The North Carolina Mason

Page 4 leave a meeting in a quick and orderly fashion — it does not require the imminent beginning of a degree lecture. After a short break and reassurance by Fire Department officials, delegates returned to the hall and resumed their business. Grand Master Gresham presented his preliminary report on his year in the East. Throughout the day, slideshows were presented featuring pho- The North Carolina Mason Ann Comm, from page 1 September/October 2012 tographs of Masonic events around the state during the last year. There was business requiring voting on Friday afternoon including the Report of the Committee on Appeals. All actions of the judge advocate and trial commissions were reviewed, and the recommen- dations of the Committee were approved. Grand Master Gresham called the membership from labor to refreshment a little after 4:00 p.m. Many delegates enjoyed a recep- tion by the grand master immediately following. On Friday eve- ning, Masons were seen in groups all over downtown Winston-Sa- lem. They enjoyed the entertainment and many restaurants around the center of the city. On Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m., the final business session of the Annual Communication began. The first business before us on the second day was, as always, the budget for 2013. Fi- nance Committee Chairman Sam Lee presented the budget and called for discussion after each section. Interspersed between those parts, delegates marked ballots to elect Grand Lodge of- ficers for next year. The budget, with a small surplus projected, was approved as presented. Elections proceeded without any other surprises. Dewey R. Preslar Jr. of Andrew Jackson 576 was elected to become our next grand master. Preslar is a retired vice-president of Food Lion and currently executive director of the North Carolina Self-Insurance Security Association. Code changes were considered on Saturday morning. Amendment Group 1 was passed. It replaced a few remaining references to the Ma- sonic and Eastern Star Home with the current WhiteStone, A Ma- sonic and Eastern Star Community. Group 2 was passed to maintain the privacy of the children at the Masonic Home for Children. Group 3 created a three-day cooling off period on requests for demits allow- ing the requester to reconsider. Traceable email became an acceptable means of official notifications with the passage of Group 4. Group 5's adoption gave us a standard bylaw that may, if lodges choose, be adopted to ban all tobacco use in their building. It for- bids all tobacco use during degree conferrals. Group 6 was passed to clarify that lodge secretaries may read condensed minutes of pre- vious communications if the lodge desires. Amendment Group 7 as originally submitted by the grand secre- tary would have eliminated the minimum for initiation fees. The Code Commission changed that to increase the minimum from $50 to $150. The amendment was defeated, leaving a required minimum of $50. A housekeeping matter related to the modified ballot procedure allowed in uniform bylaws was passed in Group 8. Group 9 was rejected. It would have relaxed the unanimous ballot requirement for Life Memberships. Group 10 to allow limited use of alcohol in lodge facilities won a majority of the votes (475-425), but failed because it fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority. Groups 11 and 12 were passed creating awards for lodge treasur- ers and tylers. All changes to The Code take effect January 1, 2013. Four grand lodges were recognized. Foreign jurisdictions recog- nized were Grande Loja Maçonica Do Estado de Sergipe in Brazil, Grand Loja de Santa Catarina in Brazil, and Grande Loge Regu- liere de Tahiti in Tahiti. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Alaska was also recognized. ard, the man who will join the line of men advancing toward the office of grand master. The new steward is P. Shaun Bradshaw of Stokesdale 428. Bradshaw has been active for several years in help- ing organize Annual Communication. Elected to Grand Lodge offices were Dalton W. Mayo (Hiram The most awaited appointment each year is the new grand stew- Left to right, top to bottom: delegate looking for his seat; pianist Roy West,; GM Gresham; PGMs Dill, Simpson, Everett, and Greg- ory; Preslars Jr. and Sr.; Bradshaw; Martin; Gr. Historian Brantley; Gr. Tyler Gresham; fire evacuation; PGM Tillett preparing for report; out-of-state guests talk before opening procession. Amendment Scorecard Group 1 .....WhiteStone name correction ......passed Group 2 .....MHCO child privacy .......................passed Group 3 .....Demit cooling off period ..............passed Group 4 .....Emails for official notification .....passed Group 5 .....Tobacco ban ....................................passed Group 6 .....Summarize minutes ......................passed Group 7 .....Minimum initiation fee ...................failed Group 8 .....Ballot reference correction ..........passed Group 9 .....Ease life membership ballot ..........failed Group 10 ...Alcohol use .......................................failed Group 11 ...Treasurer of Distinction ...............passed Group 12 ...Tyler of Distinction .......................passed 98), deputy grand master; Douglas L. Caudle (Statesville 27), se- nior grand warden; Bryant D. Webster (Nichols-West Asheville 650), junior grand warden; T. Walton Clapp III (Mystic Tie 237), grand secretary; and Lewis R. Ledford, grand treasurer. This year's appointed officers include A. Gene Cobb (Royal White Hart 2), senior grand deacon; Jimmie B. Hicks Jr. (St. John's 3), junior grand deacon; Speed Hallman (Eagle 19), grand marshal; Dwight M. "Mack" Sigmon and Shaun Bradshaw, grand stewards; Steven D. Schenk (Fulton 99), grand tyler; Paul F. Kelly (Sanford 151), grand chaplain; F. Grady Hall III (Scotch Ireland 154), grand historian; L. David Hall (Andrew Jackson 576), grand lecturer; Andrew C. Brock (Farmington 265), grand orator; and James R. Stevens (Garner 701), judge advocate. Annual Communication was adjourned shortly after noon on Saturday. Installation of Grand Lodge officers is set for Saturday, December 1 at 10:00 a.m. in the Norvell Theater in Salisbury. You are all invited. Kannapolis Masons' ten-year tradition Grand Lodge scholar GARNER — Toniqua Taylor, a 2012 graduate of Garner Mag- net School here was awarded a Charles E. Cathey Masonic Schol- arship by the North Carolina Grand Lodge. Miss Taylor and her mother attended a meal before Garner 701's June 11 stated com- munication at which she was presented the award. Seen here, from left, are Miss Taylor's mother Latashia Clark, Miss Taylor, and Lodge Master Richard Lynch. — Richard Lynch From left are Master George Maxwell, recipient Smith, and Rich- ard Secoolish. KANNAPOLIS — Cannon Memorial 626 sees the need to invest in the future by investing in stu- dents. This is the tenth year the lodge has offered scholarships to local graduating high schoolers. Their criteria are simple, choose from among well- rounded students with a GPA of 3.5–3.9. Why not raise the bar to the students with a GPA of 4.0? It's because those are the students already seeing most of the scholarship attention. The lodge sees the stu- dents who barely fall short of perfection more need- ing of the additional funding. A committee of two lodge members, two educa- tors, and one community representative interviewed the nine applicants from two local schools. While all nine applicants were impressive, Wes Smith from Northwest Cabarrus High School and D. William Osborne from A. L. Brown High School were se- lected to receive the Cannon Memorial awards. They choose one from each school, each year. — Thomas Van Etten Outer Banks scholar BUXTON — Sarah Martindell was the recipient of this year's scholarship from Cape Hatteras 698. Ms. Martindell is seen here receiving a check for $500 from lodge Secretary Mahlon Williams at the Cape Hatteras Secondary School of Coastal Studies Awards Night. The scholarship continues a tra- dition of several years. — Mahlon Williams Holly Springs makes grant HOLLY SPRINGS — Cailey Munana was the recipient of Holly Springs 115's college scholarship this year. The lodge invited Munana and her family to dinner at the lodge on May 8. Scholar- ship Committee Chairman Davis Smith presented the check for $500. Munana is seen here with her family: her dad Paul, Cailey, her mom Karen, and brother Brenton. — Vinnie DeBenedetto Onslow scholars named JACKSONVILLE — On July 17, five students were presented Onslow County Masonic Scholarships. The $1,200 scholarships went to, from left, Erica Gurganus, Jacksonville High School; Des- tiny Bengston, Jacksonville High School; Samantha South, White Oak High School; Morgan Drye, Dixon High School; and Taylor Scott of Southwest High School. Denny Norris and Loren Jones are seen here with the young ladies. — Howard Kahn Photo by Mary Helen Goodloe-Murphy Ric Car ter photos

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