My Year In The Grand West

At their December meeting, the annual Installation and Investiture of the Officers of Ionic Lodge was a well-attended and, frankly, efficient meeting - and there were no Past Masters in the lineup. I had not visited this lodge, despite its proximity (meeting at the York Temple), since RWBro Art DiCecco was installed as Master quite a few years ago. Ionic Lodge No  is one of the oldest in Toronto. The history of the lodge, acccording to VWBro Paul Skazin, goes like this: on July 6, 1847, R.W. Bro. Allan Napier MacNab, Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Canada West, Acting under Thomas Dundas, Earl of Zetland, Grand Master of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of England, granted his dispensation for the formation of "The Ionic Lodge," to meet in the City of Toronto. There were seventeen petitioners for the dispensation and were all members of St Andrew’s Lodge which up until then was the only Lodge in Toronto. The first meeting of...