Good for Deval Patrick. He was scheduled to give an address to the Clover Club, an all-male membership organization that dates back to the late 1800’s. The address is a tradition for Massachusetts politicians. But Patrick canceled at the last minute:

Club members and their guests, who include many high-powered executives and political leaders, said they were stunned and disappointed.

“I’ve never heard of anybody who thinks it’s inappropriate,” said former House speaker Thomas M. Finneran, who said he has attended about 10 club dinners over the years. “Neither my wife nor my daughter, who are grown and very intelligent women, were ever offended that I was going to a guys-only event.”

Former attorney general and House speaker Robert H. Quinn, who has been attending for three decades, also defended the group.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with men’s clubs,” Quinn said.

Patrick’s office explained his cancellation in a brief statement Sunday, blaming the governor’s staff for failing to alert him to “a full understanding of the club’s traditions” and saying, “When the governor recently found out about the fact that women were not allowed to attend such functions, he expressed his concern to the organizers and decided not to attend.”