The North Carolina Mason

NORTH CAROLINA Official Publication of The Grand The Mason Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina Volume 138 Number 4 Oxford, North Carolina July/August 2013 September 27–28 in Winston-Salem By Ric Carter WINSTON-SALEM — Grand Master Dewey R. Jr. will preside as 2013 Annual Communication opens in Winston-Salem. The 226th annual meeting of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina is scheduled for September 27–28. The communication will be at the Twin City Quarter here, the same hotel we have used the last few years. It will be the headquarters hotel, the site of all committee meetings, and Grand Lodge business sessions. While every Mason in the state is invited, only the master and wardens of your lodge, or their official proxies, may vote during business sessions. They'll join the same officers of the other lodges around the state. Other voters are committeemen and officers of the Grand Lodge and its districts. Workshops and committee meetings held before the official sessions will be at the Twin City Quarter on Thursday, September 26. The Lodge Secretary's Workshop will be held there that at 2:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon. All voting sessions will be held in the Twin City Quarter's Grand Pavilion Friday and Saturday, September 27–28. Lodge officers are asked to bring and wear their aprons for all business sessions. All Masons must present their dues card and give the pass to enter business sessions. Please do not mail your credentials to the Grand Lodge office. You must present them at the registration desk to receive ballots and other essential information and materials. You may register in the main lobby on Thursday and outside the Grand Pavilion on Friday and Saturday mornings. In order to vote, you must have your credentials, and you must register. Again, do not return your credentials to the Grand Lodge office. Grand Master Preslar will open the first session at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning. That's when you'll see the formal opening and welcoming of special guests. Grand Orator Andrew C. Brock will make the keynote address. The rest of the morning, a number of reports will be read and others submitted for the record without reading. Downtown Winston-Salem has lots of restaurants, so you can find a place you like for the lunch break within easy walking distance of the hall. A memorial service for those Masons who died in the past year will follow the call from refreshment to labor. The Grand see GL, page 5 Ric Car ter photo Annual Communication is approaching Amendment roundup By Ric Carter Here we go with our annual recap of the year's proposed amendments to The Code. This is an effort to put the proposals in plain language and share some of the arguments commonly expressed on the amendments. The discussion is far from exhaustive, but intends to give you a better understanding of the changes offered and their possible repercussions. A lodge cannot and should not attempt to bind its delegates to a particular vote on a particular question. Very often, the amendments are changed on the floor before voting. More often still, arguments not thought of in analysis or lodge debate arise at the meeting, bringing a different outlook to the proposal. Discuss the votes and suggest the thinking of the lodge. Your delegates should vote in the best interests of all Masonry after hearing all discussion. Group 1 fixes a loophole in the endowed membership program that had lodges losing significant potential income on many en- dowed memberships. Many, if not most, endowed memberships are sold the year before a lodge's newly raised dues go into effect. Since many dues increases occur only after a lodge is already seeing income shortfalls, their problems are exacerbated by the lower rates those endowed memberships will pay forever. The rate for the memberships would remain at 21 times a lodge's annual dues, but stipulates that it shall be the dues for the following year that is used in the calculation. It was introduced by the grand secretary. Group 2 would raise member per capita from $17 to $20. Lodges pay per capita on Master Masons who have not earned their Veteran's Emblem for 50 years membership. While costs of operation have changed very little, income has gone down because of declining membership. Per capita, the Grand Lodge's sole source of income, was last addressed in 2008. This proposal comes see AMENDMENTS, page 5 Winston-Salem Masons building a new home WINSTON-SALEM — Don't go to the Winston-Salem Masonic Temple expecting to attend a meeting. The building is being sold. As of July 1, the lodges have moved out and are meeting in neighboring facilities awaiting the construction of their new home. Completion is expected in late 2014 or early 2015. In the meantime, you may find them and other related bodies at various locations: Piedmont Pioneer 685 will be meeting at West Bend 434, 6305 Shallowford Road, Lewisville. Salem 289 will move to Kernersville 669, 701 South Main Street, Kernersville. Winston 167 and Forsyth 707 (along with Scottish Rite) will be at Clemmons 755, 6210 Stadium Drive, Clemmons. The York Rite organizations will be visiting High Point Masonic Temple, 3202 N. Main Street, High Point. Eastern Star and Amaranth Designs will be at Old Town 751, 5112 N. Causeway Road, Winston-Salem. The new Winston-Salem Masonic Center will be 4537 Country Club Road in WinstonSalem. The address for mailing is PO Box 25623, Winston-Salem, NC 27114-5623. Officials at the Temple said, "We are most grateful for the host lodges in stepping up and providing their lodges for the next 12–18 months. We truly see this will further increase masonic fellowship through the 26th Masonic District." Once they close on the Miller Street property, they will hold an auction of surplus property including scenery. The board had professionals photograph all the scenery for some pioneering digital work in the new Masonic Center. You can follow the progress of their new home at . — Joey Transou upon our trestle board Own and deliver your Masonry By Dewey R. Preslar Jr. Grand Master "There ain't no cure for the summertime blues"…oh, how one of my English teachers would be disappointed in such a statement! But, if you recognize this song line, you probably grew up around the time of my generation with the song now stuck in your head. By the time you read this, we will probably be well into August, and so many things have happened that there was no time to sing the blues. Quite a bit has transpired, and a number of firsts for me, at least, have occurred. A number of service awards were presented with one being to a 75-year Mason. Thanks to the members of Charity 5 who allowed me to present this to Jack Goldstein. Our Brother could write a book of his life experiences, plus it was such a joy to meet and be a small part of his story. We constituted a new lodge in Jacksonville and enjoyed the enthusiasm that the Brothers of this lodge exhibited. These Brothers know how to express their passion and love for our Fraternity. In Franklinton, we conducted the cornerstone ceremony for a lodge under construction. The roof and exterior walls were complete, but the interior was not. We opened the Grand Lodge using a carpenter's hammer as the gavel. The feeling of honoring our past and tradition was present in the emotions of the morning. The event was very well-attended with harmony prevailing. As I am a member of the Eastern Star, it was certainly an honor to speak at the Grand Chapter to my Sisters and Brothers who were in attendance. In addition, the Rainbow Girls exhibited beautiful work at their Assembly where I appreciated their theme of teamwork and leadership. At the Imperial Shrine in Indianapolis, I shared with the delegates our relationship in North Carolina with our Shrine Brethren. I was called on a second time to speak, which was a surprise, but somehow (with help from Above) was able to deliver a message of tradition. In July, I attended the York Rite Summer Assembly in Maggie Valley, and as always, enjoyed a wonderful time in our beautiful North Carolina mountains. It was my honor to present my second Montfort Medal to J. David Cashion while all were assembled. By the time this is printed, I will have participated in a Scottish Rite event, so at this point, it seems that my Masonry with the appendant bodies have come full circle this summer. At these events, I shared my thoughts that if we operate today and tomorrow as we did yesterday, we will get the same outcome. I appreciated the opportunity to speak at each, and hopefully provided some value in what I said. I have been encouraging actions in our work this year which cause an increase in fellowship. Therefore, the reason that I wanted to share the activities in this article was to help us become better related. When we cause and inspire passion in our work, beautiful things happen for our Masonry. This causes a different outcome which benefits not only ourselves, but also others whom we support in our charities. Now, we turn our attention to upcoming events this fall, beginning with Grand Lodge on September 27 and 28 in WinstonSalem. We are looking for 100% representation of all 371 Lodges which will be a breakthrough for us. The masters, wardens, and others should make their reservations now as your attendance is required and appreciated in going about the business of Grand Lodge. What has become one of my favorite events, even though this is only the third year, is the Homecoming Festival at the Masonic Home for Children. This is scheduled for October 11 through 13. Beginning on Friday, we will be cooking Brunswick Stew, setting up for the cook off, and listening to a couple of bands perform. On Saturday morning, we will kick off with what should be one of the biggest Shrine parades that you will see, followed by more good food and music. I have been pushing doing work which causes an increase in fellowship, and this weekend at Oxford will provide exactly that. Please place this on your calendars, plan to come, bring a group with you, especially Lodge members that haven't been to our Home, and bring your family, children, and grandchildren. You will be rewarded by seeing Masonry at its best and what we provide for children in North Carolina. Now, my Brethren I will end with the blues. As I complete this article, I am deeply saddened by the loss of my dear friend and Brother, Past Grand Master Clifton W. Everett Jr. I will miss his wit, friendship, good humor, words of good counsel, and wisdom. More especially, I will miss his kindness and Brotherly love as well as the affection he showed me. "Well done, good and faithful servant." So mote it be.

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