‘A big anniversary and a St. John’s Day procession’

     

Williamsburg Lodge 6

Williamsburg Lodge 6 in Virginia has a great day planned to mark both St. John’s Day and the lodge’s semiquincentennial birthday. Next month, the brethren, bolstered by the presence of Grand Master Jack Lewis, will open a public meeting of the lodge before heading outdoors. From the publicity:

Williamsburg Lodge 6 AF&AM

233 East Francis Street

Williamsburg, Virginia

Saturday, June 22

Join us in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Williamsburg Lodge and St. John’s Day.

Most Worshipful Jack K. Lewis, Grand Master of Masons in Virginia, will be in attendance.

9 a.m. – coffee and fellowship

9:30 – open lodge (all are welcome) with presentation by RW Don Moro, Grand Organist

10:30 – procession to Bruton Parish Church led by fifes and drums

11 – church program, prayer, and presentation of an eighteenth century Masonic sermon

11:20 – recession to the lodge for lunch and open house

Formal dress for lodge officers with full Masonic regalia. Coat and tie for brethren.

I would love to get down there for one of these events. Can’t make this one, as I’ll be speaking at a Masonic luncheon in New Jersey. June 22 is St. Alban’s Day, which coincidentally will be my topic. Visiting Williamsburg 6 is on my list though!

      

’The First Degree, 1717 style!’

    

RCI Lodge 3556

A lodge in London, which specializes in unconventional communications augmented with finer dining, has an exemplification of a rare initiation planned for next month. Royal Colonial Institute Lodge 3556, meeting at Freemasons’ Hall, will demonstrate how the First Degree of Masonry might have looked in 1717.

I’m assuming this will be based on ritual exposures from later in the eighteenth century, but still I’d expect a faithful recreation of the experience. Click here for tickets for the June 13 meeting, demonstration, and dinner.

The lodge has a fascinating history. According to the Metropolitan Grand Lodge’s website:

It was consecrated on January 10, 1912 for the purpose of enhancing the ties of the then Empire and Craft; and between the resident and non-resident Fellows and Members of the Royal Commonwealth Society (formerly the Royal Colonial Institute).

Connections with brethren abroad remained strong throughout the First World War and when, in 1939, the Duke of Connaught resigned as Grand Master of UGLE, he remained as Worshipful Master of the lodge and was able to welcome the District Grand Master of Japan, as well as representatives of the grand lodges of Cuba, Peru, Greece, Yugoslavia, and more. Upon Connaught’s death in 1942, the Grand Master noted at his successor’s Installation “…it is the meeting place of brethren who are now in London but whose homes are many thousands of miles away… Though the members of this Lodge may be drawn from many parts of the Empire, they meet in lodge on common ground and for a common purpose.”

It was in the 1950s that the lodge began a tradition of hosting talks and lectures. Fast forward to 1972, and the links with the Commonwealth were further strengthened at an emergency meeting of the lodge where members were joined by 203 members of other Commonwealth lodges. This meeting was to be the forerunner of the Commonwealth Lodges’ Association, a relationship which the Royal Colonial Lodge proudly still retains.

The Centenary History of the Lodge, written in 2012, concludes: “…the lodge has provided a meeting place for Commonwealth brethren through two World Wars and through times of hardship, financial depression and financial prosperity... Perhaps in looking back we can gain more strength to move forward.”

The Royal Colonial Institute Lodge is a Metropolitan Lodge, meeting at Freemasons’ Hall twice a year. The June meeting is aligned to UGLE’s Quarterly Communication so that members and brethren visiting from abroad can maximise their time in London. It attracts Past Masters with an appetite for finer dining across London in a more relaxed atmosphere, with Festive Boards held at private clubs and non-mainstream specialist venues.

The lodge does not take initiates and therefore performs no ceremonial work other than the annual Installation. Instead, the aim of the lodge is to have fun, unique, and educational meetings. Aiming to reach 100+ members by the end of this year [2023], the RCI supports the development of the Commonwealth Lodges’ Association (of which it is a member).

But about this event, the lodge says:

The regular business meeting of Royal Colonial Institute Lodge 3556 will tyle at 5 p.m. and will last approximately thirty minutes. After the lodge has closed, the Elizabethan Lodge will quickly set up, and the demonstration will begin, which is anticipated to finish around 6:15.

Please note: this event is for Master Masons and above only. No EAs or FCs are allowed to attend, as per Information for the Guidance of Members of the Craft.

For those who wish to dine afterwards, there will be pre-dinner drinks at 7 p.m. in the private drawing room at Fortnum & Mason (Piccadilly) with dinner served at 7:30.

Click here to see the impressive dinner menu and to purchase tickets.

     

‘Sizing up the Master’s Chair’

    

Most of the class today at Masonic Hall.

Today I completed the suite of classroom instruction available to lodge officers in the Fourth Manhattan District of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York. Or at least I think I’m done. I’m not aware of anything else.

Since January, I have enjoyed four Saturdays for the Protocol class, Road to the East (two days), and today’s Master’s Chair course. Having taken these in fairly rapid succession, I can say there is much overlap and redundancy in these three. I went through the Masonic Development Course in 2015 and, honestly, I don’t recollect much except it makes a good introduction to the fraternity—but these three could use some restructuring. Or maybe that’s intentional because not everyone will enroll in all the courses.

RW Rochie comfortably assuming his Staff Officer duties.

Anyway, the Glorious Fourth’s new Staff Officer, RW Bro. Rochie Santos, expertly guided us through the more than four hours of instruction and comprehension tests. For clarity, I’ll explain that I am going into the East of The American Lodge of Research next month. I did the Craft lodge bit nearly twenty years ago—and I ain’t doing that again, despite knowing Publicity Lodge would be far easier to govern than was my previous lodge.

Truly, Masters of research lodges do not require this kind of instruction. These lodges do not confer degrees or become involved in the ceremonial formality that demand so much care. We open; we close; we ballot. That’s the ritual workload. Official Visits do not occur. Meetings are few. It’s pretty stress free. (Well, to me it is. I’ve done this before also: a unique thirty-month stint as Master of New Jersey’s research lodge many years ago.)

The Master’s Chair class is heavy on etiquette and protocol, just like the aptly named Protocol class. And, unsurprisingly, Master’s Chair also delves into law and customs, just like Road to the East. But it is good and wholesome instruction, and it probably is beneficial to receive it outside one’s own lodge, where familiarity and casualness might dull the senses.

A few things I learned today:

• If the District Deputy Grand Master opts to close the meeting of his Official Visit, he is to be addressed as Worshipful Master. I think this is the opposite of what I learned long ago in New Jersey, where he would be addressed by his full grand lodge title. I think.

• If seeking dispensation to form a new lodge, no fewer than seven petitioners are required. In my day in Jersey, that number was forty, but I think I heard it was reduced in recent years, resulting in an Observant lodge being launched.

(Seven?! I think my lifelong ambition of starting Don Rickles Lodge just advanced one big step.)

• The Master and Wardens of a lodge may demit. While in office. Wow. Another contradiction from New Jersey’s law—otherwise, I’d have done it!

The American Lodge of Research will meet Tuesday, June 25 at 7 p.m. in the Empire Room for its elections and installation of officers, the new Master’s inaugural paper, and whatever necessary business. That paper will be “It’s Just Common Sense: Thomas Reid and the Fellow Craft Degree.” It’s drafted in my head. I just have to sit down and write.

The Stated Meetings of the coming year:

Tuesday, October 29

‘Masonic Hall Monitors’

A multifaceted review of Masonic ritual ciphers, monitors, and exposés. My old friend RW Bro. Ben Hoff, who succeeded me in the East of New Jersey’s research lodge, has written a new study of these texts, and tells of their history, diversity, and why they are essential reading.

Also, RW Sam Kinsey, our Custodians of the Work chairman, will talk to us about both New York’s latest ritual book and the upcoming monitor—the first since the ’80s. And RW Michael LaRocco, executive director of the Livingston Library, will exhibit a collection of antique, exotic, and otherwise notable ritual books. Oh, and yours truly will briefly discuss the newly reprinted Macoy Monitor from 1867.

Monday, March 31, 2025

‘A Night for the Marquis

and the Count’

As part of New York Freemasonry’s celebration of the Lafayette bicentenary, we will host Bro. Chris Ruli, author of Brother Lafayette, soon to be published, for a discussion of the Masonic aspects of the great man’s farewell tour of the United States in 1824-25. Also, Bro. Erich Huhn, who will be Junior Deacon of the lodge by then, will discuss Alexis de Toqueville’s thoughts on Freemasonry, gleaned from his own tour of the U.S. in 1831-32.

Monday, June 30, 2025

The blessed event!

RW Yves will be installed Master of The ALR.

Those are the mandatory constitutional meetings. We also will go on the road for a Special Communication, likely to New Rochelle. There probably will be a collaboration with New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786. There might be something with another jurisdiction’s research lodge. There will be Zoom meetings to bring together our members wherever dispersed about the face of the earth. And maybe more opportunities I haven’t thought of yet.

Who knows? I’m a strange guy.

     

‘Masonic Con returns to Ezekiel Bates Lodge’

    

Believe me, you’ll hear about Masonic Con New York, next January, when the time comes, but this edition of The Magpie Mason concerns the originators of Masonic Con announcing their next event for the first weekend of October at Ezekiel Bates Lodge in Attleboro, Massachusetts. From the publicity:

The original Masonic Con returns with an exciting lineup! Join us for a weekend filled with forty unique vendors, six engaging speakers, and an unforgettable festive board.

The event kicks off Friday night with Ezekiel Bates Lodge’s 154th installation of officers, setting the stage for a remarkable experience. Saturday: an entire day of amazing guest speakers and masonic venders from across the country! On Sunday, immerse yourself in a historical tour of Providence, exploring Masonic landmarks, Revolutionary history, and the world of H.P. Lovecraft.

Don’t miss this extraordinary gathering that blends tradition, history, and camaraderie. Be part of a legacy at Masonic Con, where the past and present converge in celebration of Freemasonry.

Sponsors: Ezekiel Bates Lodge AF&AM, Grand Council Royal & Select Master Masons of Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Chapter of Research.

Click here for tickets.

This is on my calendar and, pending the announcement of speakers, I plan to be there.

     

‘Scrolling Alone & Social Atomization’

    

The Summer issue of American Affairs Journal is available; included is a review of Jonathan Haidt’s Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, published by Penguin this year. This review by Michael Toscano is titled “Scrolling Alone: Smartphones and Social Atomization.” If you cannot read the 400-page book, then click here to read this essay. Excerpted:

Haidt shows that Silicon Valley’s products are, by design, structurally at odds with the developmental needs of human children as members of the species. The only serious solution, then, is for government (and other responsible entities) to step in and restrict children’s access. ‘Even if the content on these sites could somehow be filtered effectively to remove obviously harmful material,’ Haidt says, it would not be enough.

 

But Haidt’s critique of Big Tech goes far deeper than concern for the mental health of Gen Z, as important as that is. His analysis reveals a more fundamental crisis of which the above is a mere symptom: that these devices and platforms sever the mental tissue that makes embodied relationships possible, dramatically weakening the possibility of collective action for the common good.

Yikes.

I do not believe government intervention will do anything except worsen the problem, but I’ll just mention a bill is percolating in the U.S. Senate that ostensibly would make it a little difficult for minors to access social media platforms. Introduced last month, the “Protecting Kids on Social Media Act” is intended to “require that social media platforms verify the age of their users, prohibit the use of algorithmic recommendation systems on individuals under age 18, require parental or guardian consent for social media users under age 18, and prohibit users who are under age 13 from accessing social media platforms.”

Toscano is executive director of the Institute for Family Studies.

Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at NYU’s Stern School of Business. “My mission is to use research on moral psychology to help people understand each other and to help important social institutions work better,” he explains on his website.

     

‘English Masons, both sexes, correct The New European’

    

The United Grand Lodge of England, joined by both The Order of Women Freemasons and the Honorable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons, issued a rebuttal today to juvenile criticisms leveled by a member of the House of Lords published in The New European.

That periodical was launched about eight years ago to give a platform for the minority who were outvoted in the Brexit referendum, because, as you know, the globalists are voiceless. Its motto, shown at the top of the top of the banner atop its homepage reads: “Think without borders.” Yes, really.

The House of Lords member is Patience Wheatcroft, the scribe responsible for “Forget the Garrick, What about the Freemasons?” published Wednesday. (The Garrick Club, founded 1831, is a private society for actors and theater lovers that voted May 7 to admit females.) Excerpted:

Patience Wheatcroft

Gentlemen’s clubs in one guise or another have been a feature of the social scene, particularly in London, for centuries while women have enjoyed their own institutions too. Those who were determined to break down the “men only” barrier in Garrick Street argued that it was a special case because really important matters were being discussed and decided by the really important people who met there and this only served to perpetuate the cruel patriarchy that persists in the UK… And right next door to the place where the Garrick’s historic vote was taken early this month–the Connaught Rooms–is the imposing Freemasons’ Hall. That’s home to the United Grand Lodge of England, an organisation which far pre-dates the Garrick and which remains firmly closed to women... This international movement lists its principles as “Integrity, Friendship, Respect, and Service,” all qualities that might be thought to have appeal to those of every gender and none. Undoubtedly, the movement does charitable works but there are some who suspect that its charity most decidedly begins at home.

“Every gender and none!” That phrase reveals all I need to know about our correspondent.

The Freemasons’ retort says, in part:

Beginning with the numerous claims about Freemasonry’s entry requirements, we are delighted that the author has visited the UGLE website and reflected on the organisation’s core values of Integrity, Friendship, Respect, and Service. While she was there, it is a shame, however, that Baroness Wheatcroft did not manage to locate the section of our website dedicated to Women Freemasons, who have been proudly meeting in this country for over 100 years. Indeed, even more simply, a cursory Google search would have revealed the websites of the two female Grand Lodges that meet in the United Kingdom, as well as their numerous social media channels. The links for all three of our websites can be found in the footer of this statement and we encourage you to peruse them at your leisure.

Read The New European piece here. Read the Masonic response here.

     

‘The new Grand Master is…’

    

GLNY

Puffs of white smoke are emanating from Masonic Hall—vanilla cavendish, if I’m not mistaken—meaning we have a new Grand Master! The Most Worshipful Steven A. Rubin, Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, will be installed this afternoon.

No, I am not present at the Grand Lodge Communication. I’m simply following the updates on 1010 WINS.

I didn’t think they’d have results so early. Still waiting on tallies of the other contests. Will add those here later.

UPDATE—Those other elections: WOR-AM reports the names of the other winners.

RW Robert Hogan
Deputy Grand Master

RW Mark Loughran
Senior Grand Warden

RW John Haslam
Junior Grand Warden

RW Alberto Cortizo
Grand Treasurer

 
RW Richard Schulz remains as Grand Secretary, having sought re-election without any challenger.

The Senior Grand Warden election was interesting; when the deadline for declaring candidacies passed last fall, no one had stepped forward for the position! Had I known that was to happen, I myself would have filed on the Scald Miserable ticket. Maybe next time.

     

‘Civil War Dinner at Gettysburg this month’

    

Good Samaritan Lodge 336 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania has another creative collation planned for later this month. From the publicity:

We will be hosting a Civil War Dinner on Friday, May 24 at our lodge. Presentations from our Civil War guests will begin at six o’clock, and dinner will be served at 6:30. Menu: Union or Confederate.

Union will be Maj. Gen. James Wilson’s Beef Loaf specialty with Benjamin Wade’s lima beans and tomatoes.

Confederate will be Capt. Franklin Buchanan’s favorite Spanish Chicken with John Hunt Morgan’s Plantation Style collard greens.

Both will be served with a simple green salad and roasted potatoes. Dessert will be strawberries with whipped cream.

Join us for a great meal and excellent in-character presentations on Masons in the Civil War.

Tickets, at $50 each, can be had here. The lodge is perfectly situated at 9 Lincoln Square in Gettysburg.

     

‘Brent Morris receives UGLE Grand Rank’

    

Brent Morris shared this on social media, and says ‘Here is a photograph from Wednesday, April 24 of one of the newest Past Junior Grand Deacons of the United Grand Lodge of Antient Free and Accepted Masons of England. We were particularly honored that HRH the Duke of Kent, KG, Most Worshipful Grand Master, was present to preside over the advancement of the honorees.’

Congratulations to Bro. Brent Morris, who was elevated recently to Grand Rank in the United Grand Lodge of England! Brent is among the newest Past Grand Junior Deacons, having been invested at Freemasons’ Hall in London April 24.

If I understand the UGLE’s Constitutions, Brent now is merely sixty-one heartbeats away from the Grand Mastership. Of course you remember he served as Worshipful Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge 2076—the first lodge of research, etc.—for the 2007-08 term, and was the first American Mason to preside over the lodge.

The UGLE’s rules are a little too complicated for me, but there are ninety Grand Rank positions in the UGLE system. The appointment to Past Grand Rank, such as Junior Deacon, is in grateful recognition of good and faithful service to the Craft. Bravo!

You’ll observe the dove on the regalia. A different idea than the moon within the Square and Compasses most of us in America know. “A symbol of purity and innocence; also peace,” says Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie of the bird in his The Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia.

     

‘Kaywoodie lives on, thanks to New York Mason’

    

Magpie file photo

S.M. Frank and Co., the business that makes the legendary Kaywoodie brand of pipes, will live on, thanks to the Brother Mason who purchased the company. W. Bro. Nathan Davis, who has been selling the brand’s briars as Greywoodie, LLC in recent years, made the deal with longtime owner Bill Feuerbach, who continued his family tradition into its fourth generation until seeking retirement. From an announcement today:

It has been announced just about everywhere, and more interviews are coming, however, I wanted to take a personal approach here. I bought Kaywoodie after five years of selling Kaywoodie pipes, having given up a thirteen-year career to do so.

Greywoodie photo

I never imagined it would happen like this, for all the good and bad. Using a 100-year-old Kaywoodie pen to buy the 173-year-old company really just put that last piece together for me. I found a way to make this a true career, and not just a hobby.

Without Bill Feuerbach supporting me and teaching me quite literally everything, this could not have happened. I am honored that he trusts me to carry his fourth generation family business forward. I hope I can do something that would make the Kaufmann Brothers, Mr. Bondy, Mr. Frank, and four Feuerbach men proud.

Known for quality briar skillfully made into good smokers and retailed at reasonable prices, the brand dates to the early twentieth century. People aren’t aware, but there was a time when Kaywoodie enjoyed a stronger reputation than Dunhill when it came to quality pipes. Read more here at Pipedia.

Magpie file photo

In my own pipe racks, not only has Kaywoodie the largest population, but my all time favorite briar is a straight billiard I bought at the New York Pipe Show at the Ramada in 1999.

Nathan is Worshipful Master—at least until next month—of Cobleskill Lodge 394, located near Albany. He was one of several Masons I’d meet every December at the Northeast Regional Pipe Smoking Contest and Hudson Valley Pipe Club Holiday Party, which had been hosted at S.M. Frank’s factory when I began attending twelve or so years ago. The pandemic kiboshed that in 2020, but when asked on social media if he might revive that tradition, Nathan said he’d love to bring it back. (He actually did get the contest going this year, but naturally it’s not the same atmosphere without the party.)

Congratulations, Nathan! I, uh, kind of acquired all the pipes I need for this lifetime, but I may buy one more to celebrate your milestone.

    

‘Dennis Daugherty, R.I.P.’

    

Just days before Grand Lodge’s Annual Communication comes the sad news of the death of RW Bro. Dennis Daugherty yesterday. There will be better informed and more personal eulogies than I can offer, but I can say without any hesitation, mental reservation, etc. that Dennis was for many of us the embodiment of how Masons ever should meet, act, and part. Always an understated role model, for sure, but inspiring nonetheless.

Dennis affiliated with Publicity Lodge 1000 in 1991, and served in the East in both the 1997-98 and 2010-11 terms. Although he resided in Utica in recent years, Dennis still attended Publicity’s Communications until the pandemic, riding Amtrak five hours each way. He also was a Corresponding Member of The ALR for many years.

From the Office of the Grand Secretary:

SAD TIDINGS

RW Bro. Dennis A. Daugherty

Has Laid Down

His Working Tools 

New York - 2 hours ago 

Dear Brethren and Friends,

It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of Right Worshipful Dennis Allan Daugherty, the Grand Representative of the Grand Lodge of Kansas near the Grand Lodge of New York. R.W. Dennis Daugherty was a 63-year member of the Craft with plural memberships in Bestor G. Brown Lodge 433 in Wichita, Kansas; St. John’s Lodge 1 in New York City; Publicity Lodge 1000 in NYC; Kane Lodge 454 in NYC; and The American Lodge of Research.

R.W. Brother Dennis was Initiated on December 6, 1960; Passed on January 31, 1961; and Raised on February 28, 1961 in Bestor G. Brown Lodge 433.

He faithfully served our Grand Lodge on several committees, including the Credentials of Members & Returns of Lodges Committee, the Publications Committee, and the Masonic Hall Tours Committee.

R.W. Brother Dennis was a Senior DeMolay, having actually met and served with Dad Frank Sherman Land the founder of the Order of DeMolay in Kansas City, Kansas.

R.W. Bro. Dennis was 85 years young and he presently resided at the Masonic Care Community in Utica.

We will provide information pertaining to funeral arrangements as soon as they are known. 

Ted Jacobsen photo

MW Bill Sardone, Dennis, and Grand Master Kessler at Grand Lodge last May.

Our Grand Master, MW Richard J. Kessler; Grand Secretary and Senior DeMolay, RW Richard T. Schulz; and the Past Grand Master of DeMolay, MW William M. Sardone, PGM, share in their expressions of sympathy and sadness on behalf of all of our Brethren and DeMolay for this great loss.

May our Almighty Father welcome our dearly departed Brother into His celestial home above. Amen.

     

‘MM° on Song Mountain’

    

The brethren way out in Onondaga County are planning a Third Degree on a mountain top. That’s up by Lake Ontario. From the publicity:

The Onondaga District will host a collective Third Degree at the top of Song Mountain in Tully on June 8 (rain date June 15).

The performance of this degree is something we have been planning for, and working on, for more than a year, and we are extremely excited to be able to present this to the brethren of our state. Many of us cannot remember the last time our entire district has gotten together and worked to raise a class of Master Masons, let alone 22 brothers in a picturesque environment on the top of a mountain, overlooking Otisco Lake. The amount of effort, time, and dedication the district team, as well as all of the degree participants, are putting into this all but guarantees that this will be one for the ages.

We’re excited to have you be a part of it and look forward to seeing many of you on the mountain! There is a capacity of 250 brothers. Cost of attendance is $30 per person, the same for spectators, degree participants, and candidates alike, to cover operating costs and lunch on the top of the mountain.

The degree will be an all day affair. The gavel will drop at 9 a.m. sharp. Please arrange to be there well in advance in order to be seated in time for the opening. Seating will be on bleachers. Dress in long pants (jeans are fine) and a button-down or polo shirt. Wear shoes appropriate for walking and be prepared for being in an outdoor environment.

R and R Imports

There will be a buffet dinner at the conclusion of the degree at the base of the mountain. This incurs a separate cost of $40 per person, and is open to all Masons and their families regardless of participation in the degree at the top of the mountain. A separate reservation will be required.

The reservation process begins here. When your reservation is accepted, you will receive an email confirming your spot. When we reach 250 reservations, the reservation portal will close.

     

‘Researchers to look at Pope Leo XIII’

    

Kolbe Foundation

Pope Leo XIII

Western New York Lodge of Research will meet next Saturday for its Installation of Officers, Festive Board, plus a paper on the papal past. From the publicity:

Western NY Lodge of Research

Annual Election,

Installation of Officers,

Festive Board

& Presentation

Saturday, May 11, 10 a.m.

Bro. Ken Stuczynski will present “The Libel of Pope Leo XIII.” Menu: vegetable soup and turkey sandwiches, and dessert. $20 at the door. RSVP no later than May 8. Attire: jacket (tie optional).

These guys have their whole year planned. Click here. They meet in the Scottish Rite Valley of Buffalo, located at 2379 Union Road in Cheektowaga.

If I understand, there is a chance this meeting will be available via Zoom. Also, if you’re a regular, hopefully you know how to RSVP. (I don’t want to publish the phone number.) I would go just for the soup, but it’s 300 miles away.