When the Loyal Orange Lodge Five initiated two new members Saturday, it could hardly be construed as a major newsworthy event.

Yet, it was certainly noteworthy when one considers the Loyal Orange Order was returning to a 145-year-old Orange hall it hadn’t met in since 1954. It was an also an opportunity to clarify what are seen as misconceptions regarding the Loyal Orange Order and its purpose.

The meeting was held at the Dufferin County Museum and Archives, where the hall was physically moved to in 1995. Prior to that, it had been housed at the museum’s former site in Shelburne since 1966.

It hearkens back to an era when the Orange order thrived in the area. In the late 19th century there were 66 lodges between Toronto and Collingwood with close to 20,000 members.

The building housed at the museum was originally on Rich Hill in Amaranth, near the present site of 20 Side Road and Second Line.

Today, the order is much more low-keyed. Lodge Five is much like other community groups, such as the Lions Club or Kinsmen for example, insofar as its members donate time and fund-raising efforts to charitable causes.

Lodge members have rallied to provide the family of a disabled person in Mississauga with a specially equipped van. They have also been involved in preparing care packages for Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

“Our troops, unfortunately, are not getting the support we feel they should,” said Rob Williamson, the lodge’s head, or worshipful master.

Still, the order tends to keep this contributions quiet and, as a rule, tends not to draw much attention to itself. While such humility can be applauded, it can also give rise to innuendo and rumour.

The Orange order is often perceived as a militant group of xenophobic Protestants prone to inflammatory actions. Their traditional parade to commemorate William of Orange’s victory over King James II at the 1690 Battle of the Boyne in Northern Ireland has led to accusations that they merely want a chance, each year, to rub it in the Catholics’ face.

Mr. Williamson insists this is definitely not the case. “The parade is a celebration,” he says. “It is not a victory march. Yes, we believe in Protestantism. But that does not make us anti- Catholic.

“Prince William fought for religious freedom for everybody,” he says, noting that William’s wife Mary was the Catholic daughter of King James.

History is open to interpretation, however, and there is a prevailing argument that one of William of Orange’s main accomplishments was to entrench Protestant domination in Britain and suppression of Roman Catholicism, not to mention that William and Mary eventually deposed her father.

To perhaps present a more accurate picture of today’s Loyal Orange Lodge, one should turn to deputy master Ian Gillespie who, at 29, could be seen as part of the new generation of Orangemen..

Mr. Gillespie was born in a Toronto neighbourhood where he figures “only about five per cent of the population was of United Kingdom ancestry. He recalls enjoying the ethnic diversity of the area because “there were more different events and more things to party about.

“The Canadian cultural mosaic is one of the founding pillars of Orange ism,” he said. “Everyone has the right to choose their own beliefs. (The Orange members) are pro-British and we’re pro-monarchy, but we don’t think we’re better than anybody else. Just because I believe in these things, I can’t understand why that would make me a bigot.”

Mr. Williamson adds: “A lot of people left Ireland to get away from the troubles. To bring them over here would be silly.”

Alas, like many similar organizations, the Loyal Orange Order has seen its numbers dwindle over the years.

“There is a growing lack of interest in church attendance and its also affected the Orange order,” says Mr. Williamson. “That, and the changing culture of Canada. There is not the same loyalty to Queen and country as there used to be.”