‘New York’s 24-Month Gauge’

    

The two-year tenure of The Most Worshipful Steven A. Rubin, Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, is in its final hours. This afternoon, our Grand Lodge will have a new elected Grand Line for the ensuing twelve months; if those elected are successful, they could expect to be returned to their offices next May for the following year too.

The bar for success as Grand Master here has been set extraordinarily high. Successors would be wise to divide their time with a 24-Month Gauge—even if they are not able to pack their terms with the kind of ceaseless activity we’ve witnessed lately.

It’s hard to explain how this happened, but because of the path I have tread in Freemasonry these past twenty or so years, I have been in regular contact with grand masters and grand lodges around the country. I talk to, correspond with, and otherwise am kept aware of what many of them do with their terms of office. I read their grand lodge periodicals, follow them on social media, and always try to remember there must be diversity in leadership styles even as I wonder how some approach their jobs casually or even haphazardly. Therefore, I can say without any hesitation, mental reservation, etc. that our Bro. Steve has been the most consequential Grand Master in this country in the decades I’ve been hanging around the apartments of the Temple.

How can something so subjective be declared fairly?

It’s the quality and quantity of the programs hatched or revamped for the benefit of the Craft since May 2024. And much of that is oriented for the education of the Freemason and the preservation of Masonic culture.

I don’t have a complete list, so overwhelming is the evidence, but here’s what I can tell you (in no particular order):

MW Steven A. Rubin

✓ First Light Project

✓ Civic Square Club

✓ Speakers Bureau

✓ Ambassadors Abroad

✓ Lodge of Excellence Program

✓ Grand Lodge Retention Program

✓ Masonic Passport Program

✓ Masonic Culture Classes

✓ Chamber of Reflection in Masonic Hall

✓ Masonic Con New York

✓ Grand Lodge Community Service Initiative

✓ Académie Esoterica

✓ restored Masonic University’s Masonic Scholars Program

✓ HIRAM online system

✓ Grand Lodge official cigar

✓ Masonic Walking Tours

✓ A Grand Lodge tartan

✓ 1781 Society

✓ Masonic Hall Committee

✓ Special Projects Committee

✓ New Member Welcome Kit

✓ Lodge Vitality Grants

✓ Marketing Committee

✓ Long Range Planning Committees

✓ Craftsmen Online

✓ Our Quarry newsletter

✓ new management of the ESM magazine

That’s not all of it. Plus, there were countless tweaks to systems and unexpected emergencies that had to be tackled. Of course he didn’t do it all single-handedly, but he’s the engine that propelled the bus. (Sometimes there should be a muffler, but be that as it may.)

Bravo to our Grand Master on his truly amazing service to our Grand Lodge. And congratulations in advance to RW Robert Hogan, who will become our next Grand Master this afternoon. I cannot attend (somebody has to work and pay the bills in this country!) but I’ll post whatever news I can gather.

If the other grand lodges had leadership like this, no one would have time or feel need to worry about declining membership numbers.

     

‘Grand Master cigar announced today’

    

“To know how to smoke is to recover certain forgotten rhythms, to re-establish communication with the self.”

 

Zino Davidoff

You know May 31 is International Enjoy a Cigar Day, and this year you can savor a smoke that celebrates our Grand Master especially. Just today we learned of the release of the Grand Lodge of New York’s official cigar: the Grand Master, made by Baron of HAVANA. From the publicity:

We’re proud to announce that a Brother-owned business, Baron of HAVANA, has created a limited edition custom premium cigar, the Grand Master, with net proceeds to support the Brotherhood Fund.

This cigar-blend honors the Most Worshipful Steven Adam Rubin, Grand Master, and is handcrafted in the Dominican Republic. Presented in imperial blue with gold foil imprint. Only 1,000 individually numbered boxes will be produced. Each pre-sale box will cost $156.95. (Discounts will be applied for bulk purchases.)

Please find all of the details about the cigar and pre-sale here.

Orders can be placed through the Baron of HAVANA website and also will be for sale at the March special Grand Lodge session, our May Grand Lodge session, and other events.

(Grand Lodge F&AM of the State of New York is a trademark licensor only, and is not engaged in the sale of tobacco products. Sold exclusively by Baron of HAVANA.)

Behind The Grand Master cigar stands José “Jochy” Blanco, a legendary tobacco icon whose expertise spans more than four decades. Jochy blends with both intuitive mastery and meticulous precision, understanding how tobaccos from different regions and harvests will develop over time while ensuring every cigar delivers consistent, complex excellence. (Cigar Aficionado magazine’s Master Blender of the Cigar of The Year 2019.)

Aged for at least five years. The Grand Master is not merely a premium cigar. It is a masterpiece exclusively rolled by hand, a tribute to the principles of patience, precision, and excellence that define both the Masonic Craft and the art of fine tobacco. This patient maturation allowed the tobaccos to marry completely, developing a complexity and smoothness that simply cannot be rushed. Time, after all, is the one ingredient that cannot be substituted.

Each box contains ten toros (6x52) which, the website says, are medium bodied. Shipping is to begin this month.

I’m not sure what is meant by five years of aging. That is an inordinate period for aging either bales of leaves or, certainly, a finished product. I hereby willingly suspend disbelief for the sake of having a good time.

Speaking of good times, International Enjoy a Cigar Day was established in 2018 by both Cigar Rights of Europe and Cigar Rights of America, two lobby groups that try to protect cigar enthusiasts from the relentless government encroachments against their harmless hobby.

     

‘Grand Lodge to salute our Tilers’

    

The clothing of The ALR’s Tiler.

Our Grand Master just revealed his latest initiative—yeah, I’ve lost count too—for celebrating the meaning of Masonry. Our veteran, steadfast Tilers across the Grand Lodge of New York—meaning those who’ve served more than twenty years on the job—are to be recognized in a special tribute when Grand Lodge meets in May. From MW Steven A. Rubin’s letter to the Craft:

Brethren,

The role of the Lodge Tiler is vital to the safety, integrity, and dignity of Masonic work. A vigilant Tiler ensures that every Brother may labor in trust, security, and harmony.

In recognition of this important office, the Grand Lodge of New York will be honoring those Brothers who have served faithfully as Lodge Tiler for more than twenty years. These distinguished Brothers have given exemplary service to their Lodges and to the Craft, and their dedication merits special acknowledgment.

I ask each Worshipful Master to review their Lodge membership and identify any Brother who meets this criterion. Please submit their names to RW Lorenzo Cesare here by April 1, so that I may extend formal invitations.

Once identified, I will invite these special Brothers to join RW Don Gorham, Grand Tiler, on May 4, as he carries out his duties at the Grand Lodge Session, as well as properly recognize their contributions.

Your assistance in identifying these dedicated Brethren is greatly appreciated. Together, we can ensure that their long and faithful service is celebrated, and that the importance of the Tiler’s office continues to be honored throughout New York.

Having been Tiler of my Craft lodge for a number of years and current Tiler of The ALR, I am happy to see “The Master Mason Without” distinguished appropriately. His work is the first care of Masons, yet, by being outside the sacred retreat, he often goes undervalued.

Click here for a thoughtful explanation of this higher calling.

     

‘Grand Masters fete Lafayette at The ALR’

    

Almost everybody in attendance last night
at The American Lodge of Research.

Research lodges typically don’t get a lot of glitz (it’s safe to say we prefer that) but, twenty-four hours ago, The American Lodge of Research had five grand masters partaking in our celebration of the moment in 1824 when the Marquis de Lafayette was knighted a Templar.

The ALR concluded New York Freemasonry’s celebration of the bicentenary of Lafayette’s farewell tour of the United States, sponsored by the Masonic Order and heavily involving New York. We assembled, appropriately, inside the Colonial Room but, admittedly, this was not exactly the meeting we planned, as fate interfered and kept a special guest from joining us. It was a full evening anyway. Our keynote speaker was David Dixon Goodwin, Past M.E. Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar, who explained the early history of Chivalric Masonry in the United States.

Yves and David.

Actually, he began with a recapitulation of the story of the medieval Knights Templar, careful to point out how none of that connects to the modern Masonic Templars, but that “we represent the same values in today’s world.” My takeaway is the KT story in America follows a seemingly boilerplate trajectory we know from Masonry here generally. A whiff of a trace of ritual is in one record in the 1780s. Before you know it, there’s a grand encampment in one state, Pennsylvania being first in this case. Then other states. Big names get involved, such as Thomas Smith Webb, DeWitt Clinton, and Joseph Cerneau. Cerneau’s presence confounds orthodox enforcers of recognition rules (like the Pennsylvanians, I’d say). Then a move to establish a national structure, called the General Grand Encampment gains popularity, albeit without Pennsylvania’s support initially. And then, the grand commandery system we know today is birthed and spreads from six such bodies in 1827 to forty-three in 1900—despite Masonry’s ups and downs during the nineteenth century—to more than sixty today.

The part of the meeting diminished by circumstance was to be a display of Masonic regalia connected to Lafayette. Livingston Library Executive Director Michael LaRocco was scheduled to return to The ALR to exhibit the apron Morton Commandery 4 is believed to have presented to Lafayette, but he was unable to join us. Thanks to Worshipful Master Yves Etienne, we did get to see one of twelve silver chalices used in KT’s ritual libations that dates, at least, to this Lafayette visit to New York.

Columbian Commandery silver chalice used
when Lafayette was made a Sir Knight in 1824.

No way of knowing if the great man drank from this particular goblet, of course, but it was used in the historic ceremony that day more than two centuries ago.

The lodge was blessed with more than the usual showing of visitors. The Most Worshipful Steven A. Rubin, Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York, was accompanied by Grand Treasurer Alberto Cortizo, Senior Grand Deacon Gustavo Teran, Grand Historian Pierre de Ravel d’Esclapon, and Grand Marshal Peter Unfried. Two exceptionally special guests, who sojourned further than from several floors above, were Most Serene (I hope I have that correct!) Malerbe Jacquet, Grand Master of the Grand Orient d’Haiti, who was accompanied by Gaétan Mentor, Past GM of the Grand Orient.

If you’re keeping score, we’re up to four (4) grand masters.

The Worshipful Master is keen on introducing dignitaries and permitting time for their remarks—and presenting gifts. Past Grand Master Bill Sardone, also a PGM of DeMolay International, (five GMs now) was escorted to the East for brief comments, which he always manages to craft with good humor.

Our Worshipful Master gives lots of gifts. Last night our distinguished guests received plaques commemorating the evening. Here, MW Bill Sardone receives his.

In addition, he too spoke of medieval Templar history, recollecting the discovery in 2001 by a Vatican archivist of the fourteenth century trial transcripts and other documents from the prosecution of the military order, and how a collection of reproductions of those documents are in the Livingston Library. (It was exactly seventeen years ago when The ALR hosted the unveiling of those impressive facsimiles next door in the French Ionic Room. A memorable meeting!)

Grand Master Jacquet with Past GM Mentor.

Past Grand Master Mentor, continuing on Templar thoughts, explained that “the Templar ideal is not conquest, but is the mastery of the self” and displays faith and action intertwined. Grand Master Jacquet, speaking French and interpreted by Mentor, spoke of Lafayette as he is known as “The Hero of Two Worlds,” explaining how the Marquis earned that appellation for his role in both the American and French revolutions. Jacquet reminded the brethren (sometimes we forget) of Haiti’s own revolt, gaining independence from France at the close of the eighteenth century.

MW Steven A. Rubin

Always the final speaker in any setting, Grand Master Rubin congratulated the lodge on its efforts in education, and described how the revamped Masonic University and other recent initiatives can cooperate with The ALR and the Livingston Library to help Masons gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of Masonry.

In other news, the backdoor of Masonic Hall again is closed to traffic. The next Stated Communication of The ALR will be next March on a date to be determined. And there is a new research lodge in the works! To be named Veritas, it will focus on Masonic philosophy, rather than history, and I look forward to sharing more information as it becomes available.

     

‘Masonic University to reopen’

    

The academic year without the Temple is winding down, but it’s just getting started within. MW Steven Adam Rubin announced Thursday the pending revamp of Masonic University! In a letter to the Craft, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York writes:

I am proud to share that the Grand Lodge of New York is in the process of relaunching Masonic University—a renewed commitment to Masonic education, scholarship, and the pursuit of Light.

As part of this initiative, I have convened a dedicated committee of Brothers passionate about Masonic research to develop a Masonic Scholars Program, modeled after successful efforts in other jurisdictions and appendant bodies. This self-paced journey of learning and discovery will deepen general Masonic knowledge, culminating in the writing of a publishable scholarly paper on a topic of the Brother’s choosing.

Each participant will be guided by a personal mentor, assisting with both research and writing. The curriculum will be structured in five progressive levels, each building upon the last:

Level 1: Foundations of Academic Paper Writing

Level 2: World History of Freemasonry

Level 3: The Degrees: Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason

Level 4: Freemasonry in New York

Level 5: Scholarly Paper and Presentation

Each level will include both required and elective readings, along with written submissions and reflections. Upon completion, Brothers will earn a distinguished scholar designation, complete with a jewel and formal recognition.

This program is not just about knowledge—it is about igniting minds, deepening bonds, and cultivating a culture of thoughtful leadership. Let this be the age of the Scholar Mason—curious, enlightened, and dedicated to truth.

Let us study, let us write, and let us build something that will last because this is our time.

While more information will be disseminated during the summer months, questions should be directed here.

If I understand, Masonic University’s earlier incarnation involved the Masonic Development Course, which is good, but what is promised here sounds much more demanding. Can’t wait to enroll! (I hope they don’t ask about my SATs.)

     

‘New York to launch Académie Esoterica’

    

The Grand Lodge of New York will launch its Académie Esoterica in August to inculcate the meaning of Masonry in a long term series of classes and discussions, Grand Master Steven Adam Rubin announced this afternoon. Excerpted from his letter to the Craft:

I am pleased to introduce Académie Esoterica.

Freemasonry is an initiatic tradition that speaks in symbols, invites personal reflection, and guides us toward universal truths. It is this deeper journey, this inner path of growth and Light, that we now invite you to explore.

The Esoteric Classes of the Grand Lodge of New York are designed to enrich the mind and elevate the spirit. This multi-year program begins with two years of foundational study, followed by deeper explorations into the mysteries of our three degrees. Classes will be offered as monthly one-hour intensives, each paired with Esoteric Salons to engage in meaningful dialogue, debate and shared discovery.

The first-year course outline is above.

Registration details and the full schedule will follow shortly. Our first session, “The Goals of Esoteric Masonry,” launches at Grand Master’s Day at Camp Turk on Sunday, August 17 at noon. All Brothers are welcome.

Should you have any questions, please send an email here.

Grand Master’s Day at Camp Turk:

For all Brothers and families traveling from the Metro Area, round-trip bus transportation from Masonic Hall will be available for a small fee of $25. The bus is available to all, and not just those wishing to participate in the Esoteric Program. Bus payment details will be available after the Grand Lodge Session.

Should other Regions of the State wish to explore the possibility of a Grand Lodge/Trustee sponsored bus, please email RW Bro. Lorenzo Cesare here.

Come grow with us and seek Light with us, because within every Brother lies a greater self waiting to awaken.

     

‘The Masonic Con with a mission’

    

The Grand Lodge of New York’s first Masonic Con arrives tomorrow, and you still can buy tickets and join about 125 of your brethren from New York and elsewhere around the Northeast.

Masonic Con New York will examine Freemasonry in the 21st Century: Self and Society—a look at where our fraternity should go as modern America suffers from an epidemic of male loneliness, as documented in the recent study from the U.S. Surgeon General.

Click here.

Freemasonry, as a path of self-development, as a social network, and as an influential and history-making institution, bears the potential to remedy the crisis facing so many American men. Come here our speakers discuss the ideas behind this Masonic Con with a mission:

Keynote Speaker

Maj. Gen. William Green, Jr.

Chief of Chaplains

U.S. Army

—with—

 

Dr. Heather K. Calloway

Executive Director

Center for Fraternal Collections

and Research, Indiana University

MW Akram Elias

Past Grand Master

Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia 

Bro. Bull Garlington

Author and Attorney

Bro. Michael LaRocco

Executive Director

Chancellor Robert R. Livingston

Masonic Library

Bro. Jim Loporto

On “The Elephant in the Room”

This day of Masonic and social studies is open to the public, except for Bro. Loporto’s presentation at day’s end, which will be restricted to regular Freemasons, with an emphasis on seating Apprentices, Fellows, and new Master Masons.

Mariners 67

The weekend will begin tonight with the famous Mariners Lodge 67’s Maritime Festive Board and Beefsteak Banquet. That’s a separate ticket for a magnificent meal in an unforgettable ambiance of feast and song. This is the kick-off of the lodge’s bicentennial celebration.

The speakers program awaits you on Saturday, also featuring tours of Masonic Hall, plenty of vendors, and other attractions.

Click here.

Afterward, the 1781 Society welcomes you for cocktails and socializing with our speakers and with Grand Master Steven A. Rubin and our Grand Lodge leadership. (Sorry. Sold out.)

There are group rate hotel accommodations (sold out) and special rate parking as well.

Questions? Contact me here.

     

‘Do you know about the 1781 Society?’

    

New York Freemasonry has a corps of philanthropists who commit to support our Brotherhood Fund which aids distressed brethren and their families in times of need. I was late in learning about this, but it has appeared on my radar because a 1781 Society cocktail hour will cap our Masonic Con weekend in January.

(Tickets to Masonic Con New York can be had here, and there is an option to also buy tickets to the after-Con cocktail party. I’ll have much more on Masonic Con very shortly, but we have six amazing speakers booked, plus other major attractions.)

Anyway, the 1781 Society welcomes contributions of many denominations but, as the Society says: “This isn’t just a donation—it’s an invitation to become part of something truly special. Join the 1781 Society and add your name to this list of those preserving the legacy of Freemasonry in New York!”

Read all about it here.

     

‘Lodge of Excellence in New York (where else?)’

     

Hailing from a lodge named Publicity, the Magpie Mason takes interest in market research conducted in the Masonic world. Yesterday, the Grand Lodge of New York revealed its latest initiative under MW Steven A. Rubin which aims a) to help lodges reflect on their strengths and weaknesses; and b) to have Grand Lodge salute and/or assist as needed.

(I couldn’t help noticing this comes on the eve of the Masonic Restoration Foundation’s weekend, but that is coincidental.)

We, as Free and Accepted Masons, speak of strength in the midway point of our trigradal system, in the Second Degree—the one dealing with mind and senses while ascending certain stairs—when the Pillar on the left hand is introduced. This Lodge of Excellence enterprise starts with a question. From the publicity:

The program begins with a simple survey to help us understand your Lodge’s strengths and identify the areas where we can assist. During the Masonic year, your Grand Lodge Officer will work with your Lodge leadership to complete this 29-question survey in yes/no format. There are no “right” or “wrong” answers—only valuable insights. The information we gather will give us a clear picture of our Lodges and help us to customize programs to assist with Ritual, Administration, Social Activities, and Community Involvement and more.

As Master of The ALR, I started completing the survey, but this obviously isn’t intended for research lodges. The questions concern lodge proficiencies in ritual, education, communication, community relations, social events, charity, and more. Lodges excelling will be recognized appropriately, and lodges needing help, aid, and assistance will receive the same from well informed brethren.

What more could you want?

And where else would you find a resource like this? Excelsior—“Ever Upward”—is New York State’s motto. Lodge of Excellence will enhance Grand Lodge’s efforts to serve our lodges, taking the Craft ever upward.

     

‘Competition for plaid mad Masonic designers’

    

The initiatives of the Grand Lodge of New York under its new Grand Master are coming fast. The latest is a competition to design a tartan for the brethren here. The graphic above has all the info.

Tartans with Masonic meanings are not completely new. The Grand Lodge of Scotland has had its own for more than twenty years, unsurprisingly. Both the General Grand Chapter and General Grand Council in the York Rite have theirs. I bet there are others.

Design is not my field, but I hope the winning entry incorporates New York’s traditional colors: orange, white, and blue. Or maybe purple, blue, and crimson, in honor of GMHA. Nor do I wear kilts, but I’ll sport a necktie proudly. Flat cap too.

     

‘Agüeybaná: New York’s new lodge’

    

GLNY

Grand Master Steven A. Rubin and Assistant Grand Secretary Richard W. Bateman display the freshly printed dispensation for Agüeybaná Lodge, which will meet in New York City.

Dispensation was granted last week for a lodge in New York City to begin meeting in the Tenth Manhattan District. MW Grand Master Steven A. Rubin briefly announced the launch today:

I am pleased to share that, on this day, I signed the Dispensation for Agüeybaná Lodge UD, the newest lodge in the Grand Lodge of New York. Agüeybaná was the principal and most powerful chief of the Taino people on Boriken, modern-day Puerto Rico, when the Spanish first arrived on the island on November 19, 1493.

Agüeybaná is a historical name on the island. An online Taino dictionary, and other sources, put it as The Great Sun, and show its significance in late fifteenth and early sixteenth century Puerto Rico. (And, needless to say, lovers of fine tobaccos recognize the name Taino, as the tribe also lived on Cuba. Cohiba was named for the Taino word for the rolled tobacco leaves these indigenous people smoked.)

Its first meeting will be Thursday, September 26 at 7 p.m. in the Doric Room on eight for the Installation of Officers.

The Tenth Manhattan, “the Cosmopolitan Tenth,” is home to our lodges that work in foreign tongues, like French, Italian, and Spanish.

Congratulations to all the brethren. ¡Salud!

UPDATE: MAY 6, 2025: The lodge received its warrant today at the 243rd Annual Communication of Grand Lodge, and is No. 1198 on the rolls.

A.R. Lopez, Jr. photo

     

‘Help wanted: Grand Historian’

    

The Grand Lodge of New York seeks a Grand Historian.

After serving under several Grand Masters, RW Gary Heinmiller apparently is exiting that office, and MW Steven Rubin, our Grand Master as of last month, is looking for a successor.

Rubin, during his time as Deputy Grand Master, built the foundation for a Grand Lodge that honors its illustrious history. And let’s be honest, few grand lodges have accomplished anything approaching what New York has.

His initiatives, just off the top of my head, include: Craftsmen Online, the Lafayette bicentennial, the lodge history project, Masonic Leadership Academy, the Masonic history project. That last one involves self-guiding walking tours in various parts of the state to see places significant to Freemasonry. There’s probably more, but I can’t remember.

And Gary? I don’t hear from him lately, but he and I go back to the Masonic Light group twenty or so years ago. He is a legend in local historian work way up in the Liverpool area. He has compiled meticulous histories and biographies on Masons. Amazing dedication to preserving information that, frankly, only the nerdiest among us appreciate. Read more about him here, although that is very out of date.

In the graphic above, that is Tacitus on the right. I don’t recognize the fellow on the left, but since he’s smoking a pipe, you can bet he knows what he’s talking about!

Tacitus? Arguably, the great historian of Rome’s first century CE empire period. I got to know him during my college days. Not breezy reading.

Good luck with the application!

(Yes, I applied, last fall. No, I don’t have what it takes. If you know me, you recognize I’m not Grand Lodge material.)

     

‘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.

     

‘Grand Lodge of Finland celebration’

    

Worshipful Master Michael, right, presents Grand Secretary Richard Schulz with a handsome parting gift for being The ALR’s keynote speaker in our table lodge last night.

Last night was the long awaited table lodge hosted by The American Lodge of Research to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Grand Lodge of Finland.

You’d be excused for wondering why a lodge in New York City would commemorate a Finnish birthday, but there’s a good reason: It was the Grand Lodge of New York that reintroduced Freemasonry to the Land of a Thousand Lakes after that nation regained its independence from Russia.

The ALR commemorated that centennial anniversary specifically on March 26 because it was on that very date in 1924 when New York’s lodges in Finland petitioned our Grand Lodge for permission to organize their own sovereign grand lodge.

Right Worshipful Brother Richard T. Schulz, Grand Secretary, recounted much of that history in his keynote address amid the many toasts and fires during the evening. He explained how Freemasonry arrived in Finland during the eighteenth century, but was suppressed by Russian rule following that country’s seizure of Finland in 1809 after victory over Sweden in war. After the chaos of the fall of the Russian Empire in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia’s exit from World War I, Finland was free, and the new republic was safe for Freemasonry.

Masons residing in Finland, who held memberships in American grand lodges, were joined by other prominent Finnish citizens who were made Masons by a delegation of New York brethren led by Most Worshipful Arthur S. Tompkins, Grand Master. On August 14, 1922, Dispensation was granted to establish Suomi Lodge in Helsinki. Other lodges soon were organized and Right Worshipful Toivo H. Nekton of Greenwood Lodge 569 in Brooklyn, a native of Finland, was appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the new Masonic territory. (Parenthetically, I’ll add how Nekton published a paper in The ALR’s Transactions. See “Highlights in the History of American Freemasonry in Finland 1922-1929” in Volume 6, Number 1 from 1953.)

On March 26, 1924, these lodges requested leave “to form an autonomous sovereign Grand Lodge, which shall have power to issue dispensations and charters to, and constitute subordinate lodges, conferring the three degrees in Masonry within the Republic of Finland; and to exercise a grand and competent jurisdiction over such subordinate lodges and the brethren forming the same.” That request was granted by Grand Lodge, and a delegation from New York returned to Helsinki in September to constitute this newest Grand Lodge.

Grand Lodge has been publicizing the trip to Finland since last year. This display is found in Masonic Hall on the ground floor.

RW Schulz brought the brethren up to modern times, discussing his visit to Finland in 2019 for their ninety-fifth anniversary, and displaying commemorative souvenirs he received. Of course he apprised the lodge of the upcoming centennial anniversary celebration and of the travel arrangements being made for New York Masons to visit for an extensive program of events scheduled for September 2-11 of this year.

Junior Warden Yves Etienne procured coffee mugs for everyone to take home.

RW Steven A. Rubin, Deputy Grand Master, concluded the brevities of the evening with praise for the singular purpose of research lodges, and of the quality output of The ALR particularly, noting how the Masons who undertake the labor of researching and writing about our fraternity’s past help guide today’s Masons in their journeys.

The ALR will meet next in June, probably late in the month after St. John’s Weekend, for its Installation of Officers.

      

‘Daily Masonic Progress starts now’

    

This morning begins the collaboration of Craftsmen Online and RW Bro. Darren Allatt of Australia, blogger and podcaster extraordinaire. He has been guiding his own audience through his production, “Daily Masonic Progress,” and now he joins Craftsmen Online’s podcast team. His segments will appear on Thursdays.

Craftsmen Online, while based in New York, is not an official voice of the Grand Lodge of New York, although that august authority endorses the independent platform. It was launched about four years ago, during the pandemic, by RW Steve Rubin, now our Deputy Grand Master, and W. Bro. Michael Arce, a veteran broadcaster of many years experience.

Darren Allatt is a Past Master of The Leichhardt Lodge 133, and is a Past Junior Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory. He has been writing brilliantly on Substack for almost a year. I recommend his blog without any hesitation, mental reservation, etc.

With all that out of the way, you should listen to two episodes of the Craftsmen Online podcast unveiled this morning. Click here to enjoy a 27-minute Arce-Allatt interview. Click here to make your Daily Masonic Progress with the 10-minute debut.

    

‘Try a Lodge of Discussion’

    

T. Maccarone photo

Last Monday at Connetquot 838.

You’ve heard of “lodge of instruction” and “lodge of improvement” and “lodge of research” and maybe others, but a new term came my way last week: “lodge of discussion.”

That is what took place last Monday at Connetquot Lodge 838 on Long Island. I wasn’t there—wish I had been—and know only what was mentioned very briefly on social media by Deputy Grand Master Steven Rubin:

Members of the lodge engaged in a thoughtful conversation on the culture of their lodge and members’ expectations.

I’d bet that summarizes it succinctly, and I wouldn’t share the details of that conversation anyway. I just think it’s a marvelous idea for a night at lodge. I’m from a lodge founded by advertising professionals, so the activity strikes me as market research. Maybe trying this would help you. Give it a shot. We’re supposed to be mindful of membership retention. Talking over member expectations and lodge identity may prevent the loss of a brother.