North Carolina Mason
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/5189
Page 4 The North Carolina Mason March/April 2009
OAKS, from page 6
Grand Master Dan Rice plans to visit more than half our dis-
tricts this year. His meetings start in late February and will finish
in early June. e meetings this year will be mostly in the odd
numbered districts. His meetings will be similar to the area meet-
ings of the past few years. Pre-meeting meals are scheduled for
6:15 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 lodge secretary. Please be
considerate of the host lodge. Make your reservations for dinner
at least seven days before your scheduled meeting. It is very frus-
trating to try to plan for a meal when reservations have not been
made. Your lodge will be responsible to pay for all meals reserved.
ose who have not made reservations should not expect to eat.
Date District Lodge Location
April 13 .............31 .........St. Andrews 702 ............... Charlotte
April 14 .............35 ........... Fairview 339* ...... Kings Mountain
April 15 .............34 ........... Lovelady 670..................... Valdese
April 27 ..............5 ...... American George 17 ..... Murfreesboro
April 28 ..............1 ..............Eureka 317 ........... Elizabeth City
April 29 ..............6 ........... Greenville 284 ................ Greenville
April 30 ..............9 ......... Morning Star 85 ................Nashville
May 12 ...............3 ............ Belhaven 509 ..................Belhaven
May 13 ...............7 ............... Ionic 583 .................... Cove City
May 14 ..............11 ............ St. Johns 13 ................ Kenansville
May 20 ..............33 ........ Mt. Pleasant 573 ............Wilkesboro
May 21 ..............29 ............Waxhaw 562 ....................Waxhaw
June 1.................12 ..........Oak Island 758 ..............Oak Island
June 2.................18 ........... Lebanon 207 ................ Whiteville
June 3.................21 ............ Raeford 306 .....................Raeford
In case of inclement weather, meetings will be cancelled in ac-
cordance with local schools cancellations. If a meeting is cancelled,
the host lodge and district deputy grand master will be notified.
Your lodge may cancel its stated communication to attend your
district meeting. Information will also be posted on the Grand
Lodge web site: www.grandlodge-nc.org. is schedule was the
schedule as of January 27, 2009. Changes may be necessary. Please
consult your lodge for updates.
Grand Master sets
district meetings
Yes, parents and other adults help in the fundraising, but the
selection of the charity is decided by the LMNC Court, and the
fundraising activities are spearheaded by the young ladies. ey
each have their own ideas and techniques, but their goal is the same.
eir charity for our Home and the children also is expressed in
personal visits with our children and the presentation of gifts for
special occasions such as Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. Some
of the young ladies use their special talents and/or association with
other groups to provide special entertainment for our children.
We who take pride in our support to MHCO can take lessons
from these young ladies. ey give from their heart and not out
of a sense of obligation. ey give with cheerfulness to strangers
whose names they do not know and whose faces they rarely see
because they want to help make a difference. If you get a chance
to meet any of these wonderful young ladies and their families,
you most certainly will be impressed by their personality and de-
meanor, let alone their beauty. You can become awe-stricken by
Grand Master Dan Rice spoke about John-
ston's Masonic career and its importance to us
all. He then pre-
sided over a dedi-
cation ceremony
for a granite Ma-
sonic marker at the
grave site, the only
Masonic marker
at our first grand
master's final rest-
ing place. e
usual ceremonial
checking the stone
with the plumb,
square, and level
was performed
and the stone was
anointed with corn, wine, and oil to assure its
long and proper survival.
delegates to vote for independence.
In 1780, he was chosen as a North Carolina delegate to the
Continental Congress and reelected for another term in 1781.
In 1781, Johnston was elected as the first "President of the Unit-
ed States in Congress assembled" under the Ar-
ticles of Confederation. e next day, he declined
the honor due to health and financial concerns. He
was elected the fifth governor (sixth term) of North
Carolina in 1788. A year later, he was elected North
Carolina's first United States senator and resigned
as governor to travel to New York to serve in the US
Congress. When his term ended in 1793, he moved
his family from Edenton to a farm he named the
Hermitage located in Williamston.
On December 11, 1787, Samuel Johnston was
elected as North Carolina's first grand master at the
age of 57. He was noted at that time as being affili-
ated with Royal Edwin 5 in Windsor, which had
been founded by Joseph Montfort about 1774.
He was then at the height of his popularity and
would be elected governor eight days after his in-
stallation as grand master. With the official forma-
tion of the Grand Lodge of North Carolina on December 12,
under a constitution drawn up by Caswell, Silas Arnett of Wind-
sor stood in as Johnston's proxy at his installation that day. John-
ston presided for two years. He declined to serve a second term
as grand master due to his other duties, and was succeeded by
some of their efforts. In recent weeks I have had the opportunity
to be in the presence of three of the current queens — Ashlee,
Chelsea, and Victoria – as they spoke at several of our Masonic
lodges or other charity functions and have been impressed each
time by their composure and sincerity. I often think back to St.
John's Day of 2006 when then Little Miss North Carolina, nine-
year-old Alexis Massengill, presented a check to MHCO for
$15,000 which she had raised through her personal efforts. e
names and faces change each year, but the hearts and charitable
goals are of one accord.
Do you think kids ought to act the way we think they're sup-
posed to? If it means stifling their charitable and community ef-
forts, if it leads to a child being angry and belligerent or feel-
ing low self-esteem, the answer is a resounding "no." Instead, we
adults might want to consider being role models and act the way
the children think we should. We can always learn; where better
to get new ideas than from "new" minds?
Richard Caswell, who served as North Carolina's first governor.
After Caswell's untimely death in 1789, Samuel Johnston once
again became grand master, serving from 1789-1792.
Blandford-Bute Lodge of Warrenton in old Bute (now War-
ren) County was renamed Johnston-Caswell 10,
in honor of the two great Revolutionary leaders
and first two grand masters of North Carolina.
Johnston married Francis Cathcart in 1770,
and they had nine children, four of whom sur-
vived to adulthood. Francis was a participant in
the 1774 Edenton Tea Party — a display of inde-
pendence fervor by prominent women.
Johnston was the first trustee elected at the
founding of the University of North Carolina in
1789. He often visited the University in its early
days and was proud to be there when the students
took their public examinations at graduation.
Samuel's Johnston's personal collection of over
1,000 books was the largest personal library in North
Carolina prior to the Civil War. It is housed in a rep-
lica of the octagonally shaped library at Hayes Plan-
tation at the North Carolina Collection Gallery in
Wilson Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He died on August 17, 1816 and was buried at his home, Hayes
Plantation in Edenton in the Johnston Burial Ground. Hayes Plan-
tation was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
Tim Berly is a member of Excelsior 261.
Johnston bust
in the NC Capitol
JOHNSTON, from page 1
e small markers were instituted some years
ago at the behest of Walter Klein, of Excelsior
261 in Charlotte. Klein was frustrated by the
lack of Masonic markings on the graves of sev-
eral historic figures he was researching. He had
the markers devised and installed at a number
of grave sites including historical figures Zeb
Vance, Alexander Hodge, William R. Davie, and
others. e markers bear a square and compasses
and the inscription "A Hero Among Masons,
Grand Lodge of AF & AM of NC."
Following the ceremony, guests were in-
vited to Unanimity 7 to enjoy refreshments.
District Deputy Grand Master Jim Carr took
care of most of the organizational aspects of the
Masonic portions of the occasion. e Grand
Lodge has been involved with several proj-
ects with the North Carolina Society Sons of
the American Revolution. You can learn more
about them at