‘Freemason Sibelius and his Opus 113’

     
The George Washington Masonic Stamp Club will meet in September in Baltimore. The keynote speaker for the meeting will be Walter Benesch, past president, who will discuss “Jean Sibelius: The Great Finnish Composer and Mason and the Strange History Behind His Opus 113.”

From the publicity:

George Washington Masonic Stamp Club

Meeting at the Baltimore Philatelic Exhibition

Saturday, September 3

1 p.m.

Wyndham Hunt Valley Inn

Salon C

245 Shawan Road

Hunt Valley, Maryland

Summer 2016 message from the President

For those who missed the Annual Meeting in February, it was a delightful meeting.

There were four new candidates for the Degree of Philately. This was followed by our election. Yours truly was re-elected President for another two years. Our new First Vice President is Ralph E. Olson. Dr. Rudy Krutar continues as our Second Vice President. John Allen and Sherrill Watkins continue as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. Michael Aulicino was re-elected as our Cachet Maker-Cover Chairman. But what is good, we now have an official Assistant Cachet Maker, Casey Polowitch. Hopefully Casey will be ready to take over at the next election in 2018. It is always great to see our younger members step up to help out.

Our summer meeting will be at BALPEX on Saturday, September 3 at 1 p.m. in Salon C. The program will be Part Two of last year’s presentation on Jean Sibelius, the great Finnish composer and Mason, but this talk will be on the strange history behind his Opus 113—his “Masonic Opus.” You will hear brief excerpts, and learn one of the strangest histories of any musical composition, including why the Grand Lodge of New York holds the copyright. There will be the traditional door prizes and sale items. Your President is attempting to lessen his collection, so there will be several valuable binders offered to Club members.

BALPEX is held at the Hunt Valley Inn. There is plenty of free parking and a quality restaurant in the hotel, with other restaurants down the road. If there is enough interest, we may go as a group for an early dinner at around 4 p.m. I want everyone to have enough time to review the exhibits at BALPEX, to talk to the vendors, and add to your collections.

Remember, the Club depends on new members, so talk up the George Washington Mason Stamp Club at your lodge and other Masonic bodies. If you don’t have an application, click here.

The next Annual Meeting will take place Sunday, February 27, 2017 at the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia.