The North Carolina Mason

The Mason Official Publication of e Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina Volume 143 Number 1 Oxford, North Carolina January/February 2018 NORTH CAROLINA ■ see GAVEL page 2 Oh, the Places It'll Go! By Beth Grace Mason Editor Behold the new North Carolina Traveling Degree Gavel! You've already heard about the gavel as one of the elements of the 2018 Lion and Pillar awards. is hand-crafted piece of Masonic history, conceived by Grand Master Speed Hallman and developed with lots of help from his friends, hit the Masonic road in January. "I want the gavel to promote fellowship across the state and encourage brethren to attend degrees in other lodges," Hallman said. "A lodge room full of brethren from a wide area makes the degree even more special for the candidate. It makes for wonderful fellowship. And it has the potential effect of aiding the host lodge with degree work." He hopes the gavel will land in lodges across the state and that a journal accompanying it will chron- icle its travels, creating an historic record that features a cross-section of North Carolina Masons, their lodges and their degree work. Photos posted on Facebook and updates on the Grand Lodge website will provide close to real- time reports on the gavel's where- abouts, enabling lodges to go after it and keep it moving around the state. Hallman saved wood removed during renovation of Eagle Lodge in 2004, the year he was master, with the idea of making commemorative items. e wood is from a North Carolina oak that was fully grown before the American Revolution. e tree was felled in the early 1820s, and from it a 20-foot-long floor joist was hewn and nailed into the sills of Eagle #19's building Which lodges will host the Traveling Degree Gavel? Details on how to get the gavel. Page 2

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