‘Storage Wars: The Shrining’

  

Courtesy A&E

The May 14 episode of Storage Wars (the original, in California) features the Shriners of El Bekal in Anaheim, who host bickering bidders Brandi and Jarrod, who are trying to learn the values of several pieces.

Nothing much to see here, but the kids donate the Shriner memorabilia, consisting of a set of four goblets—possibly antiques, possibly with gold trim—to an upcoming Shrine auction fundraiser. The other piece was a Shriner bobblehead which Jarrod damaged. Value: nada.

‘Historians and America’s First Secret Societies’

  
There are plenty of blogs out there devoted to Freemasonry, but it can be more fun reading blogs from outside the fraternity that occasionally focus on Masonry from their perspectives. It’s usually history.

From the Stacks, the blog of the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, features a post today written by Mr. Kevin Butterfield titled Historians and America’s First Secret Societies. Butterfield is a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at N-YHS this year. His research here stems from his doctoral dissertation.

Courtesy New-York Historical Society 

Click here to read the piece and see the accompanying art, including this image of the Masonic Hall, located on Broadway near Pearl Street, c.1831. Pretty churchly architecture, eh? Click the image to enlarge.
  

‘The 2013 Ingathering’

  
I don’t know if we’re still calling it the Harold V.B. Voorhis Ingathering anymore, but this year’s will take place on Saturday, July 20, and will be hosted by none other than Harold V.B. Voorhis Council No. 260, it was announced by our Grand Superintendent, today.

The Ingathering will take place at the Scottish Rite Valley of Central Jersey, located at 103 Dunns Mill Road in Bordentown (Exit 7 off the New Jersey Turnpike). Meeting to open at 9:30 a.m. and should conclude at about 3:30.

Guest of Honor: Most Venerable Matthew D. Dupee, Sovereign Grand Master of the Grand Council of Allied Masonic Degrees of the USA.

This one will be very different from previous Ingatherings in that three councils from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania will take turns conferring three degrees: Architect, Grand Architect, and Superintendent.

Advance registration is required. Make your $35 check payable to NJ AMD INGATHERING, and remit to the Grand Superintendent. Leave me a note (not for publication) with your name, e-mail address, and council name in the comments section, and I will get back to you with the mailing address.
  

‘Serious times for The Players’

    

Trevor Stewart delivering the Wendell K. Walker
Lecture, March 24, 2011 at The Players

Declining membership, financial debt, personnel controversies, and enough existential uncertainty to worry its members, neighbors, and admirers are dogging The Players, the venerable private club at Gramercy Park that is a beloved destination of several lodges and other Masonic groups in New York City.

The club even has resorted to selling and pawning its Sargents to pay for capital improvements.

DNAinfo.com-New York has been reporting the sad story, with numerous heart-breaking details, for more than three weeks. Read all about it here. I know this will interest many of the brethren, ergo this edition of The Magpie Mason.
    

‘Isaac Newton and King Solomon’s Temple’

  
Two rules of thumb: 1) If you’re a regular reader of this website, you’re a guy who has nothing to do on a Friday night; and b) Bro. Lenny Lubitz is our kind of Freemason. Combine these two factoids and you have plans for tonight.

I don’t know Lenny well, but he’s one of the Masons who “gets it.” I keep bumping into him here and there. The book club up in Bergen County. The research lodge in New York City. ICHF.

Lenny is a Past Master of Abravanel Lodge No. 1116 in New York, and tonight at Atlas-Pythagoras he will discuss “Isaac Newton and King Solomon’s Temple.” The lecture is open to Apprentices and Fellows. Lodge opens at 7:30.
  

‘Pennsylvania Lodge of Research’

  

Founding Members jewel.

I’m just on my way out the door to attend the Wendell K. Walker Lecture tonight, but not before I spread the news of the next meeting of Pennsylvania Lodge of Research on Saturday, June 29 at Lehigh Lodge in Macungie.

Pennsylvania Lodge of Research will meet Saturday, June 29 at Lehigh Lodge No. 326 in Macungie.

I’ve never been able to catch one of these meetings. The lodge is to meet twice each year, with additional meetings at the discretion of the Master, and I think there always is one meeting in eastern Pennsylvania, but somehow I’ve never made it there. This will be a busy weekend. The American Lodge of Research will meet the night before in Manhattan, and Bro. Piers is hosting his annual barbecue on Sunday. (If you haven’t heard, he graciously moved it from Saturday to Sunday in appreciation of all the Masonic goings on scheduled for Saturday.)

Looking forward to it all... and then to a quiet summer punctuated only by the AMD Ingathering (more to come on that ambitious project!) and maybe the MRF conference in New Hampshire too, but I’m undecided on that one.

Officers apron.

One thing at a time, as we try to explain to the youngest Entered Apprentice. Pennsylvania Lodge of Research will open at 10 a.m. that day. Lehigh Lodge is located at 2120 Route 100 in Macungie, which is not prohibitively far into the Keystone State for us New Jersey guys. It’s only about 90 miles from the headquarters of Magpie Industries, which is notably nearer than Philly, so I got that going for me.
  

‘Wendell K. Walker Lecture 2013’

  
If it’s spring, it must be time for the annual Wendell K. Walker Lecture hosted by Independent Royal Arch Lodge No. 2 – “Old Number 2” – of the First Manhattan District. It’s this Thursday!

Courtesy Rome Sentinel

RW Bro. Bruce Renner will speak on “The Outermost Order: Freemasonry and the Western Esoteric Tradition.” Bro. Renner is a Past Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New York, and is the president of the board of trustees of the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library. In the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Bro. Renner holds memberships in several Valleys in upstate New York; he holds the 33°, and he currently is working on a comprehensive history of the AASR in New York from the Union of 1867 to the present. In the York Rite, he is a Past Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of New York, and holds both the KYCH and the Order of the Purple Cross. (I have never heard of the latter.) His lecture Thursday night will define what is meant by “esoterica” in the Craft, and will explain various paths an esoterically inclined Mason might wish to pursue, acknowledging however that not all the brethren are so motivated.

Once again, the lecture and the dinner will take place in separate venues, and reservations are required. Leave me a note with your name and e-mail address (not for publication) in the Magpie comments section, and I’ll put you in touch with Bro. George, the Junior Warden of the lodge. The lecture will be hosted in the Empire Room on the twelfth floor of Masonic Hall (71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan) at 7:30 p.m. Afterward, the brethren will retire to dinner at Aleo, located at 7 West 20th Street. The fixed price menu, at $50 per person, includes wine and beer, and gratuity. A cocktail cash bar will be available.

See you there!
  

‘Town Hall’

RW William J. Thomas

    
Come one, come all to the Town Hall... uh, meeting.

Brethren of the First, Fifth, Seventh, and part of the Ninth Manhattan Districts are welcome to attend a program hosted by RW Bill Thomas, Deputy Grand Master, and other grand staff on protocol and etiquette, to be followed by questions and answers.

Wednesday, April 10, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Masonic Hall, Jacobean Room on the eighth floor. Attire: suit and tie or grand staff uniform, but no regalia.
    

‘Join the club’

     

Craft apron, probably European, I shot at the House
of the Temple a few years ago.

Bro. Bil Vassily of New York announces the formation last week of The Traditional Observance Club at Liverpool. Any Master Mason from a lodge under the Grand Lodge of New York or from a lodge within a grand jurisdiction in amity with GLNY is eligible to apply for membership. Just contact Bil at bilgeo(at)twcny.rr.com

For more information on the Traditional Observance movement in Freemasonry in the United States, visit the Masonic Restoration Foundation here, and don’t forget about the MRF’s annual symposium in August.

    

‘Spring 2013 Truman Lecture’

    

This just in from Bro. Aaron: The Spring 2013 Truman Lecture, hosted by Missouri Lodge of Research, will take place Saturday, May 4 at noon at the Grand Lodge of Missouri headquarters in Columbia. Bro. Alton Roundtree will speak on the history and development of Prince Hall Freemasonry, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Brethren, their ladies, and guests are welcome.

Tickets, at $20 each for lunch and the lecture, are available here. This is far outside the Magpie Mason’s regular orbit, so unfortunately I won’t see you there, but having heard Bro. Alton speak on this subject before, I promise it is worth your time. The history of Prince Hall Masonry can be vexing, so it is best to have a guide like Bro. Roundtree.
    

‘2013 College of Freemasonry’

    
The flier below speaks for itself. This part of New York is too far north for this Magpie, but if you are in the area, you would do well to attend this event. To have all of these speakers together for a single day very well may be too much, but it is a good kind of too much.

Click to enlarge.

     

‘Bro. Lyn Beyer: Friar of the Briar’

    
While the Craftsmen’s Calumet Club, by far the pre-eminent society for pipe smoking Freemasons in New Jersey, is off to a start, with three gatherings held since January 22, we’re always on the lookout for persons, places, or things that connect the Craft to the art of setting gentle flame to fragrant leaf. That is where the Spring 2013 issue of Pipes and Tobaccos magazine comes in, with its illustrated four-page feature article on Bro. Lyn Beyer, Grand Senior Deacon of the Grand Lodge of Kansas. (The grand lodge is only days away from its annual communication, and I do not know whether Beyer will remain/advance in the line.)

Courtesy Pipes and Tobaccos magazine.

In the cozy (read: shrinking under pressure) culture of tobacco enjoyment, Bro. Beyer is a giant in his home state. Writer H. Lee Murphy provides a biographical sketch of his subject, chronicling Beyer’s professional and personal love of pipes and tobaccos. Beyer (pronounced Buy-er) is proprietor of Cigar & Tabac, Ltd., “one of the heartland’s best retail shops,” located in Overland Park, Kansas. Beyer also is a co-founder and (naturally) sponsor of “one of the best clubs anywhere,” the Greater Kansas City Pipe Club, with about 50 members gathering in the store to greet guest speakers and enjoy tobacco samplings. (The store’s smoking lounge seats more than two dozen.)

The Grand Senior Deacon also is a craftsman; he carves briar pipes, makes repairs for his customers, and devises his own blends of tobaccos “with assistance from McClelland Tobacco Co., which is headquartered a short drive away.”

It’s enough to make me want to leave the New York City area to settle in Manhattan, Kansas.

Courtesy Pipes and Tobaccos magazine.

And there is a second shop, Town & Country Tobacco, located in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

Amid all the words devoted to Bro. Beyer’s personal and professional histories, there is a quick and unexpected mention of our Craft. “Lyn now spends more time with one of his abiding passions, the Masonic Lodge. He’s a 32nd Degree Mason, is in the grand lodge line in Kansas, and is devoted to various fundraising projects…” These two sentences’ appearance pose a non-sequitur, so I gather their inclusion by the writer is to make the point of showing Freemasonry’s importance to his subject.

Read an excerpt of the article here.

I recommend subscribing to Pipes and Tobaccos to all pipe smokers. It is a quality publication on heavy, glossy paper with content devoted to its eponymous subjects that often is contextualized to reveal a bit more about the pipe world than one might expect, as is the case with this feature on Lyn Beyer. Reading this magazine is an excellent way to learn about the people who manufacture our pipes, blend our tobaccos, and bring them to market; and there are informed reviews of tobaccos, and lots more useful information written in engaging and thoughtful style. (The tobacco review feature is titled “Trial by Fire,” which might bring to mind a certain ritual element of esoteric initiation.) Regrettable is the reduced pipe events listings, which I suppose indicates a decline in the number of pipe clubs and their happenings and the preference for on-line advertising by many of the clubs still extant, but that is a sign of the times. Because practically every aspect of pipe commerce concerns small businesses, even the advertisements in the magazine can be counted on for helpful information and direction. Subscribe here.
    

‘Kent Henderson on tour’

  
Before there was Laudable Pursuit; before the Knights of the North; before Vitruvian; before there was a Traditional Observance lodge in the United States; before there was a Masonic Restoration Foundation; before this whole modern movement to introduce Freemasonry to Masonic lodges in the United States – okay, maybe not before St. Alban’s in Texas and John Mauk Hilliard’s seven rules – there was Kent Henderson and Lodge Epicurean 906 in Victoria, Australia. And this spring, Henderson will be here in the Northeast on a speaking tour, with stops in New Hampshire, Boston, and we’re working on New Jersey.

His treatise titled Back to the Future was practically a VSL to those of us in the early years of the previous decade who knew there had to be more to Freemasonry than the tedium and mendacity provided by the service club lodges that overwhelmingly dominate the Order here in America. Here is Guideline No. 1 in Back to the Future: “The aim of the lodge in all its endeavours will be quality, in ceremonial, in workings, and in after proceedings. We believe quality must be paid for.” So you see the self-evident culture shock.

Go hear Kent Henderson speak. Ask him about Epicurean, its ethos, conception, founding, obstacles, success, and current state.

More on the potential New Jersey date as soon as I firm up some details.

MAGPIE EDIT: Bro. Kent’s visit to the United States has been canceled. Another time, perhaps.

     

Click the images to enlarge.

  

‘Hodappenings’

    
Bro. Chris Hodapp, author, raconteur, heart of The Masonic Society, Blue Friar, The Most Interesting Man in Indiana Freemasonry, &c., &c., has several speaking engagements here in New Jersey next week.

New York also.

Visit the Dummies blog to see the particulars.
    

‘Masonic quilt on Antiques Roadshow’

     

Masonic quilt c. 1875 as seen on Antiques Roadshow on PBS.

    
The material culture of the Craft keeps popping up on reality television. Tonight on Antiques Roadshow, a mainstay of PBS programming to which all the pawn brokers, junkmen, and barterers on cable television are indebted, we got a look at a quilt covered in Craft symbols. (The episode in question is No. 8 of Season 17, which is the second of three hours shot in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.)

The quilt was identified as an “appliquéd Masonic quilt,” c. 1875; was appraised at between $6,000 and $8,000; and was described as being in excellent condition by Ms. Beth Szescila of Szescila Appraisal Service in Houston.

Not only do I own no modern digital recording devices to better reproduce these images, but my television is a 25-year-old Sylvania. I pointed a digital camera at the screen and tried to get the best possible shots of the quilt’s sudden appearance.

    

‘Regalia and Obscura’

    
An exciting week coming at the Chancellor Robert R. Livingston Masonic Library. First and foremost, do not forget Bro. Patrick Craddock’s lecture tomorrow night. The famous maker of bespoke Masonic regalia will speak on “Admit Him If Properly Clothed: The Evolution of the Masonic Apron in America, 1740 to the Present.” 6 p.m. Click here for more information.

On your way to lodge Thursday, if you happen to see a group of wide-eyed strangers gathering, they would be members of the Obscura Society taking an organized (and sold out) tour of the Library. An interesting group worth having a look at.

The Livingston Library is located on the 14th floor of Masonic Hall, at 71 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.
    

‘Massachusetts Masonry in May’

  
On Saturday, May 18, Massachusetts Lodge of Research will meet for a multifaceted day with so much allure I have to believe brethren from around the Northeast will make a point of being there. I will try.

Overall, there will be the Masonic Leadership Summit, featuring David Harrison, Cliff Porter, and Andrew Hammer.

At 2:30 p.m., a Special Communication of Massachusetts Lodge of Research, with keynote speaker Harrison, will open.

At 4 p.m., a special training session with Harrison will open. Tickets are $35, or $25 if prepaid.

This will take place at Grand Lodge, located at 186 Tremont Street in Boston.

In the meantime, the lodge will meet Saturday, March 9 at Quinebaug Lodge in Southbridge.
     

‘National Brotherhood Week’

     

Yes, Magpie coverage of Masonic Week 2013 is still to come. I haven’t had five minutes to download the photos yet, as renovation of the bathroom at Magpie headquarters continues at a snail’s pace and other obligations nag. But here’s a little something in honor of another February week.

Once upon a time in a more innocent age, when it was only other countries that had communists as their heads of state and people thought it natural to pay their own bills, there was a movement to instill brotherly love and mutual respect among all citizens. This was not by government edict, but by bringing real people together to provide, as President Kennedy put it, “harmonious living among our different religious groups.”

The concept was made manifest – and remember we’re referring to a simple time of political assassinations, race riots, draft resistance, liberations of so-and-so’s, and mass shootings by the government – by an observance called National Brotherhood Week at the third week of February. Human nature is what it is, which is why you may not have heard of it before.

(I am indebted to my parents for having comedy albums in their record collection when I was a kid, allowing me to learn directly from and about Lenny Bruce and Tom Lehrer.)

Take it away Maestro!

    

‘Repetitive tasks in dusty conditions’

  
Repetitive tasks in dusty conditions?! There was a time when that meant lodge night, but this concerns the unglamorous side of Masonic library and museum function. Oh sure, we look at Aimee and Jeff, and so many others, like Glenys, Tom, Bill, and more as near mythical beings who keep and preserve the archives of Masonry for posterity, and look damn good doing it too, but inevitably there are times when hands get dirty. To wit: The Scottish Rite Masonic Library & Museum at the Supreme Council campus in Lexington could use a few helping hands.

The Wallace M. Gage Masonic Collection at the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library at Lexington. Ill. Gage was a big wheel in New Jersey Freemasonry who bequeathed his Masonic books to the Library. He died in 2004.

The announcement:

Volunteer at the Museum & Library for our Masonic Work Day

Do you like history? Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a curator or a librarian? Come join the staff of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library and find out!

Masonic Work Day
Saturday, June 22, 2013
9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library
Lexington, Massachusetts

We are looking for ten volunteers to spend the day helping us with collections-related projects. Projects may include: inventory of objects and library collections; housing and numbering objects and archival collections; computer data entry. No experience needed! Training and lunch will be provided.

Please note that most projects will require prolonged periods of standing and that exposure to dust and/or mold is possible. Most projects will consist of repetitive tasks.

We are accepting registrations on a first-come, first-served basis. Please e-mail Aimee E. Newell, Director of Collections, at anewell(at)monh.org with your name and contact information to sign up, or with questions.

If you can’t make it on June 22, but would like to learn more about volunteering on a regular basis, please let us know.
  

‘California streamin’ ’

    
Bro. Adam Kendall should be cloned, and his clones deployed and employed at Masonic museums everywhere. Until then, he is sharing his great enthusiasm for the history, symbolism, and material culture of Freemasonry via the web, so those of us who cannot get to San Francisco may benefit yet from the Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum’s vast collections and the amassed expertise of its caretakers.

From the publicity:

History Comes to You

The Henry Wilson Coil Library and Museum of Freemasonry has just announced the first in a series of online Masonic history webinars. On Tuesday, March 19, from 7 to 8 p.m. PST, the Library and Museum will present “Invoking the Muses: Understanding and Appreciating Masonic Material Culture.”

The webinar will provide a historical overview of the aesthetics of Masonic decorative arts, and their essential role within the research of Freemasonry and fraternalism. Attendees will learn how to create meaningful narratives for their lodges’ histories, as well as tips for displaying Masonic artifacts.

This free online course will be hosted by Adam Kendall, collections manager at the Library and Museum. To register, contact akendall(at)freemason.org with your name and primary e-mail address.