Illinois Freemasonry Magazine - Winter 2022

The Officers and Members of St. Clair Lodge #24 Invite You to Attend a Reception Honoring

Bro. Auston Eugene Smith

Right Worshipful Junior Grand Warden

To be held on Saturday, 9 April 2022

at Bellecourt Manor, Belleville Masonic Temple

225 East A Street, Belleville, Illinois

11:30 AM Social Hour with cash bar

12:30 PM Buffet Lunch and Program

Ticket Price is $40.00 per person

Register through: Constant Contact at: https://conta.cc/3yonIff

Or mail a check payable to Grand Lodge of Illinois, 2866 Via Verde St, Springfield, IL 62703

Meal reservations close Friday, 25 March 2022, 4:00 PM.

Dress: Business Casual (no tie)

Open to the Spouses & Public

Should you have any questions, please contact R. W. Brother Smith at 618-405-4260

A block of rooms have been reserved until 9 Mar 2022 at $98.00 per night in the Four Points by Sheraton 319 Fountains Pkwy Fairview Heights, IL 62208

To book rooms, contact RWB Smith at gsmith@ilmason.org for the link You must make room reservations through the link, do not call hotel.

A Letter From Our Grand Master

By Bro. Michael E. Jackson, M.W. Grand Master

Will Brother Rowan Please Step Forward!

By Auston Eugene Smith, Junior Grand Warden

Components of Masonic Growth

By John Loayza

Grand Chancellor

Our Masonic Toolbox

By Bryan R. Musicar, Certified

Lecturer

Kelvyn Park-Willing Lodge No. 1075

Brrr! It’s That Time of Year Again!

By Jennifer Martin, IMOS Director

CONTRIBUTORS

Michael Jackson, M.W. Grand Master

John Loayza, R.W. Grand Chancellor

Auston Eugene Smith, R.W. Junior Grand Warden

Mark Nokes, Illinois Secretaries Association

Bryan Musicar, Grand Lecturer

Aaron Wilcox, Hinsdale Lodge No. 934

26

More Activity, More Effectiveness: Appendant Orders!

By W.B. Mark Schmidt

Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association

By W.B. Mark Nokes

Initiation into the Speculative Work of Craft Masonry

By R.W.B. Aaron Wilcox

30 1st Quarter Anniversaries

Latest Lodge News

EDITORIAL

EDITOR

Edward Walker, R.W.B.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Mark Schmidt, W.B.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jennifer Woods

GRAND MASTER

In the previous issue of this magazine, the theme for my term as Grand Master was provided which is “Choose the Future.” One of the key success drivers for the future of our Lodges and grand jurisdiction was also covered. Specifically, the true formula for a successful Lodge is activity. Continuing with that focus, the major theme for this issue of the magazine is “Activity.” I am a firm believer that without activity, you die. That approach goes for Lodges as well as people.

Active Lodges for Illinois Freemasonry who are vibrant with regular activity, delivering value to its members, visible in the community, helping Brethren learn, and encouraging the members to make genuine friends are the examples for others to follow. By contrast, we have Lodge members who claim that a lack of money forced their closure or consolidation; however, that is not the root cause. A lack of activity is what closes Lodges. If we stay true to the Legacy of our Lodges and provide the Brethren with valuable experiences for themselves, family members, friends and neighbors, then Masonry will thrive in that town or city.

Let me share a story about Litchfield, Illinois Masonry that I periodically tell in my travels. Litchfield, my hometown of less than 7,000 people, once had two Lodges. Masonry was a true force in town such that it was known that no organization planned an event without first checking with the Lodges to make sure that they did not already have something planned on the calendar. Today, Litchfield has no Lodges. The two previous Lodges merged years ago and the consolidated Lodge merged with Mt. Moriah Lodge in 2006. One of those Lodges did close because of money; however, not for the lack of financial resources, but because they had too much money. That status made them comfortable so they did

not need to raise funds to exist and ultimately did nothing — no activity. This Lodge held their Stated Meeting once per month and did an occasional degree conferral, but nothing else. The moral of this story is that a lack of activity closed that Lodge.

Being visible in the community continues to be a driver of success for many Lodges. However, in some of our towns and cities across the state, we have done a great job of hiding in plain sight. As Grand Master, I have the opportunity and pleasure of traveling across the state to meet with our Brethren and members of local communities. In some of those towns, I asked the local people about the location of the Masonic Lodge and the response too many times is “we have one?” Here is another example from Litchfield. The Masonic Lodge building is one the largest buildings in town and sits prominently one block off the main street that runs through town. A major event, the annual unveiling of the Veiled NonProphet took place on the Masonic Lodge building steps. Even when the Lodge was still active, if you asked most residents where the Masonic Lodge was, they would not know. That community perception is a direct result of Lodge inactivity especially by not conducting events that were visible to the community.

Yes, I’m repeating myself; the key to a successful Lodge is activity. Not only does activity of various kinds help keep the Lodge membership involved and interested in Masonry, it raises awareness in the local community. That community visibility exposes other good men (including friends and neighbors) to our fraternity. Often that exposure generates membership interest which can eventually lead to new petitions for membership. Retaining current Lodge members and attracting new members have common success factors which are activity and visibility.

What social activities, big or small, do you have on your Lodge calendar in 2022? Which events include

family members and friends? What community service projects are you performing that are visible in the community? How often are the Brethren getting together to learn and improve themselves as Masons including practicing for degree work? These are questions for you to answer. Since every Lodge is different, I cannot give you an exact list of activities that will work for your Lodge. However, by answering those questions, you can spark a good conversation that can get your Lodge Officers and Brethren moving in the right direction. Through trial and possibly errors, you will determine what activities work best for your Lodge and local community. A great source of ideas is the Grand Master’s Award of Excellence Program. Putting in the work together to achieve one of these awards will confirm that you are doing activities that will add to the success of your Lodge. Also, The Handbook for Officer Advancement contains a section which provides a list of ideas for Lodge activities and events. Use these valuable reference resources that are readily available to you.

Working harmoniously together to build both ourselves as good men and our communities is at the heart of who we are as a fraternity. As Brethren, we come together to make Masons, laugh together, work together, and enjoy the journey of life together. Consistent with the ritual excerpt quote above, we are here to enjoy an active life together! Staying true to that message will constantly remind us that our Masonic Legacy will advance and thrive now and into the future based upon Lodge Activity.

Fraternally and sincerely,

Michael E. Jackson Grand Master Grand Lodge of Illinois

“Choose the Future” — Advance our Masonic Legacy!

Thus was man formed for social and active life, the noblest part of the work of God.”

RowanBrother Will Please Step

Forward!

By Auston Eugene Smith

Are you content to pay your Lodge dues, attend lodge meetings once or twice a year, and then proudly brag to your friends that you are a Mason? Or, like “a man named Rowan,” are you someone who is motivated, who steps forward and gets the job done when no one else will? Who is Rowan you ask? Rowan is a man mentioned in Elbert Hubbard’s magazine, The Philistine, in the February, 1899 issue which is included in an extract below.

But first, allow me to explain what brought this famous article to my mind. My home Lodge had its annual installation of officers on 11 December 2021. We had vacancies in both the Secretary and Chaplain positions. A senior Past Master volunteered to take the Secretary position and a young man who has been a Master Mason for less than two years stepped forward and volunteered for the Chaplain’s position. We all know that both the Secretary and the Chaplain positions are difficult to fill in any Lodge due to the workload involved if the job is done correctly! Many young Masons would prefer to stay in the advancing line so they can become Worshipful Master and enjoy the prestige of that position.

Our Lodge had a Third Degree on 20 December 2021 and I was pleased to see the new Chaplain knew the opening prayer, a good start. As the Slate was announced for the Third Degree, I was somewhat surprised that the new Chaplain was listed in that role. We all know that learning the Chaplain’s Ritual for a Third Degree is an accomplishment and even more challenging is getting the timing to the point that the Ritual concludes as the Senior Deacon and Candidate turn into the Junior Warden’s station. The new Chaplain nailed it: Wow, we found two men “named Rowan” in the same Lodge!

Who is this “man named Rowan” in Hubbard’s article? At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Andrew Summers Rowan, Lt, U.S. Army (West Point Class of 1881) was tasked by President McKinley to take a critically-important message to General Calixto Garcia who was the leader of several Cuban insurgencies. The following is an extract of Elbert Hubbard’s article:

“In all this Cuban business there is one man stands out on the horizon of my memory like Mars at perihelion. When war broke out between Spain and the United States, it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain fastnesses of Cuba - no one knew where. No mail or telegraph could reach him. The President must secure his co-operation, and quickly.

What to do! Someone said to the President, “There’s a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can.”

Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How “the fellow by name of Rowan” took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and having delivered his letter to Garcia, are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail.

The point I wish to make is this: McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter and did not ask, “Where is he at?” By the Eternal! There is a man whose form should be cast in deathless bronze and the statue placed in every college in the land. It is not book-learning young men need, nor instruction about this or that, but a stiffening of the vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust, to act promptly, concentrate their energies; do the thing - “carry a message to Garcia!”

General Garcia is dead now, but there are other Garcias. No man who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well-nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man - the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it. Slipshod assistance, foolish inattention, dowdy indifference, and halfhearted work seem the rule; and no man succeeds, unless by hook or crook, or threat, he forces or bribes other men to assist him; or mayhap, God in His goodness performs a miracle, and sends him an

Angel of Light for an assistant. You, reader, put this matter to a test: You are sitting now in your office -six clerks are within your call. Summon any one and make this request:

“Please look in the encyclopedia and make a brief memorandum for me concerning the life of Correggio.”

Will the clerk quietly say, “Yes, sir,” and go do the task?

On your life, he will not. He will look at you out of a fishy eye, and ask one or more of the following questions:

Who was he?

Which encyclopedia?

Where is the encyclopedia?

Was I hired for that?

Don’t you mean Bismarck?

What’s the matter with Charlie doing it?

Is he dead?

Is there any hurry?

Shan’t I bring you the book and let you look it up yourself?

What do you want to know for?

And I will lay you ten to one that after you have answered the questions, and explained how to find the information, and why you want it, the clerk will go off and get one of the other clerks to help him find Garcia - and then come back and tell you there is no such man. Of course I may lose my bet, but according to the Law of Average, I will not.

Now if you are wise you will not bother to explain to your “assistant” that Correggio is indexed under the C’s, not in the K’s, but you will smile sweetly and say, “Never mind,” and go look it up yourself.

And this incapacity for independent action, this moral stupidity, this infirmity of the will, this unwillingness to cheerfully catch hold and lift, are the things that put pure socialism so far into the future. If men will not act for themselves, what will they do when the benefit of their effort is for all? A first mate with knotted club seems necessary; and the dread of getting “the bounce” Saturday night holds many a worker in his place.

Advertise for a stenographer, and nine times out of ten who apply can

neither spell nor punctuate - and do not think it necessary to.

Can such a one write a letter to Garcia?

“You see that bookkeeper,” said the foreman to me in a large factory.

“Yes, what about him?”

“Well, he’s a fine accountant, but if I’d send him to town on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, and, on the other hand, might stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street, would forget what he had been sent for.”

Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia?

We have recently been hearing much maudlin sympathy expressed for the “down-trodden denizen of the sweat shop” and the “homeless wanderer searching for honest

employment,” and with it all often go many hard words for the men in power.

Nothing is said about the employer who grows old before his time in a vain attempt to get frowsy ne’erdo-wells to do intelligent work; and his long patient striving with “help” that does nothing but loaf when his back is turned. In every store and factory there is a constant weedingout process going on. The employer is constantly sending away “help” that have shown their incapacity to further the interests of the business, and others are being taken on. No matter how good times are, this sorting continues, only if times are hard and work is scarce, this sorting is done finer - but out and forever out, the incompetent and unworthy go. It is the survival of the fittest. Self-interest prompts every employer to keep the best-those who can carry a message to Garcia.

I know one man of really brilliant parts who has not the ability to manage a business of his own, and yet who is absolutely worthless to anyone else, because he carries with him constantly the insane suspicion that his employer is oppressing, or intending to oppress, him. He cannot give orders, and he will not receive them. Should a message be given him to take to Garcia, his answer would probably be, “Take it yourself.”

Tonight this man walks the streets looking for work, the wind whistling through his threadbare coat. No one who knows him dare employ him, for he is a regular firebrand of discontent. He is impervious to reason, and the only thing that can impress him is the toe of a thick-soled No. 9 boot.

Of course I know that one so morally deformed is no less to be pitied than a physical cripple; but in your pitying, let us drop a tear, too, for the men who are striving to carry on a great enterprise, whose working hours are not limited by the whistle, and whose hair is fast turning white through the struggle to hold the line in dowdy indifference, slipshod imbecility, and the heartless ingratitude which, but for their enterprise, would be both hungry and homeless.

Have I put the matter too strongly? Possibly I have; but when all the world has gone a-slumming I wish to speak a word of sympathy for the man who succeeds - the man who, against great odds, has directed the efforts of others, and, having succeeded, finds there’s nothing in it: nothing but bare board and clothes.

I have carried a dinner-pail and worked for a day’s wages, and I have also been an employer of labor, and I know there is something to be said on both sides. There is no excellence, per se, in poverty; rags are no recommendation; and all employers are not rapacious and high-handed, any more than all poor men are virtuous.

My heart goes out to the man who does his work when the “boss” is away, as well as when he is home. And the man who, when given a letter for Garcia, quietly takes the missive, without asking any idiotic questions, and with no lurking intention of chucking it into the nearest sewer, or of doing aught else but deliver it, never gets “laid off,” nor has to go on strike for higher wages. Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks will be granted; his kind is so rare that no employer can afford to let him go. He is wanted in every city, town, and village - in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such; he is needed, and needed badly - the man who can carry a message to Garcia.”

If you are not active in your Lodge, get active! Step forward and be involved in the labor of making your Lodge function. Be willing to do the work. Don’t expect to cut to the head of the line to obtain the prestige without having been in the arena, carrying the load, taking the jobs no one else will take, and be the “man named Rowan” immortalized in Hubbard’s article.

R.W.B. Auston Eugene Smith, Junior Grand Warden

If you are not active in your Lodge, get active!”

ELBERT HUBBARD penned his classic essay, A Message to Garcia” in one hour after a dinnertime discussion with his family. At dinner, Hubbard’s son, Bert, claimed that the true hero of the Spanish-American war was Rowan -- a messenger who braved death by carrying a note behind the lines to Garcia, the leader of the insurgents.

The essay originally ran in Hubbard’s magazine, The Philistine, in February, 1899. Inspired by its message, George Daniels of the New York Central Railroad asked permission to reprint and distribute 500,000 copies. Prince Hilakoff, Director of Russian Railways, read one of Daniel’s reprints and had it translated into Russian. A Message to Garcia was distributed to every one of his railroad employees.

The Russian military then picked up the ball: each Russian soldier sent to the Japanese front was given a copy. The Japanese found the essay in the possession of the Russian prisoners and subsequently had it translated into Japanese. On an order of the Mikado, a copy was given to each member of the Japanese government. And RETRO’s copy, dated 1913, had been part of a distribution to members of the United States Navy at the brink of the First World War.

Ultimately, forty million copies of A Message To Garcia were published.

Components

of

Masonic Growth

By John Loayza

Brethren, Companions, Sir Knights, do we see the big picture of strengthening Freemasonry and our individual local groups? If we intend to grow and be a positive contributor to the world, then we need to go beyond the scope of our local Masonic Bodies. Each aspect or part of growth is like a spoke on a wheel. If there are no spokes, then the wheel is useless. Therefore, we need to examine how Masonic Education, Leadership/Officer Training, Innovation, Community Service, Masonic Management/Marketing are important spokes of a functioning wheel.

Masonic Education is more than just conveying Grand Body information at an Annual Official Visit. Yes, we need to know our ritual and floor work from schools of instruction but are we proficient enough to explain our historical backgrounds or to have discussions about what we are trying to convey to our members

and to the world? If not, then we do not provide the value of what the members or future candidates are really seeking.

Do we really train our officer corps and develop strong leadership? Maybe yes or maybe no. Any organization needs strong leadership to survive. Without being innovative or progressive, there is a negative reaction. Thus, membership either does not happen or there is a rapid decline. Moreover, we need to start more interaction with our entire membership and future members by demonstrating our progressive activities, rather than the do it my way syndrome that because something was done in the past, there is no need to change our attitudes or methods.

Although change is hard to accept by some members, change is inevitable and what course we take will

You bear the responsibility of your own success or demise.”

determine if we are going to survive or grow in the future or become like the Roman Empire and implode from within. Therefore, we need to constantly re-evaluate our positions and how we can grow stronger in the future. One way is to be adaptable to innovative ideas and methods of doing things. This brings us to look at what the most successful businesses do. They are always looking for ways to utilize good business practices. Today, we see more use of surveys than in the past because organizations need to know what their members consider of value so those successful organizations can make the necessary changes and become more cognizant of what is needed to be done. We all see the lack of attendance because nothing much is accomplished in too many organizations except for a monthly dinner and business meeting without any or infrequent continuing motivational and educational programs or outside activities. If the districts would combine programs, they would strengthen their respective positions within their communities and build a better image of themselves locally and for all of Freemasonry.

Again, the lack of innovation causes a breakdown in membership. Therefore, we need to constantly know and program our activities around what is considered of value by the members. Then, we balance those values with what we are teaching and innovating within our Masonic Bodies while adhering to our heritage of Freemasonry through the centuries of qualified leaders using good business practices, as well as the training of our local officer corps regarding leadership.

Another component is properly marketing our Masonic Bodies through their local communities. We need more engagement with our local communities to demonstrate what Freemasonry does, especially in the community. If we had more community projects on a consistent basis, then the attitudes from negative to positive will grow within the communities. This will then lead to more interest in and potential growth in membership. There have been many studies in the past about recognition of Masonic Emblems that have shown that the Square & Compass or other Masonic Emblems are less known than the Shrine Emblem. Why is that? Simply, the Shrine is always marketing itself on TV with its hospitals or in parades, etc. However, many people still do not know that Shriners are Masons but in recent years there has been more emphasis that the two are one.

Overseas, we see that Freemasonry has become publicly pro-active in many areas. England, Bulgaria, and China are terrific examples of Masonic marketing. Their local districts combine many community activities around local public charitable work. They have such programs as funding for Hospice Centers for adults and for children, donations of Ambulances, Fire Trucks, Hospital/Medical Helicopters, and Wheelchairs to local organizations. There are Masonic Prostate Programs, Centers for the Homeless-places to live and learn a trade, Schools for the Blind-children and adults, Trade School Manuals, Food Delivery Trucks that continually deliver free food to the less fortunate. Whatever is done has a Masonic Emblem on it and is donated by the District Masons apart from their normal Grand Lodge charitable donations. Thus, there is a constant link between Freemasonry and the local community. Furthermore, the actions are always published within the local news media, besides the district or local lodge websites. The key element is that those are separate charitable programs from any Grand Lodge Charitable Fund that is specifically designated for Masons and the families of Masons. Therefore, Masonic Charity is truly extended to all.

Brethren, Companions, Sir Knights, again we see those spokes bringing us back into a positive light. They are all inter-related components of a functioning wheel. Therefore, you bear the responsibility of your own success or demise. The choice is yours alone.

R.W.B. John Loayza, Grand Chancellor, KYCH

Our Masonic Toolbox

By Bryan R. Musicar

We learn in The Dew Drop Lecture (or more modernly The Middle Chamber), that “Tools and Implements of architecture, symbols most expressive, have been selected by the Fraternity to imprint on the memory wise and serious truths, and thus, through a succession of ages are transmitted unimpaired, the most excellent tenets of our institution.”

Since being initiated as an Entered Apprentice, I have been fascinated by the Working Tools as symbols of our morality and as lessons into what we should be learning in each of the degrees… studying, internalizing, and then applying to our lives. During that time, I decided to explore what the other Grand Jurisdictions around the world were doing for their tools as well as their EA rituals and discovered that within the United Grand Lodge of England (“UGLE”), there was an extra tool, namely the chisel. I started wondering, why we did not have the chisel as well? This in turn, became a rabbit hole which, like Alice, I rapidly descended into this undiscovered world and family of Freemasonry.

As I explored, I discovered that the Grand Lodges within the USA are all remarkably similar in their rituals, and their form make them like siblings. When compared to the Canadian Provincial Lodges, the similarities are strong, but we are more like first cousins, and then when compared to the United Grand Lodge of England or the Grand Lodge of Scotland, we become even further removed; of the same family with some distinct likenesses, but differences have evolved over the generations.

We start with the exploration of some of the numerology of Freemasonry, in this case the number three (3). The preponderance of triads, or sets of three items, is one of the striking features of Freemasonry. There seems to be three of everything: three degrees, three knocks at the door, three principal officers, three greater lights, three lesser lights, three immovable jewels, three movable jewels; this list goes on and on and is continually explored. In fact, Freemasonry abounds in so many symbolic triads it is even more striking when a set of Masonic Symbols does NOT come in a group of three (3)! In most USA jurisdictions, there are three working tools ONLY in the Fellowcraft degree; the Entered Apprentice has two working tools, and the Master Mason’s degree has only one. In other countries, most notably Englishspeaking ones, each degree comes with a triad of working tools. Under the UGLE, the third tool of the Entered Apprentice is the Chisel, and the Master Mason’s tools are the Skirret, the Pencil, and the Compasses.

Let us explore all these tools, as well as the trowel which is notably absent in Canadian, Australian, English and Scottish Lodges.

Under the UGLE, the first two working tools of the Entered Apprentice—the Twenty-four-inch Gauge and the Common Gavel, are the same as in the USA. With the Twenty-four-inch Gauge (basically a twofoot-long ruler), we discover, that “it being divided into twenty-four equal parts is emblematical of the twenty-four hours of the day, which we are taught to divide into three equal parts whereby we find eight hours for the service of God and a distressed worthy brother, eight for our usual vocations and eight for refreshment and sleep.” We further learn in our Installation of Officers work, that, “The Rule directs that we should punctually observe our duty, press forward in the path of virtue, and inclining neither to the right nor to the left, in all our actions have eternity in view.” In both pieces of ritual, balance in our lives, our actions, and our thoughts is our longterm goal.

An interesting thing to note, that while the Twentyfour-inch Gauge is identical to that in the US, the explanation of the Common Gavel is slightly different in Scotland. Scottish ritual explains the Gavel “teaches us that skill without exertion is of little avail, that labor is the lot of man, for the heart may conceive, and the head may devise in vain, if the hand be not prompt to execute the design.”

Contrasted to our ritual, where the Common Gavel serves to “divest the heart and consciousness of the vices and superfluities of life,” the Scottish Gavel emphasizes the need for exertion and effort in a timely manner to accomplish our goals.

Although the Twenty-four-Inch Gauge and Common Gavel may be familiar to US Blue Lodge Masons, the Chisel is not! The Chisel, “points out to us the advantages of education, by which means alone we are rendered fit members of regularly organized Society.” This concept, pairing the Chisel with education is a fascinating juxtaposition as we often consider that education is cumulative, where over time, we “accumulate” knowledge, skills, and qualifications. The Chisel is an implement of great sharpness made use of by Operative Masons that cleaves unnecessary rock from usable stone. This is an idea that education might be used to pare away the unnecessary while leaving us with only what is vital is both profound and paradoxical meriting deep study and contemplation. In fact, the chisel is a tool of paradoxes: small, yet powerful; emblematic of education via elimination, not accumulation. This makes sense when put in combination with the

paradoxical nature of the candidate’s preparation: “neither naked nor clad, barefoot, nor shod, hoodwinked” (“yet seeking light”), and with a cable tow once around his neck in which condition, he is seeking freedom.

The three English and Scottish tools of the Fellowcraft: the Plumb, the Square and the Level, are identical and ritual demonstrates that they are emblematical of identical teachings, “the Plumb admonishes us to walk uprightly in our several stations before God and man, squaring our actions by the Square of Virtue, ever remembering we are traveling along the level of time to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns”. Easy enough to do, EXTREMELY hard to do well.

The three English working tools of the Master Mason are foreign to the American Mason from any of our multitude of our Grand Jurisdictions. Although the Compasses have special significance to the Master Mason, ritual ascribes and reinforces the use of this valuable tool as taught to our Entered Apprentices in the USA as to “circumscribe our actions and keep us within due bounds” as well as to our Worshipful Masters, “to limit our desires in every station, that rising to eminence by merit, we may live respected and die regretted.” Yet, in English/Scottish/Canadian ritual, “The Compasses remind us of God’s unerring and impartial justice, Who, having defined for our instruction the limits of good and evil, will reward or punish as we have obeyed or disregarded His Divine commands.” The circumscribing aspect of the Compasses is here re-iterated, but with a special emphasis on the idea of justice, and that if we fail to subdue our passions (and improve ourselves in Masonry), then we will be judged for it, even if we are to escape earthly punishment. In the USA, we have replaced this with the Emblem of the Book of Constitutions guarded by the Tyler’s Sword which “reminds us that we should be ever watchful in our thoughts, words, and actions, particularly when before the uninitiated; every bearing in remembrance those truly Masonic virtues, Silence and Circumspection.”

The Compasses should be familiar to every Master Mason in the USA, yet the Skirret and Pencil are not, but neither are their lessons only apt for those who have been raised to the Sublime Degree. Ritual explains that the Skirret, “is an implement which acts on a center pin, whence a line is drawn to mark out ground for the foundation of the intended

structure. Whereas we, as Free and Accepted Masons, are taught to make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of pointing out that straight and undeviating line of conduct laid down for our pursuit in the Volume of the Sacred Law.” Further, we learn that “the Line teaches us the criterion of moral rectitude, to avoid dissimulation in conversation and action, and to direct our steps to the path which leads to immortality.”

The Skirret is a tool to be used in the preparations for laying a foundation. It is like a spool of thread with a handle. The loose end of the thread has a loop or ring which will catch the center pin. The Skirret’s thread is allowed to unwind and is kept taut. Once

the desired length is reached, a piece of chalk or other marking implement may be used to mark the foundation, the Skirret’s thread keeping the chalk in a straight line all the while. It serves a similar purpose to a ruler when drawing a straight line on a piece of paper. The cleverness of it though is in its versatility. With the thread wound up, it takes up little space and can be carried in the pocket of an apron. When the Skirret’s thread is affixed to a center pin and allowed to unwind, it becomes longer than any practicable ruler, straightedge or Twenty-four-inch Gauge could ever be and equally as precise. When we consider these qualities in relation to the Volume of the Sacred Law, the Skirret becomes the tool which helps us

We are Masters not just of the Craft, but, ideally, of ourselves.”

understand how the Volume of the Sacred Law applies to ourselves. Most Volumes of the Sacred Law, be they the Torah, Bible, Koran, Bhagavad Gita, Pali Canon, etc., were written millennia ago, in cultures and contexts vastly different from our own modern world. Yet we are told in the Entered Apprentice Charge “To consider it as the unerring standard of truth and justice, and by regulating our actions by the Divine precepts it contains.” How do we apply the stories and laws of these ancient tomes to our daily lives? Via the use of reason, faith, and proper behavior at all times which is emblematically represented by the Skirret.

The third working tool of the Master Mason is the Pencil. For many of us, the pencil was the first REAL writing implement we took into our hands. After enjoying finger paints and crayons as children, our first writing and arithmetic lessons were done in pencil. Canadian Ritual explains that the pencil, “teaches us that all our words and actions are not only observed and recorded by the Most High, to whom we must render an account of our conduct through life.” The pencil reminds us that our actions not only have consequences on earth but also write a record of our conduct by which we will be judged. It we look at the Pencil more literally instead of allegorically, it is, like the Compasses and Skirret, a tool of planning. The Compasses and Pencil can be used to draw designs upon the Trestleboard, and the Skirret then helps the Master Mason prepare the ground for the foundation, before the first Fellowcraft tries the first squared stone, even before the first Apprentice descends into the quarry with Gauge, Gavel, and Chisel in hand. As Masters, we are now “overseers of the work”–we are Masters not just of the Craft, but, ideally, of ourselves. Apprentices represent the Rough Ashlars, selected for the building but completely

unprepared, and unworked. Fellowcrafts are Perfect Ashlars made ready by the hands of the workmen and tried repeatedly by the Plumb, Square, and Level. Masters, however, are stones ready to become part of the building itself. A Master, again ideally, has learned to subdue his passions, internalized, and has become inseparable from his work and is now complete. Masonry, if done correctly, should have done its work upon the Master, and then the Master is able to step back to guide the Fellowcrafts and Apprentices; he has become a Part of the Temple instead of merely a man working on it. Just like a trained swordsman is more than a man with a sword, a Mason is far more than a man with a toolbox and as such, he will now direct the rest of the Temple to be built. In the same way, Masters are expected to be able to oversee the work of building the Temple in their own souls. It is no longer sufficient to chip away upon the stone, or try ourselves by the Fellowcraft’s tools; now, as Masters, we must actively plan and contemplate the building, using the Compasses, Skirret, and Pencil.

Although the Third Degree is the culmination and completion of the Ancient Craft Blue Lodge Degrees, we also see that the Third Degree is a degree of commencement or graduation, and thereby a return to the beginning or foundation of our Masonic journey. The Compasses, Skirret, and Pencil are the tools used before all others. They are the tools of planning and design. We are masters of that which we can control; and as masters we ought to be stones, tried and true, fitting “that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”, while governing the craft with wisdom, providing strength and support for our brothers as the other workmen, and adorning our Craft by the Beauty of the fine work we hope to leave behind for the next

generation to come.

The Trowel is the Master Mason’s unique working tool in the USA, he being invested with all the implements of Masonry as well at the same time. Ritual tells us that it was “made use of by Operative Masons to spread the cement that unites the building into one common mass, but that we as Free and Accepted Masons make use of it for the more noble and glorious purpose of spreading the cement of brotherly love and affection which unites us into one sacred band or society of friends and brothers, among whom should exist no contention, except that noble contention, or rather emulation, of who can best work and best agree.” Considered so, the Trowel is an excellent complement to the Compasses, Skirret, and Pencil. While they are used before the first stone is ever hewn, the Trowel is used to complete the building, both literally and symbolically, uniting the stones and the brethren as well as the disparate elements which make up our very selves. “On this principle, Masonry unites men of every country, sect, and opinion, and conciliates true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.”

If the Entered Apprentice Degree symbolizes the physical and the Fellowcraft’s Degree the spiritual, then the Master’s Degree implies a sense of balance as well as forward thinking, placing the needs and ultimate destiny of the craft before himself and thereby it is fitting that the Master’s working tools are the tools of both the beginning, namely the Twenty-four-inch Gauge, Gavel, Chisel, Compasses, Skirret and Pencil, as well as the tools of finishing, namely, The Plumb, Square, Level and Trowel.

B. Bryan R. Musicar, Certified Lecturer Kelvyn Park-Willing Lodge No. 1075

It’s that time of year again!

Is everyone ready for the cold weather? Are your appliances going to make it through the cold? Is the engine on your vehicle going to withstand the cold? If you catch yourself in a situation where one or the other breaks down and you cannot afford the repair costs, please call IMOS to see if you qualify for our assistance program. If you know any Master Masons, Spouses, or Widows that are without heat for whatever reason, please refer them to IMOS immediately to see if we can help.

Have you or your Lodge checked on the Widows lately? Now would be the perfect time to reach out and make sure they are doing well. One little phone call can go a long way! That is a great way to be active.

Speaking of phone calls IMOS has added the option of “phone” pal to our “pen pal” program. If you know of anyone that could benefit from having a pal to correspond with please let me know.

If you know of anyone that needs a referral to IMOS, please do not hesitate to call us and give us their name and we can discreetly reach out to them. We at IMOS keep everything strictly confidential and do not share anyone’s information unless we have received permission.

To go along with the theme of this issue titled “Activity” let’s get a refresher on “You’re IMOS”! IMOS continues to encourage lodges to provide time and resources to visit homebound individuals, provide transportation, meals, offer home maintenance repairs, share holiday gifts, coordinate fellowship opportunities, trip planning, and re-establish a sense of caring and belonging for everyone involved. Lodges are encouraged to keep IMOS up to date with their efforts, so that this can be shared with other lodges, in hopes of inspiring others to instill similar programs in their own lodges. We continue to see and hear great things from lodges throughout the state! Do you want to get involved? We developed a Volunteerism Packet just for you! Please visit our website https://ilmasonicoutreach.org/get-involved for more information, or just give me a call and I will send you information.

Speaking of being active, one of our heroic Master Masons was right at the heart of where the tornado hit in Mayfield, KY. Within the first 48 hours of the disaster, Brother Paul handed out 210 gallons of coffee, 62 cases of water, 1 case of pop tarts, over 100 packs of peanut butter crackers, 250 breakfast sandwiches, and over 300 cold cut sandwiches to the emergency personnel. He also referred others in need to IMOS. Give a big thanks to Brother Paul R. McCormick for volunteering his time and resources to help those in need!!

One last thing, please let IMOS know if you have a business or know of anyone that is hiring and in need of help we may be able to refer someone. This goes along with our Career Development program we discussed a few issues back! You can also add an update by joining our linked in group at: https://www.linkedin.com/ groups/12468536/

I hope everyone has had the happiest of holidays and a blessed year ahead.

Thank you so much,

Jennifer Martin Director, Illinois Masonic Outreach Services Grand Lodge of Illinois

More Activity, More Effectiveness: Appendant Orders!

By Mark Schmidt

Throughout this year, our Most Worshipful Grand Master has asked that we focus on the future of Freemasonry in Illinois. In this issue of Illinois Freemasonry, our focus is on activity as a road to the future. I cannot imagine a more worthwhile topic for exploration. Author and leadership guru Simon Sinek has noted that “words may inspire, but only activity creates change.” I am certain that every Lodge in our state is always on the lookout for new – and more effective – ways to be active.

Yet, I would contend that many Lodges are missing out on an excellent opportunity to increase their activity, and their effectiveness. That opportunity? Support of and participation in the Masonic family of appendant bodies. Our vision for the future should be nothing less than one in which our Masonic Centers become Masonic Family Centers, in which there is an organization – a place to belong if you will – for every member of the family.

Now, I do not want to hear smirking remarks about “skirt masons” or excuses that your community does not have a DeMolay Chapter, Rainbow Assembly, or Job’s Daughters Bethel nearby. The question is this: Is your lodge willing to be active to help build these organizations?

Consider if you will, these facts:

FACT: The Order of the Eastern Star is the largest philanthropical fraternity in the world which admits both men and women to

membership. The members of the Order commit themselves to being “willing helpers” in the beneficent principles of Freemasonry. Whether it be support of the Eastern Star Home in Macon, activity in communityfocused projects like Soles for the Souls, scholarships, or care for the poor and distressed, OES members are not just talking the talk, but also walking the walk of the Masonic Family. While these activities may have slowed because of the ongoing pandemic, they will certainly rebound as soon as it is safe for them to

The question should never be “why would a Mason want to join Eastern Star?” Rather, it should be “why wouldn’t a Mason jump at the chance to join a Chapter?” Eastern Star provides a wonderful opportunity for husbands and wives to pursue Masonic activities together. Membership provides wives with a better understanding of what their husbands are doing in Blue Lodge, and Eastern Star Chapters have a proven record of support for Masonic activities conducted by local lodges. Additionally, the many social opportunities offered

by Eastern Star provide a terrific way to make more friends among the Masonic Family.

Your community might not currently have an OES Chapter. But, during a time in which Brothers regularly drive an hour or more to help another Lodge, almost every Lodge in Illinois is within a reasonable drive of an Eastern Star Chapter.

FACT: Masonic youth orders are becoming stronger. After a downturn over the course of the past two decades, DeMolay, Rainbow and Job’s Daughters are once again growing. There are three clear indicators for this fact: 1) Membership itself is growing –quickly. 2) New local groups are being instituted in many areas of our state. 3) In areas without a youth order, teens (and their parents) are willing to drive an hour or more to enjoy the fun and benefits of being part of the Masonic Family. Even with high school athletics and many other activities, once introduced to our youth orders, teens are motivated and want to belong.

Of course, this essay does not include the other worthy and beneficial appendant bodies that add so much to the advancement of our communities.

If your Lodge does not have an active Fraternal Relations Chair, it should. Get to know your appendant bodies. As you do, you will find that they welcome your membership, are willing to partner with you, and will increase the overall activity of the Masonic Family in your area. Let us turn all our Masonic Centers into Masonic Family Centers. It will increase our activity and our effectiveness!

W.B. Mark Schmidt Rochester Lodge No. 635

OES members are not just talking the talk, but walking the walk.”

Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association

By Mark D. Nokes

The Masonic Secretaries Association was founded in January 1974 for Secretaries of Blue Lodges to meet, discuss, and find ways to help promote Freemasonry as well as improve communication between the Northeast Area Lodges and our Grand Lodge. Instrumental in the growth of the Masonic Secretaries Association was Right Worshipful Brother Clarence Casson. For many years RWB Casson managed the affairs of the Association and saw many ideas flourish into everyday items used in most Blue Lodges

in Illinois today. One of the most recognized items still used today is the “The Intender Program.” While it has evolved through the years it is a valuable education tool available to members as they progress through their degrees. Seasoned members can also make use of it to brush up on their Masonic Education and understanding of our three degrees. In addition to the Masonic Secretaries Association, a Fellowship Discussion Group was formed to discuss items that enhance the running of our lodges and to building better fellowship

with the Secretaries, Officers, and members of the various lodges.

In 1998 Brother Andrew Torok started a foundation that would help fund various educational programs as well as other 501(C3) Masonic organizations. Each year the foundation receives several requests for grants for various programs, projects, and appendant funding. The foundation annually sponsors the Midwest Conference on Masonic Education. Over the years the foundations have made grants to the Medinah Shrine Therapy Dogs, Valley of Chicago

(AKA Masonic Secretaries Association)

Dyslexia Programs, Wounded Warriors, the Masonic Assistance Program at Illinois Masonic Hospital, and several other Masonic Charities.

The Secretaries Association reaches out to the lodges in Illinois requesting nominations for Secretary of the Year (SOY). Each year the Secretaries Association sponsors a dinner during the Annual Communications for the Grand Lodge of Illinois and awards the SOY. Along with the dinner we have a keynote speaker. This year just happened to be the year we elected a new Grand Master, and our speaker gave an eloquent presentation on the Grand Masters jewel. The Association thought it would be appropriate to award more than one SOY. We reached out to various Grand Lodge staff members for recommendations. In 2021 we awarded 5 Secretary of the Year Awards, one for each area of the state.

We want to thank the Grand Lodge of Illinois for the tools they have provided over the years, especially MORI now called Groupable. This tool along with Our Lodge Page have made it easier to communicate with the Grand Lodge as well as get messages out to membership in a timelier fashion. The Secretaries Association works closely with both the Illinois’ Lodge of Research as well as the State Education Officers. Please check their website: https://illinoislodgeofresearch. org. Both groups heavily support education and research for the Fraternity. If you are interested in learning more about the Secretaries Association, please reach out to our Secretary Brother Thomas Bachochin radioman160@gmail.com or WB Mark D. Nokes at WM@illinoislodgeofresearch.org

W.B. Mark D. Nokes Worshipful Master, Illinois Lodge of Research Vice President/Treasurer, Masonic Secretary Association

Masonry Craft Initiation the Speculative Work into of

By Aaron Wilcox

Throughout our Masonic life we have contemplated what duties we owe to our God, our country, our neighbor and to ourselves. “Blue lodges,” also known as “Craft” or “Ancient Craft Lodges,” refer to the lodges that work the first three degrees in Masonry. It is explicitly the first, and implicitly the second and third degrees which I am about to cover.

Each of us come from a different place, family, neighborhood; yet we are Brothers, but what duty do we owe to one other? The very first duty we owe to each other is to subdue our own passions. This is necessary to truly be able to aid and assist our Masonic family and meet upon the square. If we are successful in doing this then we will all be much better off, and ensure the perpetuity of the august institution, as Brothers have done since time immemorial. This is also the Masonic identity of the Saints John of Jerusalem.

The circle with the point in the center with two parallel lines one each side represent the lines of our duty, but also if turned sideways it symbolizes the furthest the sun may travel at Summer Solstice and Winter Solstice. This is what is hieroglyphically represented as the St. Johns. John the Baptist was the cousin of Jesus, who was born 6 months before him. He symbolizes the Summer Solstice and the coming of the spiritual Light

that Jesus the Christ represents. John the Evangelist is celebrated the sixth day after the Winter Solstice because he signals the return of the Sun, represented by Jesus who is risen from the dead at Easter, the first Sunday after the first Full Moon following the Spring Equinox, which taken together with the solstices symbolize the cross.

Lately awareness on this topic has grown but let us explore this further. The circle represents the Sun, the soul (from Latin Sol meaning sun) of man, and Gold. Alchemy is at play here also because if we subdue our passions, and convert our passions into virtues, we may transform our base nature (lead) into that of virtue (Gold). In other words, we can make good men better if they contemplate upon the mysteries of Freemasonry and do the Great Work.

We also learn to divide our time which takes effort, but in so doing we keep our energies within due bounds and take control over with our minds. The line formed by using the gauge and tracing from the center to the circumference reveals to us our Cabletow, wrapped once around our neck which was dividing our head or mind from our body, the center of which is the Solar plexus representing the soul.

If we break down the word Radius, we encounter two words: Ra and Dius. Ra is the name of the Egyptian God of the Sun and Dius from the Greek means “divine.” Taken together the word radius can be interpreted as the throne of the sun.

Dius is related to the word Dais which means disc in old French, derived from the solar disc of Apollo, and later came to mean a table, raised platform, or throne. We call the principal officers of the Lodge Dais officers for this reason. Dius was a son of Apollo, the god of sunlight, prophecy, music, and poetry. His full name was Dius Fidius or Dius Fidus, and his name was thought to be related to Fides, who is often hieroglyphically represented as an image of two hands joined. Dius was the god of oaths, associated with Jupiter, and in the classical system of astrology, or the seventh science. His place

the day of the Sun as a day of rest from labor, even though it is written in the Hebrew Bible that their God rested on the 7th day, yet on the first created Light. For this reason the Romanized world adopted the solar calendar and the Hebrews kept their Sabbath on the 7th day, the day of Saturn. The remaining days are named for Norse gods: Twix, Woden, Thor, and Freya as a political move as well, to appease the Norse, Germanic, Anglo Saxon and Celtic Europeans and to influence all cultures to adopt the Roman calendar which as we can see today worked out very well.

Each planet representing a different note in the octave in music, which is the sixth science and leads to astrology. The geometry that proves the octave is the same that defines the layout of the lodge and governs the colors; therefore, some people can hear sound in color or see color in sound even when they read. Four percent of the world’s population experience this mysterious phenomenon, it is called synesthesia.

This guides us in our understanding of the connections between sound, color, and light or electricity as they all are governed by the physics of frequency, built upon geometry or the fifth science. Cymatics is also a fascinating Segway which I encourage you to learn more about which illustrates how a sound could create, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’

may be found with a little extra seeking among the seven principal officers of a Lodge of Masons, which also represent the seven planets in the classical solar system, beginning with the Sun and culminating with Saturn.

It is written, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light... and there was light.”

Each day of the week has a corresponding color, this also corresponds to the seven classical planets, which in Latin languages name these plants; while in English only Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon are named to show respect to the Mohomodeanns, Hebrew, and many pagan cultures as they revered the moon, Saturn for the ancient Roman cults, Greek, and Claldeans, and the Sun for the later Roman cult of Sol Invictus who superimposed the Christian sabbath upon

Dius Fidus is still waiting to reveal the secret to his veiled identity. Let us speculate and find his name through word study. Fidus is a version of the name for the god Fides, which is why he is known to be the god of oaths, because only a man with virtue can take an oath that could be binding upon him. Dius, as we have established, means the throne and Fidus means fidelity or virtue. Taken together his name Dius Fidus means the throne of virtue.

We my Brother, are at a distance, spread all over the world. Many of us shut inside due to an epidemic, yet we are connecting as Brothers through the work of our hearts. We are inside of the most sacred of spaces, first made possible by asking, then seeking, and then knocking at the door of the hidden mysteries. After subduing the passions, we were able to meet on the level, and forget our worldly titles seeing each other as souls. Humbly building that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

We must learn to use the radius, or the line of our duty. This line is also our Cabletow, since it is the line of our duty that we are instructed not to go beyond. It is the radius we can travel to aid and assist a worthy brother, and represents the tie that

held us in place, and was symbolically used to pull us higher in our Masonic advancement, we can deduce from the meaning of the word, cable meaning a thick rope used to tow a dense or difficult to move object. After the oath, the cable is removed because at that time you are cemented in place as a living stone, bound by an obligation stronger than human hands may impose.

This Circumpunct gives us much more to contemplate than what we might have initially accepted when we were initiated into the teachings thereof. Let us review the meanings of, “initiated” for our speculative purposes include both 1. to be inducted into membership by or as if by special rites, as well as 2. to cause or facilitate the beginning of an action or study, or to be introduced to. This means that in all the symbols of Freemasonry, there is an abundance of deeper truths and understandings to be found by the contemplative. This is significant if you desire to draw further lines as you continue your speculative travels as a journeyman or traveler of the work.

Just remember to balance your time in this pursuit, for even Masonic work must be balanced with the charity you owe to yourself in refreshment and sleep. Let us never neglect that three-part harmony, which includes service to your God and a worthy Brother, reserving time as well to your usual professional and creative vocations. This is also known as spirit, mind, and body. By developing Faith, Hope and Charity within our hearts and minds we succeed in creating a perfectly balanced and prosperous life, impossible without the care of our Brothers. We soon become capable of climbing above who we were before, transcending from the level of the tessellated floor to the heavenly regions above.

By now I am sure you have already made many connections in your mind between this point and points I have made. You will make many more for yourself, to share with Brothers, and there are still more which I would like with your permission to explain. We will speculatively connect our lines together into a superficies and upon further study into a solid but let us continue with our EA work for the time being.

If our work is to begin and continue to completion, we first must find and prove the line of our duty in the first degree by learning who we are at our core through the challenging work of subduing our passions. By making use of the common gavel and 24-inch gauge we shape our own mind and learn to balance the time which will be required to become the best builder we can become. In the division of our time whereby we

find eight hours for the service of God and distressed worthy brethren, eight for our usual vocations, and eight for refreshment and sleep. We find the power to subdue the passions as we also are practicing opposite acts which counterbalance the passions.

As we employ the 24-inch gauge and speculate upon the hidden meanings of the division of time, we lift one of the initiatory veils in Masonry and reveal to us the greatest of forces that we will require to complete our life long Masonic work together. In the first degree circumambulation, we recall Psalm 133, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” In this phrase, another mystery is revealed if seen in the context of our present study. Time is of the essence, as well as unity.

The only way we can dwell together as Freemasons, and truly be in unity is if we have done the work so far described such as subduing the passions. To work as craftsmen, we first need to be sure we have the ashlar in our possession, also known as the Philosopher’s Stone. In alchemy, the stone is that which must be refined, the goal being to turn lead into gold, never physical gold but philosophical gold. We learn to use the gold of the mind and soul to take control of the silver of the body.

“Masonic labor is purely a labor of love. He who seeks to draw Masonic wages in gold and silver will be disappointed. The wages of a Mason are earned and paid in their dealings with one another; sympathy that begets sympathy, kindness begets kindness, helpfulness begets helpfulness, and these are the wages of a Mason.”

— Benjamin Franklin

This connects directly to the reason Masons are caused to divest themselves of everything of a metallic kind, because it is not the external qualities of man, but the internal that is the true treasure. The symbolic treasure map leading to the philosopher’s stone, written in the chamber of reflections simply reads, “V.I.T.R.I.O.L.” known to the profane to mean to be cruel or the fiercely criticize, to the alchemist it is sulfuric acid, but to us it means to criticize yourself and your imperfections, to subdue and remove the rough parts of your nature.

R.W.B. Aaron Wilcox Hinsdale Lodge No. 934

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Frankfort Lodge No. 567 Loaded with Spirit of Christmas

By James Duff

Brothers from Frankfort Lodge No. 567 got together on Saturday, December 18, 2021, and did a little Christmas shopping. The result was two pickup truck beds filled with food, toiletries, and other necessities, which were then delivered to the Nights Shield Family Advocacy Center in West Frankfort, Illinois.

The Nights Shield is a haven for families in distress, homeless youth, and others in crisis situations. The Center has numerous outreach programs and helps with food, clothing, and shelter. As a result of this much needed donation, many of those in attendance were brought to tears seeing the scope of the donation.

In addition to The Nights Shield donation, Frankfort Lodge No. 567 also made several cash donations to local schools

to help assist students with food items and other needs during the Christmas break. The donations provided by the Lodge are funded in part by Frankfort Lodge No. 567 Smokers, a group made up entirely of Lodge members who volunteer their time and efforts, and hold several smoked meat fundraisers throughout the year, with 100% of the profit donated back into the Lodge. In the past, they smoked their “almost world famous” baby back

ribs, pork shoulders, and most recently smoked ½ chicken and rib dinners. You can search “567 Smokers” on Facebook to learn more about their fundraising. Volunteers include W.M. Jim Duff, S.W. Mark McDaniels, S.D. Anthony Hargrove, J.D. Mike Rennie, and Brothers Logan Wilburn, Bill Davis, Gabe McCord, and numerous other Brothers.

Worshipful Master James Duff Frankfort Lodge No. 567

Local Family Receives Help from Payson Lodge and Fire Department

By Grant Cole

With a grant from the Illinois Masonic Charities Assistance Program, I had the privilege to present a certificate and a check for $900 to the Payson-Fall Creek Volunteer Fire Department. Payson Lodge No. 379, along with the department, adopted a local family this past Christmas. This worthy family is led by two industrious parents. The family was unaware that they had

been adopted or that they would be the recipients of assistance during Christmas.

Every year, the community comes together to help at least one family and to improve the lives of some children during the holiday season. Over the past three years, the lives of four families and twelve children have been helped through

Reaching 100 Years of Age Never Looked So Good

By Graham Houser

Communities around Illinois have many opportunities to celebrate historic milestones of past events. Not too often does one get together to celebrate a rare milestone, the 100th celebration of a birthday. Such an event happened on December 29, 2021, in Urbana, Illinois.

our partnership with the Payson Fire Department. All the gifts were wrapped and distributed just prior to Christmas. Thank you to the IMCAP grant, Payson Lodge No. 379 was able to help build a better community in Payson, Illinois.

R.W.B. Grant W. Cole

Worshipful Master, Payson Lodge No. 379

Brother James Kelly, a member of Urbana Lodge No. 157, was joined by family, friends, and several Lodge Brothers in celebration of his 100th birthday. The celebration was held at the American Legion Post No. 71. Brother Kelly was raised as a Master Mason on September 11, 1951, is a life member with 70 years of good service, and a veteran

Marine Corps. Congratulations on reaching this historic milestone.

W.B. Graham Houser

Urbana Lodge No. 157

Pictured below are Brother Dana Pickens, Worshipful Master Grant Cole, Mr. Roy Noble, and Bryan Kamphaus, both with the Payson-Fall Creek Volunteer Fire Department.

of the United States

Left to right: R.W.B. Brad Cronk, D.D.G.M. 7th E, Brother James Kelly, W.B. Ron Lyman

Never Too Late for Activity

By Thomas Hill

It takes a special man to care for his faith, home, family, friends, and his lodge. We know that priorities can change depending on where we are through ages and stages. One Masonic Brother in Cuba, Illinois, seems to have found the right balance. He has an indefatigable energy to celebrate life daily.

Born on March 4, 1925, Worshipful Brother James “Peck” Hart was initiated as an Entered Apprentice on November 25, 1946, passed to the Degree of Fellowcraft on January 9, 1947, and raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on February 20, 1947. W.B. Hart journeyed through the chairs and was installed as Worshipful Master of Cuba Lodge No. 534 in 1954. Through the 66 years since serving as Master, this exemplary Mason has been at most lodge meetings, degree work, and has helped with fund raising as he served at the will and pleasure of each Worshipful Master and the good of the lodge. On February 20, 2022, our Brother will receive his pin as a 75-year member of Cuba Lodge No. 534.

His Lodge has 3 to 5 spaghetti dinners annually. The Lodge also serves sliced Bar-B-Q sandwiches, homemade ice cream and lemon aid shake-ups during the community of Cuba’s “Soldiers and Sailors Reunion”. During the annual Spoon River Drive the Lodge makes homemade ice cream and has a serving booth at the Red Brick School in Smithfield. Whether the brethren have gathered to smoke meat, make ice cream, or serve dinners, WB Peck is there to wash dishes, pots and pans, scrub buckets, butter bread and wash and quarter lemons. He is one of the first to arrive and often the last to leave earning him the nickname of “The Eveready Bunny”.

At the dinners he serves as our ambassador. He always has a good word to offer and extends his hand to everyone he greets. He knows virtually everyone that walks through the doors. At the age of ninety-six he knows you, your parents, your grandparents and in some cases your great grandparents.

On November 20, 2021, WB Hart was installed as the Worshipful Master of Cuba Lodge No. 534. On his 75th year as a Master Mason we could think of no better tribute than to serve the will and pleasure of W.M. Hart for the ensuing Masonic year. It has been our pleasure over the years to be associated with Peck and we will extend every courtesy to assure he has a successful and pleasant year as the Worshipful Master of Cuba Lodge No. 534.

R.W.B. Thomas Hill D.D.G.M. 4W

Looking for Light?

By Henrik Schrader

No! Literally! Are you looking for daylight? If you are, look no further. Let me introduce you to our daytime Lodge, Sunrise Lodge No 996, located in Riverside, Illinois.

We are a small daytime Lodge in the near western suburbs of Chicago and one beautiful October morning in 1916 the officers of Sunrise Lodge received our Charter from the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of Illinois and we have not looked back since. Sunrise was formed with those brethren in mind that are not able to attend an evening Lodge due to their regular vocations, personal obligations or physical or medical issues.

It does not matter if you are like many of our members that work the afternoon or evening shift, or like others that have difficulty driving at night, you are saved. You can always get your Masonic fix at one of our meetings. We meet every 2nd Monday of the month at 11 am at the Riverside Masonic Temple, 40 Forest Avenue, in Riverside, Illinois. We recently managed to grab the former Executive Butcher and Sous Chef of

the famous Drake Hotel. As a result, our lunches that are served right after the meeting are well received by all attendees.

We are a small Lodge with thirty-five members and we found ourselves last year debating to move our meetings to a different time to accommodate more brethren, but we decided to stick it out as a daytime Lodge and thereby better serve our above-mentioned brethren. So, if you find yourself in the situation where you cannot attend your regular Lodge’s Stated Meetings for whatever reasons, feel free to try us at Sunrise.

I want to make perfectly clear that by drafting this article, we are not trying to steal members from other Lodges. We just want to raise some awareness, that there are options for those brethren to partake in Masonic fellowship who are not able to attend meetings at their evening Lodges. All Master Masons are welcome to visit, one of the last few remaining daytime Lodges, and either join as a plural member or just visit and enjoy some Masonic education and fellowship plus a nice lunch on a regular basis. If you are interested or have any further questions, please reach out to me at Sunrise996Sec@gmail.com or text/ call me at (709) 262-1861.

R.W.B. Henrik Schrader

Sunrise Lodge No. 996

Here’s what’s happening this spring:

• 2nd Quarter Anniversaries

• 2022 Grand Lodge Golf Outing

• Grand Master’s Letter

• 2022 Academic Bowl Results

• What Are Masonic Challenge Coins

• 2021 Mason and Patriot of the Year