My Year In The Grand West

Back to my Mother Lodge on this first Thursday in March for our annual OV, and tonight we welcomed RWBro Gil Carreiro, DDGM Toronto East, for his annual inspection. We first enjoyed a wonderful meal at the banquet hall in the York Temple and then, upon opening, passed to the Second Degree Bro George Kierstead, while also enjoying a piece of Masonic Education presented by WBro Derek McNulty on the intriguing subject of Acacia. Next month, the brethren will cast their votes for the new officer line-up and at our OV, the SW was Bro Eric Boyce, who delivered the FC lecture, and on this night WBro Steve Spence announced he would be letting his name stand for the office of GSW in July.  The Sprig of Acacia, as found on the website Sacred Texts, and related to Freemasonry: Intimately connected with the legend of the third degree is the mythical history of the Sprig of Acacia, which we are now to consider. There is no symbol more interesting to the masonic student than the Sprig o...

This was a special night, not only for me, but for my son, who is now the SW in The Beaches Lodge and who was leading the degree team - as it was Step Up Night - and on this evening, Thursday, Feb 6, Bro Eric Boyce, sitting on the level in the East, and his officers raised two FC to the sublime degree of the Master Mason - and also while open in the 3rd proved a very capable member, who will soon be invested as an officer. As I watched the degree, I was reminded of the year 2011 when I was still the SW of The Beaches and when in May subsequently was installed as WM - and the first to be installed at York Temple. I have now watched many of the lodge officers be initiated, passed and raised in our new home (albeit temporary), including the current WM, WBro Jonathan Miles, and indeed I was proud of these young men, and the candidates, who were very well prepared, and look forward to watching their progress in the Craft.

The GJW, RWBro Mark Kapitan, joined me on this evening, Wednesday Feb 5, for the annual Official Visit of RWBro Gil Carreiro, DDGM Toronto East, at Universe Lodge held in the York Masonic Temple. The brethren of Acacia Lodge provided an excellent young candidate who was passed to the FC degree. Accacia Lodge helped to form The Beaches Lodge in 1905, and has a long history: "A preliminary meeting was held on March 31st, 1892, to discuss the formation of another Masonic Lodge in East Toronto. It was comprised of members from Orient Lodge #399. In attendance were Brothers J.P. McMaster, J. Mitchell, W.R. Walters, John Richardson, John Parsell, G. Milne, D. Maginn, W. Brown and S. Newland. In order to proceed, dispensation was requested of, and granted by, the surrounding Lodges and the G.M. John Ross Robertson on May 5th, 1892. Bro. William Bowman loaned $200 for Hall Furnishings and a meeting place was secured through Bro. D.G. Stephenson, at Kingston Road and Main Street. The na...

On this night the brethren of Imperial East Gate welcomed RWBro Gil Carreiro on the occasion of his Official Visit to Imperial East Gate Lodge in Toronto East District, and after being warmly welcomed I enjoyed the evening in the East. After the meeting, I had an lengthy chat with the SW, Bro Eleno Sabatin, who is certainly excited about his forthcoming election and thus possibly becoming the new WM in a few months.

On the first Thursday of the new year, 2020, this was Past Master's Night at The Beaches Lodge, and I was asked to sit in the West during the Initiation of our candidate, taking the chair of Bro Eric Boyce - who will be installed in May. It was very much a fun night - as I was sandwiched between WBro Andrew Douris and WBro Derek McNulty - and I'm sure everyone had a great time before, during and after the ceremony. At the banquet, I sat with a four of our lodge's very bright and curious members and the conversation floated from the Masonic Foundation off Ontario and its good works, to ancient megaliths in Japan, and some of the esoteric aspects of Freemasonry, and among the many topics we discussed were the Emerald Tablets and Thoth  as well as the fabled two pillars  ("… according to legend, Thoth preserved his canon of writings inside two great pillars “just before the Great Flood inundated the world.” Thousands of years later, the pillars were rediscovered. Accor...

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...

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 ...