The North Carolina Mason

September/October 2021

North Carolina Mason

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September/October 2021 The North Carolina Mason Page 7 250th, from page 6 has made you proud. I would also like to thank the rest of my lineage, PGM Gene Jernigan and PGM Charles Ingram. e support, guidance and counsel that I have received from the three of you has been invaluable. ank you. Finally, I owe a debt of gratitude to wife Susan. You have been patient in my many absences while serving this fraternity. I am glad that we were able to travel together and that you have been able create your own friendships with many whom we would otherwise have never met. You have been and continue to be my biggest supporter, documenting my journey across the state and the nation. I love you and thank you for all that you have done for me. I am deeply honored to have been elected to serve as your Grand Master of Masons. I thank each and every Mason in North Carolina for this opportunity and this privilege. Go in peace, my brothers. And may the God of love and peace delight to dwell with and bless you and Freemasonry. WICKER, from page 5 police shield into his hand and they had a very private conversation that lasted for a few minutes. at conversation remained private through her death two years ago. She said that was her private conversation with the president." In a Sept. 20 speech to Congress, President Bush displayed that shield, cradled in his right hand. "Each of us will remember what happened that day, and to whom it happened," he said. "We'll remember the moment the news came, where we were and what we were doing. Some will remember an image of a fire, or a story of rescue. Some will carry memories of a face, or a voice gone forever. "And I will carry this. It is the police shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. is is my reminder of lives that ended, and a task that does not end." Bush remained friends with Mrs. Howard even after he left office. When he made his farewell address to the nation in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 15, 2009, Mrs. Howard was among the guests. He kissed her on the forehead after his speech. He would call her shortly before her death at age 95 to tell her that he and First Lady Laura Bush loved her and were praying for her. Brother Pat remembers every second of every minute of every hour of that day. He worries that people will forget those like his brother who gave everything to save people they had never even met. "My brother was no stranger to getting things done when time was of the essence," he says. "When the Twin Towers were the scene of a truck bombing in 1993, he rappelled down an elevator shaft to rescue school children on a field trip who became stuck in an elevator. He was a master in confined space rescues." George Howard was not a Mason but, "I am confi- dent that my brother would have made a great Mason. He absolutely fulfilled the embodiment of 'by the exer- cise of Brotherly Love.'" To Brother Pat, it feels like society has forgotten the heroes of that day. "ousands of innocent people were murdered. Why? Because of their beliefs? "Since then, hundreds more have succumbed to the cancers and various diseases brought on by the toxins in the air. Over 7,000 soldiers have died in the war on terror, yet I struggle to find an American flag lowered to half-staff. I struggle to find the date earmarked on a calendar." Never forget. Let's keep our promise. Never forget. EDITOR'S NOTE: My thanks to Brother Pat Howard and WB Andrew Norton of Junaluskee #145, who suggested Brother Pat share his story with the Mason. 9-11, from page 4 which had gone dormant during the Revolution, and Cabin Point, which had since chartered the Grand Lodge of Virginia and was under a new jurisdiction. One very interesting point, however, was the location of the last lodge that New Bern sent the peti- tion to in 1787: a lodge in Rock- ingham. e town of Rockingham was not officially created until 1784. e secretary of Royal White Hart, James Auld, moved to Anson County in 1773 and probably played a key role in the formation of this lodge adjacent to Pee Dee River at Anson County's Courthouse, which was called Mount Pleasant until the county seat was relocated in 1783 to what would become Wadesboro. is lodge may have survived into the creation of Rockingham in order to be listed on New Bern's petition. Unfortunately, this lodge did not respond to the 1787 petition, and disappeared from existence. At this point, much of its lore is speculation without hard facts to lean on. To commemorate the 250th anniversary, the Grand Lodge has commissioned a medallion and a lapel in limited quantities. e nine gemstones on the medallion repre- sent the first nine lodges Montfort chartered, scattering Masonry across the state in the early days. Below the working tools fashioned from Montfort's commission, the words Know Ye that We represent the founding action of the Grand Master of the Premier Grand Lodge of England and a proclamation that Masons in North Carolina derive their identity from. e medallion and the pin – a small replica of the medallion without the gems – is available by contacting the Grand lodge office. Have any leads for the mysterious number six lodge? Reach out to info@glnc.us and let us know. MONTFORT "I am confident that my brother would have made a great Mason. He absolutely fulfilled the embodiment of 'by the exercise of Brotherly Love.'" Wicker wields the big gavel during one of the sessions at the 2021 Annual Communication.

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