The North Carolina Mason

Page 4 The North Carolina Mason January/February 2022 T h e m i s s i o n o f f r e e m a s o n r y i n n o r T h C a r o l i n a i s T o r a i s e T h e m o r a l , s o C i a l , i n T e l l e C T u a l , a n d s p i r i T u a l C o n s C i e n C e o f s o C i e T y b y T e a C h i n g T h e a n C i e n T a n d e n d u r i n g p h i l o s o p h i C a l TeneTs of broTherly love, relief, and TruTh, whiCh are expressed ouTwardly Through serviCe To god, family, CounTry, and self under The faTherhood of god wiThin The broTherhood of man. (USPS 598-260) is published bimonthly by e Grand Lodge of AF & AM of North Carolina, 2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27608. ird class postage paid at Oxford, NC 27565. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to e North Carolina Mason, School Of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, Oxford, NC 27565. Grand Master Larry B. ompson Jr. Board Of Publication Mike Register, Chairman omas Pope Tony Rathbone Alvin Billings Philip Miller Editor Beth Grace ncmason@glnc.us Good quality pictures are essential for suitable reproduction. e right to reject any submission is reserved. Pictures will be returned to the sender only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Email submissions are preferred: high resolution, unaltered JPGs and Rich Text Format documents only. Submissions and other correspondence should be sent to the editor at 2921 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, NC 27608 or NCMason@glnc.us. Each North Carolina Mason is a subscriber to The North Carolina Mason. If you know a member who is not receiving the paper, please send us his full name, complete address, and the name and number of his lodge. Masonic widows receive The Mason free upon request. Subscriptions are available to others at a rate of $5 per year. Subscription inquiries and address changes only should be sent to: e School of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, 600 College Street, Oxford, North Carolina 27565. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The North Carolina Mason, the Grand Lodge, or Board of Publications. Grand Master Larry B. ompson Jr. .....................lthompson@glnc.us Deputy Grand Master Kevan D. Frazier .....................kfrazier@glnc.us Senior Grand Warden Donald E. Kehler ....................dkehler@glnc.us Junior Grand Warden Robert W. Rideout ................. rrideout@glnc.us Grand Treasurer Lewis R. Ledford (PGM) ............... lledford@glnc.us Grand Secretary Jonathan Allen Underwood .... junderwood@glnc.us Senior Grand Deacon Steve M. Norris ....................... snorris@glnc.us Junior Grand Deacon Gilbert D. Bailey ......................gbailey@glnc.us Grand Marshal Michael A. Register .......................mregister@glnc.us Grand Steward Philip R. Johnson ............................ pjohnson@glnc.us Junior Grand Steward Clyde Alvin Billings Jr. ...........abillings@glnc.us Judge Advocate T. Marcus Browne III judge.advocate@grandlodge-nc.org Grand Tyler Joel M. Howard Grand Chaplain James G. Jones Jr. Grand Historian Steven A. Campbell Grand Lecturer Randy Browning Grand Orator Worth Leon Rippy NORTH CAROLINA The Mason From the editor's desk Hope: Let it spring! H ope springs eternal, they say. Really? Does it? If you're like me, it does … until it doesn't. Time and reality can make that uplifting sensation fade, leaving the door open to apathy or boredom. By the time you read this, we'll be a month or more into a new year. I love a new year – all of that expectation, anticipation and prepa- ration for a new begin- ning, a new day, maybe even a new life. But this time, this year – my springy feeling of hope is not fading, even a little bit. Why? Some great changes are coming, and some inevitable changes we have already seen are coming into focus. For instance … A brand new Board of Publications has been seated and the brethren are hard at work for a succession plan of sorts for the NC Mason. It's early days yet, but the goal is to liven this newspaper up, while retaining its mission to serve all brethren of the Craft in NC. e board – please see their names listed immediately to the left of this column – is taking on a stronger advisory role to help create more diverse content. at means we'll have more personality profiles, more features about lodges and the towns they call home, more articles about what Masons love. Did you know, for example, that Grand Secretary Jonathan Underwood has a world-class recipe for an Old Fashioned? You might just see that in a future Mason. (I insist upon properly testing it first …) e first change – well, maybe it's a restora- tion – will be a necrology, a list of brethren who have passed (as reported to the Grand Lodge) since the last issue. We ran such a list many years ago; it's a good idea to bring it back. Watch for it in this issue. e paper also may look a little different down the road. e newsprint version you have seen for many years has had its day. We're looking at alternatives – brighter, lighter, more colorful. Did you know the Mason has been printed in color only since 2015? at's the same time (and issue – July- August), we switched to the smaller tabloid format you now receive. e board is looking at options and pricing; printed materials are not cheap, and the board wants to spend the budget responsibly. We'll fill you in on progress as we go. If you have ideas for changes in a new NC Mason, please share – send them to ncmason@ glnc.us or to bgrace@glnc.us. In the meantime, a happy, hopeful 2022 to all! By Beth Grace Editor The Mason in 2009 at left. An issue from 2021 above.

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