The North Carolina Mason

September/October 2011

North Carolina Mason

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Page 2 The North Carolina Mason Grand Lodge officer installation set ALBEMARLE — Grand Lodge officers will be installed Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 10:00 A.M. at the Stanly County Agri-Civic Center in Albemarle. A reception will follow. Grand Master-Elect Robert E. Gresham invites you and your family. Third annual Boot Camps to be held in November RALEIGH — Officers' Boot Camps will be held in November at three different locations in the state. These sessions are designed to train blue lodge line officers in essential leadership skills for their travels to the East. The forums provide up-to-date and informative material on effective lodge management and planning. The Boot Camps are one day seminars held the first three Saturdays in November. The No- vember 5 session will be held at the York Rite Temple in New Bern; the November 12 session at Kedron 387 in Hendersonville; and the No- vember 19 session at the Winston-Salem Ma- sonic Temple. Each session contains the same material, you need only attend on date. The Boot Camps are provided free of charge and are co-sponsored by Wilkerson College and the Grand Lodge Masonic Education Commit- tee. Participants receive a workbook and other material – also at no charge. Lunch is on your own. The conferences will be most helpful to blue lodge line officers. They are open to any member of our Grand Lodge in good standing, however. Most Masons will find much value at the Boot Camps. The Boot Camps were conceived as a way of providing leadership training for officers who could not attend Wilkerson College, or who would like a refresher of the Wilkerson College program. Topics include "Masonic Education in the Blue Lodge," "Motivation," "Fundraising," "The Master's Toolbox," and "The Proven Path." Brothers scheduled to present at the boot camps include Past Grand Master Tom Gregory, Jim Medlin, Rick Smith, Shaun Bradshaw, Larry Thompson, and Kevin Combs. This is the third year for the Boot Camps. Participants in previous years have remarked how valuable the program has been in their de- velopment as leaders. For more information on the Boot Camps, contact Kevin Combs at 704- 929-9707 or secretarync27@gmail.com. A king and his speech therapist "The King's Speech" recently swept the Acad- emy Awards, but the rest of the story is that, al- though not mentioned in the film, both King George VI (1895-1952) and his speech therapist Lionel George Logue (1880-1953) were Freema- sons. Lionel Logue, the character played by Geof- frey Rush, was the speech therapist who helped King George VI cure his stammer. Lionel George Logue was a member of St. George's Lodge (now J. D. Stevenson St. George's Lodge 6, Western Australian Constitution). He was born in Adelaide on February 26, 1880, and educated at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. He studied elocution and worked as a teacher. His Masonic records show that he was raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason on Novem- ber 20, 1908. His rise through the officer's chairs continued to master in 1919. Logue seems to have had a busy professional life in Perth. He taught elocution, public speaking, and acting, as well as producing stage plays. He worked to help soldiers returning from World War I who were afflicted with speech impediments caused by shell-shock. In 1924, he set up consulting rooms in London where he treated rich and poor alike; apparently the exorbitant fees he charged the rich subsidized the treatment of his poorer clients. In 1926, he was consulted by the Duke of York (later King George VI) for help to overcome his stammer. Brother Logue was appointed to the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) the night before the coronation of King George VI on May 12, 1937. Logue was a founder of the British Society of Speech Therapists and a founding fellow of the College of Speech Therapists. He was speech ther- apist to the Royal Masonic School. In 1944, his MVO was elevated to Commander of the Victorian Order (CVO). He retained his friendship with King George VI until the king's death in 1952. Brother Logue died April 12, 1953. George VI — Albert Frederick Arthur George — was king of the United Kingdom and the Do- minions of the British Commonwealth from De- cember 11, 1936 until his death. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He served in the Royal Navy during World War I, and after the war, took on the usual round of public engagements. He had two daughters, Elizabeth (who succeeded him as Queen Elizabeth II) and Margaret. George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII on the death of their father in 1936. However, less than a year later, Edward revealed his desire to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson. Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George VI ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. King George VI was a very keen Freemason and a multi-page article in Masonic Quarterly Magazine, 2007 states that "his stammer rarely surfaced when he was involved in ritual." From The Indiana Freemason, April 2011 by way of EMESSAY Notes Grand Master Ledford presents Rice his medal. Two Montforts presented at Annual Communication WINSTON-SALEM — Each grand master gets to present three Joseph Montfort Medals. The Montfort is the highest award which can be given by our Grand Lodge. It is to given for "distinguished Masonic service or achievement." Grand Master Lewis R. Ledford presented two Montforts at Annual Communication. Joseph K. Transou, of West Bend 434 and Hiram 40, was Ledford's first recipient. Transou has long helped the Grand Lodge, especially in the early stages of digitizing membership data in the Grand Lodge. He has spent years sitting on the left hand of the grand secretary during an- nual communication to help track votes and the order of business. He spent a stint as chairman of the Grand Lodge Committee on Finance. Don't miss your chance Need another chance to get one of those natty NC Masonic Foundation gifts? Perhaps the mailing missed you. Maybe you misplaced your donation form or have decided you want one of the gifts. Whatever the case, you still have a chance to help the NC Masonic Foundation and get a great keepsake of North Car- olina Masonry. For a $100 donation, you get the three-inch medallion seen at left. The front features the NC State Capitol and the three presi- dents statue there. Both are Masonic landmarks. The reverse has a rendition of the Grand Lodge office building. The substantial, pewter finish medallion comes with a wooden display stand. A $250 donation will get you an individually numbered, lim- ited edition Case knife, designed just for Grand Master Lewis Ledford. Sorry, no number requests as they are issued sequentially. To get your gift headed your way, send your check to: Grand Lodge of North Carolina Post Office Box 27783 Raleigh, NC 27611-7783 BOTTOM LINE, from page 1 Credentials reported the delegates included 947 members from 320 chartered lodges; 17 Grand Lodge Officers, elected and ap- pointed; 18 Past Grand Masters, not including the Grand Trea- surer, a past grand master; 29 from other boards, commissions and committees; 30 district deputy grand masters and 31 district deputy grand lecturers for a total of 1,072 present. Thus with the out-of-state visitors, guests, and other members, it's very likely over 1,300 attended. For those lodges which failed to have representatives in atten- dance, I want to remind you of the effort that others made to be present. In particular, Saturday morning while on the hotel eleva- tor, I was fortunate to meet Brothers Christopher Tenpenny and Robert Gaskins, two members from Cape Hatteras 698. As many of you will recall, in late August the Hatteras Island roadway was sliced apart when Hurricane Irene chewed up portions on NC Highway 12, creating a new inlet and several new breaches across the barrier island. The main road between the island and the mainland has been closed since. Interim bridges are still weeks away. Though they were fortunate to get a ferry, our Cape Hat- teras brothers still reported it took eleven hours for them to get to Winston-Salem for the meeting. Thank you brothers for your commitment to our fraternity! NORTH CAROLINA The Mason (USPS 598-260) is published bimonthly by The Grand Lodge of AF & AM of North Carolina, 2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27608. Third class postage paid at Oxford, NC 27565. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The North Carolina Mason, School Of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, Oxford, NC 27565. It was my honor to bestow the Montfort Medals on Past Grand Master Dan Charles Rice and Joseph Kirkman Transou. I have received many other positive comments and email from those in attendance at the Annual Communication. While the reports on the business activities are described elsewhere in this newsletter, over 400 especially enjoyed the Brothers, Bluegrass & Barbecue on Friday evening at the Millennium Center. Special thanks are extended to Joey Transou and Cliff Pranke of Big Boy BBQ, and the featured entertainment, the Grass Cats. We grate- fully acknowledge the beautiful hammered dulcimer and jazz pia- no music performed during the annual session by John Mason of Shelby 744 and Stateline 375 and Elmer Gibson of Raleigh 500, respectively. We also express appreciation to Larry Thompson, Shaun Bradshaw, Ben Wallace, Gary Handy, and others of the Conference Committee; to Mike Cashion and Stephen Meserve providing support for the video projection; as well as Cornelia Doherty, Vicki Lam and Lisa Mondeau from the Grand Lodge office for the considerable behind the scenes efforts that made the communication run so smoothly. Grand Treasurer It caused many to reflect on his lengthy and creditable Ma- sonic career when Past Grand Master Cliff Everett requested that Grand Master Lewis R. Ledford Board Of Publication Gary R. Ballance Don E. Bolden Thomas A. Pope Jr. John A. Sullivan Hugh K. Terrell Jr. Editor Ric Carter the delegates not consider him for re-election as grand treasurer. Brother Everett, who shared that he believed it time for him to retire from this office, has served the fraternity in a most exem- plary manner for 15 years as Grand Treasurer, after serving as Grand Master in 1995. Since his appointment to the Grand Of- ficer line in 1988 by then Grand Master L. R. "Pete" Thomas, he has served with great distinction and commitment to the tenets of Freemasonry. A valued and trusted source for counsel ranging from legal to financial and more, Judge Everett is also an avid his- torian, particularly of North Carolina and the United States, their political figures, as well as our Grand Lodge. Also known to share good humor and laughter, he and his wife Mary have been great hosts for many of the Grand Lodge officer annual retreats at their "river house" on the Pamlico River. On behalf of all Freemasons, we offer our most genuine and heartfelt gratitude for his service. It was with humility and honor that I accepted your vote to serve as grand treasurer. After serving in the Grand Lodge line for nine years including this very busy year as grand master, it was certainly not my expectation to continue as an officer. I commit to you that I will endeavor to uphold and perform the duties of the office to the best of my ability. Thank you for your consideration and trust. 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. The 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 The 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 The 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: The 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. Ledford's second award went to Past Grand Master Dan C. Rice (Bula 409). A year as grand master may be sufficient grounds for receiving a Montfort, but Rice has done much more. In less than two years since he served as grand master, he stepped in to help find solu- tions as president of the Greensboro Masonic Temple, become chairman of the Board of Directors of the Masonic Home for Children, and ramrodded the resuscitation of our old St. John's Day celebration as the new Masonic Homecoming. As has become tradition in presenting Mont- forts at Annual Communication, all Montfort recipients present were summoned to the altar to encircle the presentation. September/October 2011 Grand Master Ledford presents Transou his medal.

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