The North Carolina Mason

January/February 2011

North Carolina Mason

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Page 6 BENEATH THE Oaks Looking back with an eye to the future By Allen Hughes Administrator Masonic Home for Children at Oxford Okay, folks; it’s time to ante up. We must roll up our sleeves and work harder if we are to preserve our children’s home as we have known it throughout our lifetime. If not, we must ac- cept the reality that MHCO cannot continue to operate as it has been and start looking for new ways to provide charity to disadvantaged children. Again, the air is rife with rumors, but there are no plans to close our children’s home. Tat said, we are considering the feasibility of adding other programs to our current child care mission to better utilize our facilities. So, if you don’t like the idea of changing what we’re doing, help us find more children to fill our vacant beds and there won’t be any need for change. Tis is the 139th year in which our children’s home has pro- vided a home and assistance to boys and girls who could not live safely in their own homes at various periods in their lives. Without the help given by our Home to approximately 9,000 children who have lived here, most of them probably would have had a far different and less successful outcome in life. Caring for people in need, both in their early years and later in life, is a worthy cause and is one which we as Masons have sworn to support. Our children’s home would not have been established nor would it have survived through its illustrious and beneficent history without the understanding, dedication, generosity, and persistence of caring Masons. But from its beginning the jour- ney of our Home has not been easy, and throughout the long history there have been many challenges. Today we are facing a major challenge to continue operating the children’s home in the same manner in which we have done for so many years. Most of the earlier challenges involved finding the money necessary to provide needed care. Tis dilemma is not a need for money, but rather is a need to increase the number we support to more effectively use the assets we have. We have man- aged the resources frugally and despite the rapidly rising costs of caring for children we are in a sound financial position to con- tinue supporting children up to our licensed capacity of 80, in addition to our graduates who continue their education in our Independent Living Program. Although the care we provide is nurturing, of high quality, free to families in need, and at no addi- tional cost to the taxpayers, more than half the available beds on campus have remained empty during a period of poor economic conditions with many families struggling with unemployment and lost income. Deficits in the federal and state budgets have resulted in cuts in public support to families in need, and some of the community support programs also have been cut. We have anticipated increased demand for our services during the poor economic conditions, but many of the requests we have received have been for youth who cannot get support in other programs, but would pose a risk to the children currently in our care. With the decreased census, we have reduced staff and cut operational expenses where appropriate while maintaining the flexibility of being able to admit any children who meet admissions criteria. We are asked frequently, and most often it is a Brother Ma- son asking, why we don’t have more children at the Home and why we don’t go out and find more children. We need your help to identify those children. Yes, Masons across the state still are actively involved in recommending children to us, and in some cases it has been a Mason the family knew who convinced them they were doing the right thing by seeking help for their chil- dren. Another rumor we have had to deal with for many years is that the Masonic lodges have no involvement in placing chil- dren here. Tat’s far from the truth; the only significant thing that has changed in the admissions process is that the lodges no longer have to do the investigation of the family background or prepare and approve the application paperwork. We must rely on you or acquaintances of the families to put us in touch with parents or guardians who desire help with their children. Once you help us make the initial contact, we can do the rest of the processing to determine if admission to MHCO is appropri- ate. Tis way, we can determine more promptly if MHCO is a proper choice for a child who needs out-of-home placement, and, if so, we can admit the child much sooner than with the old process which required Lodge approval of an application before it was submitted to MHCO. Now more than ever, we must rely on Masons to make families in your communities aware of the services that are available at the Masonic Home for Children and to refer to us families in need. We still encourage lodges to maintain contact with the children from their area so our Ma- sons can feel involved, and the children can put a face to some of the people who help care for them. Too often, many of us assume that everyone knows about our Home; in reality a large majority of people in the state, including some Masons, do not know that our Home is available to help families with children in need. Each of us can provide valuable community service by telling families who are struggling to provide adequate care for their children about the help MHCO offers. We must do all we can to continue to provide help to disad- vantaged children. Times and our society have changed drasti- cally, and the need for children’s homes like MHCO is not as great as in the past, but the need still exists. We hear or read almost daily of abuse and neglect of children by their own fami- lies. Tose situations could have been avoided had the children been in a safer place like MHCO. We want to be able to help when children need our assistance, but we cannot afford to con- tinue to operate below 50% capacity in anticipation of more families with children seeking our care. Our Board of Directors has formed a committee to review options of what the Home can do to improve utilization of our facilities and to support other charitable activities without ad- verse impact on the current child care program. Tis review is being done as a preliminary phase in selection of the next ad- ministrator. All the talk and rumors you may hear about meet- ings and planning for the future of our Home does not mean there are plans to close it. Te goal is to help as many children and families as possible for many years to come. Part of the de- liberations will be to find the right administrator to help achieve the vision and mission determined by the Board. If it is your vision that the Masonic Home for Children should continue to provide the same services for which it was established and has done throughout its history, then you must help bring in more children to fill the empty beds and justify doing business as usual. Te need to help disadvantaged children in out-of-home placement continues to exist but unless proof of the need is demonstrated through increased applications and admissions, changes must be made in order to continue to help children in need. Tis is my home, and I attribute the successes in life I have enjoyed to the foundation I received here as a child. When I retire in June, I want to be able to leave knowing that the Home will continue long into the future to offer to other children the same chance I was given. To determine its value I need only to ask, “What if?” What if this Home had not been available in my time of need? I’m glad I don’t need to answer. Let me help Masonry's charities ❍ Te North Carolina Masonic Foundation ❍ WhiteStone (MESH) ❍ Te Masonic Home for Children ❍ Send information about wills and bequests. ❍ Please have someone contact me. My name Address City Phone In memory of (optional) Address To assure that your gift is properly credited to the fund of your choice, please make the check payable to that charity. Mail to Te Grand Lodge of North Carolina, PO Box 6506, Raleigh, NC 27628. WELCOME OUR NEW Brothers 4 ...................Willie Dennis Manning 4 ...............................Eric Sean Rouse 8 ........................Todd Justin Muench 8 ...........................Kyle James Nelson 17 ................Richard Wesley Spradlin 19 .................William Johnson Finley 27 ........................Charles Ray Acosta 27 .................James Raymond McKee 31 .....................Eugene Lowell Poore 32 ......................... Kevin Wayne Clay 32 .................. Jarrod Mitchell Howell 32 ........................ Brian Keith Sifford 40 .............. Michael Martin Merriam 40 ........................Harry Page Skelton 45 ............Isaac Lee Phillips Shumate 53 .................William Charles Glover 76 ...................Edison Tomas Brown 81 ....................Michael Andrew Kirk 83 ..................Adam Joseph Williams 85 .............. George Alton Bottoms Jr. 85 ........................Tomas Paul Wade 85 ............ Cecil Tomas Williams III 97 ....................Walter Eugene Kreais 97 .........................Carl Jason Philyaw 98 ........... Christopher Michael Avritt 104 ..................Edward Lee Birdsong 104 .................. Jason Wilder Johnson 109 ....................Charles Keith Willis 112 ............................L B. Jackson III 112 .........................Phillip Scott Null 112 .................... Kevin Lynn Turnage 114 ................Steve Anderson Kinlaw 114 ................Alan Brandon PreVatte 115 .................. John Wesley Halladay 115 .................Benjamin Craig Hyder 115 ...... Bradford Williamson Wilson 118 ......................Eric David Winters 122 ...................... Carl Edward Hann 125 ....................... Gary Eugene Britt 125 ................ Elbert Harold Holland 125 .....................Eric Brooks Jackson 125 ............... John Ashley Westbrook 134 .............Adam Christopher Ressa 136 ...............Carl Edward Robertson 137 ...................Donald R. Abernethy 137 ......................... Jason David Berg 137 ..........William Lanier Daugherty 137 .................. Rick Tomas Hensley 137 ....................John Edward Isaacks 137 .............................Ronald Tackett 138 ...................Tomas Hagan Blake 138 ....................Loranza Page Cottle 143 .............Randy Everette Gilliland 143 .......................Robert Payton Lee 143 ......................Neil Ashley Wrenn 147 ..................Andrew Logan White 147 ...............Charles Gary Whitman 154 .................Michael Lee Tutherow 155 ......................Adrian Scott Hicks 170 ..........Chad Christopher Penland 170 .......................... Jason Ryan Rash 170 ........................Eric James Rogers 176 ........................Kevin Neil Parson 176 ...........Dusen James William Van 188 ................... Robert Joseph Wiker 191 .................Gary Allen Burbage Jr. 191 ....................Phillip Morris James 198 ................ James Edwin Reynolds 208 ..................................Phil Howell 210 ....................John Grover Mallard 214 ...................... Eric Scott Osborne 217 ............... Jeremy Lawrence Frank 218 ..........Joseph Preston Wofford IV 230 .......................Michael Lee Baker 230 ................Michael Gerald Melvin 231 ..........Tomas LaVerne Beckman 231 ......................... Jeffrey Allen Hall 237 .................... Jeffrey Dean Cordell 243 ...................Roger Dale Carroway 243 ...................... Jeffrey Tomas Hill 243 ...............Ashley Lendall Johnson 243 ................William Randall Rouse 248 .......... Jonathan Edward Crowder 253 ...................Jonathan Clark Coley 259 ..................... Robert Vance Cagle 261 ...................... David G. Galloway 261 ........... Johnny Robert Gregory Jr. 261 ...................... Steven Mark Kissel 262 ........................Perry Lee Hensley 262 ................John Douglas Pokrzyna 263 ............ Mark Tanner Fortenberry 263 ......................Ricky Keith Keever 263 ....................... Bryan Lee Petzold 263 ..............Lyman Lee Stoneburner 276 .......................... John Daniel Hill 282 .................Harlen Don Greene Jr. 282 ........ Stanton Eugene Simmerson 284 .............. Liere Daniel Najera Van 289 .................... John Carl Vermitsky 293 ...................... Seth Warren Evans 300 ....................William Curtis Cain 304 ............................Jason Lynn Ball 304 .................Johnnie Frank Braxton 304 .................. David Allen Kennedy 305 ................... Robert Brian Gibson 305 ..................Rodney Curtis Tucker 306 .......................... Lee Allen Isham 314 ............... Dan Allan Harshbarger 314 .............Charles Michael Herring 314 ...........Nicholas Steven Overman 317 ....Michael James Christopherson 319 ..........Willard Jackson Blanchard 319 .................. Glenn Vernon Waters 319 ................Jeffrey Eugene Watkins 320 ...............Dennis Matthew Bailey 322 ........................James Ray Horton 322 ................Dennis Wayne Sechrist 339 ................ Oscar Newell Bowman 340 .......Durwood Douglas Lancaster 343 ................... Michael Scott Reavis 343 ..........Wayne Edward Whisenant 344 ....................Charles Max Graeub 344 .................William Andrew Gray 344 ...................Bradley Keith Russell 344 ..................Tyler Jonathan Varney 348 ...............Robert Arthur Parker II 356 .....................Robert Brent Dyson 356 .........James Robert Nicholson III 358 .........Tomas John Turrentine IV 363 ..............William Ronald Mast Jr. 363 ..................Matthew Fred Rollins 384 ............ Jonathan David Brown Jr. 384 ............... Johnny Richard Hoover 395 ................Dallas Langston Hardy 395 .....................Joshua Ethan Hines 403 .............. Alfred Forrest Denise Jr. 404 ..............Marcus Zachary Hayden 407 .............................Troy Glen Bell 407 ........... Reginald Clay Shumate Jr. 407 ...........Charles Robert Tornburg 409 ....................Paul Edgar Cobb III 412 ....................Marion Shane Farrar 412 ........Timothy Dwight Lumpkins 417 ........Matthew Randall Blackburn 417 ..............Richard Seavie Lowry Jr. 418 ........................George Lee Baker 418 ...................Perry Edward Harrell 418 ....................James Walter Nelson 423 .................... Gregory Alan Wyatt 428 .......William Edward Blanchfield 428 ................Ronald Benjamin Kuist 428 ................... Richard Lee Murphy 431 ......................John Wade Duncan 431 ................. James Lonnie Peacock 431 .....................Corey Austin Sasser 431 ..............William Sherrill Weaver 434 ..............Nicholas Evan Sizemore 435 ...Christopher Stanley Maskelony 439 .................. Gregory Travis Allred 439 .........................Douglas R. Sneed 444 ..................Michael Reece Cox Jr. 444 .......Carey Humphrey Graham Jr. 446 ..................Donald William Stills 460 ....................Howard Ray Greene 460 ....................Jeffrey Martin Smith 461 ................Patrick Andrew Barratt 461 ....................William Glenn Ford 461 ..............MIchael Stuart Freeman 461 ...............Kenneth William Silvea 462 .....................Robert Dale Martin 475 ........................James Stuart Buck 484 .....................Paul Owen Blake Jr. 484 .................Patrick Ronald Wilson 491 ........................Bobby Lee Morris 491 ............David Edmundson Peeler 491 ...............Timothy Jeffrey Phillips 496 .....................Anthony J. Castiglia 496 ................Zachary Hugh Protzko 496 .....................Timothy Ray Taylor 496 ................. Trevor Leland Vickers 500 ..............David Aaron Culbertson 500 ....................Gregory Joel Griffith 500 ...................Eric James Sepulveda 501 .......................Brian Glen Adams 505 ....... Grover Donald Alexander Jr. 505 ...................Andy Jonathan Eaker 515 ................Ronald Eugene Ballard 515 ....................Dustin Tyler Bridges 515 .......................Rich James Palmer 515 ................William Tomas Payne 515 ............................. Joey Lee Short 515 ............... Matthew Bryan Walker 519 ................ Matthew Wayne Porch 521 ................... George Joseph Bugyi 528 .................... Robert Tyler Branch 530 .............Robert Christopher Tosti 534 ...................Michael Ray Fletcher 534 ..................Charles Arland Grigg 552 .............Robert Powell Burwell Jr. 556 ............George Halford Coleman 556 ......................John Seth Coleman 558 ...............................Daron Atkins 564 ........................Erik Travis Hodge 565 ..........Derek Stephen Satterwhite 568 ..................... Roger Durham Pait 573 ................. Eddie Dwayne Denny 573 ................ David William Hollars 578 ............Larry Benjamin Beacham 578 ...................Dennis Adam Griffin 578 .......Michael Brandon Lovingood 578 ................... Jeffery Matthew Yow 579 ..................Warren Charles Julian 584 ................Brandon Moore Gaster 584 .............. Daniel Robert Rousseau 596 ....................Giles Cameron Byrd 598 .................Randall William Clark 598 ....................Michael Ray Watson 606 ......................Eric Shayne Brown 612 ..............George Michael Carlisle 612 ...................Donald Ray Hufham 613 ............Christopher Shane Smith 616 ....................Dustin Blaine Lyons 626 .......... Charles Franklin Overcash 626 ...........Tomas Andrew VanEtten 627 .................Matthew Reed Harvey 627 ......................Ryan Dan Lovelace 650 ...............Adam Voorhees Jackson 650 ...........Anthony Joseph Rathbone 656 .......................Marc Joseph Derro 656 ..............Donald Lee Willoughby 669 ........................Billy Max Denney 669 ....................Robert John Gale IV 670 ..................George Leo Dewitt Jr. 670 ................. Michael Dean Shoupe 672 .................... James Mack Phillips 676 ...........William Anderson Cather 676 ...................Todd Curtis Freeland 676 ..................David Ronald Hedges 676 ...........Randall Stephen Hoose Jr. 678 ...................... Alan Ray Phelps Jr. 678 .................Algon Keith Sawyer II 679 William Archibald McMillan III 680 .......................David Paul Donley 680 ......................Adam Westley Hay 680 ..................Matthew Scott Kuhns 680 ................Patrick Eugene McGirl 680 ......Anthony Allen Brown Santos 680 ..................Matthew Allen Spotts 683 ...................Brian Randall Sawyer 683 ................ Timothy Curtis Stoker 687 ............ Stephen Sanders Howard 688 ...............Timothy Charles Brush 688 ..................Darien James Garland 690 ............................ Shad Ray Foley 690 .....................Donald Lee Warren 693 ..........Robert Baker McDowell II 693 .................Jack David Stallings Jr. 693 ..................Edward David Wrenn 699 .............................Tomas Denny 699 .................. Stephen Neal Springs 702 ................Robert Anthony Dabbs 707 .................... Richard Burns Cobb 708 ....................Cameron Tyler Buck 708 ................... Kenneth Scott Eaton 708 .............Travis Wayne Oldenburg 709 ..................... Jeremy Dwight Hill 709 ...........Eddie Franklin Mathis III 713 ............Michael Wesley Morrison 717 .................Mitchell Lee Woodard 720 ........................Jonathan Paul Hix 722 ....................... John Douglas Barr 722 ..................Mark Douglas Torpe 722 ................ Matthew Brian Torpe 725 ......................Anthony Ray Pugh 727 ...................Herbert Boyce Lynch 732 ..................William Dean Frazier 732 ....................Robert Steven Smith 733 ..............Cameron Lee Waggoner 734 ..............Michael Milton Criswell 734 ..................Larry Clayton Wilson 736 ................Wilfred Centino Flores 736 .............. James Tomas Simmons 738 ...........Christopher Devon Barker 739 ................Nicholas Adam Norton 742 ................... John Arthur Bunting 742 ..............Ryan Christopher Eaton 743 ............. David Michael Dickman 750 .......... Roger Mitchell Friedensen 750 ................Walter Tomas Hensey 750 .............Daniel Nicholas Herman 750 ...............Jimmie Day Johnson III 750 ..............Allen Shane Tarrington 753 ................... Lee John Sweeley III 754 ................Daniel James Cashman 755 ...................Jeffrey Lane Cardwell 755 ................Leroy Wilson Everhart 757 ................Wesley Charles Harkey 757 ................... John Edward Murray 757 ...................Roger Lee Nichols Jr. 757 ..................... Chad Martin Reece 757 ........................ Bradley Clay Sain 757 ....Timothy Phillip David Sawyer 759 ..............keith Charles Moynihan 759 ... Christopher Gregory Robinson 759 .................... Charles David Ward 762 ..................Steven Clinton Foster 762 ..............Benjamin Keith Morgan 763 ................Daniel Lorin Langston 763 ................... Joshua Wade Parsons 763 .............Christopher Mark Smith The North Carolina Mason January/February 2011 State My lodge Zip 

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