Story and photos by William Smith
Community Editor
An organization as prominent and old as Eagle Aerie No. 150 can sometimes go unnoticed in the white noise of Iowa charities.
But for the past century, the organization has raised money for good causes and other local charities. The funds are generated through meals, bingo nights, and donations from a 491-member base. They invite other charity organizations to host their own fundraising dinners, asking for none of the profits.
The motto has always been the same.
“It’s people helping people,” said longtime Eagles member, organizer, and bartender Deb Parks.
Some of the members, like Parks, maintain annual projects they personalize over several years.
For Parks, the focus is organizing gift-giving parties for children. The Eagles supply the gifts and the venue. Local parents provide the children.
In past years, the Christmas party hosted upwards of 130 children. The party held Saturday (Dec. 18) hosted 23 children.
Parks was delighted to see each and every one of them.
Before meeting Santa and getting their gifts, they played games and had lunch served by some of the club’s kitchen staff. Dressed in her best Santa elf costume, Parks acted as emcee, calling up each child to see Santa.
Years of Giving
On Feb. 6, 1898, six of Seattle’s most prominent theater owners gathered to discuss an ongoing musician’s strike. John Cort, brothers John W. Considine and Thomas J. Considine, H.L. Leavitt, Mose Goldsmith, and Arthur G. Williams headed down to the Moran Brothers’ shipyard on South Charles Street to make a plan.
According to most popular accounts, after deciding to work together to settle the strike by using piano players to replace the musicians, the men began to discuss life.
The Order of Good Things was born. As their numbers grew, the order chose the Bald Eagle as their official emblem and became The Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Within 10 years, there were more than 1,800 aeries scattered throughout the county. The Eagles quickly became an influence in the political scene, pushing to create Mother’s Day, Social Security, and Medicare.
Local History
Three years after the national organization was founded, the Burlington Aerie was started in 1901 on Main Street.
Inside the community room at the Burlington Eagles Aerie, rows of portraits line the upper walls of the community room — past presidents and leaders, each with a long history of giving.
Treasurer Greg Martin doesn’t know all of them, but he knows the portraits, and the people, who comprise the last 50 years of leadership.
Diana Schneden, a trustee with the Eagles Aerie Auxiliary, grew up in the service organization. She knows the past leaders nearly as well as Greg.
“My grandfather was one of them,” she said.
Schneden fondly recalls spying on the adult leaders as a child, hoping she would get to join the meetings one day.
“This was when the club was over by the typewriter shop,” she said.
In 1991, the club was moved to its current location on Mount Pleasant Street. Since then, the building has been enlarged twice to accommodate the growth.
At 491 members, the Burlington Eagles Aerie is the largest in the state of Iowa — even larger than the one in Des Moines.
“A lot of people don’t know that,” Martin said.
Helping Everyone
It’s easier to list the charities the Fraternal Order of Eagles doesn’t donate to, considering how long the helping list is.
Then there are beneficiaries, such as military families, police families, and firefighter families. All told, it comes to nearly $130,000 for the past year. Since 1947, 875 local foundation families have been served. Those benefits include medical services and educational assistance.
One of club’s biggest accomplishments is the Fraternal Order of Eagles Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa — a $25 million gift completed less than a decade ago.
In ways big and small, the Eagles Club continues to live up to its motto of people helping people.
“This place is like a family,” Martin said.
How to join: Becoming an Eagle is like joining a family; to get the ball rolling, all you need to do is walk into their location at 2727 Mount Pleasant St. The members all know each other, so newcomers are easily recognized and welcomed.
Editor's note: This story is the first of a series profiling local civic organizations.