Polk County’s Masonic leaders help woman in need

Written by Trey Youngdahl, 32°

Polk County is home to three Masonic lodges: Dallas Lodge No. 128, Mountain Meadow Lodge No. 218, and Wickes Lodge No. 548. When the area’s Masonic leaders heard of a woman in need, they were more than eager to help.

Freemasonry has a longstanding reputation for charity. One of the earliest lessons a Mason learns is one of charity, and the value of being able to support others when they are in need. In Arkansas, Freemasonry is responsible for several philanthropic acts, including the laying of the foundation for the Arkansas School for the Blind building, the erection of the Children’s Clinic and Hospital buildings at the Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Booneville, the establishment of an orphanage called The Masonic Home in Batesville, the construction of the occupational therapy building at Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, not to mention the several charitable acts that Masons do every single day that go unnoticed. In Masonry, we say, “The Masonic Way is to give without remembering and to receive without forgetting.”

These projects don’t just happen on a wider scale. Local lodges are more than happy to help people who are in need. James Fry, Master of Mountain Meadow Lodge No. 218 in Hatfield, was the first to hear of a woman in Cove whose power had suddenly gone out and wasn’t able to get it fixed.

“I was studying the Bible with my son when all of the sudden there was a pop and the lights just went out,” the woman explained. “Hiring an electrician would’ve been way too expensive for us, so we had to just make-do without power to half of the house.”

Fry passed the information on to Terry Fuquay, Master of Dallas Lodge No. 128 in Mena and David Jennings, Master of Wickes Lodge No. 548, at Fuquay’s church in Mena, The Shepherd’s Word. The three made plans to help the woman in need without hesitation.

“I have always helped someone who needed help. I believe this is a lost thing that neighbors and family have done when anyone, especially when a woman with kids at home or someone on hard times that needed help. Everyone needs to do more of this,” Fry said. “Maybe the world will heal itself. What you give out you may get back when you need help.”

All three Masonic leaders got to the woman’s house as soon as they could, and got right to work, free of charge. The fix ended up being much simpler than the Masons had anticipated.

“Some places I have seen have crazy wiring so it’s usually a process of elimination. Find the last place that you have power and find the closest place to it that doesn’t. And if you are lucky, it’s the same run of wire. Other times, it is the luck of the draw, you wiggle the right wire and find the problem and then repair it,” Jennings said. “Be careful around any electrical circuits, and don’t stick your tongue to it.”

Because of the emphasis Freemasonry places on charity, Dallas Lodge No. 128 grants a scholarship called the Rex Burns Memorial Scholarship to a student in Polk County every year.

“The Brotherhood of Freemasonry was founded and established on a charity called brotherly love. Freemasonry was designed by the guiding light of the precepts of God’s word to be a sacred retreat of charity where men are encouraged to discipline themselves by allowing the Bible to be the rule and guide of their faith and practice as they serve their God, their family and their country,” Fuquay said. “Charity must not have any limitations in any of our walks of life. The only limitations are found in seeking the appropriate actions when charity is our guide.”