The North Carolina Mason

September/October 2009 The North Carolina Mason Page 3 TraveLing The Tar heeL STaTe newS from norTh CaroLina'S LodgeS By Ric Carter If your lodge has a newsletter for its members, make sure The North Carolina Mason is on your mailing list. Lodge newsletters are a major source of news for Masons around the state. If you don't have one, think about starting one. Newsletters are a good way to keep your mem- bers active and informed. see STATE, page 5 Thomasville Not only was omasville 214's newest fund- raiser "an enormous success," but they are hop- ing to turn it into a "new tradition." ey were selling tickets to see their neighborhood minor league baseball team, the Hi-Toms. Profits from the sales went to the Masonic Home for Chil- dren. e fun part was that they sold lots of the tickets to themselves, then enjoyed each others company at the baseball game. omasville Lodge's Curry Reagan recently got his Diamond Jubilee Award for 60 years Masonic membership. — Trestle Board Waynesville Sonoma 472 brought in 17 donors when they held their July 24 Blood Drive. Sonoma recently took part in fundraisers for two Masonic families. One, held on August 8, was for the 18-year-old daughter of a member of Robbinsville 672. She suffers from a pulmonary disorder. Local EMS groups held a barbecue, auction, and poker run. e other, on August 15, was for a member of Pigeon River 386 who recently had brain surgery. e yard sale was to benefit a 45-year-old with five children. — Valley of the Moon Winston-Salem Old Town 751 is looking into finding the best lodge golf team in the 26 th Masonic Dis- trict. Rick Ashworth wants to award a Widow's Trophy to the top golfers. Kernersville and Wal- nut Cove lodges have already expressed interest in the competition. It will be used as a charity fundraiser. — On the Level at Old Town Lodge Past Masters' Night at Piedmont-Pioneer 685 was being celebrated September 3 with a triple Master Mason Degree. Several special guests were expected to attend and help with the work. — Tom Braun Coinjock Currituck 463 scheduled its Ladies' Night for September 19. Members were reminded that the occasion was not for wives only, but also for daughters, mothers, and sisters. Girlfriends also (preferably for the unmarried members). Currituck Lodges Past Masters' Night is set for October stated. e lodge is collecting and recycling alumi- num cans in their Cans for Charity campaign. ey have a can drop off site at the lodge. — Currituck Lodge Salisbury Fulton 99 held their Past Masters' Night July 9. Cecil Keith and Jonathan Brindle fixed the steak dinner honoring the 21 past masters who attended. e past masters worked for their din- ner afterward, conferring the second section of a ird Degree. The same night, they presented an honor- ary membership to Dennis Sims of Andrew Jackson 576. On July 16, the lodge sent a con- tingent to Andrew Jackson Lodge's meeting to present the same to David Carmichael and Dewey Preslar. According to Master's Jour- nal, all three have "volunteered their time to play three very important roles in assisting us in conferring the Master Mason Degree and have supported our lodge at the annual barbe- cue and in many other ways." Fulton Lodge's annual barbecue fundraiser is set for October 22. ey send one-third each to the Masonic Home for Children and White- Stone (Masonic and Eastern Star Home). e other third is earmarked for local Rowan County charities. — Master's Journal Andrew Jackson 576 had a good turnout Au- gust 20 for their Past Masters' Night. Johnny Jones, Tony Hager Jr., and David Carmichael cooked the steaks. Andrew Jackson Lodge will be celebrating its centennial in 2010. ey have already set a ban- quet for January 21. Commemorative coins and shirts are planned. — Master's Journal On July 16, the Salisbury lodges fed 50 kids from the Masonic Home for Children in Ox- ford. ey had spent the day at Dan Nicholas Park there. Everyone enjoyed the old-fashioned picnic on the lodge grounds. e two lodges had a joint family dinner set for July 30. ey urged everyone to wear their lodge attire when they gathered at a local sea- food restaurant. Both lodges, which share a lodge building, were setting up maintenance teams to take care of fix-up duties around the lodge. ere was paint- ing to be done and preparation for the profession- al floor stripping and waxing. ere was also bush and tree trimming to be done in the yard. —Master's Journal Mount Olive Mount Olive 208 holds a Family Night covered dish dinner on fifth Tuesdays. At their June 30 edition, they showed off the new tile on the lodge room floor. Bernice Williams got his Diamond Jubilee Award for 60 years Masonic membership. He was accompanied by his grand- daughter Judy Holland. A. J. and Barbara Bullard, Ricky and Brenda Silance, and Alex Bryan entertained with strings and singing. September 29 was the next scheduled. En- tertainment will be by Samantha Casey and the Bluegrass Jam. Mount Olive Lodge has recently visited sev- eral members at their homes to present their service awards. Getting their Veterans Em- blems were Alger Outlaw, Guy McKee Jr., and Selby Beaman. — Trestle Board Franklin Junaluskee 145 was having it biggest annual event, their Poor Man's Meal, on July 18. It ben- efits Masonic and local charities. Last year they contributed to the Masonic Home for Children, WhiteStone (MESH), the Junaluskee Scholar- ship Foundation, the William V. Mason Schol- arship Fund, and eleven other local charities. Junaluskee Lodge is selling denim lodge base- ball hats for ten dollars each. Since Lindsey Bell donated the caps to the lodge, all of the money goes to the lodge building fund. — Trestleboard Cary Upcoming events at Cary 198 were listed in their August newsletter. Included were Move- Up Night for their officers, August 31 Family Night including feeding burgers and hot dogs to kids visiting Cary from the Masonic Home for Children, Awards and Ladies' Night on October 3, Fall Barbecue November 6, and Past Masters' Night December 7. Cary Lodge has raised their initiation fee to $100 and their dues to $75. — Trestle Board Doug and Lena Mae Eaker celebrated their 70 th wedding anniversary at Cary Lodge September 12. — Cary Lodge WARRENTON — At the August 3 communication of Johnston Cas- well 10, the lodge hosted visitors from far and wide. e meeting featured a banquet and special ceremony. Among the guests that evening were several visitors from Suffolk, Virginia. Deputy District Grand Master Jeffery Smith was there as well as Nansemond 77 Master Harold Smith and McAlister 185 Master Kent Daughtry. Our own Eighth District Deputy District Grand Master Henry Wright was also there. Masons from Epson 624, Henderson 229, Millbrook 97, and Virginia's South Hill 297 were on hand. Members of Henderson 229 shared their research into the origins of Johnston Caswell Lodge, one our state's oldest lodges. Chaplain Chris Withrow presented a program entitled "e Master's Wage." e lodge designed and commissioned a plaque to represent the wage for this presentation. Lodge Master Howard Short presented South Hill 297 Master Tom Tanner the plaque in a short ceremony. Tanner was told to share the wage with a visiting lodge at some later date. e hope is that "as the sharing moves forward, this wage will travel the globe and eventually find its way home one day." e plaque is meant to "rekindle and renew the spirit of brotherhood and fraternity." — Chris Withrow Howard Short presents Master Tom Tanner and members of South Hill Lodge the Master's Wage. Johnston Caswell sends out a token Greensboro P. P. Turner 746 had its lodge picnic August 8. It was held at poolside, so everyone in the family was urged to bring a bathing suit. Kurt Van Tine, grillmaster, performed his usual "wonderful job" according to reports. Turner Lodge had their first homecoming set for August 20. — P. P. Turner Lodge Gate City 694 was so pleased with their in- volvement with the city of Greensboro's bicen- tennial celebration; they are looking at other possible civic involvement projects. Under con- sideration are Groceries on Wheels, Habitat for Humanity, Greensboro Urban Ministries (food distribution), Cropwalk, and Adopt-A-Street. Gate City Lodge's PhoneTree is opera- tional now. They use it for reminders of spe- cial events, especially those with short notice, such as funerals. Lodge supper events this summer included a June Ice Cream Social at which more than 100 people enjoyed ice cream, hot dogs, and ham- burgers. eir annual fish fry was set for July 25 at the Sportsman Wildlife Club. — Trestleboard e 23 rd Masonic District had a Blood Drive set for September 23. It was to be held at the Greensboro Masonic Temple. ere was a free lunch for everyone who donated between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. — Ross Gellar Wadesboro Kilwinning 64 hosted their local Prince Hall brothers on April 9. ey were having a third degree that night, and the members of Lilesville 603 helped with the ritual work. It was the first such visit in Anson County. At the time of the meeting, Kilwinning Lodge was already sched- uled to visit Lilesville Lodge on May 5. e visit was reported in the local paper, e Express. Kilwinning member Chesley Greene reported in the paper that, "Friendship and brotherly love were present in abundance." — e Express Trenton Four lodges in the Seventh Masonic Dis- trict meet on the same night, and that makes it very difficult for f riends to attend lodge to- gether. Berne 724, Zion 81, Doric 568, and Cherry Point 688 have developed a solution. Once a year, in August, three of the lodges drop their meeting and visit the one meeting. This year, they all headed to Cherry Point for their visiting meeting. For the last two years, circumstances made Zion 81 delay their fall fundraiser until De- cember. e results were so good they decided to move it as a matter of choice this year. ey are selling the six-dollar chicken plates on De- cember 4. — From Mount Zion Bahama Fellowship 687 is now meeting at Knap of Reeds 158. ey had a fellowship breakfast scheduled there for October 10. It is an oppor- tunity for them to get to know men who have questions about the fraternity. — Horace Lane Raleigh Hiram 40 hosted more than 20 kids and staff from the Masonic Home for Children July 28. ey carried them to a Carolina Mudcats base- ball game. ey got their money's worth when the game went to 14 innings. Hiram had their Fall Sporting Clays Outing set for October 10. ey were having lunch to- gether before setting out for Deep River Sport- ing Clays in Sanford. Hiram Lodge made more than $3,600 on their Spring Chicken Barbecue in May. eir Fall Barbecue is set for October 2. Masonic charities are to benefit. — Trestleboard Masters 754 hosted their first Prince Hall lodge visit in June. Members of Wake 717 (PHA) came and both lodges enjoyed much fel- lowship and discussion. — e Trowel Spruce Pine Vesper 554 has one of the most consistent systems of Masonic education in the state. ey have varied and interesting topics every meet- ing. Recent programs have mostly looked at Masonic history. Ted Conley did a presentation on Paul Revere, of ride fame. Ernie Wells told them about John Paul Jones, "Father of the US Navy." Also in the nautical vein, Levi Hefner expounded on the uses of the cable tow in the British Navy in Queen Elizabeth I's time. Ron Lough addressed differences in Masonic ritual from state to state. Harry Pence is coordinating the lodge's pur- chase of lodge shirts. ey will come in navy or white and sell for $20. Vesper Lodge had its golf tournament set for October 3. ey were playing at Grassy Creek Golf Course. Jerry Phillips was chairing. — e Beacon Hookerton e Greene County Heritage Book traces the history of the county and its social organizations and families. e history of Freemasonry in the county is included, tracing it from its earliest times and Davie Glasgow 26 through today's lodges, Radiance 132 and Jerusalem 95. Bennie Heath wrote the Masonic history. In August, Charlie Hall was named Secre- tary of Distinction by Jerusalem 95. ey report. "is honorary title does not increase his sal- ary since he has none." ey also elected Giles Stroud to honorary membership. Jerusalem Lodge is still looking for a ten- ant for their bank building after losing their renter last year. — The Jerusalem Journal Paw Creek West Gate 738 made $5,500 on their April Chicken Fry. at's good news for the Masonic Home for Children which gets the proceeds. — News From the West

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