Crockett Hall Lodge #59 was re-chartered in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Brother Robert Gentry, who headed up the effort to revive the lodge, joins us to tell his story. Like many of us, he first encountered historical relics of the Odd Fellows' presence in Middle Tennessee, including a road bearing the name of the Order. That led to research, which led to a desire to form a lodge, which eventually led to the Grand Lodge of Tennessee and PGM Tammy Barton, who assisted with the process. He also shares some of the ways in which he was able to find members interested in reviving the lodge, including taking many people down to Alabama to get their degrees in the closest lodge. The Shoutout goes to Four Creeks Lodge No. 94 of Visalia, California, home lodge of our guest host Michael Crile, for their work in becoming active again and getting new members. In the Odd Podge, guest host Brother Michael gives us a brief history lesson of Tennessee Wesleyan University, which was first going to be chartered as Odd Fellows Women's College and spent an amount of time named for Brother Ulysses S. Grant; Robert previews the August Back-To-School Motorcycle Run, Toby shares his visit to Mount Constitution Lodge No. 88 on Orcas Island and gives an impromptu history lesson on the Pig War; and Meredith talks Cinco de Mayo and the "Good Neighbor" policies toward Latin America under President Brother Franklin D. Roosevelt, which, of course, prompts another history lesson from Toby.

For nearly 150 years, prior to 2001, the Rebekahs were a strong and vital companion organization to the Odd Fellows. However, once women were allowed to be Odd Fellows and were no longer restricted to just Rebekah membership, numbers for that unit of the Order started to decline precipitously. Director of Institutional Research Meredith Moore attended the Testamonial of IARA President Pam Isenhower to meet with and interview many prominent Rebekahs from around the US and Canada. Sister Meredith asked many important questions of the attendees hoping to get a feel for the future of the Rebekah branch. What followed were some frank and surprising answers, some of which may be controversial. The Shoutout goes to Scott Encamment #132 of Pennsylvania that listens to the podcast and discusses what they hear in each episode. In the Odd Podge, Meredith previews her upcoming trip to the now-passed Founders Day Reenactment in New Jersey, Ainslie shares his trip to a recently revitalized lodge hosting its first Degree Day in several years, and Toby lets our colleagues at Modern Goat Rider know that he's attending the Grand Sessions of British Columbia.

Odd Fellowship has a long, proud history in the state of Texas, dating back to Lone Star Lodge No. 1 in Houston, the first lodge chartered outside the United States by the IOOF, in 1845, before Texas joined the union. A big part of that history was San Antonio Lodge No. 11, only a few steps away from the Alamo, the cradle of Texan independence. On April 11th, San Antonio Lodge No. 11 was rechartered by the Grand Lodge of Texas with eleven members. Brother Daniel McGittrick joined us to preview the reinstitution of the lodge and give us the story of how it came to be as well as how the process worked for it to happen. The Shoutout goes to *ANOTHER* new Encampment, this time Peoria No. 3 of Illinois. Unlike many of the recent new Encampments, this one was spearheaded by older members who wanted to have their own Encampment to help support the Patriarchs Militant. In the Shoutout, Toby gives an update on how the progressive Degrees are going in his associate lodge; Ainslie shares the cycle of Odd Fellowship he experienced participating as Noble Grand in the Funeral Ceremony and then, later in the day, attending a Degree Rally; Meredith gives props to the new Grand Master of Texas, Jason Ottwell, for performing the Installation of Officers for Dallas No. 44 the same day he was installed as Grand Master; and Daniel thanks three important Odd Fellows in Texas for their assistance and support of the recent growth: Charles Stephenson, John Woolsey, and Bruce Wayne Smith. Special music for this episode was recorded by Toby Hanson.