‘ALR Festive Board’

    
The American Lodge of Research will hold its 358th Communication Friday, June 28, the Annual Communication and Festive Board of Research for 2013.

VW Piers Vaughan, Past Master of St. John's Lodge No. 1, AYM, will present:

A New View on the Use of the St. John's Bible at George Washington's Inauguration, and Possible Masonic Influence on the Events Surrounding It.

Magpie file photo.

I gather this will be an expanded version of Piers' remarks on the CBS program Sunday Morning, when he and other St. John's brethren appeared January 20 as part of the program's coverage of the pending presidential inauguration.

The link seems out of order at the moment, but to see that broadcast, maybe, click here. To learn more about the St. John's Bible at George Washington's first presidential inauguration, click here.

The Communication, with installation of officers, will open at 7:30 p.m. in the American Room, on the 19th floor at Masonic Hall, located at 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.

The Festive Board with Piers' lecture will follow at 9 p.m., just around the corner at Sagaponack, located at 4 West 22nd Street.

The price per person for the Festive Board is $65.

One's reservation is secured only by remitting payment. Either use PayPal here or mail your check, payable to The American Lodge of Research, to:

The American Lodge of Research
Masonic Hall, Box M2
71 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010

Attire: Black Tie.

Menu consists of three courses, and the entree choices are:

Filet au Poivre with brandy cream peppercorn sauce, roasted cauliflower, butternut squash and fingerling potatoes; or

Pan Seared Medallion of Chicken with artichokes and olives; or

Pan roasted Asian Sea Bass with edamame beans, corn and tomato succotash, and Israeli couscous.

Beer and wine included.
    

‘At home and on the road’

     

The American Lodge of Research will meet on Monday the 29th at Masonic Hall. Not our usual French Ionic Room, but the Colonial Room this time. The usual 8 p.m. Opening, but please join the brethren at six for a “no host” meal at Sagaponack, on 24th near Fifth Avenue. The paper to be presented this evening will be Bro. Conor Moran’s “Freemasonry and the Holocaust.”

And next month, on Saturday the 10th, the lodge will take it on the road to Liverpool, New York. That’s Lee Miller country. Way up north. Beatles’ hometown, etc., etc. This Special Communication will be convened at Masonic Hall, located at 608 Oswego Street for an Upstate Festive Board of Research! The paper to be presented will be the Worshipful Master’s “A Brief History of Freemasonry in India.” The cost per person will be $15.

(The Magpie Mason will be absent from this one. The 10th is a big Scottish Rite day in New Jersey, and I will be engaged there.)

     

'ALR Festive Board'

     
Friday night was the occasion of The American Lodge of Research’s Annual Meeting for the election and installation of officers, and other necessary business. Oh yeah, and the Festive Board!

Bro. Mark Koltko-Rivera

A new change in by-laws has rescheduled our Annual Meeting from St. John Evangelist Day, when holiday travel and the inclemency of the season prevents a well attended meeting, to the proximity of St. John Baptist Day, when there are no such concerns, and we align ourselves with the regular calendar of New York Freemasonry. It was a good move, smartly thought out by the proposers. So ALR’s schedule of Stated Communications now is June 24 (unless June 24 lands on a weekend, holiday, or other religious observance, or coincides with Grand Lodge’s Saint John’s Day activities, in which case the Master will select a near weekday), October 29, and March 29.

Rather than have the 2012 officers jostled so soon into their original term, the line will remain in place, except for a switch of the Wardens. Bro. Henry now is in the West, and Bro. Daniel returns to the South. But we gained a Marshal upon the election to Active Membership of W. Henry Colon, junior Past Master of Shakespeare No. 750, who was installed moments after being made eligible to serve as an officer. The Installing Master was none other than RW Bill Thomas, the new Deputy Grand Master, who is a Past Master of ALR.

In other exciting news, RW Pierre F. de Ravel d’Esclapon was elected to Fellowship in ALR. The lodge’s Active Members elect Fellows extremely rarely, and only on the basis of outstanding Masonic research, and it was Bro. Pierre who settled centuries of uncertainty surrounding the Masonic membership of another Pierre, namely the designer of the Federal City, Major Pierre Charles L’Enfant. In the course of Bro. Pierre’s research into his terrific paper on French lodges in 18th century New York City, he also discovered in the meeting minutes of Holland Lodge No. 8 the evidence that answered the lingering question into L’Enfant’s Craft membership. Click here to read about that.

The firing glass.

Then it was time for the Festive Board. We headed to Sagaponack, one block down on 22nd Street, for a typically excellent meal with plenty of wine and various beers and ales. As Senior Deacon I was tasked with proposing the toast to MW James E. Sullivan, the new Grand Master. Bro. Mark Koltko-Rivera delivered the keynote, titled "A Primer for Esoteric Research," that acknowledges the reality of esoteric studies entering the field of Masonic research. I think it is safe to say modern Masonic research, beginning with the appearance of Quatuor Coronati 2076, has concerned historical facts (e.g. L’Enfant), and that doesn’t have to change if students approach the esoterica with the same determination to get at the truth. It is a tougher job, because facts are facts, but matters of the spirit ... are spiritual matters. Anyway, Bro. Mark’s lecture will appear in next year’s Book of Transactions.



Along the way, Bro. Henry unveiled the designs of various pieces of regalia and attire coming our way from Toye, Kenning and Spencer, including new officer aprons, membership jewels, neckties, and cufflinks.

As above: The ALR apron of Past Master Harold V.B. Voorhis photographed in its display case at a Scottish Rite valley.

So below: The TKS design (that's only a sheet of paper!) of one of the officer aprons coming soon to ALR. Looks like we're keeping it traditional. I am envious of the brethren in New York who have no Grand Lodge parameters on regalia design.

We didn’t get out of there until midnight. This was a really great evening, perfect even. The only blemish was found on my end at 12:10, when I exited the restaurant and found my car had been towed.

The finest public servants in the city work at Pier 76.