Take That First Step, Brothers

I had the priviledge of attending the Past High Priests Dinner for Fox River Chapter No. 14 of Royal Arch Masons (of which I am a member) over the weekend. They honored me by giving me the Visionary Companion award, something for which I am deeply humbled.

As usual, the few words I had afterward weren’t nearly as inspirational and gracious as those I was thinking on my drive home. So I got to thinking about this term, visionary, and what it means to me.

DeKalb Lodge’s Bowl-O-Rama!

Lace up those shoes, put on that swanky lounge shirt and bring out your championship goldfish bowling ball, Brothers — DeKalb Lodge is going bowling!

Where: Mardi Gras Lanes in DeKalb (1730 Sycamore Road, right across from Hopkins Park)
When: Sunday, February 21st
Who: All Masons and their families and guests (petitioners and prospective Masons invited too!)
How Much: $15 per person for two games, includes shoes and pizza
What time: noon to 3ish

We have a limited number of slots available so if you’re coming, let either Brother Dean Clark (dfence570@msn.com or 815-758-7474) or Chuck Spector (CSpector@upstaging.com or 815-901-2365) know by Wednesday, February 17th.

Collection of Vintage Masonic Postcards

Mountain Creek Lodge No. 511 A.F. & A.M. out of Texas had a small collection of vintage Masonic postcards on their Facebook Page the other day. I did some digging around and found a few more. Here’s the consolidated set for your viewing. Enjoy!

Helping Out Some Friends

Adam Eaton, Jim Tome and Greg Born, all members of DeKalb Lodge, helped out our Brothers in Geneva Lodge at their Friend's Night.

Last evening, Wor. Bro. Jim Tome and Brothers Greg Born and Adam Eaton traveled to Geneva Lodge No. 139 to take part in their Friend’s Night, where sitting Officers as a Masonic friend to take their place for the opening and closing of the Lodge.

Wor. Bro. Tome sat in the East for his good friend, Wor. Bro. Mark Jacobs, the current Worshipful Master of Geneva Lodge, while Bro. Adam Eaton sat in the Sr. Steward’s chair for Bro. Milan Urban of Geneva and Bro. Greg Born sat in the Jr. Steward’s chair for Bro. Mike Barone. We had a wonderful evening in Lodge with 33 (!) Brothers in attendance.

DeKalb Lodge has its second Friend’s Night of the year on Tuesday, April 27th. Our last Friend’s Night was quite the success with also 33 Brothers in attendance. Friend’s Night is designed to encourage Brothers to make connections with Masons from other Lodges.

The Design of Solomon’s Temple

From the writings of famed Freemason, Brother Albert Mackey, comes this account of the design of King Solomon’s Temple (by way of — and a big thanks to — Brother Marty Smith):

King Solomon's Temple in its splendor.

When Solomon had matured his design of a temple to be consecrated to the Most High, he found it impossible to carry that design into execution without foreign assistance. The Hebrew nation, constantly struggling for its material existence, and just rising to the condition of a civilized people, had made little proficiency in science and architecture, and especially the ornamental arts.

There were few artificers and no architects in Judea. Solomon, consequently, applied to Hiram, King of Tyre, for assistance, and that monarch sent him a company of Tyrian architects, under the superintendence of Hiram Abif, by whom the temple was erected.

Come on, Sycamore Commandery…Lend a Hand

Sycamore Commandery No. 15 Knights Templar had a great annual Inspection a couple of weeks ago — thanks in large part to the many, many Sir Knights who came out to lend us a hand and help us do our own Inspection (something that hasn’t happened at Sycamore Commandery for a long, long time).

Now it’s time to help out those who helped us. Here’s some Inspections we should put on our calendars and make an effort to attend — if only to stand up in the Line and watch what the experts are doing (so we can take more of a part in our Inspection next year):

• Freeport Commandery No. 7: February 20th
• Crusader (Rockford) Commandery No. 17: March 6th
• Dixon Commandery No. 21: March 21st

If you’re able to attend any of these, let our Recorder, Jack Chasteen know (his e-mail: jchasteen_1@netzero.com).

Special Meeting Tomorrow: A New Fellowcraft Among Us

Brothers, come out tomorrow, Tuesday, February 2nd for a Special Meeting at DeKalb Lodge. We’ll Pass our Brother Jamie Janiak on to the degree of Fellowcraft.

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Come join us in welcoming our Brother as he continues on his journey to the East.

15 Things You (Maybe) Didn’t Know About the Dollar Bill

OK, anti-conspiracy theorists, here’s some fuel for your fire. A fellow Brother pointed me to an article at the online magazine, Shine, over at Yahoo.com.

15 interesting facts about the American dollar bill including that each one costs 6.4 cents to print and that some think there’s a little owl hidden in the design on the dollar bill. You’ll even read some theories about the unfinished pyramid and the All Seeing Eye. Take a look, it’s worth worth a read.

Sycamore Commandery Has Five New Knights of Malta

Sycamore Commandery had five candidates receive their Orders of the Red Cross and Malta in Downers Grove.

At a special evening of Knights Templar Orders at the Downers Grove Masonic Temple, Sycamore Commandery had five candidates receive the Order of Malta and Order of the Red Cross. Sponsored by Sycamore Commandery members, Jim Tome and Jack Chasteen, were petitioners Michael Barone and John Rosa from Fox River Chapter No. 14 and Karl Zeimetz, Matt Kapustianyk and Greg Born.

In the Knights Templar, the traditional degrees of Masonry are replaced with Chivalric Orders, of which there are three: the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross, the Order of Malta and the Order of the Temple, which is said to be one of the most beautiful and moving ceremonies of all of Freemasonry.

Illustrious Order of the Red Cross
The first order conferred in the chivalric system is the Illustrious Order of the Red Cross and the story contained within predates the era of the crusades. The candidate represents Zerubbabel who is well familiar to the Royal Arch Mason (a requirement for admission) at the time of King Darius. Zerubbabel visits the king in order to convince him of his commitment to the Jewish people and in the process is asked to take part in a debate over which has greatest sway in the kingdom — wine, women or the king. The end result of the debate being the candidate offering a fourth option and an excellent argument is made on the power of Truth.

“Meet the Masons” Night Brings ‘Em Out, DDGM Visits Too

Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, D.C. is one of the Masonic landmarks we hope to visit during this fall's Masonic trip.

Good news, Brothers (and those of you reading this who are considering joining our Lodge), DeKalb Lodge experienced a wonderful evening last night! Where to begin?

Well, first we were joined by 12 potential members for dinner where our Make-Your-Own Burger Bar seemed to be a fabulous success. Brothers paired up with visitors to engage them one-on-one, tell them about their experiences with our Craft and answer any questions they might have. After a short session in the Lodge room about how to petition the Lodge and the process afterward, our guests were thanked for attending and excused.

The Lodge in the Hotel

Seems like it’s Masonic Humor Day today. Heard this one in Elgin Lodge last evening (Brothers Tome, Calmeyer and Suffield paid a visit), courtesy of Wor. Bro. Richard Olsen, whom some of you DeKalb Royal Arch Companions know:

There once was a rural Lodge that met in an old barn. One night, during a fierce thunderstorm, the barn was struck by lightning and burnt to the ground. One of the Lodge’s Brothers, who also owned a hotel in town, came forward and said the Lodge could meet there until they could afford to rebuild a building to meet in.

“I have a large conference room just off the main lobby that will be perfect for our meetings,” he claimed.

The Lodge met regularly for many, many months. One night, a traveler came into the hotel and asked about a room. As the clerk was checking availability, the traveler looked over at the conference room and asked, “So, what’s going on over in there?”

The clerk replied, “Oh, that’s a meeting of the local Masonic Lodge.”

“So those are Masons? I’ve always wanted to become one. Do you know if it’s hard to get in?” asked the traveler.

“I think so,” said the clerk. “See that guy standing there with the sword? He’s been knocking on the door now for four months and they won’t let him in.”