The North Carolina Mason

July/August 2010 TRAVELING THE TAR HEEL STATE NEWS FROM NORTH CAROLINA'S LODGES By Ric Carter Jacksonville Challenges to other lodges may be forthcom- ing from Semper Fidelis 680. Beau Brown has built two horseshoe pits behind the lodge. Call Beau if you’re game to play. Semper Fi joined their neighbors at the Amer- ican Cancer Society Relay for Life in April. Tey also helped out with the local Special Olympics by providing bag lunches for the kids. Eight members of the lodge cooked more than 80 pounds of hot dogs for the event. In other happenings at Semper Fidelis Lodge, a trip to a Kinston Indians minor league baseball game was planned for June 12, the lodge adopted two residents at WhiteStone, and they announced their September 10 barbe- cue fundraiser. — Trestle Board Canton 259, all in the 40th Sonoma 472, Clyde 453, and Waynesville Masonic District, fielded a float in the Canton Memorial Day parade. Sonoma Lodge participated in the Second Annual Ted Darrell Inman Benefit on May 15. Te lodge cooked barbecue and fed more than 400 in the community charity fundraiser held at Lake Logan Fire Department. It’s amazing how much lodge life centers around eating. Sonoma 472 held their Poor Man’s Lunch fundraiser May 22. Te menu in- cluded pinto beans, cornbread, fried potatoes, and coleslaw. Te lodge’s annual family picnic was set for July 17. Sonoma 472 presented the Scotty Canter Sportsmanship Awards to Billy Mills March 7. — Valley of the Moon Charlotte John Gregory was raised on May 10 at Excel- sior 261. Perhaps his first act as a Master Mason was to sign his father’s petition for the degrees. Hmmm, does time knowing the candidate start with birth or first memory? — Max Smith Excelsior Lodge is taking donations to re- place their old sign with colored aluminum let- tering. Letters cost $75 each. Johnny Moser was honored by Excelsior Lodge on April 12 when they held a dinner to salute his work for the lodge. He was master in 1984 and 2003. He was long-time lodge trea- surer and a candidate coach for more than 20 years. At the time of the party, Excelsior had 12 candidates working with five coaches. Excelsior’s June 10 lodge social was featuring go-carts at the NASCAR Speed Zone. — Trestle Board Charles M. Setzer 693 is working on a mi- nor facelift for their building. New paint and carpet in the dining hall were first on the list. Tey are running workdays every Monday eve- ning to spruce up. Setzer Lodge’s barbecue fundraiser was set for June 12. Tey sold chopped barbecue by the pound and several whole barbecued butts. —Trestleboard Temple 676 has hosted several visitors lately. School of Graphic Arts Manager Eddie Dick- erson at the Home for Children was there in April. Dickerson, who was raised at the Home for Children, shared his story of “great loss, sad- ness, triumph, and achievement.” Gray Dogherty and his family also visited. Gray suffers from spinal musculature atrophy. His mom, Abbie, established an organization dedi- cated to finding a cure for the crippling genetic disease. Temple Lodge signed on as a sponsor in the Gray’s Gang Walk and Roll Fundraiser. Grand Historian Michael Brantley visited in May and shared a program on the evolution of the Master Mason’s degree. — Temple Tales Plymouth In April, members of Perseverance 59 led a Masonic field trip to Maryland. Tey were joined by Masons from the First and Tird Ma- sonic Districts. Tey visited the grand lodge and Scottish Rite Temple in Baltimore, and partici- pated in a Master Mason Degree in Esdraelan 176 in Cardiff. Perseverance Lodge held a pancake break- fast June 12. — Trestleboard Statesville Statesville 27 helped out with the local Relay for Life May 21–22. Members were presented several options for aiding the effort. Tey could buy luminaries, Masonic walking sticks were available, members could join the Masonic Marchers team, or they could help cook and sell hot dogs and lemonade at the event held at the Iredell County fairgrounds. Statesville Lodge sponsored a Friendship Breakfast on the last Saturday in May. Members were urged to bring friends who might be inter- ested in joining Masonry. Statesville 27’s Homecoming is set for Octo- — Te Joppa Informer ber 19 at the lodge. Seen from left with Garner 703’s new display cabinet are Stevens, Purser, Wil- liams, and Maxfield. There’s a new shine on history at Garner Lodge By Ric Carter GARNER — On one of his cross state trips, Jimmy Stevens spotted a cabinet that really struck his fancy. With its integral two columns, he thought it perfect for a lodge display case. He asked some questions and drove on. It kept working on him until he finally broke down and bought it for Garner 701. Lodge Master John Maxfield volunteered to get a team up to trans- port the cabinet and get it set up in lodge. Tey placed the cabinet by the tyler’s station in the lodge lobby. Next came the gathering of artifacts to display. Tey made displays listing Stedman Stedman 730 enjoyed their spring Ladies’ Night in April—no big thing, a night at Salem Pizza. June 19 was their date for the Tird Annual Jack Forbes Golf Tournament. Tey held it at Lakewood Country Club in Roseboro. — Te Blueprint Salisbury Te Rowan County Masonic Scholar- ship Fund has awarded 64 scholarships worth $33,500 since its inception in 1988. Tis year’s grants went to Jon Robertson, Luke Miller, and Lauren Brown. Robertson is headed for NC State, Miller to UNC-Chapel Hill, and Brown to UNC-Asheville. Te lobby and tyler’s room at the lodge in Salisbury have a new coat of paint. Te kitchen is getting a motion sensor light. — Master’s Journal Mount Airy Te lodges in the Masonic Temple here are holding a Bike and Hot Rod Ride August 21. — Gary McMillian Hookerton Jerusalem 95 and Radiance 132 are discuss- ing creating a joint Tird Degree team. Tey are hoping for an improvement in efficiency and quality of ritual. Te Hispanic church which rented Jerusalem Lodge’s building for several years has left. But, the lodge reports that, “Tey sure left us a much nicer facility than the one they moved into.” Tey hope they have finally beaten a chronic — Te Jerusalem Journal leaky roof. their members who served as district deputy grand master or lecturer and those who are life members of the lodge. Tere are other salutes to men who have been important to Garner Lodge’s history. Two well-known and dedicated members of the lodge, Earle Purser and Delmas Williams, stepped up to offer personal Masonic memen- toes of great importance — their own Montfort Medals. Te Montfort is awarded to those who have made the greatest contributions to Mason- ry in North Carolina. Kannapolis Te Masonic Center in Kannapolis had one of their air conditioners stolen in May. Te en- tire five-ton unit was stripped, leaving only the sheet metal sides of the machine. —Randy Crainshaw Ranger Montgomery 426 had their annual picnic/ open house set for May 29. Tey enjoy the ham- burgers and hot dogs each year during Labor Day weekend. — Derek Cheek and Jim Hyde Marble Te Butt Roast fundraiser at Marble Springs 439 was held Memorial Day weekend. — Jim Hyde Thomasville Dues may be going up at Tomasville 214. Tey were faced with going substantially into the red on their budget for the last ten years. Tey have proposed upping dues to $100. Tey are also considering the alternative procedure for balloting on candidates. Several members of Tomasville Lodge got service awards at their May 4 meeting. Veteran’s Emblem awardees Murphy Bates, Kennard Fra- zier, Hubert Leonard, Reitzel Von Louya, and William Blakeley Mills were honored for being members for 50 years. — Trestle Board Pilot Mountain Four members of Pilot 493 visited Mountain Home Lodge in Stuart, Virginia on May 13. Te lodge was hosting Virginia’s grand master that night. — Te Pilot Mountain Traveler Asheville Nichols-West Ashevile 650 held the Masonic Light Classic, their annual charity golf tourna- ment, at Broadmoor Golf Links May 28. Te entry fee was $75 per player and hole sponsor- ships were available for $100. Players got a box lunch and a goody bag. Jeff Bowman’s team took first place. Trophies were awarded for longest drive, closest to the pin, and longest putt. Te lodge raised money for their build- ing fund in February. Project number one for the fund was wall repair and new paint for the lodge room. Te new color scheme is reported to be “fantastic.” — Te Cornerstone Spencer Spencer is an old railroad town, so when Spencer 543 Master Cecil Keith started a con- tingency fundraiser back in 2006, they adopted a train theme to salute donors — Engineer, $2,000; Conductor, $1,500; Fireman, $1,000; and Brakeman, $500. Donors were given ten years to complete their pledges. Te fund for emergency lodge needs now stands at more than $11,000. Spencer Lodge’s Annual Back to School Pool Party at the Masonic Home for Children will celebrate its tenth anniversary this summer. — On the Square The North Carolina Mason Page 3 Washington 12 supper gathering. It was the second such meeting this year. Orr 104 was hosting the Tird District’s June — Trestleboard Chapel Hill Mosaic 762, University 408, and Mt. Olive 36 (PHA) held Operation Clean Sweep May 8. Te Masons picked up trash along their adopted stretch of road along Franklin Street. — Will Towne Greensboro Partly because they share a community, Gate City 694 has an intimate relationship with WhiteStone (MESH). Tey make lots of ef- fort to help out. Tere are frequent donations to the Home. Already this year, they have given residents there pillows, games, ladies cosmetics, and 200 rolls of Christmas wrapping supplies. Tey delivered an electric wheelchair donated to WhiteStone. Te lodge also sends their De- struction Crew to help clear out the old Bass building on campus. Recently, they’ve removed more than 100 doors, 20 old bed parts, and more than 50 cast iron sinks. Tey even clean a stretch of street near WhiteStone in Greens- boro’s adopt-a-street program. Tey don’t forget the Masonic Home for Children though. Tey have the Arthur John- son Memorial Golf Tournament that they held May 15 at Holly Ridge Golf Links in Archdale. Johnson was a past master of the lodge. Money earned from the tournament goes to the scholar- ship program at the Home for Children. Gate City Lodge held its annual hot dog and hambuger get together June 12. Home-made ice cream was also on the summertime menu. Lodge member Gene Godsoe’s son Eugene was named PAC 10 swimmer of the year. The Stanford student won the NCAA 100-me- ter backstroke championship and finished second in several other events. He served as Stanford University’s swim team captain. — Trestleboard Winston-Salem Old Town 751 took part in the Bikes for Books program again this year. Tey gave bi- cycles to students at Old Town, Old Richmond, Rural Hall, and Julian Gibson schools. Te kids earned the bikes for reading improvement. Te Spring Pancake Fundraiser at Old Town Lodge made $500 this year. Newsletter editor Joseph Wages recently got his Veteran’s Emblem for 50 years membership. — On the Level at Old Town Lodge Cliffside June 19 was the night to celebrate Cliffside 460’s centennial. Te party included hamburg- ers, hot dogs, French fries, and homemade ice cream. Commemorative souvenirs were also handed out. — Cliffside Lodge Wallace Wallace 595’s golf tournament was set for June 26. Te fundraiser for the Masonic Home for Children had a $50 per player entry fee and a sponsorship rate of $100. — Bulletin of Wallace Lodge Kenansville St. John’s 13 participated in the Duplin County Relay for Life May 21–22. Te Stroud brothers (Herbert and Harvey) barbecued a pig for the event. Te lodge turned the barbecue into sandwiches at the Relay. Tey had cakes and other goodies as well. Tey raised more than $400. Te Relay for Life celebrates survivorship and raises money for research and programs of the American Cancer Society. St. John’s Lodge celebrated Independence Day at their first stated communication in July. Tey had hot dogs and hamburgers. — Lodge Log Benson Relief 431 is collecting donations to help a brother who has had a terrible run of luck. He was undergoing a pre-op exam preparing for a spinal fusion when doctors discovered blocked arteries around his heart. He had to have bypass surgery. While recovering from that, he suffered a stroke. Tis required that he be on his back in the hospital. While visiting him, his wife became entangled in the cords around his room, fell, and broke her knee cap. — Grover Dees Spruce Pine Wayne Henline handcrafted a set of Masonic working tools for Vesper 554. Tey are made of cherry wood and in a special presentation case made of cherry with walnut inlay. Vesper Lodge enjoyed their annual ramp sup- per with Bakersville 357 on April 15. Recent programs at the lodge include Ted McEntire’s presentation on Masonic leadership and our need to personify our Masonic ideals and Ron Lough’s on free thinking. — Te Beacon see STATE, page 5 If your lodge has a newsletter for its members, make sure The North Carolina Mason is on your mailing list. Lodge newsletters are a major source of news for Masons around the state. If you don’t have one, think about starting one. Newsletters are a good way to keep your mem- bers active, happy, and informed. Ric Car ter photo

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