NORTH CAROLINA MASON
IN THE
TAR HEEL STATE ... CARING FOR OUR CHILDREN AND OUR ELDERLY
Oxford Orphanage
Masonic & Eastern Star Home
GREENSBORO ° XF ° RD
Official Publication of The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free & Accepted Masons of North Carolina
VOL. CXIII - NO. 1
Oxford, North Carolina
January, 1989
o
J 75 2
#5
Grand Masters Message
“The Square and Compasses”
The universal symbol of Freemasonry recognized throughout the free world is the Square and Compasses. Rings
and lapel and tie pins bearing this beautiful emblem identify the wearer as a Freemason. It is a symbol that ammounces
to all that “I am proud to be a Mason.” The Square and Compasses is the symbol by which we are recognized as
a member of the oldest and largest fraternity in the world.
Consider the dynamic statement we would make if
each of the nearly 70,000 Masons in North Carolina
displayed the Square and Compasses on their attire. The
identity of Freemasonry would be significantly increased
in the public eye. This is an excellent way to emphasize
public awareness of our great fraternity, which is a
principal part of the program being presented this year.
Therefore, I recommend that every Mason obtain and
wear with honor and pride a Square and Compasses pin.
Of course, many of us already have literally dozens of
different lapel pins signifying our membership in the
Scottish Rite, the Shrine and other meritorious and
worthwhile organizations. We wear these to
demonstrate our pride of membership in each
organization. However, our identity as Masons would be
greatly enhanced if we all wore the universal symbol of
Freemasonry, the Square and Compasses, representing
the foundation of all the Masonic Bodies.
In a recent meeting of some members of the Public
Awareness Committee, Brother Walter Klein, a
dedicated member, pointed out that the six of us present
were each wearing a different lapel pin. He suggested that
if all Masons wore the universal Masonic emblem, the
L. R. Thomas, Jr., Grand Master
Square and Compasses, we would be making a dynamic public pronouncement that we are Masons.
I think Brother Klein’s suggestion has considerable merit, especially at a time when the Masonic Fraternity is
experiencing large losses of membership. Public awareness is an important factor in attracting new members into the
fraternity. If we suffer from a lack of public awareness, then we should identify ourselves as Masons to those with
whom we come into contact. The Square and Compasses is the universally recognized symbol of Freemasonry.
Wear it with pleasure to yourself and honor to the fraternity!
First Three Leadership
Seminars Scheduled for January 21
Twelve More To Follow In February
Raleigh — During its meeting here on December 16, the Grand Master’s committee on Masonic Research and
Development worked out final details for the leadership seminars that will commence in just a few days. Grand Master
L. R. Thomas, Jr. and Deputy Grand Master Jerry G. Tart met with the committee, evidencing their continuing
interest in the planning for what they hope will be the kickoff for a most successful program.
Schedules and programs have been mailed to the lodges, but here they are again for the benefit of those who may
have missed the lodge meetings at which they were read:
January 21 — Waynesville, Charlotte, Rocky Mount
February 4 — Boone, Asheboro, Washington
February 11 — Winston-Salem, Raleigh, Ahoskie
February 8 — Morganton, Fayetteville, Jacksonville
Each seminar will open at 9:30 a.m. and four subjects will be presented; “Preparing to be Master, THE CODE,
Masonic Protocol and Etiquette, and Public Relations.” There will be a fifteen minute break half-way through the
sessions, and a half-hour question and answer period at the end. Closing is scheduled for 12:30 in each instance.
All lodge officers, particularly the Masters and Wardens, are urged to attend; all Master Masons are invited to
attend. Masons should check with their lodge Secretaries to arrange car pooling, and to learn the specific location of
each seminar if traveling alone.
During its December 16 meeting, the committee heard a report from Walter Klein concerning a public service
announcement being prepared for distribution to television stations late this month or early in February. The
announcement will feature George Washington and other great Masons.
Eagle Scout Masons
Once more we have responses to our request that
Masons who are also Eagle Scouts identify themselves.
Actually, we are acting at the request of Brother
Kenneth H. Grace, 5424 West 134th Street, Hawthorne,
CA 90250-4912. Brother Grace, sometimes known as
“The Amazing Grace,” is compiling a list of Eagle Scout
Masons nationwide, and he is also arranging for a
“Gathering of Eagles” in California later this year. So, if
you are an Eagle Scout Mason and have not already
reported in to Brother Grace, please write to him and
give him the data on your Boy Scout background and
your Masonic background. And please send us a copy of
it, so we can let our readers know about you. If you are
interested in the get together in California, ask Brother
Grace about it.
We are nearing the hundred mark in Eagle Scout
Masons heard from, and we know there must be still
more. Here are those heard from since our December
issue:
Daniel W. Willis, Past Master of King Solomon Lodge
No. 704, at Gastonia, has been an Eagle Scout since 1971,
has received the God and Country Award, is a member
of the Order of the Arrow and an Ordeal Member. Victor
A. Willis, also Past Master of King Solomon 704, has been
an Eagle since 1971, has received the God and Country
Award, is a member of the Order of the Arrow, is an
Ordeal and Brotherhood member and has received the
Bronze, Gold and Silver Palms; he is a Past District
Deputy Grand Lecturer, an Honorary Member of
Lodges 515 and 668, and holds membership and offices in
numerous Masonic related bodies. Dickie R. Dorset,
member of Lebanon 207, at Whiteville, has been an Eagle
since 1971. Eugene Poston, member of Wallace 595, at
Wallace, has been an Eagle since 1933, he and four
brothers became first five brothers to receive Eagle rank
in that area, he was awarded the Good Shepherd Honor
by Baptists for Scouting, received Bronze Palm and was
Assistant Scout Master, and while President of Gardner
Webb College, he served as District Commissioner of the
Piedmont Boy Scout Council. Dr. William E. Fulmer,
Past Master of Snow 363, Past D.D.G.M., member of
Grand Lodge boards and committees, is an Eagle Scout.
J. W. “Jim” Niell, member of Steele Creek 737, has been
an Eagle since 1940, has served as Cub Master, Assistant
Scout Master and as Neighborhood Commissioner.
Wiley B. Teal (lodge info not furnished), has been an
Eagle since 1951, has served as Scout Master, Explorer
Advisor and Commissioner. Samuel Stewart Runion,
Past Master and Chaplain of Pythagerous 249, at
Southport, has been an Eagle since 1934 and received the
Bronze Palm. Robert S. Collier, Senior Deacon of Joppa
530, at Charlotte, became an Eagle Scout in 1953, earned
the Bronze and Silver Palms, initiated into the Order of
the Arrow and also served as Scout Master. William Otis
Dowdy, also a member of Joppa 530, at Charlotte,
became an Eagle in 1950, earned the Silver Beaver
Award, initiated into the Order of the Arrow Camp
Steere and also served as Scout Master. Brother Dowdy
has completed fifty years in Scouting this year. Kevin C.
Kirkman, member of Sanford 151, at Sanford, became an
Eagle in 1977, earned the Bronze Palm and thirty-three
merit badges, also the God and Country Award and is a
life time member of the Order of the Arrow. Coleman L.
Cashion, member of East Gate 692, at Charlotte, has
been an Eagle since 1972, earned four palms—up
through Silver and Bronze, received the God and
Country Award, and has served as an adult leader. R.
Graham Wilson, also member of East Gate 692, has been
an Eagle since 1950. (Brother Wilson now lives in
California and he asked Brother Grace for information
Orphanage’s Eliot Hanes
Student of the Month
Oxford — High School Senior Eliot Hanes, a resident
at Oxford Orphanage was recently chosen “Student of
the Month” at J. F. Webb High School. Responding to a
congratulatory letter from Grand Master L. R. Thomas,
Jr., Eliot said: “I am proud to say that in six years at the
Orphanage, I have done something agreeable to almost
everyone for a change ... I
thought that it was no big deal.
Numerous handshakes,
approving nods, and bear hugs
later, it surely became one.”
Eliot soared high above
average when he scored 1040
on his SAT earlier this year. He
has been accepted to enter
Appalachian State University at
Boone next fall, where he plans
to major in Criminal Justice or
Marketing.
In closing his letter to the Grand Master, Eliot penned
words to warm the heart of all Masons in North Carolina,
when he said: “Mr. Thomas, I would like to again thank
you and the rest of North Carolina’s Masons equally.
Because without you, there would be no Oxford
Orphanage. By the same token, if there was not Oxford
Orphanage, I don’t believe there would still be an Eliot
Emil Hanes of sound mind and body. I want to thank you,
and I hope that you are proud of me. Merry Christmas!”
Kenly — The members of Kenly Lodge No. 257 are still
taking Grand Master L. R. Thomas, Jr. at his word and
are making themselves visible to the public in ways that
redound to the benefit and good name of Masonry. Their
most recent effort in this regard is pictured above in a
sign erected along N. C. Highway 22; this sign represents
the lodge’s adoption of a two-mile stretch of this highway
as an area that will be cleaned at least four times
annually by members of the lodge. Harper Godwin, Past
Master and Treasurer of the lodge is shown on the left
and this year’s Master, Ted Sherrod is seen on the right.
Unscramble
Rearrange the letters in the following six words to form
six new words familiar to Masons: elbow, glean, manor,
cited, verse, cater (or crate). Now take the first letter of
each new word you have formed and arrange these to
form a six-letter word familiar to Masons. It is the name of
an area sometimes regarded as the seat of human
emotions. You could also arrive at a final answer meaning
most naked, or most open to view; this would have the
correct letters but the wrong arrangement. Answers will
be found elsewhere in the paper.
concerning “Gathering of Eagles,” as have serveral
others that had farther to travel). Mike Penegar, member
of Waxhaw 562, at Waxhaw, has been an Eagle since
1970, has received the God and Country Award, Bronze
and Silver Palms, Order of the Arrow, eighty-six Merit
Badges; helped form an Explorer Post and served as its
president.
It is obvious from the Masonic backgrounds of many of
our Eagle Masons that they have been quite Masonically
active. Others, we are sure, have not. You Masters of
lodges that read of an Eagle Mason who is a member of
your lodge and who is not active in it, go after him. These
Masons have too much on the ball, have too much
initiative for us to allow them to stay outside our quarries.
We need them!
David R. Grissom New
Orphanage Superintendent
Oxford — Following a search of some eight months,
the Oxford Orphanage Board of Directors has selected
the Reverend David Ronald Grissom, United Methodist
Minister, to serve as the new superintendent of Oxford
Orphanage. Grissom assumed his new duties on January
3 and the Reverend B. Patrick Cox, who has served
capably as acting superintendent since the resignation of
Donald R. Moul, has resumed his duties as assistant
superintendent.
Grissom comes to the Orphanage from service as
chaplain, coordinator of admissions, and trustee of the
Methodist Retirement Home, in Durham. He had
previously served United Methodist Churches in
Roseboro, Star and Goldsboro. While a student at Duke
University Divinity School, he was student pastor at
Stem-Bullock’s United Methodist Churches in Granville
County and did volunteer work as a chaplain and
counselor for youth offenders at Butner, served as
student chaplain with the mentally handicapped at
Butner, and also worked at Butner with children, youth
and adults who possessed handicapped conditions. He
has been a trustee of Methodist Children’s Home in
Raleigh for several years.
David became a Master Mason June 4, 1979 in
Goldsboro Lodge No. 634, at Goldsboro, and demitted
September 4, 1979 to Elise Lodge No. 555, at Robbins.
Born March 17,1948 to James and Norah Grissom at
Pinehurst, the new superintendent graduated from high
school at Vass, then attended Sandhills Community
College at Southern Pines and North Carolina Wesleyan
College at Rocky Mount, receiving a BA in Religion from
the latter in 1972. He entered Duke Divinity School in the
fall of that year.
In 1971, he married Susan Wooten and they have twin
daughters, Kellie and Susanna, now eleven.
Susan is an educator, having taught in both the public
school system and in the community college system. She
is currently “Teacher of the Year” 1988-89 in the Orange
County School System. Susan, or Sue, has recently
authored Pictures in Sounds—Sounds to Words, a
method to help combat illiteracy at all ages. Her father,
the Reverend Charles W. Wooten, also a United
Methodist minister, was Chaplain of Elise 555 until his
death in 1977.
David’s father is chief of police at Vass and his mother
is employed by the J. P. Stevens Company at Aberdeen.
Masonic Watch
The Grand Secretary’s office has received questions
from some lodges concerning a letter mailed to them by
Edward McCurry of Ellenboro, a member of Cliffside
Lodge No. 460. The letter in question and its
accompanying material represent an effort to sell a
“Masonic Watch” to members of the lodges, and some of
the lodges wish to know if the effort complies with our
Masonic law.
That part of McCurry’s letter that requests lodge
Secretaries to “circulate the information to the
members” is asking the Secretaries to clearly violate
REG. 49-03 (7), which declares: “No lodge shall permit
the use of its roster of membership or any part thereof for
business or political purposes . . .”
Other regulations pertaining to such matters are
somewhat open to interpretation and, so far as we can
determine, no official opinion has been rendered by a
Grand Master that would relate directly to the matter at
hand.