‘Railroad Degree recap’

    

Wilmington & Western Railroad: ‘A Museum in Motion.’

So the Saturday before last was the long awaited occasion of the Railroad Degree in Delaware. Ionic Lodge 31 and Solomon 36 conferred the Third Degree outdoors alongside Red Clay Creek, to which we traveled by a historic train.

We were blessed with perfect weather: sunny blue sky at 63 degrees. I wound up with half my face sunburned, looking like Bro. Dreyfuss in Close Encounters, and I’m pretty sure that was the first time I ever wore sunglasses in lodge. A soothing breeze vexed the sound system, but the audio was more than adequate. From the bluegrass music played while the lodge was on Refreshment, to the spoken words emanating from the officers’ microphones, being outdoors did not diminish our sense of hearing. Nor did our sense of taste suffer. While the tenth hour ante meridiem is a little early for a plate of brisket, it was a wise menu choice to fortify us for an afternoon in the wild.

The brethren sold 140 tickets to this singular occurrence—my ticket was No. 139–and we, plus all the officers, ritualists, stage hands, and grand lodge staff occupied every square cubit along the periphery of the little patch allotted for the lodge furniture and the floor work. A small space indeed. Despite being outside, the circumambulating Senior Deacon had to negotiate some very tight corners.

Three lanterns about the altar.

And that furniture exhibits loving craftsmanship, with a railroad theme evident throughout. The Three Lesser Lights are railway lanterns; and the Master’s and the Wardens’ gavels are rail hammers, with short sections of genuine steel track for sounding blocks, for examples.

The sound of the gavel in the East.

Furniture not provided was seating; each man brought his own chair. Being in the Brandywine Valley woods meant planting one’s seat on terra that wasn’t necessarily firm or level. One sideliner in the north reclined a little too far, and found himself executing an oafish reverse somersault into the dirt! No physical injury reported, just some grass stains on his clothes. (Okay, okay, it was me.)

Sal Corelli photo

And on the subject of attire, when the hosts here tell you to dress casually, take them at their word. Overalls, train engineer garb, and similarly suitable garments distinguished the lodge officers from the rest, who sported denim, khakis, flannels, and sport shirts. Only one present had a jacket and tie (me again), but the informality of dress was meaningless against the skill and solemnity of the ritual work.

The preparation room.

Solomon Lodge provided the sole Fellow Craft, who benefited from a truly Sublime Degree of Master Mason. I’ve never been an expert ritualist, but I’m 95 percent sure the Delaware work is about identical to what we in New York have. Although being on a riverbank affords potential for some creativity. When the Ruffians get their comeuppance, hefty rocks are chucked into the flowing waters, making deep booming splashes signifying You Know What.

One curious difference is how their officers remain seated when addressed from the East. They salute, but do not stand.

Well, I stand to applaud these outstanding Masons for their degree work and for hosting a complicated event while making it look easy. (Next up: They’ll confer the “Cave Degree” in Tennessee in August.) Huzzah!

Sal Corelli photo

Sal Corelli photo

     

‘Way haul away, ye Mariners haul!’

     
It’s Robbie Burns’ birthday, but don’t look for haggis at this Masonic feast. We—more than 250 of us—are seated fairly comfortably inside the Grand Lodge Room of Masonic Hall in New York City, enjoying the camaraderie, conviviality, and near gluttony that is the Mariners Lodge Beefsteak Banquet.

This annual affair is sold out tonight at $150 a plate.

Everything we needed to know was spelled out in our program.

Tonight’s tobacco is chosen! Masonic Hall is smoke-free (must be some bureaucratic snafu), so no pipes at the beefsteak, but no matter. A pinch of Mr. Gawith’s Original every so often will aid digestion, stimulate conversation, and improve posture!

Getting ready to set sail.

Michael, Sal, and Josh.

At a Mariners Lodge festive board, Masons are on port and starboard sides. We were seated amidships.

How many Masons does it take to change a lightbulb? One, when it’s Moore. Actually, Isaac is up that ladder to shoot photographs, which were all over Facebook before long.

Don’t your festive boards have drones keeping an eye on things?

RW Bro. Sam conducted us through the festive board ritual and served as emcee. Grand Master Sardone, in purple, at his right.

If you ever wondered what 250+ Freemasons gorging on beef, lamb, beef, shrimp, salmon, beef, ale, potatoes, and beef looks like.

My mistake for relying on a phone as a camera. Here is our Junior Warden for the night.

The purpose of the aprons is defined clearly and humorously in that New Yorker piece by Joseph Mitchell I mentioned in the first Magpie post on this event, but it was lost on some of the brethren whom I observed eating their ribs and lamb lollipops with the cutlery. They went home with aprons as unsullied as any symbol of purity and innocence. From left: Oscar, Josh, Augustine, Michael, and Sal Corelli.

Close-up shot of the apron. This unforgettable event was described by some present as a Bucket List item. The maritime-themed festive board is something every cheerful Mason ought to experience, but I would hope everyone would be able to take part more than once.

  

‘Farewell and thank you’

     

Magpie file photo

Bro. Charles Canning at the Pennsylvania Academy
of Masonic Knowledge, October 11, 2008.

The first time I encountered Chuck Canning, he was atop a very tall ladder, maybe a 30-footer, painting astronomically correct constellations onto the ceiling of one of the lodge rooms in the Allentown Masonic Temple. I’m not necessarily acrophobic myself, provided I’m standing on a mountain, building, or something else that isn’t going to fall over, but ladders of that height give me pause. But there he was, happily and determinedly bringing into reality a starry-decked canopy for this sacred retreat.

I was there visiting with Bro. Sal Corelli. We made the trek into Pennsylvania to visit Kite and Key Lodge, a relatively new Traditional Observance lodge. This was 2008. The trip to Allentown turned out to be so much more, thanks to Chuck.

He seemed truly happy to have visitors, despite his being obviously busy with his labors on high. He gave us a tour of the building—it is one of those grand granite Masonic temples that sprang up all over America during the 1920s. In fact, on the outside, this one reminded us of our Trenton Masonic Temple, where New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786 had been meeting (I was Master) at that time. Inside, it is a magnificent, but smaller, version of One North Broad Street.

Chuck showed us the library, which delighted Sal and I—both enthusiastic members of the Masonic Library and Museum Association—even though it needed a lot of organization and other help. Chuck was very hospitable and, even though Sal and I had arrived well in advance of the lodge meeting, he kept us interested in all things Allentown Masonic Temple right up to the lodge opening.

Thanks to Chuck, we learned about the Pennsylvania Academy of Masonic Knowledge; he offered to help us get something similar arranged for New Jersey. He told us about Pennsylvania Lodge of Research, which was of great interest to us as well. Chuck was a principal in both organizations. He was a pretty frequent speaker at the Academy. Sal and I would become regulars there, despite the six-hour roundtrip commute (and the fact that we couldn’t become members because we didn’t hold Pennsylvania lodge memberships). The research lodge was different; its infrequent meetings usually are way too far away, except for the Philadelphia meeting in December, which always coincides with our own research lodge’s December communication. I’ll get there one day.

But Sal and I were there for the Traditional Observance experience, which was new for us. Having been with the Knights of the North for several years by then, I was pretty embarrassed over not only being without a T.O. lodge membership, but also for not yet even having visited such a lodge. As scarce as they are today, believe me, 11 years ago they were more rare than a pass from King Solomon after the attack on GMHA.

And I was enchanted with the Allentown Masonic Temple, thanks in large part to its attentive (unofficial?) caretaker Charles Canning. He invited me back to Allentown for a meeting of the local Allied Masonic Degrees council a week later, so I returned and wound up witnessing a terrific surprise. I was present at the February 2008 annual meeting of AMD’s Grand Council in Virginia, when the MV Grand Master announced the reinstatement of the Grand Superintendent position. Basically, each state again would have a representative of grand rank to keep the local councils apprised of what Grand Council was doing, and vice versa. Anyway, at this meeting in Allentown, I was fortunate to see Chuck invested with his Grand Superintendent regalia, a most impressive ensemble of AMD apron with a Red Branch of Eri collar and jewel, and other dazzling items.

I would meet Chuck again over the ensuing years, mostly at the Academy of Masonic Knowledge and at Masonic Week in Virginia. I’m sorry to say my attendance at the Academy hasn’t been what it used to be, and I otherwise lost track of this outstanding Freemason. We were connected on Facebook, but he apparently was not a regular user of social media.

Tuesday, when I saw this old Magpie Mason file photo of Chuck popping up in my Facebook feed, I instinctively knew what happened before I even focused my eyes on the text accompanying it: the sad news of Chuck’s passing the previous day.

He was a strong and respected leader in things Masonic that I care about most: education—the research lodges, libraries, museums, academies, lectures, Observant lodges, AMD, et al. I was extremely glad when he became a Founding Member of the Masonic Society.

Farewell Brother, and thank you for setting a superlative example for the rest of us!
     

‘Don’t Be a Sucker’

     

Listening to the radio for some Independence Day rock & roll, the program currently tuned in mixes an occasional odd sound bite amid the tunes, including a minute or so of a U.S. War Department film titled “Don’t Be a Sucker.” Released in 1943, and revised after the war, this short partially explains how the Nazis rose to political power in Germany and drove the country to ruin in the Second World War. The story is told by a Hungarian-born university professor (Paul Lukas) who had fled Europe for the United States in the nick of time, and became an American citizen.

After an introductory segment explaining how political rabble rousers are akin to con men in their common strategies for duping the public, the film uses one character’s membership in Freemasonry to make the emotional connection for the viewer to realize that bigot demagogues typically are talking about them when blaming society’s ills on members of ethnic, racial, and religious minorities. “What’s wrong with the Masons? I’m a Mason,” the startled onlooker wonders before reappraising his opinions on American society.

Freemasonry is an odd choice of vehicle to cross that bridge, but that’s how it is in “Don’t Be a Sucker.”

It has been a number of years since Bro. Sal Corelli was mentioned on the Magpie, and I figure these photos he sent me five days ago would be perfect to share on Independence Day.

Sal was in Queens, New York and visited the site of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, which boasted an impressive Masonic pavilion, some of which remains standing.

I close this Independence Day edition of The Magpie Mason with a look at Bro. George Washington: General of the Continental Army, President of the United States, and Freemason.

Courtesy Sal Corelli

Courtesy Sal Corelli

Courtesy Sal Corelli

If the likeness of Washington looks familiar, it is because the sculptor who created it was a prolific replicator of Washington in bronze. New York artist Donald De Lue’s other Washingtons stand at the New Orleans Main Public Library; the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia; Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus, New Jersey; the Masonic museum in Lexington, Massachusetts; Mariner’s Church in Detroit; the Masonic Home in Indianapolis; and elsewhere.

Gotta go! The Nerds are playing some little suburban town soon, before the fireworks.