The North Carolina Mason

January/February 2009

North Carolina Mason

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T h e m i s s i o n o f fr e e m a s o n r y i n no r T h Ca r o l i n a i s T o r a i s e T h e m o r a l, s o C i a l, i n T e l l e C T u a l, a n d s p i r i T u a l C o n s C i e n C e o f s o C i e T y b y T e a C h i n g T h e a n C i e n T a n d e n d u r i n g p h i l o s o p h i C a l 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. The Mason NORTH CAROLINA (USPS 598-260) is published bimonthly by e Grand Lodge of AF & AM of North Carolina, 2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27608. ird class postage paid at Oxford, NC 27565. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to e North Carolina Mason, School Of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, Oxford, NC 27565. Grand Master David R. Cash Board Of Publication John O. Newman Jr., Chairman Gary R. Ballance Don E. Bolden omas A. Pope Jr. Hugh K. Terrell Jr. Editor Ric Carter Good quality pictures, whether color or black and white, are essential for suitable reproduction. e 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 coorespondence 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 e 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 e 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: e 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. Page 2 The North Carolina Mason January/February 2009 By Ric Carter lead without wanting to steal the spotlight, they follow the rules without being slaves to them, they are enablers for the best instincts in their lodges. Only the very best of secretaries is so hon- ored. e choice is not made by voting or nomi- nation, but from the acclamation of those deal- ing with the lodges and their paperwork. While lodge masters govern the course of lodges, lodges depend on effective secretaries to main- tain a continuity across administrations. Smith's award reads that it is given, "[f ]or his years of dedication to the principles of Brotherly Love; for his exemplification of leadership, rather than self-interest; for his years of skilled and tireless labors in service to the Brothers of his lodge; and for his promotion of the Craft by his personal example." It is named for Past Grand Secretaries Charlie Harris who served 1960–1975 and Pete Dudley who held office 1975–1997. Ric Car ter photo Excelsior's Smith named NC's top secretary RALEIGH — George Max Smith of Ex- celsior 261 in Charlotte is the 2008 recipient of the Harris-Dudley Grand Secretary's Award. e honor was announced by Grand Secretary T. Walton Clapp III at Annual Communica- tion September 19. Grand Secretary Clapp said, "While Max has not served in the secretary's chair as long as some of our recipients, he has long been one of our 'go to' guys in Charlotte. We never ask anything of him that does not get done quickly and well. He's just one of the best. His lodge work is immaculate." e Harris-Dudley Grand Secretary's Award is presented each year to a lodge secre- tary who has demonstrated extraordinary skills and dedication to Masonry generally, but more especially to his lodge. e best secretaries have a number of skills — they know how to take care of details, they know how to help others Grand Master David Cash, GS Award winner Max Smith, and Grand Secretary Walt Clapp. Masonic doodling By Dale Swiggett © By Ric Carter RALEIGH — Last summer, I got a late night email from Rick Smith, an old friend and Masonic sparkplug in Mount Pilot. He's been there for an age helping in whatever way he can — from slogging pork and charcoal to teaching in Wilkerson College. Rick had been surfing the net late that night and stumbled across a colo- nial banknote that bore Joseph Mont- fort's signature. Montfort was North Carolina's treasurer before the Revo- lution. e Grand Lodge of England appointed Montfort provincial grand master in 1771. He started several of our oldest lodges. e banknote was on Internet auction. Rick is excited. I respond that, "Yea, that's cool. Grand Lodge has no budget for stuff like that." A few days later, Rick comes back with, "Well, I won the auction." After that comes the reality of pre- serving important history. It's not cheap. Rick wrote me later, "When you ex- plained to me at the Carolina Inn on July 11 [at the William Polk celebration] that no signature of Joesph Montfort exists at Grand Lodge, while sitting between you and Walter Klein wear- ing his Montfort Medal, my decison was made then to present Smith gives Grand Lodge Montfort bank note Smith, left, presents Cash with the Montfort not. this to Grand Lodge. Realizing that we have brothers who are of financial wealth, but that having stumbled across something that is significant to the fraternity, please accept the note as my gift." Smith is seen here, at left, giving the preserved 40 shilling North Carolina banknote to Grand Master Dave Cash at Annual Communication in September. You may now see the note and Montfort's signature beside the Montfort Commission, the document appointing him "provincial grand master of and for America," at the Grand Lodge office. Pig cookers pour smoke on Caswell Street RALEIGH — Tom Price knows barbecue, he's a professional. That's him on the left emerging from a cloud of pork smoke at a recent Hiram 40 barbecue sale. Barely visible through in the haze is Ron Page. Ron's not a pro, but he surely knows his way around a pig cooker. A couple of times a year, the lodge sells plates to raise money for Masonic charities. Ric Car ter photo Freemasonry and Generation X Both the Scottish Rite and the Shrine in Indianapolis have spent a lot of time ana- lyzing membership trends. Both have found that the average age of the Masons joining these bodies is about 45–48 years old. This statistic has remained relatively unchanged for nearly 30 years. Both also found that, at the time he joined, the average candidate had been a Mason for an average of 5–8 years. Age 40 then becomes a key marketing demographic for the fraternity as this is the prime time for recruiting candidates. e World War II generation joined the fra- ternity in record numbers and provided most of the active volunteers and leaders of Masonry for the last 50 years. e next generation, the Baby Boomers, did not join in significant numbers and thus began the slow decline in overall mem- bership that has continued to this day. Today, we have more members over 80 than we do under 40. In 2006, the first members of Generation X will turn 40. If Masonry is to cap- ture the interest and involvement of Generation X, now is the time to get started. Definition of Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. If we rely on the same membership plans and programs that were so ineffective in attracting the Baby Boomers, then we will surely fail. Sociologists have done a lot of research and found out that Generation X is very different from their predecessors, the Baby Boomers. ey are better informed and better educated than any previous generation. ey are comfort- able with technology and use it as part of their everyday activities. While they are optimistic, Generation Xers tend to critically evaluate information given to them. ey are less interested in material wealth, but place a high value on emotional as well as financial security. Using the Internet as a research tool, the Generation Xers will likely arrive at lodge al- ready knowing more about certain aspects of the fraternity than many of our members do. ey will expect the lodge to use technology and the Internet to communicate with its members. ey are more likely to be interested in video games than traditional card games. While there is a lot that we do not know about how to interest Generation X in Freema- sonry, this much is certain: Generation X will determine the future of Freemasonry. Freemasonry needs to learn how to attract new members. e future of our fraternity de- pends on it. Good men will always seek Masonic light, but it is up to us to illuminate the pathway to the door of the lodge. Michael A. Moxley is co-editor of the Indiana Freemason. Do Masons passing through your hometown know when and where they can find a lodge meeting? By Michael A. Moxley Ric Car ter photos In accordance with the recently approved revision to Code Regulation 29.9-5 effective January 1, 2009, the Board of Custodians has decided to require only one School of Instruction per year during the period that the five-hour mandatory Lecture Service is being required. Odd numbered lodges are required to have their five-hour Lecture Service in 2009. Even numbered lodges were lectured in 2008. e Board also decided to require the cycle of the five-hour Lecture Services to continue through 2011. at means all even numbered lodges will be required to have their next five-hour service in 2010. Odd numbered lodges will be required to have their second required service during 2011. e reinstated Lecture Service rules and guidelines may be found on the Grand Lodge website at and or obtained through the secretary of the Board of Custodians, Mack Sigmon, P. O. Box 721, Newton, NC 28658. Board of Custodians update

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