Value Venue: Local Masonic Lodge Launches New Events Program, Targets Affordability

According to Fidelity, the average American wedding in 2025 cost $36,000, up $3,000 from just one year earlier. Local wedding planner and officiant Samantha Pomranky wants to turn the trend around, at least for couples getting married in Traverse City, and she has a new partner to help her do it. Starting this wedding season, Pomranky is leading a brand-new events initiative at the Traverse City Masonic Lodge.

“I have worked in all sorts of venues and facilities all around town and throughout the state of Michigan, from backyards to Airbnbs all the way up to the Grand Hotel,” Pomranky says. “I've seen the gamut of event planning, and I’ve seen how it's become more and more expensive and exclusive – to the point where wedding planning went from being a really fun and exciting thing for couples to something really anxiety inducing and overwhelming. How I’d like to approach the industry is to be someone that makes it fun again.”

That opportunity materialized last summer when Pomranky struck up a conversation with her neighbor, Paul Johnson. Johnson, it turned out, had similar thoughts about the wedding industry – and, more importantly, ties to a venue that happened to be looking for a new events pro.

A long-time member (and current senior deacon) at Traverse City’s Masonic Lodge #222 – located at 13360 South West Bay Shore Dr. – Johnson and his fellow masons had been talking for some time about getting more foot traffic. Changing times had meant the temple wasn’t the community centerpiece as it was 30 or 40 years ago, and the local freemasons were looking to build awareness, community connection, and perhaps even membership.

Shortly after making the connection with Pomranky, Johnson and co. decided to bring her on board and reestablish Masonic Lodge #222 as an event space. That relaunch will happen this year, and while Johnson and Pomranky say they’ll spend this first season “feeling out” the local market, both say affordability is a priority. Per Johnson, the maximum rental cost for the space will be “around $3,000” for one night, depending on factors like time of year, what parts of the facility clients hope to use, and add-on services.

“My grandson is getting married in South Haven in July, and he’s said to me, ‘Grandpa, I've got $80,000 worth of school debt. My down payment for a house now is going toward a wedding in a venue. How do I start life? How do I buy a house?’” Johnson says. “This is a chance to let the people have a venue and an awesome person to help them, and do it affordably.”

Masonic Lodge #222 has on-site parking and capacity in its main hall for 140. The hall has a built-in dance floor and an adjoining kitchen, which event hosts (or their catering teams) can use. The venue will have no on-site food and beverage team, but Pomranky says she has a long list of local vendor contacts, and is happy to help couples coordinate.

Though the Masonic Lodge has done next to no actual advertising for their events relaunch, Pomranky’s phone is starting to ring off the hook – suggesting that word is getting out.

“It's getting pretty crazy,” she says. “I’ve found that, between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve, probably 80 percent of the engagements happen. And then everybody says, ‘Okay, after New Year's, we're going to start planning.’ So, we're right in that period right now, where the girls have just gotten engaged and they have their dream venues in mind. In northern Michigan, everybody grows up saying, ‘I'm going to get married at the Grand Hotel,’ or maybe, ‘I’m going to get married at the Resort.’ But what happens is they start poking around, and they’re figuring out that those places are booked through 2027 already, or are out of the price range. And then they call us.”

John Hansen, lodge education officer for Lodge #222, is excited about the growing word-of-mouth, which he says is the realization of a long-held dream for this particular property. The local masons chapter dates back to 1866, but the current facility on West Bay Shore Drive didn’t open its doors until 1977.

“[Hosting more events] was part of the intention when they moved out here, having it all on one floor and easily accessible,” Hansen says. “We actually paid for this building doing roasted chicken dinners for the community through the ‘80s, and we used to really pack the hall.”

For Craig Maison, chaplain for Masonic Lodge #222, reinvigorating the temple as an event space has numerous benefits. A one-time president of the Michigan State Association of Masonic High Twelve Clubs, Maison sees events and foot traffic – and the visibility they generate – as key to preserving Freemasonry.

As one of the oldest fraternal organizations in the world, Freemasonry’s impact is knitted into the fabric of history. On a national scale, some of the most famous masons in history were also Founding Fathers, including inaugural president George Washington and multiple signers of the Declaration of the Independence.

Locally, masons have been mayors, business leaders, noted philanthropists and more. You’ll recognize many names from local streets, buildings, or parks, including John T. Beadle, Herbert Montague, Oscar Carver, Clarence Greilick, Milton Bryant, Adophus LaFranier, William Rennie, Hugh Murchie, Frank Stulen, and Les Biederman.

Despite that legacy, Maison says many Freemason chapters have struggled to attract younger members. He’s hopeful that getting more people through the door of the local temple will spur more interest in the organization as a whole.

The other benefit of renting out the lodge? Generating more cash for philanthropic efforts. Locally, Maison says the masons support everything from established nonprofits (like Project Feed the Kids, Goodwill Industries, and Camp Quality, a camp for kids with cancer), to scholarships for local students, to less formal things like donating mats for the local high school wrestling teams, sponsoring animals at the county fair, or covering costs for kids who need to travel for medical care.

Pictured, left: Hansen, Maison, Pomranky, and Johnson; Pictured, right: the exterior of the masonic lodge (top) and the reception hall (bottom).

Note: This story is a condensed version of a feature in the February issue of the Traverse City Business News. 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that $3,000 was the minimum for a one-night rental of the Masonic Lodge. That dollar amount will actually be the maximum.