Page 2 From the editor’s desk
The North Carolina Mason
September/October 2010
Museum patrons study Masonic artifacts. Orr 104’s dining hall served as a storm shelter during Nicole’s rains.
Lodges are a place of quiet in a storm
Let’s hear it for the Brothers at Orr 104 in
Washington. When Tropical Storm/Depression Nicole slowly slogged through Eastern North Carolina in late September, she didn’t provide the usual sturm und drang associated with na- ture’s nastiest slaps at our coastal communities. But, her slow stroll dropped nearly 20 inches of rain on Beaufort County causing much highway and some home flooding. Te Red Cross, of course, lept into action to
provide shelter for a relatively small number of displaced people. Tere was not sufficient need to open an entire school gymnasium with its associated cost overhead and inconvenience to school schedules. What they needed was a smaller, open, easily maintained hall. Te perfect answer? A lodge dining hall. A few phone calls found the necessary people
to get the lodge offered and opened. Fewer than a dozen people had to spend the night, but to them, the place was a God-send. It was a clean, dry ha- ven when fetid floods invaded their homes. All the lodge had to do was open the door,
turn on the power, and supply one lodge member to be present. Te Masons worked shifts during which they had only to represent the interest of the lodge. Tis is a perfect example of how lodges across
our state can reach out to their communities. It is a simple thing, without risk, to make facili- ties available in case of emergency. Develop you
lodge’s emergency plan now. As a lodge, make your decision NOW to help. When your lodge says, “Of course we would
help,” contact your local Emergency Manage- ment office (call your county government offices to find out how). Tell them you are there to help if they need you, and give them contact num- bers for getting the lodge opened without delay should need arise. It’s not just the people finding shelter in your
lodge who will see your generosity and civic mindedness. It’s local leaders and law enforce- ment officers and public health and Red Cross professionals and volunteers. And you may even get a chance to see for yourself that lodges can make a difference for their neighbors.
Corrections In our last issue, we mistakenly credited one
lodge with sponsorship of the Arthur Johnson Memorial Golf Tournament. It is, in fact, sup- ported by the lodges of the 23rd
Masonic District
and is its own charitable corporation. Also in our last issue, it was said that the April
17 Shrine Ceremonial in Hamlet was the first in a blue lodge in North Carolina. Sudan Re- corder Benny Smith reports that Sudan Shrine performed a shortened ceremony in conjunction with the York Rite at the Fayetteville Masonic Temple in 1993.
Washington launches new Southern Tour
By Ric Carter RALEIGH — George Washington stars
this winter at the North Carolina Museum of History. Tey are hosting the special traveling exhibit “Discover the Real George Washing- ton, New Views from Mount Vernon.” Tis is a wonderful opportunity to see some of the most exceptional artifacts of our first president, Brother George Washing- ton.
Te showing fea-
tures many of Wash- ington’s personal effect, including his only surviving full set of dentures (no they’re not wooden), his surveying tools, his family Bible, and many other re- membrances of his life. Special forensic studies were done to produce several life-size figures of important phases of his life. Washington’s most famous portrait, Gilbert Stu- art’s rendering, is there in the original. Tere is a special section dedicated to his Ma-
sonic life. In another area, Washington’s connec- tion with North Carolina is emphasized, includ- ing his tour route and the story of his ownership and surveying of a portion of the Great Dismal Swamp. Tere are many special programs related to the exhibit being presented throughout the four-month run.
A letter from a serviceman
IRAQ — We recently received this message and a photo
from one of our Brothers serving overseas. WB Ric Carter
Pictured is Senior Master Sergeant Randy Benoy (Lowell 590). I am in the North Carolina Air National Guard and currently deployed to Iraq. My wife mailed me a “goodie” box and inside the box, as you can see, was my copy of the May/June 2010 The Mason. It is good to be able to receive a little North Carolina news so far from home. I would like to send a big thank you to
all of the brethren at home for all of their thoughts and prayers. I am scheduled to rotate back home soon. God bless and keep all of our troops safe. Fraternally
SMSgt Randy Benoy Past Master Lowell 590
Benoy helps us remember to remind you that if you are
sent overseas in our military, let us know your new mailing address. We will be happy to make sure your North Carolina Mason follows you there.
Te exhibit was developed in cooperation
Figures of President Washington’s swear- ing in ceremony.
with Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens. “Al- though over a million people come to walk in Washington’s footsteps at Mount Vernon each year, we know that not everyone will have a chance to visit his home,” said Jim Rees, presi- dent of Mount Ver- non. “We wanted to bring the fascinating story of Washing- ton’s life to people around the country by showing a wide variety of compelling personal belongings and some intrigu- ing elements from our new Donald W. Reynolds Mu- seum and Education Center.” Te show is currently booked to run at several sites around the country through May 2013.
Te show opened in September and runs un-
til January 21, 2011. Te admission fee for the show is ten dollars, but there are various reduced rates available. Visit the Museum’s website for details of the run: . Don’t miss this opportunity to be closer to
your most famous Brother Mason and the father of our country. You will not be disappointed. Our Grand Lodge is one of several sponsors of the show.
BOTTOM LINE, from page 1
Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Tere is noth- ing done well which cannot be done better. Nothing enthuses like enthusiasm. Te order deserves the best we can afford; the order demands the best we can give. I know of nothing that will do our fraternity more good than
for each brother to go to his home lodge, determined, in every way possible, to make the meetings interesting and instructive. To answer the purpose of its existence, Masonry should be in-
tensely practical. It is not enough to boast of its antiquity and parade our ancestors. We ourselves should teach and live the prin- ciples of Masonry. Of what use is it to make great pretention in brotherly love and
affection when it is hard to get enough brothers to open a lodge to attend the funeral of a brother? Do we realize the meaning of daily traveling upon the level of
time to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns? What is a Masonic lodge to you and to me? Is it an excuse for absence from home? Is it an institution for rotation in office so as to confer peculiar honor upon one after another? It should be more than this; and the burden of my message to you, this year, gathered from long years in many branches of the Masonic bodies and from hours of searching in the ancient mysteries, and study- ing the wise words of those who have gone this way before, is to challenge you to make of it the most possible, to devise ways for the systemic study and promulgation of Masonic truths, and for the daily practice of them in the ordinary walks of life, in honor preferring one another. To embody what it is to be a Mason and to live as a Mason should. Honor seeking is disappointing and impractical. Others may
Wardens and coaches, improve your skills “Take control of your own Masonic development!” advertises
the Boot Camp presented by the Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education and Wilkerson College. It’s continuing edu- cation in Freemasonry. Last year’s training for senior wardens was very popular. Tey return this year to help those who will serve as master in 2011. Tree sessions will be held this year: October 31 in New Bern’s
Scottish Rite Temple, November 7 at the Greensboro Masonic Temple, and November 14 at the Asheville Masonic Temple. Te schools will run from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on those Saturdays. Each will feature the same faculty who will help you develop an ef-
NORTH CAROLINA The Mason
(USPS 598-260) is published bimonthly by Te Grand Lodge of AF & AM of North Carolina, 2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27608. Tird class postage paid at Oxford, NC 27565.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Te North Carolina Mason, School Of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, Oxford, NC 27565.
fective plan for your lodge and tell you how to stay on that plan. It’s free, and reservations are NOT necessary. You do not have to be a graduate of Wilkerson College, and it’s open to all senior wardens. Want to be a catechism coach, or improve your coaching skills?
Te Board of Custodians is trotting out help for you this year. Tey’ll cover common mistakes, and definitions, and give you tips to improve your coaching skills. Te 9:00 a.m.–noon ses- sions will be held at the Charlotte Scottish Rite Temple Novem- ber 6, Wilmington Scottish Rite Temple November 13, and the Asheville Masonic Temple November 20. It’s free. Come dressed casually.
Grand Master William L. Dill
Board Of Publication
John O. Newman Jr., Chairman Gary R. Ballance Don E. Bolden
Tomas A. Pope Jr. Hugh K. Terrell Jr.
Editor Ric Carter
seek to honor you, but honor comes only in consequence of uni- form commendable conduct on an individual’s part. Others may seek to dishonor us. Teir attempts will be vain; yet we by a single misdeed can bring dishonor upon ourselves. Te ideals of Ma- sonry are so lofty and so perfect that we frail, imperfect humans, struggle to live up to them. We will meet with obstacles of many kinds and may perhaps be buried in the rubbish of human failures; but, if our pursuits are truly laudable, if our faith is well founded, and if our trust is in God, we shall be raised triumphantly by the right hand of His power and sustained by the encircling of His everlasting arms. May we truly see ourselves in the light of Masonic light and
govern ourselves accordingly. Brethren, you will find no greater study for man than the study of the Temple of Solomon, the Tem- ple of Grand Master Hiram Abif, and the Temple of the Great Jehova, the God of Nature. May the Grand Architect of the Universe continue to bless and keep you!
THE MISSION OF FREEMASONRY IN NORTH CAROLINA IS TO RAISE THE MORAL, SOCIAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND SPIRITUAL CONSCIENCE OF SOCIETY BY TEACHING THE ANCIENT AND ENDURING PHILOSOPHICAL 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.
Good quality pictures, whether color or black and white, are essential for suitable reproduction. Te right to reject any submission not suitable for use is reserved. Pictures will be returned to the sender only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Submissions and other correspondence should be sent to the editor at PO Box 6506, Raleigh, NC 27628 or rcarter@grandlodge-nc.org.
Each North Carolina Mason is a subscriber to Te North Carolina Mason. If you know a member who is not receiving the paper, please send us his full name, his complete address and the name and number of his lodge. Masonic widows receive Te Mason free upon request. Subscriptions are available to others at a rate of five dollars per year. Subscription inquiries and address changes only should be sent to: Te School of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, 600 College Street, Oxford, North Carolina 27565.
Reproduction of articles by Masonic organiza- tions is permitted with proper credits.
Opinions expressed are not necessar- ily those of The North Carolina Mason, the
Grand Lodge, or Board of Publication.
Ric Car ter photo
Ric Car ter photos
