July/August 2013
The North Carolina Mason
Page 5
You're invited
Masonic Bluegrass Festival September 21
Valley from Hartsville, SC.
All profits from the event will go to the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford, the Shriners Hospitals for Children, and the Scottish
Rite's RiteCare program.
The event kicks off at 11:00 a.m. at the Scottish Rite building at 4740 Randolph Road in
southeast Charlotte. Entertainment will continue until 10 p.m. Food and refreshments will
be available, and there will be several music-related vendors on hand. Tickets are only $20 in
advance for the entire festival, $25 at the door.
Tickets are on sale now. For ticket information, call (704) 365-0735 between 10:00 a.m.
and 4:00 p.m. weekdays.
Golf tournaments
Ric Car ter photo
September 18
The Ride September 8
OXFORD — For 16 years now, motorcycles
have converged on the Masonic Home for Children on the second Saturday of September. They
return this year on September 14 as The Ride
makes its way once again from all over North
Carolina to enjoy lunch and a day at the Home
and gather gifts for expenses at the Home.
Last year, 96 bikes made the trip, raising nearly
$23,000 for the kids. That put the total over the
Ride's history at more than $300,000. They'll be
registering at 10:30 a.m. for lots of drawings in
the Wal-Mart parking lot at 1015 Lewis Street
in Oxford before heading out on the short drive
to the Home at 11:45. Get details on participating or sponsoring by calling: Jerry Edwards at
(704) 857-8162, Bill Greene at (704) 279-4799,
or Doug Earnhardt at (704) 957-0346.
CLEMMONS — This is one of the largest
Masonic fundraisers held each year in North
Carolina. It will be played September 18 this year
at Meadowlands Golf Club in Winston-Salem.
Money raised this year goes to the two Masonic
Homes and the Clemmons Food Pantry.
The entry fee is $300 per team and includes
lunch and snacks on the course. For details and
entry forms, contact Bob Charlier, or (336) 970-3959.
October 18
SELMA — Selma 320's Annual Golf Tournament for Masonic Charities is coming up in
the fall. Entry fee is $65 per player. They'll be
playing at Cardinal Country Club in Pine Level.
Pizza and a putting contest precede the 1:00
p.m. shotgun start. Contact to get details from Anthony Jones.
At one time, Golden Lodge 5, Stanstead, Canada
occupied a lodge room, which straddled the boundary between Canada and the United States. There
were entrances on both sides of the border.
– Alphonse Cerza
Ric Car ter photo
CHARLOTTE – Seven of the Carolinas'
top bluegrass groups will take the stage at the
Scottish Rite auditorium on Randolph Road to
help raise money for three Masonic charities.
The groups will headline the first Masonic Bluegrass Festival, to be held September 21 in the
auditorium many have called "one of the most
acoustically perfect facilities anywhere."
Sponsored by Masons Helping Children, the
Masonic Bluegrass Festival will feature Chapel
Road from Chester, SC; the Hinson Girls from
Lancaster, SC; the McFarland Road Band from
Laurel Hill, NC; Pinetucket from Wesley Chapel, NC; Country Grass from Chester, SC; Gipton Hill Boys from Weaverville, NC; and Slope
Masonic Homecoming October 11–13
OXFORD — The Masonic Home for Children at Oxford will again bring together two of
the most recognizable days on its calendar when
they celebrate the third annual Masonic Homecoming Festival October 11–13. The festivities
include the Home's Alumni Homecoming.
The state's largest Shrine Parade and entertainment from beach music favorites the Craig
Woolard Band will headline the weekend.
Festivities begin on Friday with the alumni
charity golf tournament (open to all golfers) at
Kerr Lake Country Club. Friday evening the
barbecue teams start their weekend of cooking
for the public and the glory with a yard party on
campus. Grand Master Dewey Preslar and his
Music Room Band, as well as the E. G. Peters
Band will perform.
Saturday features judging for the Barbecue
Cook-Off, a stated communication of Orphans Lodge on campus, the Shrine parade,
campus tours, and other alumni activities.
The Craig Woolard Band performs on the
main stage at noon. Campus will be open for
tours all weekend.
Visit
for barbecue entry rules and application, parade information, entertainment announcements, golf tournament sign-up, and a
complete schedule of events. Check the site for
updates frequently as preparations for the Second Annual Masonic Homecoming Festival
continue. Hope to see you there!
Card Turk
RALEIGH — Want to do some volunteer
work for North Carolina Freemasonry? Enjoy
history? Card Turk can let you combine them.
Card Turk is a crowd sourcing project to
commit membership records of early Tar Heel
Masons to a searchable database. Card Turk
can let you spend as much or as little time as
you like anywhere you have Internet access and
a computer.
To learn more about how it works and to sign
up go to . Prizes are coming soon.
Masons and the University
An exhibit opening October 1 at UNC-Chapel Hill traces the involvement of Masons in the university's founding and early years. "Look
Well to the East: North Carolina's Freemasons and the Cornerstones of
UNC" will be on display in Wilson Library through December 31.
Items on exhibit include the brass plate sealed into the cornerstone of
Old East by GM William Davie in 1793; an apron worn at the ceremony; Davie's sword; first UNC President Joseph Caldwell's petition to for
the degrees; and information about Masonic symbolism on the campus.
The exhibit will be in the Southern Historical Collection on the
fourth floor of Wilson Library. Consult their website (http://www.lib.
unc.edu/mss/hours.html) for hours and directions.
Reenactors gather
University 408 is 125
CHAPEL HILL — University 408 celebrated its 125th birthday May 31–June 1. They kicked off with a hot dog and hamburger dinner on Friday evening May 31. On Saturday evening
June 1, they had a steak dinner. Past Grand Historian Michael
Brantley was the speaker and gave them a short history of the
Grand Lodge of North Carolina. At their Past Masters' Evening,
the past masters were given certificates and travel mugs.
— Steve Sparrow
Flowers gives gift
LOUISBURG — On May 14, Annette F. Flowers brought a
gift to James A. Johnson 413. She gave the lodge an apron and
past master's jewel which belonged to her late father, Austin G.
Fuller. Fuller served the lodge as master in 1953. Seen here at
the presentation are Ms. Flowers, Master Howard Moore, and
Treasurer Stan Joyner.
— Howard Moore
YADKINVILLE — Yadkin 162 remembered Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina on May 6. At their stated meeting, officers
dressed in period correct uniforms were in attendance. More than 100,
among them 45 masters and past masters, enjoyed the meal and program.
A special invitation was extended to Masons who are War Between the
States reenactors. They were asked to attend in uniform.
Colonel Bill Potts of Unanimity 7 delivered a Masonic education program on Masonry during the Civil War. Potts is the commanding officer
of the First North Carolina Battalion of Infantry and has been a reenactor for over 30 years. Non-Mason reenactors were permitted to attend
the educational portion of the meeting. Yadkin Lodge's 2013 Master
John H. Baucom is the commanding officer of the reenactors' 28th North
Carolina Infantry Regiment.
— John Baucom
AMENDMENTS, from page 1
from the Grand Lodge Committee on Finance.
Group 3 revisits alcoholic beverages in lodge
facilities. This change would allow lodges to rent
facilities to groups in compliance with Grand
Lodge regulations. No alcohol would be allowed
in the lodge room at any time. This was presented this year by Raleigh 500, a partner in the
Raleigh Masonic Temple.
An alternative resolution is also expected. It
would allow the grand master to grant dispensations to a limited number of lodges to experiment with such rentals.
Group 4 and 5 would allow district deputy
grand masters and district deputy grand lecturers to purchase their official aprons when they
conclude their service. Some have expressed
concerns about the confusion that may arise
from proliferation of officials' aprons being worn
at meetings and the resulting distraction from
the authority of the current district officers. This
change was presented by Robbinsville 672 and
Montgomery 426.
Group 6, presented by Steele Creek 737, would
change the vote requirement for electing life members in a lodge. Life membership honors long-time
service of the member by permanently forgiving
their dues. This proposal would change the vote
needed to "no more than three black cubes" from
the previously required unanimous ballot.
Group 7 is presented by Balfour 188. It
would make the minimum dues for all lodges
$200. Supporters say that it takes that much for
a lodge to properly support itself and our charities. Raising our dues to that level, they contend,
will increase our pride in the fraternity and raise
the standards of our members.
Group 8 is something different for us — a
straw vote. There has been talk about allowing
lodges to have business meetings in the First
or Second Degree. Many think this would encourage better retention of Fellows Craft and
Entered Apprentices. Currently, just more than
20 percent of Entered Apprentices never finish
their degrees. Business in Third Degree only is a
relatively recent innovation in Freemasonry. The
problem with consideration has been that charting and reworking the necessary changes would
be an enormous undertaking. The change would
touch on huge portions of The Code. Also, the
import of those changes will likely have a big
effect on the vote.
Grand Lodge committees are reluctant to
take on such a large job unless there is at least a
strong interest in the effort. A straw vote will be
taken to gauge the interest of the membership in
allowing business meetings to be held the First
or Second Degree. If interest is demonstrated,
the necessary committees will endeavor to define
the necessary changes to our law. Those changes
would then be brought to Annual Communication at a later date for consideration by members
of Grand Lodge.
Group 9 tackles the disposal of property
owned by Masonic associations should they go
defunct. If a lodge goes under, its property is
sold, and the proceeds of the sale are given to
the NC Masonic Foundation. This amendment
would do the same with properties held by Masonic associations or groups of lodges holding
joint ownership of property, should the association cease to exist. The amendment was offered
by then Grand Master Robert E. Gresham.
Group 10 deals with the naming of the directors of the North Carolina Masonic Foundation. This action is designed to better protect
the various institutions from potential damage
in case of lawsuits. It is part of an ongoing effort over the last several years to put our charities on a safer footing. Board members would
be nominated by the Grand Lodge and elected
by the Foundation Board.
The exact wording and changes on the amendments is in the hands of your lodge secretary. If
you have questions about any of the proposed
changes to The Code, contact the grand secretary's office at or (919) 787-2021.
Temple's Davidsons
Bud and Sam Davidson got their 50-year
awards in May. Since the turn of this century,
every Mason raised in Temple 676 has been
coached by and/or received a lecture from at
least one of them.
— Temple Lodge
GL, from page 1
Master's Report is next. Other reports will also
be received. Some voting will take place on Friday afternoon.
For you late-night types, there are several restaurants and night spots along the streets around
the hotel for you to spend your evening.
Business resumes on Saturday morning at 9:00
a.m. when the last day of the session opens. That's
when more proposed amendments and resolutions will be considered. An analysis of those proposals starts on page one of this issue of The North
Carolina Mason. We will also adopt a budget for
the year. We will elect Grand Lodge officers. Business is generally concluded around lunch time.
To reach the Twin City Quarter, take the Cherry Street exit off I-40 Business and go four blocks
north. The hotel is taking reservations now. Their
toll-free reservation number is (800) 320-0934.
Be sure to specify that you are with the Masonic
Grand Lodge so you may get our special rate.
Come to Annual Communication this year
for the fun of it. Bring a Masonic buddy with
you. We hope to see you there!
