Christopher L. Hodapp's Blog, page 46

Fire Destroys Hejaz Shrine in South Carolina

by Christopher Hodapp

A devastating fire on Tuesday morning has destroyed the Hejaz Shrine Temple in Mauldin, South Carolina, near Greenville. According to multiple news reports, the entire facility that included the Shrine and the Legacy Pines Golf Club clubhouse is a total loss. The golf club leased its facility from the Shrine.

Investigators say the fire started just after midnight near the kitchen in the rear of the building. Fortunately, no one was in the building at the time, and no...

'Curse of Oak Island - Drilling Down: Founding Fathers'

by Christopher Hodapp

I was featured on 'Curse of Oak Island - Drilling Down: Founding Fathers'  (Season 7/Ep 6)  last night on History™. You'd think the producers might have told me when it would air, but no. 

Brothers Akram Elias, Mark Koltko-Rivera, Tobias Churton, Robert W. Sullivan IV and a surprisingly large list of other interviewees made it on the air.  We actually shot my segment last fall when I was briefly in the Los Angeles area. They did use more...

Minnesota Masons Donate $35 Million for Brain Research at University of Minnesota

by Christopher Hodapp

Minnesota Masonic Charities is the charitable giving foundation of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, and their principal support is for the University of Minnesota's medical facilities. In the midst of the COVID-19 shutdown, the Masons of that state have just announced a $35 million gift to the University to establish the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, described as "an interdisciplinary initiative focused on the early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of...

Another One Gone: Savannah Scottish Rite Moves Out

by Christopher Hodapp

Freemasonry's White Elephant hunters continue to divest themselves of our historic architecture. Almost a year ago, the Scottish Rite Valley in Savannah, Georgia voted to unload their unique landmark 1923 building at 341 Bull Street just off Madison Square in the historic downtown area of town. It has been sold for $12 million to the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which has leased space in the building for several years and operated the popular Gryphon Tea...

Masons and the Media: 'Langdon' and 'National Treasure' Updates

by Christopher Hodapp

It's almost like the heady days of 2004 all over again, with both Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code sequel The Lost Symbol AND National Treasure back in the media news. 

As reported over the last several months, NBC is adapting Dan Brown's novel The Lost Symbol as a TV series for the fall season (although heaven only knows how the COVID shutdown will affect production schedules). The six-year delay in the original book release helped to set off a flurry of...

Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana

by Christopher Hodapp


The enforced closure of all public facilities in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic gave me a little time to create a video teaser for the Masonic Library and Museum of Indiana. 

The April 2020 issue of Indianapolis Monthly magazine featured all of our capitol citys great restaurants we cant go visit until the restrictions are lifted. Such are the odd vicissitudes of magazine deadlines closing sometimes months in advance of actual publication.



The back page of...

Russian Brethren and the Electronic Chain of Union

by Christopher Hodapp

Throughout the duration of the COVID-19 Wuhan virus shutdown, Masons all over the world have been doing what they can to continue to strengthen the fraternal bonds through electronic means. Most of these have been informal online gatherings, some have been bare bones business meetings, and there have been lots of educational talks, speeches and presentations. The United Grand Lodge of England continues the global observance of the Nine O'Clock Toast to Absent Brethren...

Speaking Online at Lexington Lodge No. 1 on Monday 5/11

by Christopher Hodapp

Kentucky's Lexington Lodge No. 1 and their Rubicon Masonic Society are not letting the COVID-19 Wuhan virus shutdown deter them from having weekly Masonic gatherings. Each Monday through July, they are hosting Masonic speakers, presentations and discussions via ZOOM as a ten-part Masonic education series. 

I was remiss in posting an announcement that last night's featured speaker was New York's Junior Grand Warden, Dr. Oscar Alleyne discussing the coronavirus, what...

AMD Presents John Bizzack: 'Sins of Our Masonic Fathers' Friday 5/8

by Christopher Hodapp

On Friday, May 8th, the Allied Masonic Degrees (AMD) of New Jersey and Pennsylvania East will host an online members-only presentation by Dr. John Bizzack, Past Master of Lexington Lodge 1 in Kentucky. 'Sins of Our Masonic Fathers' is an outgrowth of John's ongoing examination of the massive changes that happened in American Freemasonry at around 1800 when it transformed from small, exclusive lodges along the East coast into a rapidly expanding institution for social...

Turkey's Göbekli Tepe: Discoveries at World's Oldest Temple

by Christopher Hodapp

The 10,000- to 11,500-year-old site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey is the oldest place of worship on Earth ever discovered, predating the building of the first Egyptian pyramids by 6,500 years. New discoveries are emerging from the ancient site about the primitive hunter/gatherers here who developed a rudimentary understanding of geometry to create the first temples. At least fifty 15-foot-tall monolithic pillars rise out of the ground, covered with intricate...