North Carolina Mason
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/5196
November/December 2009 The North Carolina Mason Page 5
OUTREACH, from page 7
STATE, from page 3
Shallotte
e Boston Butt Sale at Shallotte 727 was set
for October 3. — James Robinson
Thomasville
omasville 214 was holding their Annual
Masonic anksgiving Banquet November 17.
ey were honoring their lodge widows with a
traditional anksgiving meal. ey were also
entertaining them with tribute to Elvis by Ki-
ley Holder. —omasville Lodge
Warsaw
Warsaw 677 held their Annual Pancake
Breakfast Saturday, November 7.
— Warsaw Lodge
Jacksonville
Semper Fidelis 680 is holding a lodge break-
fast each month. It runs from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.
on third Saturday mornings.
Semper Fi's annual barbecue fundraiser was
set for September 11. — Trestle Board
Bailey
Marshall Brock Jr. made two wall plaques
for Bailey 411. The plaques will carry a name
plate for each past master of the lodge, dating
back to 1916. — Newsletter
Spencer
ey've switched from pre-meeting meals to
after meeting refreshments at Spencer 543.
eir Annual anksgiving/Awards Dinner
was scheduled for November 24.
— On the Square
Manteo
Manteo 521 held their Past Masters' Night Oc-
tober 3. ey were presenting service awards the
same night. — More Light from Manteo Lodge
Green Level
Earlier this year, Green Level 277 named
Michael Prince a Secretary of Distinction for his
years of service to the lodge. — Stan Latta
Clayton
Chuck Coats rounded up a few friends to
take a motorcycle ride to the Masonic Home
for Children November 7. He didn't get as
many people as he wanted, but then, it was only
the first try. — Grover Dees
Black Mountain
ere are maintenance projects to be done at
Black Mountain 663, as in any lodge. ey were
requesting volunteers to spray weeds, do some
gutter work, and exterior painting.
— e Traveling Trowel
Kenly
Kenly 257 held a Rusty Nail Degree in October.
at's a time when men who haven't visited lodge
in a long while may reacquaint themselves with the
words and signs needed in lodge. — Grover Dees
Asheboro
Asheboro 699 was to hold an outdoor degree
October 24. ey served breakfast at 9:00 a.m.
and started the degree at 10:00 a.m. ey held it
at the Randolph County Shrine Club.
— Craig Russell
dential living. WhiteStone's management team continues to work
hard on programs to make our residents more satisfied, After all,
that is what our mission is all about.
We also continue to work hard at maintaining the Masonic
culture of the community. e Eastern Star Chapter at the com-
munity which started last May continues to do really well and
currently have approximately 50 residents as members. We are
also hosting a Masonic luncheon on the first Tuesday of every
month, where approximately 30-35 brothers from the commu-
nity and local area meet, eat good food, and share fellowship with
one another. Finally, we host a weekly Masonic coffee club each
Friday morning as well. All of this is in conjunction with host-
ing various Masonic committee meetings and Wilkerson College,
and being a site for Past Masters night for local lodges etc. Whit-
eStone continues to try to give back to the Masonic fraternity
that has given so much over to us over the years.
ere are exciting things we are planning for our future.
First is the future of our charity. We recognize at WhiteStone
that, particularly during these tough economic times, more of our
fraternal members are struggling to make ends meet, and we want
to help. As a result, we are now looking at ways to potentially
expand our charity with the hopes of becoming a truly state-wide
fraternal charitable organization, with the goal of continuing to
provide assistance to those in Greensboro, but also to extend our
charity, and make it more flexible and accessible to our brothers
and their families all across the state.
Earlier this year a special charity committee was established by
WhiteStone's board of directors with the directive to begin to re-
search and build outreach programs that would extend charity. As
a result, the committee is working on three programs: e first is
a medical equipment loan program which would make equipment
such as scooters, motorized wheelchairs, hospital beds, walkers.
etc. available for loan to those fraternal members anywhere in the
state who needed them. When those people are done using them,
the equipment would be returned to WhiteStone and given to
another person for use down the road. WhiteStone already has in
its storage numerous pieces of equipment that are available, and
we are always accepting donations for more. Just as an example,
we recently received a beautiful walker from a neighbor of mine
that had hardly been used. I brought it in to work the next day.
Later on I ran into a resident and noticed that her walker was be-
ginning to look a little worn. is was the proud wife of a Mason
who never asked for much and was currently receiving financial
assistance. When I asked her whether she would be interested in
upgrading her walker her eyes lit up and said she would, as the one
she currently had was over ten years old and used by her husband.
When I delivered the new walker to her, you would have thought
I'd just given her the keys to a new car! Since then this widow has
thanked me several times. It is an example of the small difference
we can make in a person's life simply by sharing that which we
already have. I am happy to announce that the program is now
in effect. We have printed posters with the toll-free number you
can call to access the program for a brother or family member you
know who needs a piece of medical equipment. We would also be
happy to get your donation.
A second program we are proud to announce is a toll-free hotline
that will make available to fraternal members and their families, ex-
perienced WhiteStone staff who can help access benefits through
Medicaid, Medicare, Home Health, and Veteran Affairs. We know
how tough accessing these bureaucratic systems can be, and our ex-
perienced staff can help navigate these systems and get people the
benefits they are entitled to in order to make their lives a little more
comfortable. e same toll-free phone will be used as the medical
equipment program. I encourage each lodge or district to pick up
the posters and take them back to your lodge to post.
e third program currently in development is an outreach
program that would provide financial assistance to fraternal
members in their own home and allow them to stay in their own
community. We know that there are people out there who perhaps
only need a few hundred dollars a month to meet their obliga-
tions. Rather than move them to Greensboro, we would like to set
up a system whereby WhiteStone can send funds on a monthly
basis to keep that person in their own home, where they have ac-
cess to their social support of family and friends. It is a more cost-
effective way of doing charity, allowing us to help more people
with the same amount of funds. While we are excited about the
potential of this program, we do not foresee it being implemented
for a few more years until such time as the amount of charity pro-
vided at WhiteStone decreases and sufficient systems can be put
in place, but it is an achievable goal that I believe will be the long
term future of our charity.
Finally, another project that illustrates the future of our com-
munity is our current expansion and development. We continue
to make progress on the $30-plus million expansion/development
plan for WhiteStone that will add 75 independent living units
as well as new common areas. We are currently about 30 percent
pre-sold. If all goes according to plan, we will begin renovation
work to our Linville building at the beginning of the new year.
New construction we hope to begin in late 2010 and complete
sometime in 2011, before our centennial anniversary in 2012.
On behalf of the residents at WhiteStone, we say, "ank you,"
to all the Masonic members for your hard work fundraising and
for the continued financial support of our Masonic foundation.
I'd like thank the 12 brothers who serve on our Board and also
extend gratitude to Grand Master Rice for his dedicated service
over the past three years as chairman of our Board of Directors.
His leadership during WhiteStone's most challenging period in
its long history has been irreplaceable, and he will be missed by
many, but most especially by me.
I encourage each and every one of you to visit the community
over the next year. We are all extremely proud of the work that we
do and love it when visitors stop by for a tour and to learn more
about their Masonic and Eastern Star Community. Again, we
offer our heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your dedicated efforts
on behalf of the Home. We appreciate so much all that you do.
God bless all of you.
If you have any questions or need more information about
the home, feel free to call me at (336) 547-2992 or email me
at