Another year older

Posted Sep 22nd, 2010

No matter how much we plan, we never know where life will lead us.  As I now sit and reflect over the past 64 years, I’m frankly amazed.

It’s incredible to me that I’m alive.  My Father only lived to be 42.  My Mother was only 44 when she passed away.

It appears to me that I’ll probably be more like my Grandfather that lived to be 87.  Grandmother had already passed some 10 years earlier.  Frankly, he just gave up.  I think he could have lived even longer.

This is one of the hardest times and the best of times for me at this age.  Frankly, I’m really enjoying the creative energy.  My mind seems to never fully stop.  I can see so many things that need to be done by someone.  I maybe that person.

As I meet with people everyday, I continue to see places where I might be helpful.  I’m trying to be.  It’s just going to take a bit more time for me to accomplish what’s important to my wife and I at this time in our life.

This picture was taken last Saturday as we attended the L.A. County Fair.  My wife and I go every year to see what’s new, watch people and look at the things people have made to eat, to wear and with their hands.  It’s amazing.

At 64 I’m glad to be alive and hope that each day counts.  My goals are still the same . . . to do no harm but be helpful to others.   I’m still learning.  I’m still trying to make a difference.

To all my friends: Thank you for your inspiration and your friendship.  To those I work with everyday: Together, we will win on behalf of many, perhaps even thousands of people.  We need to continue to stay the course.

Here’s to another terrific year with the woman of my dreams, Margaret, our six children and ten grandchildren.  I love you all.

The George Washington Masonic Memorial

Posted Sep 6th, 2010

Forward:

As a Mason, I receive a lot of Masonic publications and educational information.  I receive one particular publication called “The Templar.”  In the September issued appeared this very engaging article that I thought you might enjoy.  George Washington is one of the many men I look to for inspiration.  Another is Harry Truman.

It’s written by Mark A. Tabbert, Past Master and the Director of Collections of the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, VA.  The Photos were taken by Arthur W. Pierson Photography.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  

The Freemasons’ White House Stones Exhibit

The George Washington Masonic Memorial opened a new exhibit in February featuring 45 historic White House stones. Each stone is marked by a Scottish stonemason who helped build the White House.  The stones are reassembled for the first time since President Harry S. Truman sent one to every U.S. Masonic Grand Lodges in 1952. Complementing the stones is a Minute Book from The Lodge of Journeymen Masons No. 8 of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lists members of the lodge, who in 1794, immigrated to help build the White House. Accompanying the Minute Book is the lodge’s Mark Book, showing each stonemason’s trade mark. By comparing these marks to the marks on the stones, visitors may identify the men who helped to build the President’s House. The exhibit opened in conjunction with the Memorial Association’s 100^th Anniversary and will run through May 2011.

In 1789, first president George Washington and the U.S. Congress were determined to build a great capital city.  By 1792, the site was chosen, designer Pierre L’Enfant’s street plan was adapted, and work began. At the city’s center would be the U.S. Capitol, the “People’s House.”  The President’s House would be located on Pennsylvania Avenue. Washington reviewed the site and personally selected architect James Hoban’s design. The mansion’s cornerstone was laid with a small civic and Masonic ceremony on October 13, 1792.

Although foundation work then began in earnest, the government soon discovered the young nation had an abundance of craftsmen, but few master stonemasons. What’s more, those it did have were working on the U.S. Capitol. After a thorough search in America and Europe, agent George Walker traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland. By spring 1794, he had recruited at least eight stonemasons from The Lodge of Journeymen Masons No. 8.

With the arrival of the eight Scots stonemasons, the White House walls rose to completion in 1798. During construction, the stonemasons, being Freemasons, joined the local lodge. Federal Lodge No.15 had been chartered September 12, 1793 by the Grand Lodge of Maryland. James Hoban was its first Worshipful Master. Federal Lodge became the first lodge when the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia was constituted in 1811. The exhibit also includes Federal Lodge’s first Account Book listing the Scots stonemasons and White House architect James Hoban as its first Master. Additional materials include a letter from President Truman, historic photographs and other items.

The White House stones were discovered soon after Truman became president in 1945. With major plaster cracks appearing and a piano dropping nearly through the floor, it was obvious that the executive mansion needed a complete overhaul. The First Family relocated to Blair House as work began. By 1950, only the White House facade and some of the original foundation stones remained. President Truman inspected the work often and during one tour he noticed a large number of stones engraved with mason’s marks. Recognizing that they were made by Scottish stonemasons, he contacted the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia and had more than 100 of them delivered to the Grand Lodge headquarters on New York Avenue—just three blocks away.

In 1952, President Truman asked the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia to send one of the marked stones to each U.S. Grand Lodge. Each stone had a small White House brass plaque affixed to it accompanied by a letter – framed of recycled White House wood – to the Grand Master. Additional stones were distributed to Canadian Grand Lodges, several Order of Eastern Star state grand chapters, a few local lodges, DeMolay International, the two U.S. Scottish Rite Supreme Councils, the Grand Lodge of Israel, and the Grand Lodge of the Philippines. Many were hand delivered by Truman or by Carl Claudy, Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association. In 2004, the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia presented stones to the recently independent Grand Lodge of Alaska and Grand Lodge of Hawaii.

This unique exhibit of American and Scottish Masonic history is sponsored by the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, Valley of Washington, Orient of the District of Columbia, and by the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M., of the District of Columbia.  It is also made possible by the cooperation and support of many U.S. Grand Lodges, the Grand Lodge of Scotland, The Lodge of Journeymen Masons No. 8 of Edinburgh, Federal Lodge No. 1 of the District of Columbia, and the White House Historical Association.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association is a private, non-profit educational organization. Its membership is comprised of 52 Grand Lodges (50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico), representing nearly two million Freemasons in the United States.   The Memorial Association was created on Washington’s Birthday, February 22, 1910. Between 1922 and 1932, it built the George Washington Masonic Memorial through volunteer donations from American Freemasons. The Association’s mission is: “To inspire humanity through education to emulate and promote the virtues, character and vision of George Washington, the Man, the Mason and Father of our Country.”