Christopher L. Hodapp's Blog, page 21

Fire Destroys Florida Masonic Hall: Arson Suspected

by Christopher Hodapp

A devastating fire destroyed the Masonic hall in Leesburg, Florida Wednesday night, following a break in. Leesburg Lodge 58 lost everything in the fire that began about 10:30PM, and arson investigators believe the blaze was deliberately set. 
The Leesburg lodge hall was also home to The Villages Lodge 394, which had been preparing to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a rededication ceremony Friday night. That event has been postponed indefinitely.

Grand Master Glen E. Bishop...

GL of Tennessee and MWPHGL of Tennessee Agree on Joint Visitation Rules

by Christopher Hodapp
An agreement has been reached between the Grand Lodge F&AM of Tennessee and the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Tennessee F&AM  regarding visitation policies for their lodges and members. A letter was sent yesterday by MW James Rhyne Arnhart, Jr., Grand Master of the GL of Tennessee, to his constituent lodges that explains the protocols, and I suspect the MWPHGL of TN will do the same shortly.  (Click the image above to enlarge.)
There's nothing really out of the or...

Magicians, Magic and Masonry in California Next Month

by Christopher Hodapp

The 2023 California Masonic Symposium  on June 28th may perhaps be the most unusual educational program ever put on by a grand lodge: "Brother Harry Houdini – The Master Mystic & the Masonic Ties to Our Craft." Throughout its modern history, there have been active, practicing magicians within the fraternity of Freemasonry. Ye Olde Cup & Ball No. 880 is a recently-chartered "affinity lodge" in Los Angeles for professional and budding magicians. Appropriately, it meets at the f...

Upcoming 2023 Masonic Conventions

(Image: Brother Steven McKim)

by Christopher Hodapp
In the mid-2010s, American Freemasons started falling in love with the concept of state or regional Masonic Cons – large-scale Masonic conventions that bring together guest speakers, education presentations, seminars, and discussion groups, replete with vendors, commemorative swag, podcasters to cover the activities, and a grand celebratory dinner. Similar types of Masonic education events have gone on for over a century and a half, but the 'Maso...

Universal Brotherhood Day in D.C. Celebrates 300th Anniversary of Anderson's 'Constitutions'

by Christopher Hodapp

This year marks the 300th anniversary of the publication of James Anderson's Constitutions of the Freemasons in 1723, the foundational document of the fraternity. On June 23-24 (St. John's Day), the 2023 Universal Brotherhood Celebration will take place in the Washington, D.C. area at the George Washington National Masonic Memorial. The event will be hosted by the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia's historic Naval Lodge No. 4, with the participation of the Pro Grand Ma...

Ric Berman To Speak at Georgia's Atlanta-Peachtree Lodge June 19th

by Christopher Hodapp
At 7:30pm on June 19th, 2023, Atlanta-Peachtree Lodge No. 59 will host Worshipful Brother Dr. Ric Berman at an open event at the Atlanta Masonic Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Berman will be giving his presentation  "1723: Inventing the Future," which commemorates the 300th anniversary of 1723's Constitutions of the Free-Masons written by James Anderson.

A version of this presentation was previously given to over 1,600 brethren at a special meeting of the United Grand Lodge...

Rubicon Masonic Society's Ongoing Virtual Education Programs

by Christopher Hodapp

I've been woefully remiss in failing to promote the ongoing Masonic education video presentations posted by the fine brethren at Kentucky's Rubicon Masonic Society, in conjunction with Lexington Lodge 1 and the William O. Ware Lodge of Research. The May 22nd, 2023 program is "Operative Freemasonry: A Manual for Restoring Light and Vitality to the Fraternity" presented by Kirk White, the current Grand Junior Warden of the Grand Lodge of Vermont. To RSVP and gain access to thi...

Colorado Lodge Dedicates Idiosyncratic New Meeting Space

Photo: Bruce Hinde
by Christopher Hodapp

On April 22nd, the Grand Lodge F&AM of Colorado consecrated the new lodge hall of Elk Mountain Lodge 118 in one of the most unusual locations in the world — inside of a former steel grain storage silo (photo above). 
Photo: WB David Moran
Up until two years ago,  their longtime lodge hall on the second floor at 111 Eighth Street in Steamboat Springs had served them well for almost a century, but the cost of upkeep and improvements continued to rise over the d...

GL of New York Restores Amity with the GL of Scotland

NY GM restores amity with Scotland (artist rendering).
by Christopher Hodapp

The Grand Lodge of New York has at last settled its six-year-long dispute with the Grand Lodge of Scotland and restored fraternal relations. Announcements were officially issued this morning by New York's Grand Master, Most Worshipful Richard J. Kessler, and Scotland's Grand Secretary, RW William M.S. Semple. (Click images below to enlarge.)


Scotland never did suspend recognition of New York, so their letter merely states ...

RV Vacations For Dummies: Special Pre-sale Offer Today Only

by Christopher Hodapp

This has absolutely nothing to do with Freemasonry and is, in fact, a shameless bit of self-promotion. For those interested in the RV books Alice and I have been writing for the Dummies series, we've got a special one-day only offer for our new one, RV Vacations For Dummies - 7th edition.  Instead of regularly updating this blog, we've been embroiled in this particular project for almost seven months — the final manuscript and artwork was just sent to the printers last week, ...