The
NORTH
CAROLINA
MASON
Official Publication of The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons of Forth Carolina
VOL. XCV, NO. 3
Oxford, North Carolina 27565, March, 1970
ONE DOLLAR A YEAR
William A. Hooks
Grand Master's Corner
This column will take up where the
one in January left off since the Febru
ary issue was used to publish the talk
given at District Meetings during the
past year.
The Grand Mas
ter’s Masonic ac
tivities for 1970
began on January
7 with a trip to
Greenville for the
purpose of install
ing the officers of
Greenville Lodge
No. 284, Crown
Point Lodge No.
708, and William
Pitt Lodge No.
734. Prior to the
meeting itself the
large crowd of ladies, guests, and Ma
sons enjoyed a fine dinner served in this
beautiful Masonic Temple. I was assist
ed in the installation by Brother William
J. Bundy, James W. Brewer, and Leslie
H. Garner, who served as Marshals for
this occasion. This was an enjoyable oc
casion for me as I saw many old friends
from the Greenville area.
The next day I traveled to Raleigh for
a meeting of the Education Committee
that afternoon, followed by a meeting of
the Board of General Purposes the next
morning, and a meeting of the Board of
Custodians that afternoon. The follow
ing night, Saturday, January 10,1 drove
over to Zebulon for the purpose of ded
icating the Temple of Zebulon Lodge No.
609. Brothers Charles A. Harris, Grand
Secretary, and R. Gage Smith, Past
Master and Secretary of William G.
Hill Lodge No. 218, met me at the Buf
fet House in Zebulon where we enjoyed
a fine supper with several officers and
members of Zebulon Lodge No. 609 and
their ladies. The Temple was filled with
Masons, their ladies, and friends.
Thanks to the thorough preparation
made by the members of this Lodge, the
program—including a ceremony of
burning the mortgage on this Temple—
(Continued on Page Two)
Grand Lodge To Meet
In Durham, April 21
The one hundred eighty-third annual
communication of The Grand Lodge of
Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of
North Carolina will be held in the city
of Durham, N. C., Tuesday, April 21,
1970. The meeting will be held in the
Civic Center on Foster Street beginning
at 1:00 P.M.
A highlight of this meeting will be
the Grand Lodge Dinner on Tuesday,
April 21, 1970 at 7:00 P.M., in the Civic
Center. All Master Masons and their
wives are invited to attend. Tickets for
the dinner are $5.00 per person and are
available from Brother R. P. Dudley, as
sistant to the Grand Secretary, P. 0.
Box 6506, Raleigh, N. C. Reservations
must be in by April 13, 1970.
Hotel reservations should be made at
once for the representatives of your
(Continued on Page Three)
Hiram Lodge Hosts
Children At Circus
By Charles P. Separk, P.M.
Friday, February 27 was a gala day
for 40 happy youngsters from the Or
phanage, 19 boys, and 21 girls ranging
in ages from seven to fifteen years who
had been selected to go on Hiram
Lodge’s annual trip to Raleigh, and a
day of fun in their young lives. None of
the group had ever before been on a
Hiram sponsored trip, and many of
them had never been to a circus, so you
can imagine how much all enjoyed every
minute of the eventful day that will nev
er be forgotten by them.
Going along on the trip that left Ral
eigh at 1:00 p.m. upon a large Trail-
ways bus, courtesy of Bro. Ralph Hears
of the Carolina Coach Co., and driven
by Bro. A. L. Johnson, Jr., of No. 40,
were Bros. William Taft Baker and his
wife, Bernice; Joe H. Holmes and his
wife, Jesse, co-chairman of Oxford Or-
(Continued on Page Five)
Grand Master Hooks
Honored At Conference
A signal honor came to North Caro
lina Masonry on February 24, 1970,
when Most Worshipful Brother William
A. Hooks, Grand Master of Masons in
North Carolina, was elected Chairman
of the Conference of Grand Masters of
Masons in North America. The confer
ence was held in Washington, D. C.,
February 24 and 25. Membership in the
Conference includes the Grand Masters
of all the Grand Lodges in North Amer
ica. Brother Hooks presided at all ses
sions of the Conference.
During the election of committees
M.'.W.'.Brother Sam A. Hennis, Jr., P.
G.M., was elected chairman of the Com
mittee on Information for Recognition.
Brother Hennis has been a member of
this committee for several years.
A highlight of the Conference was the
Grand Masters’ Banquet on Tuesday
evening, February 24. Featured speaker
at the banquet was Brother Jack J.
Early, President of Pfeiffer College,
Misenheimer, N. C.
The Grand Lodge of North Carolina
was honored to have as its guests at
the Grand Masters’ Banquet the follow
ing members of the Congress of the
United States from North Carolina:
Hon. and Mrs. B. Everett Jordan,
Senator; Hon. and Mrs. Sam J. Ervin,
Senator; Hon. and Mrs. L. H. Fountain,
Hon. and Mrs. Walter B. Jones, Hon.
Nick Galifianakis, Hon. and Mrs. Earl
Ruth, and Hon. and Mrs. Charles R.
(Continued on Page Five)
MASON OF YEAR
Grimes E. Lewis has been selected as
Farmville’s Mason of the Year for 1969,
an honor that anually since 1963 has
been bestowed upon a member of the lo
cal lodge.
Other Masons receiving the honor and
the year they were selected are: Luther
Deal, 1963; William A. Norman, 1964;
J. T. Walston, 1965; L. W. Godwin,
1966; John E. King, 1967; Harry J. By
ers, 1968, and Lewis.