Modern Goat Rider: an Odd Fellows podcast

Hosts Eric and Billy interviewed Tara Zajac to tap into her experience IRL as a Communication Manager. Tara covers the basics of communication for her role in the Township of Esquimalt and translating that experience into the communication tracks, challenges and tools for Lodges.    For the joiner fairs presented by Join or Die documentary producers, follow the link here to see the Join Philly pro...

Missing Tara unfortunately, so Eric and Billy welcomed guests Amber Hay from Bastion Lodge #4 and Joan Athey from Victoria Lodge #1 to discuss how the three Lodges process a new applicate through the pre-initiation phases and then into their first year. Objectively, we wanted to our listeners validation or inspiration for their processes with improvement in sight. Billy brings up the topic of a De...

Your three pack of hosts are back with this month's episode exploring the love and FLT members are quietly delivering to their hall and to their members. Eric interviewed Bro Shawn Matyczuk about the ways his role as Hall Custodian have energized his membership experience and then a chat with Bro Chris Cunin on how is grassroots initiative to be an counselling ear he professionally has has be...

It’s time for the return of Vancouver Lodge 90 folks to give us update on how their Winter Warming Center partnership with the City has evolved into a weekly Sunday morning breakfast serving over 150 people each week. Eric and Billy get their guests, PGM Walter Wells, PG Chris Thomson and Annie Lefebvre, to recap how the Winter Warming Center began and through what seemed like sufficient funding g...

Happy New Year Listeners! It is also new terms for the officers of the three lodges in Victoria, so Eric, Billy and Tara discuss short interviews held with each incoming Noble Grands for 2026. You’ll hear from Bastion Lodge #4 NG Leigh Campbell, Victoria Lodge #1 NG Dawn Kirkham and Columbia Lodge #2 NG Paul Johnson . All three share their history with Odd Fellows, why they were enthusiastic to be...

We found a guest! Billy has been up the island to the City of Nanaimo to attend meetings at Black Diamond Lodge #5 , and he has fallen in love with the story of and the ways Odd Fellows is done differently at BD#5. So, to get the info directly from their NG, Brad Stewart, NG and Grand Warden joined Tara, Eric and Billy to explain it all. Listeners will see that lodges can do Odd Fellows their own...

Our hosts, Tara, Eric and Billy, gather again to run through the recent events in Victoria, and then on to the topic planned. Have you seen good or even bad FLT within your Lodge and the people you interact with regularly? Beginning with “what makes good FLT”, the conversation takes off from there to cover how important FLT is in our daily life and often it is not really discuss deeply. MGR takes...

You thought the hosts were gone, but they keep coming back for more in Studio FLT. Welcome to 2025 everyone! This show is a good one, but when have they not been? After a little reacquainting of themselves Tara, Billy and Eric discuss the State of the Order letter from Sovereign Grand Lodge to dig deeper into leadership, passion and change. Watch for the HOT TAKES while still dancing around the is...

For the second show in a row, Chaplain Eric Bramble join Tara and Billy to continue the lively conversation, this time it's about Grand Lodge Sessions in BC for 2024 and how well the messages of progress and change travels from Grand Lodge to the local lodges. There is more to it than relying on Representatives’ Reports being read by the members.   Like, Share, Comment! Check out MGR online a...

Tara and Billy are joined by Chaplain Eric Bramble for a frank conversation of the burdensome situations they have seen when the professionals could be called in, but volunteers full of FLT take on the tasks. Sometimes with amazing outcomes, and sometimes when those volunteers are under the pump to perform perfectly even though they lack the experience to do so. Volunteering is not easy in every c...

It’s that wonderful time again, when two podcasts become one. Well, actually, when MGR gets connected with friends at The Three Links Oddcast it become two shows. Part one is here and part two is on their feed. In part one, Ainslie and Toby join the discussion about Lodge leadership and the responsibility we all have to be watch for sign of negativity and possibly the beginning of a Lodge’s slide...

Oh my the Goat Riding got a little of track this episode. Tara and Billy were honored to be hosts to the venerable Vice Grand Andy Bernhart of Columbia Lodge #2. Brother Andy is no stranger to Modern Goat Rider as he is part of the behind the scenes production team for MGR, and additionally for many other Odd Fellows reasons. This episode's vision was much like a Noble Grand's year in th...

Tara and Billy reconnect after a busy Summer of Odd Fellows fun to answer questions received during Question & Answer polls. You, listeners, should go along with them and think about how their answers would differ from yours. The hosts do try to remain uncontroversial, but hey, they're just humans still trying to perfect their Oddfellowship.   Check out MGR online at moderngoatrider.com R...

FOMO means Fear Of Missing Out and Tara and Billy have been missing out on time in Studio FLT. A new show was needed!! Guest Selena Roberts from HeroWork Victoria joined the MGR show to give the inside scoop of how to construct the volunteer experience so fabulous that makes them tell their friends that the experience was like no other they had experienced before. Not only is Selena an amazing com...

Once again Tara and Billy welcome Toby Hanson, Ainslie Heilich and Mike Duminiak from Three Links Odd Cast to chat away through topics across the two shows, one here and the other on their show, so listen to both and (SPOILER) there is big news from Modern Goat Rider during the Odd-Podge segment near the end. But before that we discuss Leadership at Every Level to Find New Members, a Naked Member...

MGR has the perfect guest. Surprise! It’s Billy!! Tara leads the Q’s & Billy provides the A’s about his trip to Chilliwack, BC for the Grand Lodge Sessions of BC. Out come the hot-takes of the good parts and the more challenging parts of jurisdictional sessions. Included are two interviews of attendees: Belinda DeGuglielmo of Tatnai Lodge #9, and Richard Horowitz of Vancouver Lodge #90 who giv...

After a rather long summer break Tara and Billy are back to the mic to catch up on their returns to the Hall and meetings; but they have to have a guest, so why not two??! The return of Bros. Michael Greenzeiger and Ainslie Heilich to discuss the year since the publication of The Odd Fellows Primer . The guests uncover the story of the book’s creation and production, and before they get away Billy...

Tara and Billy are back! The hosts catch up on all the interesting events and charity work that has been going on in Victoria over the past couple months. There are some good ideas for your Lodges in there. They also look forward into the Summer and Fall, and just for some giggles they throw in a debriefing of how being a Vice Grand has gone for each of them this year.  Check out MGR online at mod...

Tara and Billy get California fever again with a call down the coast to Oceanside Lodge #346 where PG and current DDGM Brother Ed Burns has help build back a Lodge from 10 members in 2016 to close to 80 members in 2022. Ed gives the hosts and you listeners an idea packed episode for revitalizing a Lodge even when the Hall needs repairs as well as the current member’s attitudes. At the end of the c...

Tara and Billy welcome in representatives of the three Victoria lodges who are Grand Lodge of British Columbia officers and participants. Together the hosts tug at the curtain that conceals the function of jurisdictional Grand Lodges, and they are successful getting Aaron Hall (Grand Warden and District Deputy Grand Master), Becky Auld (Grand Secretary) and Scott Shaw (P.D.D.G.M.) to enlighten our...

NOTE: The episode includes occasional strong language. When joined by the divine Bro. Eric Bramble, hosts Billy and Tara strap themselves in for a flowing discussion about the role of Chaplain when it’s tuned into the mighty station: WFLT. Although there are PG-rated words used, they come from Eric’s enthusiasm and it should not detract from the message that the Chaplain role can be so much more t...

Need to take your degree work up a notch? Listen in to Tara and Billy, along with special guest host Bro. Stephen Coulson of Vancouver Lodge #90 as they interview members of the Seattle Degree Lodge #1 to get an inside look at Degree Lodges. Bro. Toby Hanson returns to MGR as does Bro. Michael Douglas and new goat rider Bro. Greg Powers . Don’t worry, even though the topic is full of drama the gue...

*** After Listening to part 1, download part 2 on the Three Links Odd Cast *** Spurred on by a listener email, the forces of the Three Links Odd Cast join Tara and Billy to take on the question of importance and relevance of Odd Fellowship these days. Having the show full of all of us we move through the hot-takes, musings of possibilities of better times and seeking how our Lodges make Important...

WARNING: This is another feel good podcast! Episode 42 does not address the Order’s problems, nor does it investigate the frustrating politics that might be at a Lodge level. Instead, this show is about Tara and Billy taking a few minutes to ask four members with varying years in the Odd Fellows what it is in it for them, how they ended up in their Lodge and what they are looking forward to in 202...

On a National Day of Remembrance in Canada, the UK and USA, Tara and Billy welcomed Sister Sandra Martin of Rebekah Lodge Unity #145 in Victoria, BC to take them down memory lane over her 47 years as a member of Rebekahs. Sandra reveals that the road for Rebekahs has been difficult since the SGL motioned for all Odd Fellows Lodges be open to women, which saw members leave her lodge to join one of...