On February 28, 2011, Jerusalem Lodge No. 9 welcomed a new brother to our fraternity.  Johnny Griffin was regularly received as such. Several members were in attendance.  P.M. George Coombs was the acting master for the degree.  George currently serves the lodge as our treasurer.

Before the degree, a meal was prepared by W.M. Peter J Perrone and he even cleaned up the kitchen when he was done, an example for all…

Pictured L-R: George Coombs, P.M.; Johnny Griffin, EA; Peter J Perrone, W.M.; Jimmy Wedding Jr.

Pictured L-R: James T. Roll, P.M., Sec.; James Brian Wingfield, EA; Acting Master, Steven W. Hall, S.W.; Peter J. Perrone, W.M.

After a great meal prepared by several members, Brother Wingfield was regularly received into our great fraternity.

Front Row L-R: Bryce Hazelwood, Tyler; Matthew McConnell, J.D.; Peter J. Perrone, W.M.; George Coombs P.M., Treas.; Jonathan Self, J.S.
Back Row L-R: Kevin Hazelwood, S.S.; James DeArmond, S.D.; Steve Hall, S.W.; Joseph Hall, J.W.; James Roll P.M., Sec.

Steve Hall receiving the jewel of S.W.

Joe’s lady friend, Heather, placing the jewel of J.W. on him

They want Joe’s lady friend, Heather, to place their jewels of their office on them….  everyone got a kick out of this.

Installing Officer, Edward Anderson, PDDGM, and currently serving Grand Lodge as Chairman on Publicity, along with serving on the Keepers Of The Work committee.  Brother Anderson is very active in our fraternity, having performed the staircase in several lodges, assisting on the 3rd degree team of Jerusalem 9, degree teams of the Scottish Rite, York Rite, and Shrine.

L-R: P.M. James T. Roll, Sec., presenting W.M. Douglas D Fritts with his Past Master’s Watch at our December 13th meeting, 2010.

W.M. Douglas D. Fritts presents Masonic Bibles to his officers at our December 13th meeting, 2010.

W.M. Douglas D. Fritts presents Masonic Bibles to his officers at our December 13th meeting, 2010.

Copied from an email that I had received:

Each of us at one time or another have stepped into Hiram’s shoes and made a journey like those that have gone before us. We learned that every day at high twelve our Grand Master would go to the Sanctum Sanctorum and offer up his adorations to deity and lay his designs upon the trestle board. We are all versed in the literal interpretation of this scene as we have played it out countless times. If we were to delve deeper into the penitence of a humble soul seeking the wisdom and tools to help shape his moral, physical, and spiritual edifice we find one of the preeminent lessons of our Fraternity. We learn the lesson of "choice." We have the choice to knock on Freemasonry’s door; to advance to the altar of Masonry; to step into Hiram’s shoes and pray. If we were to follow the example of that individual, perhaps we would pray for the wisdom and strength to apply the symbolic uses of architectural tools to our spiritual lives in the hopes of shaping our hearts, minds and bodies into what might be pleasing to the Grand Architect of the Universe on the day of our judgment.

It is that particular "choice" that differentiates us from so many others. We often hear the phrase "We take good men and make them better." Perhaps it is not the fraternity that "makes" them better, but rather it provides the setting for an individual to make the choice to better himself. Again we find the usage and application of "choice." At the altar of Masonry, we make a declaration of choice to strive to demonstrate honor and integrity in all that we do; to love and treat our Brothers with respect, and to help our fellow Brothers get back onto the correct path if they stray too far.

For some of us, the individual experience of making some of those choices is sufficient to last a lifetime and is one that we fondly keep in our hearts throughout all of our days. For others it is by the shared participation in providing the setting to be a witness to others making these choices where we find the true source of our Masonic wages.
It all begins with a choice.

Sincerely & Fraternally,
J. Brian McNaughton

Brothers

Just by chance, I ran across a deal from Macoy Masonic Supplies.  You can order you a golf polo shirt with our name on it.  All you have to do is click on the link below.

Jerusalem 9 ~ Golf Shirt

Fraternally yours,

James T. Roll, P.M., Sec.

Jerusalem9.org

Despite the prediction of several inches of snow, we had a large crowd attend our meeting and our Entered Apprentice degree.  We had five ready to receive their degree, but one was a deputy sheriff and was on call due to the snow, so he had to leave.  But we will hold another EA degree at our next meeting, February 22, 2010, for him.

It was a great night for Masonry with four new members initiated into our great fraternity.  Past Master Roscoe Sneed conferred the work.  We also had several representatives from the Grand Lodge in attendance. 

Pictured Left to Right: Grand Treasurer, Christopher L. Stout; Past Master, Roscoe Sneed; New EA’s Tyler Campbell, JD Cavanah, Patrick Reed, and Rob Toerne; Keepers of the work chairman, Rick T. Nation; Publicity Chairman, Edward G Anderson.

After the degree we held our business meeting.  We were glad that Chris Stout, Grand Treasurer and Rick Nation, Keepers of the Work Chairman braved the weather to come down from Lexington area to attend our meeting.  They were able to answer some questions we had and shed more light for those in attendance. 

After the meeting we looked through some old minutes and learned that back in 1853 and earlier, our lodge was opening regular stated meetings on the EA degree to conduct business.  It wasn’t until December 1853 that we switched to opening regular stated meetings on the MM degree to conduct business.

Despite the Blizzard of 2010, we held our annual Friend to Friend Breakfast. Several lodge members arrived around 5 am to start cooking the meal consisting of country ham, sausage, eggs, biscuits, and gravy, along with coffee, milk, & orange juice. Breakfast was served at 8 am, followed by a short video explaining free Masonry, and a talk by P.M. Bruce Trice.

Several members brought guest and I would estimate we had around 10 guest. One already asked how he could join and was quickly given a petition, which he completed and turned back in.

We currently have two entered apprentices, and four coming February 8 to receive their entered apprentice. Looks like we are going to have a busy start to the year.

Ellis Harold Hill, 83, Henderson, passed away Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010, at the Lucy King Smith Hospice Care Center at Methodist Hospital.

He was a member of Bennett Memorial United Methodist Church. He had worked at Gamco and GE Corp & York in Madisonville. He was a Master Mason of Jerusalem Lodge No. 9 and Sword of C Bunker Hill at Mount Vernon, Ind. He was a UK fan and an avid fisherman.

Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to Bennett Memorial United Methodist Church.