T h e m i s s i o n o f f r e e m a s o n r y i n n o r T h C a 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
Douglas L. Caudle
Board Of Publication
John A. Pea (Chair)
R. Kevin Combs
C. omas Nelson Jr.
John A. Sullivan
John R. Beamon III
Editor
Ric Carter
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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
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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 March/April 2015
From the editor's desk
Grand Master Douglas L. Caudle plans to visit
more than half our districts this year. His meetings
started in late January and will finish at the end
of May. His meetings will be similar to the area
meetings of the past few years. Pre-meeting meals
are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with the tyled meeting
starting at 7:00 p.m. District officers and the grand
master will be received with usual honors.
You may make your lodge's reservation for the
meeting with your district deputy grand master
or host lodge secretary. Please be considerate of
the host lodge. Make your reservations for din-
ner at least seven days before your scheduled
meeting. It is very frustrating to try to plan for
a meal when reservations have not been made.
April 1 ...........29 ............ Monroe 244 ............................................520 E. Franklin St., Monroe
April 13 .........41 ...............Clay 301 .............................................104 Sanderson St., Hayesville
April 14 .........40 ........... Glenville 551 ................................................4625 Hwy 107, Glenville
*April 15 ........39 ........ Mt. Hermon 118 ...............................................80 Broadway, Asheville*
April 16 .........34 ........... Lovelady 670 ................................................ 721 E. Main St., Valdese
April 27 ..........7 .............. St. John's 3 ..........(York Rite Bldg.) 2100 Glenburnie Dr., New Bern
April 28 ..........5 ............ Skewarkee 90 ................................610 N. Smithwick St., Williamston
April 29 ..........3 ...........Providence 678 .................................. 33 Old Columbia Rd., Columbia
April 30 ..........1 ..............Eureka 317 ................................ 218 S. Hughes Blvd., Elizabeth City
May 12 ...........9 ..........Morning Star 85 .............................................. 220 Barnes St., Nashville
May 13 ..........19 ............... Eagle 19 ........................................... 142 W. King St., Hillsborough
May 14 ..........13 ........John H. Mills 624 ............................................8057 Hwy 39, Henderson
May 18 ..........33 .............. Snow 363 ......................................................240 Temple Dr., Boone
May 19 ..........37 ............ Linville 489 ................................................. 200 Pineola St., Newland
May 20 ..........25 ............. Renfro 691 ................................................ 212 Franklin St., Mt. Airy
May 27 ..........30 ........... Statesville 27 ............................................. 302 E. Front St., Statesville
Your lodge will be responsible to pay for all
meals reserved. ose who have not made reser-
vations should not expect to eat.
In case of inclement weather, meetings will be
cancelled in accordance with local schools cancel-
lations. If a meeting is cancelled, the host lodge and
district deputy grand master will be notified. Your
lodge may cancel its stated communication to at-
tend your district meeting. Information will also be
posted on the Grand Lodge web site: . is schedule was the schedule as of March
25, 2015. Changes may be necessary. Please consult
your lodge for updates.
*At the Asheville meeting, the meeting will be
held first and will be followed by the dinner.
GM's district meetings
If you can't say something nice…
Many of us communicate with brothers,
friends, and business acquaintances through
social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Instagram, and others. As Freema-
sons, we must be mindful when we represent
ourselves as members of the fraternity through
these services. Whatever we say or post helps
form the public's impression of Masonry. As
such, it is important that we act and commu-
nicate according to the lessons we are taught as
Masons and strive to create a positive impres-
sion for those who may view the content we
post and share.
e exponential increase in the presence of
North Carolina Freemasons on social network-
ing sites led Grand Master Doug Caudle to de-
velop a guide for our members to help ensure
that our communications reflect positively on
each of us and on the fraternity as a whole. Sev-
eral other states have already established codes
of conduct and best practices for social media. A
professional social media consultant and Mason
has reviewed these policies, and Grand Master
Caudle has asked the Grand Lodge to publish
the following guidelines for us to use during our
social media activities.
These suggestions are recommended to
all North Carolina Freemasons. We extend
thanks to the grand lodges of Massachusetts,
New honoraries in Asheboro
ASHEBORO — Balfour 188's newest honorary members, Thomas McFarlin of Morning Star
691 (PHA) and Joe Craven of Invincible 251 (PHA), have been regular visitors to Balfour Lodge
for about five years. They don't just visit, they work. "They've been indispensable in our last several
Third Degrees," says Past Master Jason Strucinski. Seen here, from left are Strucinski, David Cottrell,
Craven, McFarlin, and 2014 Master Tommy Dixon. — Jason Strucinski
Got something you want to say? Have an announcement to make or invitation to get out? If
your lodge never gets mentioned here, appoint yourself lodge reporter, and keep us posted on
what you guys are doing. Got suggestions for features? Requests for information? We don't have
the space for everything, but we'll make every effort to take care of those things with the broad-
est interest across the state. The dates below will give you an idea of when you need to get timely
matters to us. We look forward to hearing from you.
Issue Deadline Approximate Publication Date
January/February .............................. January 1 ..........................................February 1
March/April ................................... March 1 .............................................. April 1
May/June .........................................May 1 ................................................. June 1
July/August ....................................... July 1 ...............................................August 1
September/October ........................ September 1 ...................................... October 1
November/December ...................... November 1 .................................... December 1
Your articles and NC Mason Deadlines
Vets ride Masons' float
MOREHEAD CITY — On November 8, Ocean 405 participated in the local Veterans Day Pa-
rade. Billy Gwinn drove the truck pulling the float. Military veterans Bob Correll, Charles Baswell,
Robert Blake, Gordon Day, Mark Morton, and Jay Stockard rode the float. — Jim Hall
Social media,
a Masonic approach
By Shaun Bradshaw
New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and
Washington.
Guidelines for social media usage by North
Carolina Masons
• Always remember that you are a Mason in
the lodge, in public, at home, and in your com-
munications both public and private.
• Conduct your social media activities in a
way that reflects your membership in the craft
by always displaying courtesy towards others.
• Act in a way that presents a positive im-
age to the world of your membership in Free-
masonry.
• Your actions on various social media outlets
should reflect the highest standards of morality
and integrity, just as you would practice within
the lodge.
• Assume that every electronic communica-
tion you send will be seen by people other than
the intended recipient.
• Regardless of the privacy settings you use,
assume information posted and shared on social
media sites will not stay private.
• If it's too difficult to remember all of these
points, simply keep in mind the wise words of
that vivacious character umper from the mov-
ie Bambi, who said, "If you can't say something
nice, don't say nothin' at all."
Shaun Bradshaw is a member of Stokesdale 428
and grand marshal of our Grand Lodge.
"e Masonian" is a new podcast focusing on
Freemasonry in North Carolina. It is scheduled
to be released monthly and will be available via
the Facebook page of 357 Productions.
A podcast is a way to reach a large number of
people without being physically present or tun-
ing in at a particular time. One simply views the
program by logging in from their computer or
mobile device.
357 Productions is a lofty name for a couple
of guys with big ideas. It had its genesis in a
program started by the Grand Lodge Commit-
tee on Education. ey had been filming inter-
views with prominent Freemasons from North
Carolina to use in the Masonic education por-
tion of the Grand Lodge website. is portion
of the website is currently undergoing a major
redesign and will have many new and exciting
features. In the course of developing this series,
the 357 team realized the potential for new op-
portunities.
Production Manager Shawn Brown says,
"We realized that we could do a podcast with
the equipment we had. Together with the grand
master's desire to see us use social media in new
ways, it just seemed like the logical thing to do."
e format will be a one hour show which
will discuss current events and provide op-
portunities for guest appearances. Issues in
this grand jurisdiction will make up the main
emphasis, although Freemasonry in general
will be discussed. e first episode discusses
current events such as Wilkerson College, the
Wilkerson College Lodge Symposium, the
grand master's district meetings, the tradi-
tional observance movement, and many more
topics with local interest. Future episodes will
continue this style of programing and will add
interesting guests or themes.
e podcast is not an official function of
the Grand Lodge of North Carolina; however,
they operate with the endorsement of Grand
Master Douglas Caudle. is allows for cre-
ativity in production while still being infor-
mally sanctioned.
We want "e Masonian" to be informative,
but at the same time, we want the show to have
an edge. "We will bring our own style," says Ri-
ley Beaman, co-host of the show.
New episodes should be released around the
first of each month. You may find them on You-
Tube and Facebook. e first episode is here:
.
Ben Wallace is a member of Blackmer 127.
By Ben Wallace
NC gets a Masonic podcast
ere once was a stone cutter who was dis-
satisfied with himself and with his position in
life. One day he passed a wealthy merchant's
house. rough the open gateway he saw many
fine possessions and important visitors. "How
wealthy that merchant must be!" he thought.
e stone cutter became very envious and
wished he could be like the merchant. To his great
surprise, he suddenly had his wish fulfilled and
did indeed become the merchant, enjoying more
luxuries than he had ever imagined, yet he envied
and despised those less wealthy than himself.
Soon a high official passed by, carried in a se-
dan chair accompanied by attendants and escorted
by soldiers blowing trumpets. Everyone, no matter
how wealthy, had to bow low before the proces-
sion. "How powerful that official is!" he thought. "I
wish I could be a high official like that."
Again his wish was granted and he became
the high official, carried everywhere in his finely
embroidered sedan chair, feared and hated by
everyone. It was a hot summer day, so the of-
ficial felt very uncomfortable in his sticky sedan
chair. He looked up at the sun shining proudly
in the sky, totally unaffected by the presence of
the high official. "How majestic the sun is!" he
thought. "I wish I could be the sun!"
en he became the sun, shining fiercely
down on everyone, scorching fields, cursed by
farmers and laborers. But a huge black cloud
moved between him and the earth, blocking his
light from everything below. "How mighty that
cloud is!" he thought. "I wish I could be a cloud
like that."
And so he became the cloud, raining down
and flooding fields and villages as everyone
shook their fists and cursed at him. But soon he
found that he was being pushed away by some
great force, and realized it was the wind. "How
peerless the wind is!" he thought. "I wish that I
was the wind!"
en he became the wind, blowing tiles off of
roofs, uprooting trees, feared and detested by all.
But after a while he ran against something that
did not move, no matter how forcefully he blew
against it. It was a huge towering rock. "How
impervious that rock is! I wish I was that rock."
en he became the rock, greater than any-
thing else on earth. But as he stood there, he
heard a tapping sound and he felt himself being
changed. "What could be greater than me?" he
wondered. Looking down, far below he saw the
figure of a humble stone cutter, pounding at the
rock with his hammer and chisel.
From
The Stone Cutter
Operative Lodge 150 in Aberdeen, Scot-
land is unusual in that it is only open to opera-
tive stonemasons.
— From Truth is Stranger than Fiction, by Al-
phonse Cerza
