October, 1971
The North Carolina Mason
Page Three
Masons above listen intently to Orphanage
and Home information during Regional
Meeting.
Columbia, Roanoke Rapids
Bryson City & Wadesboro
(Continued from Page One)
$43,000,000 in Masonic contributions. Last year
the figure was $215,000,000.
Brother Gray is in total agreement, terming
the program the “bread-and-butter for Oxford,
and cites similarly dramatic increases in Ma
sonic contributions to the Orphanage.
Considering the significant increases in con
tributions that have been realized, one is temp
ted to feel that perhaps we are at last giving
enough. Not so. Just as inflation has greedily
gobbled up our individual increases in income,
;o it has taken its toll at Greensboro and Ox
ford. As if that was not enough, at both insti
tutions it has been necessary to enter into ex
tensive rebuilding programs. Old buildings, no
longer safe for human habitation must be torn
down and new buildings erected in their stead.
This is involving vast expenditures.
Guest capacity at the Home has been in
creased and additional facilities provided. Be
cause people today live longer, an ever-in
creasing percentage of guests in the Home are
bed patients requiring additional and more ex
pensive care. Regulatory agencies constantly
adopt new and more stringent rules concerning
all areas of care, thus necessitating new and
greater expenditures for personnel, facilities
and equipment. And, of course, inflation has
been an ever-present companion.
No Mason with children of his own needs to
be told that the cost of supporting children, at
home or in school, has been skyrocketing. All
Masons have children of their own at Oxford
and the cost of supporting these is likewise
going straight up.
No, we have not yet reached the point where
we can afford to heave a deep sigh and relax
in our giving. Probably we never will. So long
as we have the Home in Greensboro and the
Orphanage at Oxford we will want to provide
the very best that we can for those we care for
in them. This constant striving for the best will
maintain these institutions as accomplishments
of which we can be truly proud, and the goal
of doing just a little bit better will be always
before us
Past Grand Master Pugh
Resigns From Committee
The following statement was issued by PGM
Robert L. Pugh on October 4.
In the September 1971 issue of the N. C.
Mason the front page included an article en
titled “Grand Master’s Committee Reports Or
phanage Facts” and there followed the quoted
statement of the special committee which was
“presented by a majority of the committee to
the Grand Master.” I, as a representative of
the minority could not agree with all of the
purported findings in the report, nor could I
agree with the manner in which the majority
of the committee had changed, or altered the
initial findings and conclusions of the com
mittee as agreed upon in its meeting held in
Oxford on August 31, 1971 with all members
present.
I immediately wrote a letter to the Grand
Master informing him of my disapproval of
the procedure and of my subsequent resigna
tion from the special committee. With no desire
to go into the details, I wish now merely to
quote from my letter of September 20, 1971
to the Grand Master as follows:
“No doubt either Deputy Grand Master
Kahn or Junior Grand Warden Mills has in
formed you of my resignation from the Spe
cial Committee on Oxford Orphanage. As I
met with these two brethren just prior to the
luncheon Saturday and was handed the revised
version of the committee’s statement to be sub
mitted to the N. C. Mason for publication,
without inclusion of the questionnaire upon
which the committee had formerly agreed and
with no intention whatever of obtaining any
expression of opinion from the Masons of the
State, I told them that I could not add my
endorsement to such a statement. I went even
further and told them that I thought that the
LOST DUES CARDS!
These are published to alert all interested
parties should imposters attempt to us the lost
dues cards illegally.
RUPERT FRANKLIN MCKINNEY
Conover Lodge No. 709, Conover, N. C. Card
No. 39. Card replaced by Card No. 101.
statement and the questionnaire both should
be sent to every lodge in the State with the
request from the Grand Master that the lodge
take action upon whatever course they thought
should be pursued. Of course there was dis
agreement and I told them that I was afraid
it would be impossible for me ! j remain on
the committee and retain their friendship and
that in order to preserve as much harmony
on the committee as possible, I was resigning
immediately. I did not agree with their pro
posal, I cannot agree with it, because I am
willing to do, and I want to do, what the Ma
sons in North Carolina desire, but first I must
make an effort to determine what that desire
is. If and when I could get some expression
from them, I would then be willing to make
whatever proposal for the orphanage their de
cision might indicate. I still believe this was
the best course to pursue, but, failing to obtain
any agreement thereto, there was only one
course of action left for me. Hence, my resig
nation.
“I sincerely trust your committee will be
able to give you a recommendation which will
enable you to lead the Masons in North Caro
lina in some plan which will be for the best
interest of the orphanage children.
“With very best wishes for continued suc
cess as you seek to lead the Masons in North
Carolina and with kindest personal regards,
I am
Sincerely yours,
Robert L. Pugh, P.G.M.
PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION
IN PROGRESS
Past Grand Master Dudley Humphrey, seat
ed above, hears Home Superintendent Troy
Robbins prove his right to bear the title of
“Certified Lecturer.” Certified Lecturers,
like all other Masons, are proficient in the
“Knife and Fork Degree,” as evidenced in
above left. Wash King (DDGL-9), in coat at
left, examines Douglas Pridgen of Wilming
ton Lodge No. 319.