GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Social media reports indicate that New Albany's venerable Red Men club will vacate its Main Street space.

There aren't many Red Men members, which is an obvious problem for the club, and they don't have a consistent social media presence, but other folks are saying that New Albany's 120-year-old Red Men club is giving up its storefront on Main Street (at the very least) or perhaps even calling it quits permanently in the face of declining membership, aging and mortality.

The Red Men Club was founded in 1765 and was originally known as the Sons of Liberty. These early patriots concealed their identity and worked to help establish freedom and liberty in the early colonies. They patterned themselves after the great Iroquois Confederacy and its democratic governing body. After the revolution, the name was changed to the Society of Red Men. The New Albany charter was founded in 1899.

For the past two years (maybe a bit longer) the Red Men have been serving lunch at 211 E Main Street, but the kitchen suspended operations in mid-October just after Harvest Homecoming.

From the lunch counter:

We are sorry to say that we will not be reopening this year. We are not ruling out coming back after the first of the year, we are considering all options. We are grateful from the bottom of our hearts to our faithful customers. We will miss every one of you.

Thank you again,

Deb and Jessa

The club is locally renowned for its annual Harvest Homecoming chicken and dumplings, the proceeds from which carry the Red Men through the year. As recently as November 19, the club was accepting Thanksgiving carry-out orders for chicken and dumplings.

What's next? It's unclear, but we'll see. It is sad to watch as these old-school fraternal clubs and orders succumb to the inevitable march of time. They played their roles for generations, but as has been evident for quite some time, the  younger demographic tends not to be attracted to the concept. Cheers to the ones that remain.