Page Two
The North Carolina Mason
September,
Grand Master's Column
(Continued from Page One)
was a full week, and we had good
attendance at Ranger as well as in Bry
son City, Canton, Burnsville, and Black
Mountain.
On Friday of that week, our group
visited Oteen Hospital where we met
Brother Paul C. Sherwood of the Mason
ic Service Association Hospital Visita
tion Service, Dr. Linus A. Zink, Direct
or of the Veteran’s Hospital there, and
many of his staff. We were taken for a
tour over this fine new hospital, and
were truly impressed with the modern
facilities, as well as the dedicated ser
vice being provided the veterans as
signed there. After having a fine lunch
in the hospital dining room, it was my
privilege to speak briefly to the pa
tients over the hospital radio. We then
visited several patients, members of our
fraternity, who were unable to leave
their rooms; and afterwards met with
others in the hospital recreation room.
Also present at this time were several
DeMolay boys and their Sweethearts, as
well as some DeMolay Mothers who
served refreshments for all of us. What
many of you may not know is that vol
untary service in such hospitals is one
of the many civic projects of DeMolay
Chapters. Our group spent a total of
six hours in Oteen Hospital, and we all
agreed that it was an experience we will
not soon forget.
On Thursday, June 26, it was my
privilege to lay a cornerstone for a new
cottage for boys at Oxford Orphanage.
This is the sixth of twelve cottages
scheduled for the campus to replace the
eight old dormitories which have been
there for many years, and is my hope
that by 1975 we will be able to complete
this project which was started several
years ago.
During the following week, we held
District Meetings in Arapahoe, Cove
City, Morehead City, and Jacksonville;
followed by another trip in the western
part of the state where meetings were
held in Tryon, Spindale, Kings Moun
tain, and Gastonia. All of these meetings
were well attended and, as in our pre
vious meetings, the members of our
traveling caravan were well fed and
graciously received.
On Sunday, July 13, Nell and I and
Pete and Doris Dudley left by automo
bile for Toronto, Canada to attend the
Grand Lodge of Ontario. This trip took
us through some beautiful country in
our own state, the Shenandoah Valley in
Virginia, and on through Pennsylvania
and the western part of New York. We
arrived in Toronto in plenty of time to
relax for a while before the Grand Mas
ter’s Dinner in the Royal York Hotel
that night. Nell and I were fortunate
enough to be seated at a table with Most
Worshipful Brother John A. Irvine,
Past Grand Master in Ontario, and Mrs.
Ritualistic Team of Berne Lodge No. 724
Pictured above, under the direction of Charles T. Potter, Grand Lecturer,
is the fully costumed Degree Team of Berne Lodge No. 724 of New Bern. Left
to right: Eddie Paul, Nat Baxter, Charles Potter, Alvia Hearren, Oscar Ald
ridge. Second row: Neil Vester, James Johnson, Bill Waters, and Jack Ed
wards. The Master-Makeup artist is Barney Opphile.
Irvine, who had attended our own
Grand Lodge last April.
On the following day. Brother Dud
ley and I were escorted into Grand
Lodge along with all the Toronto Grand
Lodge officials and other visitors from
out of state to the tune of bagpipes.
This meeting was most interesting and
informative, and we feel that we gained
much being present for this Grand
Lodge session.
On our return trip home, we stopped
over in New York (Ility long enough to
do some window shopping and see a play
on Broadway. Following this, we added
icing to the cake by stopping over a cou
ple of hours in Hopewell, Virginia to
visit our daughter. Sue, her husband.
Hank, and our only granddaughter,
Doyle.
The following week we had two fine
District Meetings in Eden and Stokes-
dale, followed by a meeting of the Board
of Directors of the Masonic and East
ern Star Home in Greensboro on Satur
day. That afternoon I drove to States
ville to attend a portion of the 46th An
nual Conclave of the Order of DeMolay
in North Carolina, where it was my
privilege to speak at their Distinguished
Guests Banquet.
My schedule for the month of July
end^ with two District Meetings in
Charlotte and one at Cornelius. We had
good crowds at each of these meetings,
and our three day stay in the Charlotte
area was a most pleasant one, thanks to
the fine hospitality of Brothers Bill
Mims, Ed Burrier, Jimmy Johnston, the
District Deputy Grand Masters, and
others in the area.
During the period covered by this re
port, we received the news that our Sen
ior Grand Deacon, Brother Nat Dean,
had suffered a serious heart attack.
Brother Pete Dudley and I stopped by to
see him on July 7 and found hirn to be
much improved and in good spirits. We
have talked with him again recently,
and he informs us that he expects to be
in good shape within another few weeks.
I have had many pleasant experiences
in my travels throughout North Caro
lina during the past several montho. One
of these occured in Eden when Dr. Carl
Tyner made a special trip to the Lodge
to see me after having learned that the
Grand Master was a Hooks from Smith-
field. Brother Tyner operated a hospi
tal in Smithfield for a few years before
leaving there in 1924. My father was a
doctor of medicine in Smithfield at that
time, and Brother Tyner wanted to
know whether the Grand Master was
any relation to him. We had a delight
ful visit together discussing old times
when he was a young doctor in my home
town and I was in my early teens.
Attendance at our District Meetings
has been improving—with one or two
exceptions—during the past several
weeks. As of this writing, we have had
an average of 70 Masons present; and i
want to express my sincere appreciation
to the District Deputy Grand Masters,
the lodge officers, and other Masons
who have done so much to make these
meetings successful. One of the real re
wards for serving as Grand Master is
the pleasure of seeing so many old
friends at these meetings, and meet
ing so many new ones. I have truly en
joyed the meetings we have held so far,
and am looking forward to those Dis
tricts still on our schedule.