‘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!

     

‘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.

     

‘A festive season festive board’

    

I need to get out more.

Last night was the occasion of the First Capitular District’s long-awaited Annual Festive Board, which doubled as a Bring-a-Brother introductory dinner to encourage Master Masons to delve into the next four chapters of the mysteries. I forgot how much fun these nights are, and it was great sitting among so many friendly faces I hadn’t seen in a long while: Christopher, Grant, Harold, James, and more. Ted would have been on my left, but he is still on the mend. The ALR was very well represented, with the Master, Wardens, Trustees, a Past Master, and others in attendance.

My place at the table was reserved, otherwise I would have gravitated to where Bro. Edward, the Junior Warden of my lodge, was sitting. I’m not used to the VIP treatment. A great meal, too. Roast beef, fish, different chicken dishes, pasta, and more, and in such abundance I think a lot had to be forcibly sent home.

The wine for the evening was Yellow Tail’s Pinot Noir, which I don’t remember having before, but that definitely felt right. With wine, I’m like a child, preferring juicy, fruity French reds (I was hoping any of the Beaujolais Nouveau releases would be on the table), but this semi dry from Down Under was fine with me.

RE and RW Rubin responds to Happy Birthday wishes.

For sweetness, there was cake! Bro. Steven Rubin, Deputy Grand Master of our Grand Lodge, elected to be with us to celebrate his sixtieth birthday. “You stole my youth!” he thundered in response to the Happy Birthday “singing,” eliciting clamorous laughter from the fifty or so well wishers who too might swear we were thirty years old just a minute ago.

The ritual was a new one on me. I guess because this was Royal Arch, the gesticulating gave shape to a triangle and then a circle, plus some pointing of a sort I’m not used to. But the toasts were those you would expect. And the Magpie Mason was called on to reply to the Toast to the Visitors.

RE Anthony Klimathianos accepts an award from RE Michael, president of the First Capitular District Association. Anthony is a Past Grand Lecturer, and he exhorted the Master Masons present to explore the whole York Rite.

It seems like I’m in the Jacobean Room ten times a month, so it felt unnatural pretending to be a visitor but, in truth, my Royal Arch chapter is more than fifty miles away, down in central New Jersey. I just never got around to affiliating here in the city.

Most Excellent, Right Excellent, Excellent Sirs; Companions, Brethren, Masons all:

It is an honor to tender a reply to this, the Toast to the Visitors. You know, in lodge we are brethren/brothers, and in chapter we are companions.

The word derives from Latin: “com,” meaning “together with;” and “pan” being bread. Thank you for your welcome; for the opportunity to break bread together with you; and for your attention.

My neighbors and others signaled their appreciation for the brevity.

A raffle prize I wouldn’t mind claiming! A copy of one of Angel’s books and a bottle of the Water of Life.

A great night that I hope encourages the Master Masons present to continue the Masonic journey into the Capitular Rite for all the obvious reasons.

     

’New York’s Lodge History Project’

    

If you maintain an absurdly active Masonic schedule, you may be invited to Sunday night Zoom meetings for discussions of special topics that either demand participants from far away or that require more time than a local meeting can afford. I’m lucky for not having too many of these, and I just signed off from an organizational meeting for an effort near to my heart.

RW Steven Rubin, our Deputy Grand Master, and RW Gary Heinmiller, our Grand Historian, launched the Lodge History Project to benefit the more than 300 lodges in the Grand Lodge of New York. Thirty-eight Masons from all over the state were present for this preliminary discussion of what we can do, should do, how to do, etc. in a shared effort to uncover, inventory, and preserve items and just tell the Masonic story.

This is going to be ginormous.

From lodge artifacts and documents to public statuary and infrastructure, there are countless things to see, to explain, to inventory, to document. This work is daunting even at its most fundamental and local level. We have lodges in this jurisdiction that are older than our country, but even a lodge that’s several decades old will have volumes of records and boxes of ephemera, plus mementos and other treasures of all kinds that say “We were here and what we’ve done mattered!”

There are some plans soon to come to fruition that I can’t wait to share with you.

There wasn’t much time for us to talk during this introductory meeting, but some of the concerns mentioned were of one lodge discovering in storage the apron worn by its first Worshipful Master circa 1766. Tompkins Lodge 471 on Staten Island has an apron worn by its historic namesake. Another lodge is vexed by a painting in its possession.

There’s a whole other Masonic world packed away in attics, closets, basements, and other storage crannies—to say nothing of what venerable elder brethren took home for safe keeping.

I think we’ll have to fly Heather Calloway out here eventually.

     

‘A rainbow over the moon lodge’

    

Michael LaRocco

Another fine festive board tonight at New York’s last remaining moon lodge.

Warren Lodge 32 did it again: the annual outdoor affair with catered barbecue, the seven toasts, approximately 80 guests, and a rainbow to cap it off. I mean the rainbow isn’t planned.

Rainbows follow rainfalls, and did we get rain! “Extreme Weather” is what my weather app forewarned as I got to within twenty miles of Rhinebeck, and it wasn’t joking. The inundation mostly tapered off by the time I got there, but then the wind picked up. Literally picked up everything on our table—and even one of the tents, which took a flight further than the Wright Brothers’ inaugural foray. It really was a mess: You have your “sword” in one hand, your “cannon” in the other, and somehow you had to hold down your place setting before a gust violently threw it all at the next table over. No injuries reported.

I didn’t shoot a single photo consequently. On the plus side, though, the tempest caused the temperature to drop a good ten or so degrees.

I sat with the contingent from Joseph Warren-Gothic Lodge 934 (the other Warren lodge), and had a good time despite their having consumed all the wine by the time I arrived. Kind brethren at nearby tables made sure we were able to charge our cannons, fortunately.

The lodge’s souvenir poker chip.

Also bumped into W. Bro. Steve, immediate Past Master of White Plains 473. And Deputy Grand Master Steven Rubin, of course.

I’m not usually one who discusses weather, but after the seventh toast (absent brethren) was proposed by W. Mark, Master of Joseph Warren-Gothic—and I mean at the second he stopped speaking—the rainbow appeared.

     

‘Craftsmen Online Super Fans unite!’

    

Starting today, Craftsmen Online, the clearinghouse of Masonic education and news launched during the pandemic to keep Light shining, offers content reserved for those who wisely pay the inordinately modest subscription fee. I signed up yesterday (I’m a sucker for exclusivity).

You know the podcast, with its 3,000 episode downloads per month; and you’ve read the blog; and you receive the newsletter; and maybe you’ve attended the Reading Room; and perhaps you’ve benefitted from the ritual education and the historical research (I think that’s everything!), so now we happy few who pony up five bucks a month can partake of:

• subscriber-exclusive podcast episodes with select guest stars
• access to exclusive Zoom meetings with special guests
• podcast episodes without ads
• early access to the episodes

Excerpted from the publicity:

From the beginning of Craftsmen Online, RW Steven Adam Rubin and I have been dedicated to producing quality products. We see this as more than a project to provide a place for Brothers to connect during the pandemic, but as a long-term resource to unite Masons across the internet who seek more Light in Freemasonry.

After three seasons, with our early episodes being broadcast to an audience, thanks to your generous support, we have grown our reach to all jurisdictions in the United States and beyond! Now it is time to offer you, our listener, an opportunity to take your experience to the next level.

Today, we proudly announce the Craftsmen Online Podcast Super Fan subscription. Podcast enthusiasts will be able to listen to our episodes early and ad-free, with special subscriber-only episodes with select guests who go deeper and continue their discussions—and we will offer you the opportunity to interact with these select guests virtually during VIP Zoom webinars.

Bro. Michael Arce

Co-Founder and Podcast Host

The inaugural podcast with paid subscription features Ohio’s Bro. Jason Short, who speaks on “An Exploration of Words and Widows,” in which he delves into Biblical content borrowed for the EA°. There also is a PDF we may download for further tutelage.

The Craftsmen Online Podcast Super Fan subscription comes via Patreon, which marks its tenth anniversary this month. It really is that simple. While Craftsmen Online is created by New York Masons, its content befits all the brethren wheresoever dispersed about the face of the earth. That’s you! Click here to sign up. If you are yet unfamiliar with this top rated podcast and the other attractions of Craftsmen Online, click here to inspect the warrant, as it were.

     

‘Grand Lodge facts and figures’

    

The big day is tomorrow! On Monday at 9 a.m., the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York will assemble and open its 241st Annual Communication in Masonic Hall in Manhattan with Grand Master Richard J. Kessler presiding. Sorry to say I cannot attend, but someday I’ll be available on a weekday for these things.

I’ve been perusing reports and other documents that are circulated in preparation for the two-day meeting, and there are a few interesting points to share.

Total members as of January 1: 26,383

Number of lodges: 438

Number of research lodges: 4

That’s The American Lodge of Research, Infinity Lodge of Research, Justice Robert H. Jackson Lodge of Research, and Western Lodge of Research. Esoteric Lodge of Research UD is listed as dormant. (I don’t know what or where that was.) Speaking of The ALR, Worshipful Master Conor has his report to Grand Lodge included among all these documents.

In the history department, Grand Historian Gary Heinmiller says: “We have gone from zero lodges reporting lodge Historians appointed to now over 140. This will increase each year until each lodge has appointed an active Historian.” I didn’t know this was a thing until reading Gary’s report, but I did notice long ago that lodges here didn’t have Historians. As soon as I read this report (he and I go back about twenty years via the Masonic Light group), I emailed my lodge’s incoming Master to volunteer to serve as Historian for the ensuing year. Yeah, sure, he said. So make that 141 lodges.

(Click here for How to Serve as Lodge Historian.)

History is one of my favorite fields in Masonic doings, and effective, professional communication is another. There are a number of initiatives coming soon that will help Masons exchange ideas among themselves, and put forth information to the world outside.

You know about craftsmenonline, and in the works is a website for Masonic education named Hiram.

Something else I haven’t heard of previously is the job of District Public Relations Officer. Or maybe I was informed, but I forgot. Anyway, I’m on a Communications Subcommittee, and I’m writing a “how to” manual for publicizing Masonic activities. (I’m from Publicity Lodge, after all.) I don’t think there’s much those of us in Manhattan can do, but lodges in the smaller cities, the suburbs, and rural areas have local media they can leverage. You just have to know how to help them help you. I doubt I’ll finish this booklet before summer, but it’ll be useful.

The Communications Committee has four subgroups, according to the White Book. I really feel like I ought to be more aware of these things, but maybe I need to see it in print for it to sink in. Anyway, there are Social Media, Publications, Press Releases, and Speakers Bureau working groups.

Also coming our way is Our Quarry, described by Deputy Grand Master Steven Rubin as “a digital magazine, published by region, celebrating and promoting the programs, news, and events from around our Grand Jurisdiction.”

Looking abroad, there are some noteworthy happenings in Europe. Last year, a New York delegation visited Finland to join the centennial celebration of Suomi Lodge 1. It was New York Grand Master Arthur Tompkins who set the lodge to labor in 1922 and led a degree team to make twenty-seven men Master Masons, including Jean Sibelius. The centenary of the Grand Lodge of Finland comes next year, and the partying will continue. (Take a minute and google “Finnish jokes.”)

Meanwhile in Romania, they must think they’re French or something because a rebellious faction tried to dismiss the Grand Master, alleging corruption; the National Grand Lodge expelled the rebels; then everybody went to court. I don’t know where it all stands at this moment, but I have canceled my vacation plans. (No matter. They say Sammy’s Steakhouse, the deeply missed old school Roumanian place, will reopen soon on Orchard.)

There are tons more reports, statistics, speeches, and the like. Be sure to read the book of proceedings when it comes out.

     

‘M&D’s Apprentice up for discussion in the Reading Room’

    

Masonry should be an energy, finding its aim and effect in the amelioration of mankind. Socrates should enter into Adam and produce Marcus Aurelius; in other words, bring forth from the man of enjoyments the man of wisdom. Masonry should not be a mere watchtower, built upon mystery, from which to gaze at ease upon the world, with no other result than to be a convenience for the curious. To hold the full cup of thought to the thirsty lips of men; to give to all the true ideas of Deity; to harmonize conscience and science, are the province of Philosophy. Morality is Faith in full bloom. Contemplation should lead to action, and the absolute be practical; the ideal be made air, food, and drink to the human mind. Wisdom is a sacred communion. It is only on that condition that it ceases to be a sterile love of Science, and becomes the one and supreme method by which to unite Humanity and arouse it to concerted action. Then Philosophy becomes Religion.

You didn’t get that in your EA Degree, didja?

Those sentences are a snippet of the first chapter, titled “Apprentice,” of Morals and Dogma by Albert Pike. This chapter is the material for the January 31 meeting in the Reading Room, hosted by Craftsmen Online. Click here for the text.

Sponsored by Deputy Grand Master Steven A. Rubin, the Reading Room is a hybrid meeting space with an in-person panel for discussion that the rest of us may join via Zoom. Hosts Bill Edwards and Michael LaRocco will welcome Cliff Jacobs and Walter Cook at seven o’clock to delve into this opening chapter of M&D.

All Master Masons in good standing are welcome to attend. (If you miss it, catch it later on YouTube.) For more information, visit Craftsmen Online here.

     

‘Ukraine grand master to be feted’

    

Click to enlarge.

Columbia Lodge 1190 will honor Steven Rubin, Ted Harrison, and the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ukraine at its fall festive board/brunch next month.

Our Deputy Grand Master needs no introduction. Ted, of course, is the ubiquitous presence in New York Freemasonry who, among many other things, quarterbacked Grand Lodge’s Fraternity on Campus Committee, thereby seeing Columbia 1190 set to labor. Anatoliy Dymchuk will visit via Zoom. And brunch? Well, that’s the most important meal between breakfast and lunch.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Tuxedo at…at noon?!” If you don’t have a morning suit, just do it.

     

‘Lodge by lantern light’

   

Warren Lodge 32’s Masonic Hall was built in 1865 in the Italianate style.
It was relocated to its present site in 2011.

I’ll conclude September with my scattered recollections of a terrific night seven weeks ago at Warren Lodge 32 way up in Schulztville for the occasion of a most enjoyable festive board by lantern light.

I’ll tell ya: If you ever want to hold a meeting or meal outside at night by lantern light, go for it.

Warren 32 is New York’s last remaining “moon lodge,” meaning a lodge that meets on or about the night of the full moon. This special festive board was hosted on Saturday the thirteenth, which actually was two nights after August’s full moon (a Sturgeon Moon), so the convenience of the guests was accommodated by waiting for the weekend. And we guests turned out in force. I think I counted about sixty seated around the U-shaped “lodge” outdoors under the tent, and the travelers greatly outnumbered our hosts. A caravan of Grand Lodge officers, headed by Grand Master Kessler and Deputy Grand Master Rubin, arrived, obviously having come from a previous event somewhere.

Other brethren visited from around New York, New England, and elsewhere. I was invited to sit between Masons from New Hampshire and Massachusetts. There’s clearly a special energy present when meeting traveling Masons and being able to talk about things in common, however small. I told the brother from New Hampshire that I had been to the Manchester Temple two months prior for Masonic Con, and told the Massachusetts brother about my visits to two lodges on Cape Cod last year. Conversely, I was told about a tour of Masonic Hall in Manhattan.

Portrait of Augustus Schultz hangs in the East.

The Warren Lodge brethren made this a history nerd-friendly event. They had a brother appear in the character of Bro. Augustus Schultz, the benefactor of the lodge who died too young at 26 in the 1860s, and bequeathed to Warren Lodge the funds that enabled it to purchase the land and construct the meeting hall where Warren was at labor until 2011. (Bro. Schultz did likewise for a local church.) That’s Schultz, as in Schultzville, the lodge’s original hometown until the building was picked up and relocated half a mile north to stand next to the Clinton town hall.

You may have guessed the lodge was named for Revolutionary War hero Joseph Warren, and an additional attraction of the night was the attendance of a descendant of Warren. I think his name is Keith, but don’t quote me. Grand Master DeWitt Clinton issued its warrant.

A small altar, as was furnished centuries ago.

The U.S. flag featured fifteen stars from 1795 to 1818.

The festive board was great. Unlimited quantities of good food plus red wine for the usual toasts. The vino was Cribari, a label unknown to me. I’ll have to ask Bro. Cupschalk if he knows it, because we were drinking from shot glasses, for the obvious reason, and tasting was not a priority.

The weather was perfect: sunny blue skies during the day; cool and dry after sundown. Great company. A satiating meal amid a mellow ambiance thanks to the scores of small lambent flames in the lanterns. I failed to bring a briar and a sweet Virginia mixture, thinking it would have been forbidden, but evidently I could have joined RW Rubin, who was savoring his vanilla cavendish. I hope Warren does it again next August—and I’m bringing a pipe if they do. Harry says they’re looking at July 29, 2023.

Masonic Hall from the rear at dusk.
The octagonal cupola is a hallmark of Italianate architecture.

     

‘New New York leadership’

   

The 239th Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of New York will conclude in minutes, with new elected leaders to install later today.

Richard Kessler

MW Bro. Richard Kessler is our new Grand Master. RW Bro. Steven A. Rubin is our Deputy Grand Master.

Kessler has been a member of the Masonic Society since 2016.

Grand Lodge has open and competitive elections, meaning an incumbent is not necessarily elevated to the East unchallenged. The new Grand Master had served as Deputy Grand Master since May 2018, and Rubin had been Grand Treasurer. The normally two-year terms of office were prolonged by a year and a half due to the COVID pandemic and resulting logistical problems in hosting an immense gathering like this.

In the Grand West will be RW Robert Hogan. In the Grand South will be RW Peter Stein. At the Grand Treasurer’s office now is RW Bro. Joseph Saglimbene. Joe was nominated and elected from the floor, surprising both declared candidates, lest anyone scoff at the reality of open, honest elections here.

Among the proposed legislation was one item that I’ll report when I hear the results. Other legislation concerned amendments to make Grand Lodge more adaptable to emergencies, such as the recent pandemic that disrupted the usual time, place, and manner of the Annual Communication. Today’s session in Utica actually was a conclusion of a meeting opened months ago at Masonic Hall in Manhattan. But more on that later.

Congratulations to all!