Masonic Information

Fri Oct 8 08:50:51 EDT 2004

[MasonicIcon] I am very active in Freemasonry. You may wish to look through some of the articles I have written on Masonic topics.

[gavel]
As of 2003 December, I hold the following offices, past offices and/or positions:

Past Master, National-Stansbury-Dawson Lodge #12, FAAM of DC
Meets 7:30 pm, 4th Wednesday, Takoma Lodge Hall, 115 Carroll St. NE, Washington, DC (dark in July, August, and December, usually)
National-Stansbury-Dawson Lodge #12 was created by consolidation of National-Stansbury Lodge #12 and Dawson Lodge #16 in May, 1997. Prior to the consolidation, I was Marshal and (immediate) Past Master of Dawson #16.
Some famous past members of Dawson Lodge include Samuel Gompers, John Philip Sousa, J. Edgar Hoover, and Adm. Arleigh Burke.
Musician (since 1990), Henry Lodge #57, AF&AM of Virginia, Fairfax

Meets 7:30 pm, 2nd Tuesday, 10503 Oak Place, Fairfax, VA
Past Commander (1999-2000), Alexandria Council of Kadosh, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Alexandria, Orient of Virginia, Southern Jurisdiction of the US

Meets 7:30 pm, 2nd Friday, 1430 W. Braddock Rd., Alexandria, VA
Past Master (1992, 1995), Adoniram-Zabud Council #2, Cryptic Masons of DC
Meets 7:30 pm, 4th Monday, Singleton Lodge Hall, 4441 Wisconsin Ave. NW, Washington, DC (dark July, August, December)
Past Grand Master (1998-9) of Cryptic Masons of DC
Grand Visitor and Lecturer of the Grand Council of Cryptic Masons of DC

Meets 1 pm, Friday before 3rd Saturday in March or on 3rd Saturday in March, Hotel Washington, Washington, DC; 1999 meeting was 8:45 am on 20 March.
The Grand Recorder is Most Illustrious Companion Urban T. "Pete" Peters.
I served as Grand Master of Cryptic Masons in the District of Columbia in 1998-99. You might wish to read my Grand Master's Address given at the conclusion of my term.
General Grand Musician, General Grand Council of Cryptic Masons, International. This is a three-year appointment, running until early October of 2005.
Sr. Warden, A. Douglas Smith, jr., Lodge of Research No. 1949, Alexandria, Virginia.
Meets fifth Saturday of months having five Saturdays, except third Saturday of every December (whether it has five Saturdays or not), at 10 am, George Washington Masonic National Memorial, 100 Callahan Drive, Alexandria, Virginia. Does not meet in November.

Giving a short talk at A. Douglas Smith Lodge of Research in 2003. (photo by Wm. Means, GL of DC photographer)
Warder and Past Worthy Patron, Hope Chapter No. 73, Order of the Eastern Star.
Meets first Friday of the month (dark July and August) at 8 pm, Henry Lodge Hall, 10503 Oak Place, Fairfax, VA.
Division Provost (education officer), Division Six, Grand Lodge of Virginia, AF&AM as of November 2003.
A Division Provost supervises Masonic education in 3-5 Masonic districts and is a member of the Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education and Publications. Division Six comprises Districts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

Most Worshipful Grand Master James Milton Scearce, Jr., presents the Committee on Masonic Education apron at the 2004 Division Leadership Conference held at Lord Fairfax Community College, Middletown, VA, on 24 January 2004.
Tiler, Perfect Ashlar Council #349, Allied Masonic Degrees, Herndon, VA.
This is a line position, so I can expect to be Sovereign Master in 2010, if I live so long...
The AMD Councils are research bodies of the York Rite, requiring that all members be Royal Arch Masons; membership is limited to 27 per Council, and one must be invited to join.
I gave my maiden paper, "Who the Deuce Was Peter Gower?" in 2003 September. The programs of AMD Council meetings are supposed to consist of papers presented by members of that Council, although this rule has occasionally been bent. Traditionally, one cannot be installed as Sovereign Master of an AMD Council unless one has presented at least one paper to the Council. Given only 27 members and quarterly meetings, one should expect to present a paper about every five or six years.

A schedule of most Masonic meetings in Washington, DC is available, as is a schedule for Northern Virginia. These schedules now provide information on meetings taking place the day they are viewed.

In the Cryptic Rite I have received the Thrice Illustrious Master Degree and the Order of Ish Sodi; I was named Cryptic Mason of the Year for 2001-02. In the A.A.S.R., I have been coroneted (in 2001) an Inspector General Honorary of the Thirty-Third Degree. In 2002, I was elected by the Supreme Assembly of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls to receive the Grand Cross of Color.

Historical Archive

Lodge

I served as Master of Dawson Lodge for the Masonic Year 1996, and you can read the Master's Plan for 1996. You can also read the Master's Messages for each month. (In the picture, I am holding the Traveling Gavel for DC, which Dawson held in 1996 from April, when it was awarded for Grand Lodge School attendance, through the end of the year, no other Lodge having visited Dawson in sufficient numbers to claim it.)

Through no particular merit or effort on my part, I was somehow elected president of the 1996 Masters' and Wardens' Association of the District of Columbia. This job seemed to consist primarily of exhorting my fellow Masters to show up for various things. In particular, there was the Masonic Day of Thanksgiving in May, there was the Independence Day Parade at Palisades Park in DC (the Masters and Wardens cooked an infinite number of hot dogs--and still ran short), and there are the many Grand Visitations. At G.V.s I got to introduce the other Masters present--by memory. There were 32 of them (besides me), but the most that were at a single G.V. was 11. (I guess I'm not a very good exhorter.) My term expired when the new President was installed on 04 January 1997; we had one last activity late that month--the Jewel Dinner, at which the 1996 officers (Masters and Wardens) turned over their traveling jewels to their successors.

Even farther back in history, I served my home Lodge, Ancient Landmark #5 in St. Paul, MN, as Sr. Steward for 1977-78, but I had to move away for job reasons (which is why I didn't become Master in 1981). My grandfather, Milton P. Firestone, 33, served as Master of Ancient Landmark #5 in 1916, exactly 80 years before I served my term as Master. He also received the Thirty-Third Degree in 1921, almost 80 years to the day (off by two days) before I received that Illustrious Degree.

Council

I have served twice as Master of Adoniram-Zabud Council #2 in DC, having been appointed to line by Illustrious Companion Hugh Shawen. On my way up, I skipped the position of Principal Conductor of Work, but I filled it the year after I served as Master. It took three tries to be elected to the bottom of the Grand Line as Grand Capt. of the Guard, so the rest of you out there--don't give up!

Scottish Rite

In late 1990, I volunteered for one of the many line positions in the Scottish Rite; what happened to be open was the bottom of the Council of Kadosh. There are fourteen offices in that line (!), but I actually started at #13 (Bearer of the Black Standard). Due to deaths and people moving away or being overwhelmed by other obligations, I skipped a number of positions and was elected Commander in 1999, rather than in 2003. Due to my successor's illness at the time of the Installation of Officers (a presiding officer cannot be installed by proxy), I also served a couple of months of his term.

I have also served as:

Prior to the degree ritual revisions, Degree Master, 32nd Degree (Master of the Royal Secret)--taking the parts of 8th Tent, Asst. Expert, and Orator. Since the ritual revision, I have swapped this job with Illustrious David Smith, the former Degree Master of the 15th Degree (Knight of the East); I've also been doing the part in the 15th Degree of Master of the Wardrobe. In the 2003 Fall Reunion, I took the part of Cyrus, King of Persia; the previous cast member (Illustrious Brother Bill Malone) assumed the part of Worshipful Ruler to replace an ailing Brother. As of Fall 2004, I'm still doing Cyrus (third time).
Asst. Degree Master (unofficial), 20th Degree (Master of the Symbolic Lodge)--taking the parts of Venerable Master, Expert, or Asst. Expert (and for the first time in 2003 October, Sr. Warden).
Asst. Degree Master, 9th Degree (Elu of the Nine)--taking the part of Banaias.
Flutist in 29th Degree, Scottish Knight of St. Andrew.
Master of Ceremonies, 12th Degree--Master Architect