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...

On November 23, a new lodge was granted dispensation by our Grand Lodge in order for the brethren of Heredom Lodge UD to now provide Observant Masonry in Toronto. The ceremony was carried out in darkness with the exception of candle lights. The visitors entered the lodge room, while listening to Haydn's piece called "Die Schopfung" - translated as The Creation - and each then stood silently awaiting the entrance of the members of our other two Ontario-based Observant Lodges who would first sit in the officers chairs to open, and they were followed shortly thereafter by the soon-to-be seated officers of Heredom Lodge. After the traditional opening and Toronto Humber Valley's DDGM reading the dispensation, and a presentation delivered related to the music and its significant import, while "Im Anfange schuf Gott Himmel und Erde" was played - which translates to In the Beginning God created Heaven and Earth - and RW Bro Gareth Taylor provided insight in to t...

This was a special night for me. I had just come out of the hospital on the Saturday prior, having had my gallbladder removed, and this evening was an Emergent Meeting for The Beaches Lodge and it was a night where my oldest boy Eric was to provide the candidate with the SW lecture in the 2nd degree. I had to check earlier with RWBro Gord Crutcher as to what attire I was to wear, given officers typically only wear a regular business suit, and seeing as it was an Emergent Meeting of my own mother lodge I could in fact dress down and wear a tux... not a white tie and tails.  One thing you can notice in the photo is that my apron is falling down. Yes, I did lose some weight during my 4-day stay in the hospital, which began on Wednesday November 13, with the surgery being done on Friday night at 10pm. While there, Eric came to visit several times and we had an opportunity to go through his work together to be properly prepared for the degree, which he was. You might also be able to ...

Last night I visited my illustrious brethren of the Toronto Valley in order to relax and watch the 4th Degree - the Secret Master - and to say hello to friends from other districts as well. At the conclusion is a reading from Albert Pike, who wrote: "Of the Freemasonry of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the true definition is this: 'An advance toward the Light; a constant endeavour, in all its degrees, to exalt the Divine that is in man, in his reason and moral sense, and to make it dominant over the human, earthly and material in his nature, his passions and his sensual appetites.' " The 4th is the first of the degrees in the Lodge of Perfection and, according to their website, these degrees, the 4th through 14th, are called Ineffable Degrees because their principal purpose is the investigation and contemplation of the ineffable name of Deity.

Last night, my mother lodge, The Beaches Lodge No 473 held a wonderful reception for me at York Temple, and also invested VWBro Robert Jewell (who was at my initiation in 2005) with his regalia as Assistant Grand Organist. The lodge was opened at 7pm, and visitors were admitted shortly thereafter, and after being afforded Grand Honours, lodge was closed in order to bring in the guests of the evening, which included my wife, Arlene, and our sons William and Richard. My eldest son Eric was already in lodge as SW, and he welcomed Michaela to also sit in the North with their two children Olivia and Ayven.  Several of my brethren in lodge were asked to provide a synopsis of their relationship with me and share a few of their experiences along the way. WBro Christian Giles spoke about our first day in lodge, and some of our subsequent ventures around the world, and the impact of Freemasonry we have enjoyed together, WBro Russ Richardson regaled us with stories from our days in the mus...