VOL. CXIII — NO. 2
L he NORTH CAROLINA MASON
... CARING FOR OUR CHILDREN AND OUR ELDERLY
Oxford Orphanage
Masonic & Eastern Star Home
Official Publication of The Grand Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of North Carolina
Oxford, North Carolina
Grand Master’s Message
Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Banquet
Masonic and Eastern Star Home
I am pleased and honored to bring greetings on behalf of the Grand Lodge and the 70,000
Masons of North Carolina on the occasion of this 75th Anniversary Celebration. Three-
quarters of a century ago on January 12,1914, 743 members of the Masonic and Eastern Star
Fraternities gathered on such an occasion as this to celebrate the official opening of the
Masonic and Eastern Star Home in Greensboro. It was a memorable occasion and it later was
reported that no such gathering of Masons and Eastern Stars was ever known in this section of
North Carolina before. Enthusiasm ran high for the newly organized charitable enterprize and
there came forth as the result, “a greater and grander concept of fraternalism.”
L. R. Thomas, Jr., Grand Master
This evening we also are gathered in
Greensboro to commemorate the 75th
Anniversary of that historic event. An
appropriate part of this celebration should be
an expression of our gratitude for the
courage, vision and labors of the founders of
the Masonic and Eastern Star Home. This
evening, we pay tribute to the men and
women who had the foresight to see a need
and the courage to set out to fill that need, and
in so doing added a new dimension to our
great Fraternities.
In 1913, our Home site was just a big red
clay hill. But at that time a few Masons and
Eastern Stars with just $5,000, a deed for five
acres of land and untold thousands of dollars
worth of courage, vision and foresight, began
the erection of the Masonic and Eastern Star
Home for the care of our ageing Brothers and
Sisters.
February, 1989
Seventy-Fifth Birthday At M & E S Home
Greensboro — Some 300 persons,
Masons, Eastern Stars, spouses and others
attended the banquet here on January 7 to
celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the
founding of the Masonic and Eastern Star
Home. Included in the group were forty-two
residents and thirteen employees of the
Home.
Preparation for the occasion had been
going forward for a year, with Past Grand
Matron Mary S. Carter serving as chairman
of the Anniversary Committee. It was she that
welcomed everyone to the banquet.
Featured remarks on the program were by
Grand Master L. R. Thomas, Jr., Grand
Patron Jackie Ray Batts and Grand Matron
Viola P. Hardison.
Also appearing on the program were Home
Superintendent Tommy Jones, Assistant
Superintendent Ella Payne, Past Grand
Masters Sam A. Hennis, Jr. and Norburn C.
Hyatt, Charles E. Scott, Jr., Past Grand
Patrons William C. Hilton and Jesse M.
Henley, Sr., Past Grand Matrons Hilda S.
Halliburton, Reta W. Henley, Rebecca F.
Brown and Aline W. Carter. Music for the
occasion was provided by Past Grand Patron
Earl C. Warren, Past Matron Frances S. Best,
Pamela Martin and Dr. Darnell Mitchell.
Residents of the Home conducted guided
tours of the facilities prior to the banquet.
The accompanying photo was made during
the banquet.
Today, located on forty acres in the heart of Greensboro, this magnificent complex has
been home for more than 1,125 elderly Sisters and Brothers since it was opened. Upon
entering its portals, they have been greeted with love, compassion, understanding, fellowship,
care, concern and lifetime security. The Masonic and Eastern Star Home is indeed a citadel of
fraternal love.
As we enter the 76th year of the history of this outstanding Home, our Fraternities face a
new and difficult challenge in providing for our elderly Sisters and Brothers—the challenge of
an aging Fraternity.
Today, we are providing a Home for 196 residents and have approved for admission more
than 100 others who are now on the waiting list, some for almost three years. The marvels of
medical science have increased the average life span significantly in recent years, and we are
rapidly becoming an aging Fraternity. Consider the significance of these statistics: fifty y^ars
ago the average age of the Masonic and Eastern Star Home residents was seventy; twenty-five
years ago, it was seventy-six; ten years ago, it was seventy-nine; and today it is eighty-three and
a half.
In the Masonic Order, statistics show that the average age of members is about sixty-
three years. Consequently more of us are seeking admission to the Home; and there is no
room. Greater financial resources are required before the facilities can be expanded, and that
is the challenge we face going into the 76th year of the history of the Masonic and Eastern Star
Home. In confronting this challenge we would do well to emulate the determination and
fortitude demonstrated by those gallant founders of the Home seventy-five years ago. There is
inspiration to be found in the way our predecessors faced the challenge of turning a small
beginning into a magnificent enterprise. We would do well to apply that same enthusiasm and
determination to the problem at hand.
On of the qualities that makes Freemasonry in North Carolina special is the excellent
fraternal relationship between the various Masonic related organizations. And because of this
we prosper and accomplish many wonderful things for the cause of humanity. This spirit of
unity and accord is exemplified in its finest sense through the partnership of the Grand
Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. In the joint
ownership and operation of the Masonic and Eastern Star Home. The various Bodies of
Masonry working in unity for the cause of humanity create an excellent environment for
greater Masonic visibility, and increased public awareness of the oldest and largest Fraternity
in the world.
Our Fraternities have bound us together in fraternal love and we share a kindred spirit of
benevolence. This evening, we look back over three-quarters of a century of service to those
for whom we have asumed an obligation. We can be justly proud of the accomplishments that
have been made in caring for our elderly. But we must remember, the course in not yet finished
and our’s is still the opportunity to put our shoulders to the wheel and move the column of
progress forward for the advancement of our great Fraternities.
In closing, I leave you with these thoughts: Wherever we look, let us look with noble
hearts, let us look with searching eyes, let us look with receiving love. May the Great Creator of
the Universe in this new year grant unto us all a clearer sense of direction, a compelling sense of
mission, and a realizing sense of companionship both human and divine.
Oops With A Vengeance
Well, there I went again. Reporting last
month on the leadership seminars, I had to go
and parade my incompetence in the largest
headlines in the paper; I said the first three
seminars would be held in January, with
twelve more to follow in February. Now, any
idiot that can count his fingers and toes would
have known there would be only nine
seminars in February, but this particular idiot
had his shoes on and one hand in his pocket.
And that wasn’t all.. . in the same article we
had the last three seminars set for February 8
instead of the 18th. When I discovered these
errors and called Oxford, the paper was on
the press and 6,000 copies were already
printed. Ah, well. RSD
Leadership Seminars
Rocky Mount — One of the three
Leadership Seminars held on January 21 was
in the local Masonic Temple. (All direct
coverage of the seminars, regrettably, will be
in the east, because the editor was a topic
presenter at each of the four eastern
locations. Effort is being made, however, to
obtain reports from the other eight seminars
for publication in March).
Senior Grand Deacon Willett Tillett
presided over the seminar here and, with the
cooperation of the other participants, was
able to hold precisely to the published
schedule.
Following brief remarks by Don Street,
Chairman of the Grand Master’s Special
Committee on Masonic Research and
Development, and by Grand Lecturer
William J. “Bill” Clark, Bruce Boyette, PM-
712, P.D.D.G.L., P.D.D.G.M., made the
presentation on Preparing for Master. He was
followed by Grand Historian. Reynold
Davenport speaking on THE CODE, then
came the scheduled .quarter-hour break,
during which the local Eastern Star ladies
served refreshments.
Robert Proctor, PM-727 and Past Grand
Commander of North Carolina’s Knights
Templar, spoke on Masonic Protocol and
Etiquette, then Past Grand Master Eddie P.
Stiles presented the final topic, Public
Relations. Street conducted the promised
thirty minute question and answer session.
The final minutes of the seminar were given
over to Grand Master L. R. Thomas, Jr., who
had joined the other 103 Masons present in
paying close attention to all that went on. The
Grand Master introduced officers and past
officers of various Masonic and Masonic-
related bodies, he complimented Street and
other members of his committee for their
preparation and other work in lining up the
seminars. He also commended those who
presented the several topics.
Reports indicate about 600 Masons
attended the three seminars on January 21,
and that all were well received.
(Editor’s Note: We will try to assemble
reports from all the seminars and prepare
digests for publication in later issues of the
paper).
Good News
In an earlier issue we promised you good
news concerning the paper, here it is:
Beginning with this issue, we are going from
8-pt. type to 10-pt. type, making it at least
twenty-five percent easier to read for our
many members with failing vision. This will
reduce our printed content accordingly, but
we believe the change will meet with general
approval.
Also, the Oxford Orphanage Printing
Department has been authorized to purchase
a remanufactured offset press that will
replace the one now used to, among other
things, print this paper. The present press is a
real abomination, as we are sure every reader
has noticed. It makes a mess out of our
pictures and the printed matter ranges from
very dim to very dark and smudged. The new
press should be in operation in a few months.
When the new press begins operation, we
are confident the improvements it will bring,
coupled with the larger type, will make this
paper easier to read than it has been in many,
many years.
Eagle Scout Masons
We continue to hear from our Masons who
are also Eagle Scouts. They no longer arrive
in flocks, but they are still steadily flying in
solo.
For several months we have been asking
our Eagle Masons to let Brother Kenneth H.
Grace, 5424 West 134th Street, Hawthorne,
CA 90250-4912 have the details of their Boy
Scout and Masonic histories. Brother Grace
is compiling a national listing of Eagle Masons,
and Lieutenant General and Brother Herman
Nickerson, Jr. tells us our North Carolina
Eagle Masons have responded so well that we
are third on the list maintained by Brother
Grace.
If you have not provided Brother Grace the
requested information, please do so, and
please send us a copy for publication here.
You may also wish to ask Brother Grace
about the “Gathering of Eagles” he is planning
in California a few months from now.
The following are the Eagle Scout Masons
most recently heard from:
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