‘Brandywine Battlefield Degree’

      

It’s only a few short weeks until the Brandywine Battlefield Degree in Pennsylvania.

That’s Saturday, October 6. Hosted by Kennett Lodge 475, this conferral of Pennsylvania’s Entered Apprentice Degree will take place at the historic site of the battle between forces commanded by George Washington and William Howe before the latter’s troops seized Philadelphia in 1777.

WM Eric Downs

While the lodge’s officers and ritualists will be attired in period costume, the dress code for everyone else is a casual polo-and-khakis-type combo.

A modest fee of $40 per person is being collected. Use PayPal here.

The dinner menu will be: grilled chicken, mushroom salad, potato salad, pasta salad, cole slaw, corn bread, various desserts, and soft drinks. Cigars and fellowship will round off the evening. (The lodge has acquired several boxes of Hiram and Solomon Entered Apprentice cigars for the occasion.)

I probably will bring a pipe, and a clay at that,
but there will be cigars on hand!

Gather at the site at 4 p.m. for a tour of Washington’s headquarters and the grounds ($8 payable at the visitors center). Dinner will be served at six. The degree will begin at 7:30. This is a rain-or-shine event. Address: 1491 Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford—about 25 miles southwest of Philly.

There even is a souvenir token awaiting you:

If you are unfamiliar with Pennsylvania Masonic rituals, they are unique in the United States. It’s not that you wouldn’t recognize this EAº, but you would discern many differences from initiations you already know. Pennsylvania lodge officers, especially the Worshipful Masters, make impressive efforts to confer their degrees. Let’s pray for cool weather out of respect for the heavy clothes they will be wearing.

Click to enlarge.