How to Watch Celebrating the Craft

On Saturday, May 19, 2012 6:00PM EDT, go to scottishrite.org and join us for this first-ever Supreme Council Web Event.

We encourage you to test your computer system to make sure it is able to receive streaming media. To view this LIVE Web Event, your computer requires:

• Windows Media Player for PCs or Flip4Mac for MACs (if necessary, you can download either of these applications for free from the link below)
• “Cookies” enabled on your Internet browser (PCs – Internet Explorer menu go to Tools, Internet Options, then Privacy. MACs – Safari menu go to Preferences, Security)
• Your “Pop-Up Blocker” turned off (Same procedure as Cookies)

To test your system now, go to: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/support/ Click the “Test Your System” link below the “Minimum System Requirements” section. The system will determine if you can receive streaming media. You will then have the opportunity to launch a test stream to check your Windows Media Player compatibility and audio capability. From there, if necessary, you will be able to download a free Windows Media Player for your PC or Flip4Mac if you are viewing from a MAC computer. We strongly recommend doing this prior to the start of Web Event.

To watch the program in May 19th go to: http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=86387

How to Give to Celebrating the Craft

There are several ways you can donate to this worthy event.

On Your Mobile Phone: TEXT HOT to 50555 to add a one-time, $10 donation to your phone bill.

On Facebook: Visit “Scottish Rite Freemasonry” and click the post, “Celebrating the Craft Web-Event Donor Drive” (https://www.causes.com/causes/666182-scottish-rite-celebration-of-the-craft-web-event/actions/1647495) to donate using www.causes.com.

On the Internet (during the Web Event): In the Celebrating the Craft web event broadcast window, select the “Click To Donate” link.

By Telephone: Call toll-free 1–855–289–4200.

On April 27, 2012 at the spring reunion of the Valley of Little Rock Steven L. Mueller, President and CEO of Southwestern Energy, was presented with the 2012 Scottish Rite Citizen of the Year Award in Arkansas. Southwestern Energy has brought over 1300 jobs to the state of Arkansas and has poured billions dollars into the states economy in the past 5 years. Southwestern Energy has also had an active part in supporting various childhood learning programs throughout the Natural State during their time here. The Scottish Rite Masons of Arkansas are proud to give this award to Mr. Mueller and the entire Southwestern Energy family here in Arkansas.

Pictured left to right: Ill. Bro. Harold Gwatney, 33rd, G.C., Ill. Bro. John Paul Hammerschmidt, 33rd, G.C., Steven L. Mueller of Southwestern Energy, Ill. Bro. Dwane F. Treat, S.G.I.G. Orient of Arkansas.

Submitted by the Valley of Little Rock, Orient of Arkansas

The Valley of Kansas City, Missouri has incorporated the Master Craftsman program into our Reunions. We have 4 sessions where the candidates and our program coordinator, Mike Lockwood, go over the material together, write the essay and then our Valley mails the completed test. We hope this promotes education and establishes a better connection with the new members. It has been well received by the Valley and the new members.

Pictured are Brothers Mike Lockwood and Frank Kaffenberger in a discussion with the class.

The State of New Mexico is celebrating its 100th year as a state, and the Scottish Rite building in Santa Fe is also turning 100 years old! To commemorate this once in a lifetime occasion, the Orient of New Mexico is celebrating a combined Spring “Centennial” Reunion. Illustrious Brother Tom Payne, Sovereign Grand Inspector General, has authorized a special opportunity for Master Masons seeking the Scottish Rite degrees: 100 for 100 for the 100th!

On May 4th, 5th, and 6th:

• 100 Master Masons take the Degrees for
• $100.00 (normally $257 in Santa Fe) to celebrate the
• 100th Anniversary of the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Cathedral

For more information check out the website at: sfsr100.org

“Constructing America: The Army Corps of Engineers Yesterday and Today”

Don Wildman, host of Travel Channel’s Off Limits and Mysteries at the Museum, discusses the monumental history of the US Army Corp of Engineers and it’s current slate of mind-boggling projects. Sharing background clips and anecdotes from his series, Wildman paints a fascinating portrait of an organization responsible for building and rebuilding our nation. Questions and Answers to follow. OPEN to friends and family.

6:00 Dinner 7:30 Auditorium. This is Don Wildman’s 2nd DCSR Appearance. Please RSVP with headcount to Secretary@dcsr.org or call 202-232-8155.

About Don Wildman:

Don Wildman hosts Travel Channel’s OFF LIMITS and MYSTERIES AT THE MUSEUM, venturing into both danger zones and diabolical intrigues to satisfy his hyper-driven curiosity about American society, telling the stories of our heritage and examining our collective systems of operation—how it is we’re even here in the first place. Whether he’s shining a flashlight down the shadowy tunnels of a forgotten factory or examining a cryptic artifact from a famed museum’s collection, Don’s mission is to puzzle out life’s most intriguing secrets and stories, exposing the reality beneath the surface–and beyond the chain-link.

Submitted by: Bud Michels, Chairman, Americanism Committee, Valley of Washington

In the past they had to turn people away due to popularity. Live near the Helena area? Go check it out. The Easter Tableaux will take place on Sunday, April 1 at the Masonic Temple, which is located at 15 North Jackson Street in Helena. The performances will be at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the event is free and open to the public.

A Masonic Classic! This fundamental sourcebook of Scottish Rite philospphy is now available in a new, user-friendly, and scholarly edition!  First published from 1872 to 1969, Morals and Dogma is one of the most insightful works ever prepared for Freemasonry. It is a collection of thirty-two essays which provide a rationale for the Scottish Rite degrees. It encompasses a study of Freemasonry, wise philosophy, ancient mysteries, mythology, ritual, and religion. It serves the useful purpose of putting Masonic morality and ethics within the context of the general society, and bids man to think large–to cast aside the petty concerns of everyday life and to improve ourselves.

This new edition includes the complete original text, but has been fully updated and improved. Spelling errors have been corrected, and it is set in clear, easy-to-read type; it retains the original pagination within the body of the text, while new subject headings and paragraph numbers make finding passages easy!

• Approximately 4,000 notes reveal the original sources used by Pike, clarify passages, suggest further reading, and include cross-references. New “ready references” reveal scriptural sources.
• Profusely illustrated with many images from the original sources Pike had before him when he prepared the original edition.
• New glossary, with primary and secondary bibliographies, and a new index.
• A detailed introduction on the history of Morals and Dogma.
• Hardbound (8″ x 10″) with decorative covers, printed in two colors; illustrated, indexed; 1116 pages.

The work was prepared by Arturo de Hoyos, 33°, G∴C∴, K.Y.C.H., the Scottish Rite’s Grand Archivist and Grand Historian. Check it out at the Scottish Rite Store.

Anyone may attend, no Masonic or Scottish Rite affiliation is required. Admission is $25 per session, or $90 for the series of eight session. Early subscribers may purchase admission to the series for $75. You may attend in person at the D.C. Scottish Rite, or at your computer, via web conference (webinar). For details check out the seminar website.

Proceeds will benefit the Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders, in Washington D.C., and may be tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

The symposium seeks to present the newest research on American fraternal groups from the past through the present day.  By 1900, over 250 American fraternal groups existed, numbering six million members.  The study of their activities and influence in the United States, past and present, offers the potential for fresh interpretations of American society and culture.

Seven scholars from the United States,Britain and Belgium will fill the day’s program:

• Jeffrey Tyssens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, “The Goatee’s Revenge: A Founding Myth and a Founder’s Cult in American Fraternalism”
• Yoni Appelbaum, Brandeis University, “The Great Brotherhood of Toil: The Knights of Labor as a Fraternal Order”
• Adam G. Kendall, Henry W. Coil Library and Museum, “The Shadow of the Pope: Anti-Catholicism, Freemasonry, and the Knights of Columbus in 1910s California”
• Samuel Biagetti,Columbia University, “A Prehistoric Lodge inRhode Island? – Masonry and the Messianic Moment”
• Alyce Graham,University of Delaware, “Secrecy and Democracy: Masonic Aprons, 1750-1830”
• Bradley Kime, Brigham Young University, “Masonic Motifs in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory”
• Kristofer Allerfeldt, Exeter University, “The Significance of Fraternalism in Three Criminal Organizations of Late Nineteenth Century America: The Mollie Maguires, the Ku Klux Klan and the Mafia”

All Symposium attendees are invited to a public lecture by Michael Halleran, Independent Scholar, “Gentlemen of the White Apron: Freemasonry in the American Civil War,” at 1 PM, in the Maxwell Auditorium.  This presentation is made possible through the generous support of Ruby W. Linn.

The symposium is funded in part by the Supreme Council, 33°, N. M. J., U.S.A. Registration is $65 ($60 for museum members) and includes morning refreshments, lunch and a closing reception.  To register, complete the Registration Form and fax to 781-861-9846 or mail to Claudia Roche, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 33 Marrett Road, Lexington, MA02421; registration deadline is APRIL 14, 2012.  For more information, contact Claudia Roche at croche@monh.org or 781-457-4142.

As the sound of bagpipes reverberated through the marble halls of the Guthrie Scottish Rite Center, more than eighty Knights of St. Andrew from both the Northern and Southern Masonic Jurisdictions joined together in a candle lit processional. That grand march was followed by the knighting of new members marking the end of the first day of the National Gathering.

The pageantry and beauty of the knighting ceremony was but one event in the busy itinerary. In addition, the three day agenda included Break Out/Discussion sessions on such topics as; Squires & Recruitment; Officer Training; Fund Raising & Charities; Ritual & Attire; and, Service to the Valley. These featured presentations by several Chapters including Omaha and Birmingham. The sessions were moderated by Knights from the St. Louis Chapter.

Held in conjunction with the Spring Reunion of the Guthrie Scottish Rite, the First National Gathering of Knights was attended by 122 members from 22 Scottish Rite Valleys across 17 states. Running in tandem with the 29 staged degrees of the Scottish Rite, Knights had a choice between attending a St. Andrew function or a dramatic degree presentation.

Tours of the Guthrie Scottish Rite Center were a highlight of the second day. The building was erected in the 1920’s on a scale and grandeur not duplicated since. It still remains the largest building dedicated strictly to Masonic use and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ladies who accompanied their Knights on this visit to Oklahoma took part in several of the KSA meetings and enjoyed shopping in the quaint Victorian town of Guthrie.Evening meals featured a Festive Board and a Banquet.

The Knights of St. Andrew is an organization founded 19 years ago for the express purpose of supporting the individual Valley through the direction of the General Secretary. Membership is open to “Black Cap” 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Masons. On receiving the honors of KCCH or 33rd Degree, members are termed “emeritus”, allowed to work within the organization but not hold office or vote. KSA is a “Black Cap” organization.

The kaleidoscope of kilts, glen gharries, and banners made a colorful weekend. As notable as the diversity of appearance was the diversity of functions among the Chapters. While all Chapters are devoted to serving the needs of their Valleys, each does so in their own way. Discussing this diversity was a hallmark of the Gathering.

Each Knight took home new ideas of service and a renewed feeling of camaraderie. The feeling of most attendees was summarized by the Master of Ceremonies at the closing of the Gathering:

“…Over the past three days,
We have discovered new friends;
We have strengthened our bonds with those we knew;
We have recognized and embraced our diversity;
We have applauded our common goals and purposes;
We have explored our own shortcomings;
We have learned from others how to overcome and excel;
We have shared our strengths as well as our hopes.

We will leave here with a renewed resolve;
We will communicate more;
We will more completely meet the needs of our Valleys;
We will not feel alone in times of frustration or concern;
We will be the glue that holds together the best parts of
Scottish Rite Masonry;
…and…
We will come together again.”

“Coming together again” will be at the Second National Gathering of the Knights of St. Andrew to be convened in St. Louis in October of 2014. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Martin, Past Venerable Master, mwa@cox.net; www.ksaguthrie.org

Top photo: After taking his vows as a Knight, Trenton Dentso is dubbed by Acting Venerable Master Tim Abdon. Second photo: A Procession of some 80 Knights and candidates enters the Atrium marching to the Knighting Ceremony.  Photos by Guthrie Knights Gene Rodgers and George Chapman