The North Carolina Mason

March/April 2010

North Carolina Mason

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Page 2 From the editor’s desk Keeping up with brothers Keeping up with friends is a two-way street. You cannot assign all the responsibilities of maintaining an old friendship to your friend. Sometimes, you are the one who must make the first call after of months of quiet. It’s not always easy or simple to be the first caller, but someone has to do it if the relationship is to continue. Te same rules apply to lodge affiliations. It’s not unusual for the Grand Lodge office to get a note from a Masonic widow asking that her late husband’s name be removed from a Masonic mailing list. “He died last spring, and nobody from the lodge has asked the first thing about him in the three years he was sick.” Te reflex is sometimes to ask, “When was the last time he attended lodge?” In many cases, these men have not been in lodge for 20 years before their illness. “Did he let anyone at the lodge know that he was sick?” Te member may well be the only source of such information his lodge has. Te Grand Lodge sees lodge exclusions for non- payment of dues every year with disclaimers that nothing has been heard from a member in “years.” “He hasn’t told us anything” is often preceded by a call asking for Masonic funeral services for a man excluded three years ago who has been suf- fering Alzheimer’s Disease for five years. Who’s to blame? Everyone. Please, you be the grownup this year. You take the initiative to let your lodge know that you need some help making your dues. You be the one to check and see if an old friend may be suffering a dementia problem (fre- quently, his family may not know to call you). You be the one to tell your family that if your health gets bad, to let your lodge know your dilemma. You be the one to call some mutual friends to find out why mail is coming back undeliverable for a lodge member. You be the one to maintain that relationship. The North Carolina Mason By Ric Carter Back in late October, Phoenix 8 member Tony Duffer contacted us about improving the Internet presentation of The North Caro- lina Mason. Duffer is director of Digital & Mobile Media at Ad- vantage Newspaper Consultants in Fay- etteville, a company specializing in moving newspapers into the electronic age. Duffer talked about how much Masonry meant to him and how he would like to give something back to his brothers in North Carolina. What he wanted to do was donate use of his company’s epageflip technology to make Te NC Mason a richer online experience. Te new form of presentation gives the reader the ability to flip pages and search content of each edition of the paper. Navigation and viewing are simplified. We went online with epageflip with the Janu- ary/February issue. Additionally, the 2009 issues are now archived on the service, allowing you to browse recent issues. Older issues are still avail- able online in older formats. To see any available past issue, got to . A recently published paper of Te Quatuor Coronati Lodge, the world’s premier Masonic research lodge recognized Te North Carolina Mason as likely the world’s first grand lodge “e- Zine,” a journal made available electronically on the Internet. In Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, Volume 121, Trevor McKeown’s extensive study “An Historical Outline of Freemasons on the Internet,” cites many early uses of the medium by Freema- sonry around the world. Te electronicNCMason (a.k.a. eNCMason, the “stripped-down, online version of the real thing”) first appeared 17 years ago this issue when the March/April 1993 issue of the eNCMason first appeared on computer- ized bulletin boards around the country and on the Internet via AOL and CompuServe. Tose issues were a text-only edition produced just for the medium. Beginning with the July/August 1996 edition, we went to a PDF format which preserved photos and graphics and original look of the entire paper. We now advance another step. Te next time you run into Brother Duffer, tell him we all said, “Tanks.” Trevor McKeouwn is grand historian of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon and edits their grand lodge newsletter. March/April 2010 New online edition ready Grand Master’s Conference held in February ALEXANDRIA — Several officers of the Grand Lodge attended the Conference of Grand Masters in North America in February. The conference allows grand masters from all over the continent to discuss common con- cerns and solutions. over three days each Feb- ruary. They took the train to the meeting. They are seen here waiting for an Amtrak departure in Alexandria, at the foot of Shooter’s Hill, the site of the George Washington Masonic Nation- al Memorial. Seen above are, from left, Senior Grand Warden Bob Gresham, Grand Treasurer Cliff Everett, Junior Grand Warden Dewey Pre- slar, and Grand Master Billy Dill. At right are, from left, Deputy Grand Master Lew Ledford, Grand Master Dill, Grand Secretary Walt Clapp, and Past Grand Master Berry Rigdon. You’re invited Oregon Trail commemoration July 3–4 INDEPENDENCE ROCK, WY — Celebrate the first Masonic communication in Wyoming, which was held at the crest of Independence Rock July 4, 1862. Te celebration comes every ten years, and 2010 is the time. Get down with your bad cowboy self on the Oregon Trail with camping, a wagon train, assembly on the Rock, and cowboy poetry. Tere are motel accommodations for the dude ranch- ers interested in history only. Celebration events begin July 3, and the tiled meeting on the Rock opens at 1:00 p.m. July 4. For details contact PGM Clarence Darling, 7131 Sharrock Road, Casper, Wyoming 82604-9314, or PGM Don Porter, 1014 South 13th Street, Laramie, Wyoming 82070, . Car show May 15 CREEDMOOR — Creedmoor 499 will be holding a car show at Ellington-Brim Chevrolet from 8:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. May 15. Entry fee is only $20, and there are lots of specialty prizes for best in the show. Te top 75 cars will get trophies. Come to look or come to compete. For more information call Tommy Keith at (919) 801-3799, or Rick Haskins at (919) 691-4289. The faucet end of the sink. Asheville’s mystery tub By Ric Carter ASHEVILLE — Mount Hermon 118 is renovating many parts of the Masonic Temple in downtown Asheville. Among the many de- tails, they are restoring the floors in the lodge room. Te floors had been covered by carpet for years and were apparently covered in linoleum for some time also. Te wood floor had never had a finish applied. Tey are sanding the floors and finishing them with tung oil. While renewing the floors, they discovered a mystery under the seating. On pulling up a sec- tion of flooring on the first riser, they found a Issue The positioning of the sink under the concealing floor is seen here. large trough. It has a faucet that still works and drain. Te metal trough is 30 inches wide, 16 feet long, and four inches deep. While designed and built to house Masonic meetings, in 1918 the lodge converted its facility into a hospital to treat African Americans suf- fering from Spanish influenza. What is this just discovered pan? Tere have been no proven answers. Send us your guesses as to the original use of the long, hidden pan, or sink, or tub or whatever it is. NC Mason Deadlines Deadline Approximate Publication Date January/February ..........................January 1 .................................... February 1 March/April ...............................March 1 .........................................April 1 May/June ....................................May 1 ............................................June 1 July/August ...................................July 1 ..........................................August 1 September/October ....................September 1 ................................. October 1 November/December ..................November 1 ................................December 1 Eagle Lodge works to preserve their heritage HILLSBOROUGH — One of North Car- olina’s oldest, most historic lodge buildings is Eagle 19. Tey have been in their current build- ing since the early 1800s. Over the past several years, the lodge has been spending lots of time, and a fair amount of money on restoring their facility. Here are a few before and after photos as well as some of the work being done by the lodge members. Tey have also been active with the lo- cal historic district and town programs. — Speed Hallman THE MISSION OF FREEMASONRY IN NORTH CAROLINA IS TO RAISE THE MORAL, SOCIAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND SPIRITUAL CONSCIENCE OF SOCIETY BY TEACHING THE ANCIENT AND ENDURING PHILOSOPHICAL TENETS OF BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF, AND TRUTH, WHICH ARE EXPRESSED OUTWARDLY THROUGH SERVICE TO GOD, FAMILY, COUNTRY, AND SELF UNDER THE FATHERHOOD OF GOD WITHIN THE BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. NORTH CAROLINA The Mason (USPS 598-260) is published bimonthly by Te Grand Lodge of AF & AM of North Carolina, 2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27608. Tird class postage paid at Oxford, NC 27565. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Te North Carolina Mason, School Of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, Oxford, NC 27565. Grand Master William L. Dill Board Of Publication John O. Newman Jr., Chairman Gary R. Ballance Don E. Bolden Tomas A. Pope Jr. Hugh K. Terrell Jr. Editor Ric Carter Good quality pictures, whether color or black and white, are essential for suitable reproduction. Te right to reject any submission not suitable for use is reserved. Pictures will be returned to the sender only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Submissions and other correspondence should be sent to the editor at PO Box 6506, Raleigh, NC 27628 or rcarter@grandlodge-nc.org. Each North Carolina Mason is a subscriber to Te North Carolina Mason. If you know a member who is not receiving the paper, please send us his full name, his complete address and the name and number of his lodge. Masonic widows receive Te Mason free upon request. Subscriptions are available to others at a rate of five dollars per year. Subscription inquiries and address changes only should be sent to: Te School of Graphic Arts, Masonic Home for Children, 600 College Street, Oxford, North Carolina 27565. Reproduction of articles by Masonic organiza- tions is permitted with proper credits. Opinions expressed are not necessar- ily those of The North Carolina Mason, the Grand Lodge, or Board of Publication. Ric Car ter photos

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