The North Carolina Mason

The Mason NORTH CAROLINA Volume 135 Number 1 January/February 2010 Page 8 The North Carolina Mason January/February 2010 In this issue of The NC Mason page 1 The North Carolina Mason The Grand Lodge of North Carolina, AF&AM 600 College Street Oxford, North Carolina 27565 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED NON-PROFIT ORG. AUTO U.S. POSTAGE PAID OXFORD, NC 27565 PERMIT NO. 56 Dill and other GL officers are installed. page 5 Masonic news from around the world. page 8 North Carolina Masons share an heirloom. Ric Car ter photos see BELLS, page 4 pages 8 Mason wants to put bells in the Bell Tower. see STONE, page 4 Appeal for relief for Haiti You've seen the destruction vividly portrayed by televi- sion coverage. Much of Haiti is in ruins. All Haitians need assistance. Our Brothers in the Grand Orient D'Haiti des- perately need assistance as they work with their communi- ties in trying to rebuild their shattered lives. Please forward to the MSA such funds as you feel ap- propriate to help our devastated Brethren and their families in this stricken jurisdiction. Please make checks payable to the MSA Disaster Relief Fund and send to 8120 Fenton Street, Ste. 203, Silver Spring, MD 20910-4785. You may mark them for Haiti and from North Carolina. Time for the Masons to ring in again Matt Robbins at the foot the Bell Tower. Robbins' plan book already includes success. RALEIGH — When you have a big job to do and need help. Who you gonna call? Your lodge brothers, of course. Shortly after World War I, North Carolina Alumnus Vance Sykes had a dream. He wrote a letter to the NC State Alumni Association proposing a campus memorial to the State alums who had fought in e Great War. Of the 6,000 student regis- trations during the war, 2,000 had enlisted in our armed services. irty-three died. It fell to Alumni Association President W. F. Pate (a member of Radiance 132) to start things. He called on his brother Mason, C. L. Mann (William G. Hill 218) to head a committee to make plans for designing, financing, and building the memorial. Many of the men on his committee were Freemasons. Of the 30 people appointed around the state to find donations, 17 were North Carolina Masons. ey decided that the memorial's foun- dation (33 feet by 33 feet) would be built entirely with donations from North Carolina Masonic lodges. In 1921, Grand Master J. Bailey Owens presided over a Masonic cornerstone ceremony marking the beginning of the memorial's rise to the sky. All too soon, the Great Depression brought an end to financ- ing and thus construction of the tower. For years it sat looking like a mausoleum on Hillsborough Street, at the corner of the college campus. en, the Roosevelt Administration's efforts to curb the Depression threw a life ring to the project. In 1936–37, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) finished the job. Of course, given the times, they finished it without many of the frills — like no steps to the belfry and none of the 54 bells that were to grace the carillon designed for the bell tower. Cut to 2004. Matt Robbins, a graduate student in the School of Design, learned that what he had been hearing from the tower was not bells, but sounds pumped over to speakers at the top of the campus landmark. He was a little shaken and set off on a re- search path that brought him a story of honor and a project that would gain the attention of thousands. By Ric Carter NC treasure visiting Memorial DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA — Early in 1948, in response to the president's concerns, engineering reports confirmed that the White House was in a serious state. Burned to the exterior walls in 1814, further compromised by the successive additions of indoor plumbing, gas lighting, electric wir- ing, heating ducts, and major modifications in 1902 and 1927, some said the White House was standing only from the force of habit. Plans were discussed to demolish the build- ing and rebuild it to the same design, but in the end, President Harry Truman went to Con- gress and requested the funding to rebuild the White House from the inside out, leaving only the stout brick outer walls and to rebuild the interior largely on the same plan as the exist- ing house — very much the way President James Madison had done in 1814. e decision was made to move the Trumans across the street into the Blair House for three years while the White House under- went a complete reconstruction within its original exterior walls. e old interior of the residence was dismantled, leaving the house as a shell with the two modern wings. Some of the existing interior detail was saved, especially fireplace mantels. Some of the scrap was sold as souvenirs. NC's foundation stone New year, new officers Our new Grand Lodge officers for 2010 have taken their places and stations. They were sworn in New Bern on November 21. New Grand Master William L. Dill, right, is seen here taking his GM's apron from Past Grand Master and Grand Trea- surer Clifton W. Everett Jr. You can read more about the event and see photos starting on page one of this issue of The North Carolina Mason. Ric Car ter photo

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