From the East: Greetings, Brethren!
As a brief introduction for those who do not yet know us, Wilmette Park Lodge No.
931 meets at 7:30pm on the first and third Thursday of each month in Wilmette, a
Northern Chicagoland area community located between Evanston and Kenilworth along
the western shore of Lake Michigan. Wilmette Park Lodge No. 931 meets on the 3rd
floor in the Wilmette Masonic Temple located at 1010 Central Ave., Wilmette, IL 60091,
where there is elevator access as well as generous parking both in our off-street parking
and also along Central Ave and the surrounding streets. Meals are available on Stated
Meeting nights, the first Thursday of the month, at the Wilmette Masonic Temple. Meals
on Special Meeting nights, the third Thursday of the month, are frequently eaten together
at area restaurants in time to make the 7:30pm opening gavel at the Wilmette Masonic
Temple.
The month of May and early June has been a great time together in productive Stated
Meetings, in conferring a Second Degree, and in preparation for the Wilmette Park Lodge
Picnic on June 16. It has been very pleasant for the officers and brethren of Wilmette
Park Lodge to come together in growing numbers! We always look forward to seeing
our brethren and we recognize that it is sometimes more difficult for some of us to make
our meetings. We are very pleased to welcome back to our meetings Brother Chris
Alonzi after his long journey back to good health!
Another area of effort at Wilmette Park Lodge has been in the Bylaws Committee
which has met, prepared and presented the proposed Bylaws amendments, and is looking
forward to a good turnout at the July 18 Stated Meeting when we will vote on those
amendments.
Wilmette Park Lodge is also preparing for a Special Meeting that will occur on
Thursday, July 11. In the Special Meeting on July 11 we will be raising another
candidate to Master Mason. The officers and brethren of Wilmette Park Lodge look
forward to coming together on July 11 to welcome our newest Master Mason to full
membership!
Two days later, on Saturday, July 13, the brethren of Wilmette Park Lodge will once
again throw the doors to our building open to the community during the Wilmette Street
Fair. There will be an open installation of officers for the Royal Arch Masons of
Wilmette Chapter 253 that same day. Come out and join us in a day of celebration of our
community, of our fraternity, and of our facilities!
The Officers and brethren of Wilmette Park Lodge are also working hard to prepare
for future Degree work. We have set a date of Thursday, July 25, for a night of training
in preparation for future Degree conferrals. The evening of July 25 is a night for
continuing our study of our standard work and for refining our execution of that standard
work. Although there is not yet a Third Degree conferral scheduled following July 25,
we will be focusing solely on Thursday, July 25, on the first and second sections of the
Third Degree. Just as we encourage our candidates to work diligently at their progress,
the Officers of Wilmette Park Lodge are committed to continuing our progress in our
understanding and execution of our standard work. We invite all Master Masons to join
us on Thursday, July 25, at 1010 Central Ave. in Wilmette as we make another
installment in our continuing investment in ourselves as individual Masons and as future
Officers.
There will also be other upcoming events that will occur in July and August that we
will advertise on our website and Facebook page as those plans come together.
As the brethren of Wilmette Park Lodge work and play hard together to improve and
support ourselves and our community, though, we will always have room for another
Brother to join us as at least a guest!
To learn what the brethren of Wilmette Park Lodge have been up to and to see what is
coming up next for Wilmette Park Lodge, please visit us on the web at
http://www.mastermason.com/wilmettepark/, on Facebook by searching for “Wilmette
Park Lodge 931”, in our articles in the Wilmette Patch, and in our subsequent Temple
Topics articles.
The Officers and brethren of Wilmette Park Lodge No. 931 look forward to seeing
you in lodge!
Fraternally,
Gary Wayne Hardesty II, P.M.
Worshipful Master – Wilmette Park Lodge No. 931
From the South:
The visit to the Wilmette Village Hall in April was interesting. As a bonus, it counts
towards the Grand Masters Award of Excellence program. Five brothers had a good time
before at dinner as well as after the visit.
At our Special Meeting in May, the cast from the York Rite College did an excellent job
in performing the play “Hiram the Work”, which is aimed at Master Masons who want to
learn even more about Masonry, which is possible by becoming a Royal Arch Mason.
Since the feedback on the Table Lodge we held in February was so good, we are planning
another one in fall, more details will follow in the next months.
Another event we will be holding after the summer is a billiard tournament. The last
official tournament was about 82 years ago, so it is long overdue. The winner’s name
will be engraved on the plaque which can be admired on the wall of our banquet hall.
On May 2nd our Educational Officer, Brother Hoover, gave an interesting presentation on
Elias Boudinot, who lived from May 2, 1740 – October 24, 1821 and served in numerous
positions during the War for Independence, culminating in his role as 4th president of the
Continental Congress from 1782 to 1783. As president, he signed the Treaty of Paris,
ending hostilities with Great Britain.
So far 2013 has been a great culinary year, several home cooked meals were served,
some reflecting the heritage of our Brether. To name a few dishes, a roast that had been
smoked for 7 hours, Austrian style pork tenderloin with spaetzle and a sauce of dark beer,
authentic Mexican tacos, and Columbian specialties.
On the July 13th, the same day as the Open House, the Royal Arch Masons of Wilmette
Chapter 253 will have an open installation at 11:00 in the Wilmette Masonic Temple.
From the Education Committee Chair:
July is most known for the month that we celebrate the birth of our nation. As we all
know, the Masonic Fraternity had a lot to do with bringing liberty and freedom from
tyranny to our country's founding forefathers and families. But did you know that July
was the month that the very first charter for a Masonic Lodge in the United States was
granted 43 years before that? St. John's Lodge in Boston Massachusetts claims the title
of the very first Lodge charted in the United States.
Here's an excerpt of part of the history from St. John's Lodge's website:
Contemporary accounts reveal that a Masonic lodge had met in King’s Chapel, Boston,
as early as the 1720s (meeting according to the “old customs”). In 1733, Henry Price, a
prominent tailor and storekeeper who had emigrated to Boston in 1723, was appointed
“Provincial Grand Master of New England and Dominions and Territories thereunto
belonging” and authorizing him “to Constitute the Brethren now Residing or who shall
hereafter reside in those parts into One or more Regular Lodge or Lodges as he shall
think fit” by the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, Anthony Lord Viscount
Montague. On July 30, 1733, at a meeting held at The Bunch of Grapes Tavern in
Boston, Henry Price exercised his authority and granted a group of eighteen Masons a
charter empowering them to work as a Masonic lodge in Boston. Thus was formed St.
John’s Lodge, the first duly constituted and chartered lodge in the Americas.
To find out more about this lodge and/or to visit look here:
http://www.stjohnsboston1733.org/history/
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