The North Carolina Mason

May/June 2018

North Carolina Mason

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May/June 2018 The North Carolina Mason Page 13 A storm post gone viral prompted a national call for help after a tornado that struck Greensboro in April destroyed a Prince Hall lodge. Brother Marcus Orr of Graham, a member of omas M. Holt #492 and Mosaic #762 tells the story: On April 15, the east side of Greensboro was hit by an EF2 tornado that registered 135 mph and cut around a 300-yard path directly through dense residential neighbor- hoods. When the tornado passed through, I and several others were waiting out the storm in the basement of the Greensboro Masonic Temple. After it passed, I left downtown Greensboro and headed toward the interstate to return home. At the time, I did not know that a tornado had passed through. Due to falling power lines and trees, I found myself stuck for a couple of hours in the neighborhoods hardest hit by the tornado. I parked my truck and started walking the neighborhood helping some of the residents check on other residents in houses that had been destroyed. As I did this, I took quite exten- sive photographs of the damage and posted it to my Facebook feed. I was unaware at the time that the media was unable to access the neighbor- hood and that communication coming out of the neighborhoods was virtually non-existent during those first few hours. My phone battery eventually died, and I lost communication. I was shocked when I regained service and had a half dozen or more requests from national and local media organizations requesting permission to use my photos. I was even more shocked when I checked my Facebook photo and saw that it had been shared thousands of times. I heard early the next morning that the Prince Hall Lodge had been destroyed, but wasn't accessible due to downed trees and power lines, so I packed up my drone to see if I could circum- vent the closures and get some pictures of the lodge. e neighborhood where the lodge was located took a direct hit and the devastation was terrible. e lodge was one of the worst hit buildings in the city. I set up my drone and took some aerial video that morning and later came back that afternoon to take some more. A drone video can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/ y9llevdm. ere were two primary orga- nizations meeting in the lodge – C.W. Lawrence #837 and Luther Kimbrough #838. I understand that a travelling lodge, Climax #832 made use of the facilities on an occasional basis and the building was also the home of Order of the Eastern Star's Genesis #673 and Rebecca #656. ese lodges literally lost every- thing and at the very least, I hoped that the fundraiser would generate enough to restore some of the basic items these lodges and chapters use to operate or help them fund temporary housing arrangements. I wanted to do something to help these brothers recover from their loss and thought that my Facebook post would be a great platform to drive traffic to a Go Fund Me campaign. So, I started the Go Fund Me Page and shared it through various Masonic Facebook groups. Dona- tions started coming in. To date, the campaign has reached just over 50 percent of our $5,000 goal. Many brothers from within the GLNC and brothers throughout the United States and overseas have donated generously. Editor's Note: e Go Fund Me campaign is still open and ready to receive donations. Here's a link: www. gofundme.com/RebuildingeLodge After the Storm Brothers help brothers a er PHA lodge destroyed Damage caused by a tornado was extensive in Greensboro, destroying a Prince Hall lodge building. Debris was scattered around the property, including lodge furnishings and art work. Audit time It's always busy at the Grand Lodge, but some months are busier than others. Every year, auditors and the Grand Lodge staff, includ- ing Vicki Lam, far left, and Grand Secretary Walt Clapp, far right, in- vest time and effort reviewing the Grand Lodge's financial reports to make sure everything is properly recorded and accounted for. Interested in learning more about the financial side of things? The Finance Committee invites you to attend a meeting at the Grand Lodge on Aug. 3. Watch here for details: grandlodge-nc.org Like The NC Mason on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2irdm6m

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