Lodge History

The idea of forming a lodge was talked about by many local licensed officers in the area. Some of whom were already members of other lodges, that were some distance away. At the time of the charter of Lodge 23 we had officers who were members of MN FOP Lodges 6, 8, and 10.

Minnesota Fraternal Order of Police Glacial Lakes Lodge 23 was chartered October 1^st, 2007 in Morris, MN. For the charter meeting, State Lodge members President Gary Cayo; National Trustee Chuck Schauss; and Secretary Bruce Anderson were present, as well as legal council Rob Fowler. There were 15 members who signed the original charter.

At the conclusion of chartering MN FOP Glacial Lakes Lodge 23, we nominated and voted on our very first lodge positions. President Shane Nelson, Vice President Jason Berning, Secretary/Treasurer Bryan Klassen, Chaplain Doug Moe, Sgt at Arms Rob Velde.

It was within our first few meetings we discussed having some kind of annual fundraiser. Because of our location, geographically, in the state of Minnesota many believed that a pheasant hunt would be unique to our lodge. A committee was formed and the 1^st ever MN FOP Glacial Lakes Lodge 23 was held 1 year later, as it is annually in late October.

Our lodge continues to grow, with the word of the fraternalism spreading. From 15 members in October of 2007 to where we are at today, given the small departments and geography that we cover, is something to say about the organization that the Fraternal Order of Police represents.

Our lodge, at the time of this article, covers the following departments – Alexandria PD, Appleton PD, Benson PD, Big Stone Co SO, Breckenridge PD, Chippewa Co SO, Douglas Co SO, Franklin PD, Glenwood PD, Lac Qui Parle SO, Madison PD, MN State Patrol (local), MN DNR (local),  Morris PD, Montevideo PD, Pope Co SO, Starbuck PD, Kandiyohi Co SO, Renville Co SO, Stevens Co SO, Swift Co SO, Traverse Co SO, Wheaton PD & Willmar PD.

Lodge Officers

President – Austin Ohren

Vice-President – Eric Thesing

Secretary – Nick Ardoff

Treasurer – Steve Nagel

Sergeant at Arms – Steve Parshall

Chaplain – Andrew Pederson

State Trustee – Bryan Klassen