Fraternal Order of the Eagles

Not everyone wants to graze like an Elk – some would rather soar like an Eagle.

While the local Elks lodge has all the trappings of the classic fraternal orders – such as the Masons and the Oddfellows – in towns large and small across the country, it doesn’t have quite the same feel as Aspen’s local branch of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles.

The membership at the Eagles is decidedly smaller, with 180 dues-paying patrons, and more blue-collar than the membership at the Elks.

And the Eagles’ watering hole, at the end of Bleeker Street next to Rio Grande Park, is decidedly more Spartan than the plushly decorated bar in the Elks lodge at the center of town.

It may, at first glance, appear as if the Eagles are a bunch of Johnny-come-latelys.

In fact, the Fraternal Order of the Eagles Lodge 184 has been around for more than 101 years, founded in 1901 by some of the most important men in Aspen. The names on the original roster of members includes grocery-store owner Henry Beck, Hotel Jerome owner Mansor Elisha, Dr. W.H. Twining, Governor M.C. McNichols, William C. Tagert, Q.B. Rowland, Sheriff Frank Bruin and J.D. Newman, owner of the Newman Tunnel.

In those early days of Aspen, one of the few ways for a working man to get medical or legal help was through an Eagles’ membership. The club employed a doctor to take care of members, and it even paid a sick benefit of $1 per day to ill or injured members, according to a history of Aspen’s Eagles written in the 1980s by Delbert Copley and Marge Lowderback.

These days, the organization continues to offer members the benefits of camaraderie, inexpensive drinks, a place that can never be overrun by tourists, summer and winter barbecues, a large-screen TV tuned into the big game, one of the oldest pool tables in the state, the occasional dance and a lot of familiar faces.

“I like to come here and hang out,” said one Eagle member Monday afternoon after being asked why he’s an Eagle.

“It’s the camaraderie,” he continued. “It is nice to come somewhere where you know you know everyone.”

According to Eagles trustee Greg Stewart, the Eagles are seeing their membership grow after a few quiet years.

Like the Elks, Masons and other fraternal organizations, membership in the Eagles is by invitation.

“You ask some of the members if you can join, we invite you, then you’re voted on,” Stewart explained. All of the club members participate in the vote on a new member. “If someone has a real bone about it, you’re not getting in,” he added.

Once in, however, access to the lodge is as easy as a push of the button (which you have to do to get the bartender to open the door). The lodge is open daily throughout the year, except on Christmas, beginning at 3 p.m. on weekdays, 2 p.m. on weekends (and maybe a little earlier if there is a big game).

“We stay open until there’s just a few guys, or they’re hanging on their stools,” Stewart said.

The Eagles lodge also has a long history of giving scholarships to local students, by raising money through beer and food sales at the MotherLode volleyball tournament. Stewart says in recent years the Eagles have helped students, on a case-by-case basis, who may want to go to college or learn a vocational trade but can’t quite afford the tuition.

The Fraternal Order of the Eagles has remained true to its “brotherly” name. Unlike the Elks, women still are not allowed to join the Eagles; they are allowed into the Ladies Auxiliary, which Stewart says is growing in membership too.

“In Aspen, everything is changing, but here there is continuity,” said Eric Topper, a master plumber and Eagles’ member.

Allyn Harvey’s e-mail address is aharvey@aspentimes.com