Model airplane interlude: building the SIG Senior kit.

I've been working on building the SIG Kadet Senior radio-controlled model airplane this summer. The plane has a 6 1/2 foot wing span and is made mostly of  balsa wood. Pictures of some of the building are below.

Operative Lodge #308 at the Four Seasons Festival parade in Polk City

New Master Mason at Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City

Welcome Joe Heaberlin, new Master Mason at Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City, Iowa. Joe was raised last night, July 2. What made the night extra meaningful was that Joe's grandfather was a Past Master of Operative Lodge some time ago.

Special thanks are due Brothers Jason Fenton of Chariton Lodge and Don Sardeson of King David Lodge in Altoona for their help in raising Joe.

Operative Lodge has two additional Third Degrees scheduled for this month: July 16th and 30th.

In addition, the Polk City Four Seasons Festival is July 20 - 21; look for the Operative Lodge float in the parade on July 21. Come out to Polk City and enjoy the fun! The Four Seasons Festival webpage has more details on activities.

Iowa Masonic Leadership Symposium

Here are a few highlights of the Iowa Leadership Symposium held today at the Des Moines Scottish Rite. For additional information, see my blog entry on the Des Moines Consistory website.

Robert G. Davis

-Gone are the days when only two generations of men run Lodge.

-The true purpose of Freemasonry- awakening consciousness in men. No other organization in the world exists to do this work. We exist to communicate moral integrity and social honor to a younger generation of men.

-Our goal is to make good men better (NOT to discuss how to make old, leaking Lodge roofs better)

Chris Hodapp

-The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown) is a 509 page love letter to the fraternity and we better be ready for a masonic boom of potential members when the movie comes out.

-I was jabbed with an officer’s pike soon after I was raised in 1999: 2 years later I was Master of the Lodge.

-New members won’t tolerate arguing about whether or not to fix the roof or raise dues by $2 a year.

-Freemasonry isn’t just about ritual because face it: who would join a memorization club?

S. Brent Morris

-Freemasons in their thirties and forties started most of the invitational groups that today have high status.

-90% of Lodges in the state of New York were lost as a result of the Morgan affair.

- what’s the next evolution of Freemasonry? It might be up to those younger than us.

Thomas Wilkerson

-I graduated from Top Gun when Tom Cruise was in the 3^rd grade.

-Nine of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence died from combat wounds; 5 were POWs.

-all of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during WW2 were Freemasons

Pictures can be viewed at Bailey's Buddy

Symbolism of the Ashlars: Borglum's View

My first attempt at Masonic research was an analysis of the Rough and Perfect Ashlars, two common symbols found in many Iowa Masonic Lodges. My purpose in writing the paper was to describe different interpretations of these Masonic symbols in part to encourage a broader interpretation. In my research, I found references to the three branches of the federal government, social capital, and even comasonry. Rather than focus on a persuasive thesis as to which interpretation is best, I hoped to merely describe unique ways to view these symbols. As a new Freemason, I can't say that I succeeded in that attempt, but I did add to my own understanding.

 Many of the ten interpretations I wrote about have been published here on my blog, but I left out the one posted below: Brother Gutzon Borglum's interpretation. My travels this month to Utah inspired me to dig out some of my old photos from previous trips and I discovered several from a visit to Mount Rushmore years ago, and so I was reminded of this great man and what he had to say about the symbolism of the Ashlars:






Over three million people visited Mount Rushmore in 2009, a number greater than the total population of the state of Iowa. (National Park Service) This popular, iconic American landmark is itself memorialized on everything from T-shirts to shot glasses. Gutzon Borglum began work on the massive presidential memorial in 1927. His son, Lincoln Borglum, assumed primary responsibility for the project after his father died in 1941. As many members of the Craft know, both father and son were Freemasons. Gutzon Borglum was Worshipful Master of Howard Lodge No. 35 in New York City. Lincoln Borglum, named after his father’s favorite President Abraham Lincoln, was a member of Battle River Lodge No. 92 of Hermosa, South Dakota.  (Leazer, n.p.)

The Borglum view of the symbolism of the rough and perfect ashlar stems from the artist’s insight into his art. Masonic author Carl Claudy writes about this in Introduction to Freemasonry:

"The famous sculptor and ardent Freemason, Gutzon Borglum, asked how he carved stone into beautiful statues, once said, "It is very simple. I merely knock away with hammer and chisel the stone I do not need and the statue is there - it was there all the time."  In the Great Light we read: "The kingdom of heaven is within you." We are also there taught that man is made in the image of God. As Brother Borglum has so beautifully said, images are made by a process of taking away. The perfection is already within. All that is required is to remove the roughness, the excrescences, "divesting our hearts and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life" to show forth the perfect man and Mason within."  (Pietre-Stones: Review of Freemasonry)

This view of the rough and perfect ashlars compliments other interpretations. Borglum’s analysis of the human condition highlights our capacity for communion with God, and indeed, focuses on the purpose of our life here: to draw closer to Him. Through the practice and principles of Freemasonry, we build on that qualitative human characteristic and apply the work to ourselves for the improvement of all.

New Blog: IowaMason

IowaMason is a new Masonic blog by Matthew Risberg. Brother Matt is a member of Acanthus Lodge #632 in Beaverdale. 

Check out his blog at this link.

Iowa Masonic Leadership Symposium

The  Iowa Masonic Leadership Symposium is Saturday, June 30 at the Des Moines Scottish Rite Temple. Speakers include Robert Davis, Christopher Hodapp,  S. Brent Morris, and Thomas Wilkerson.

See the Grand Lodge of Iowa's web page for more info.

Ensign Peak

Ensign Peak is a mountain on the north edge of Salt Lake City, just behind the State Capitol building. The Mormon pioneers climbed the peak shortly after arriving to plan the city's layout. The trail to the top is easy, but I found it steeper than the descriptions implied. It's about 1 mile round-trip and the views of the city and the Great Salt Lake are incredible.

We leave SLC today for home. We plan to stay overnight in Cheyenne and I hope to post some pics of Cheyenne Lodge #1.

A diversion about Advanced Placement high school exams

 

Advanced Placement tests are a way for high school students to earn college credit while still in high school. The tests are developed by the College Board and given each May. For the high school class I teach (Government and Politics: US) the student answers 60 multiple-choice questions (MCQ) and 4 essays. They have 45 minutes for the MCQs and 100 minutes for the essays.

The College Board hires 600+ teachers and professors to score the essays over a 7 day period.  After a full day of training, we typically start scoring. We are divided into “tables” of 8 readers with an additional person who is our table leader. The table leader is an experienced reader and assists as we come across tricky essays.

We do not score all 4 essays rather we are assigned to 1 of the 4 questions and read it throughout the week. But not always. Sometimes 1 of the essays takes longer to read than others and readers are switched over to help with that essay. For example, this year I am scoring this essay:

The judicial branch is often assumed to be insulated from politics. However, politics affects many aspects of the judiciary.

(a) Describe two political factors that affect presidents’ decisions to appoint members of the federal judiciary.

(b) Identify two political factors that affect the confirmation process of a president’s nominees and explain how

each factor complicates a confirmation.

(c) Explain how one legislative power serves as a check on court decisions.

(d) Explain how one executive power serves as a check on court decisions.

This is a challenging essay for high school students, but the reason why it is hard to score isn’t because of the content but because of the wording. Describe, identify, and explain all mean different things and readers have to slow down and be careful to accurately score each part of the question.

We started with 18 tables assigned to read this question. By the third day of reading, 5 additional tables were added to help us catch up. My pace has been a bit slower than last year. So far, I have averaged 285 essays each day for 4 days with my high being 338 and low being 195. Its typical to have a smaller amount read on the first day (195 for me on Mon) than the 4^th day (238 on Thurs.).

City Creek Center- Salt Lake City

A tour of Temple Square, Salt Lake City

A visit to Mt. Moriah Lodge #2 in Salt Lake City

I visited Mt. Moriah Lodge #2 F&AM of Salt Lake City, Utah Monday, June 11 during their monthly stated meeting. Another brother also happened to be visiting yesterday evening and he was in town for the same event as I was: scoring Advanced Placement exams.

After being examined by both Deacons, I met several of the brothers, but it was a busy evening for the Lodge. The Grand Lodge of Utah was visiting: 16 members of the Grand line were in attendance for the annual visitation. During the meeting, the Grand Lecturer made a presentation on Utah’s ritual, the Grand Orator spoke on the importance of living up to the fraternity’s ideals, and the Grand Master, Most Worshipful Frank C. Baker reviewed the Lodge’s activities and programs.

Another fascinating part of the meeting was a visit by the local Job’s Daughters. The girls made a presentation on the significance of their robe and its meaning and connections to Freemasonry.

After the meeting, I had a chance to visit with Mt. Moriah’s Worshipful Master Robert Smith and Brother Bill Dysart. Both were very welcoming and friendly, as were all the Utah Freemasons I met last night.

On the road to Salt Lake

I’m traveling to Salt Lake City for my short-term summer job of reading AP exams. I teach a high school course titled Government and Politics: US; students can earn college credit for this class if they score well on a national exam. The exam is written by the College Board, an organization which works closely with colleges to provide challenging curriculum for high school courses. The exam consists of two parts, 60 multiple choice questions and four essay questions. The multiple choice section is scored by computer, but the essays are graded the old fashioned way. College Board hires 700 high school teachers and college professors to read each question. How many kids take the exam? Last year, over 250,000 took it. It takes about a week to read and score the approximately one million essays (250,000 students times 4 questions each) and this year the reading takes place in Salt Lake City.

Last summer, the reading was in Daytona Beach. I had the chance to visit Halifax Lodge #81 while there. This year, I’m looking forward to visiting a Salt Lake City Lodge, Mt. Moriah #2 in Salt Lake.

Check back for more travel reports and my report on Mt. Moriah #2.

140th Anniversary of Operative Lodge

Operative Lodge #308 passed three men to the Fellowcraft degree Tuesday evening. It was a very unique night for several reasons. First, we don’t often pass that many at the same time; members could not recall the last time it has happened. Second, the Mother’s lecture was given by a visiting brother from Otley Lodge in Perry. This lecture is moving and emotional and as Senior Deacon I had a front row seat to hear it, three times! And finally, last night, June 5, 2012, was the 140^th anniversary of Operative Lodge #308 receiving its charter from the Grand Lodge of Iowa! What a great way to celebrate! 

Welcome to our new Fellowcrafts, Joe Heaberlin, Issac Laffey, and James Brown, and congratulations on helping to make the 140^th anniversary of Operative Lodge unique.

Knights Templar Grand Conclave

The 148th Conclave of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Iowa is in progress in Ames. Last night featured several events including the Knight Crusader of the Cross degree. Approximately 30 Sir Knights took the degree, including myself. It reminds us of our commitment as Knights Templar and includes lessons on one of my favorite parts of the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount.

Thursday also featured Ritual competition by five commanderies. Temple Commandery number 4 participated, as did Commanderies from Waterloo, Marshaltown, Creston, and Sioux City.

Early Thursday morning the Sir Knights from Temple Commandery met for a dress rehearsal for the opening of the Grand Commandery. I'm participating in a small part and it's been fun learning the ritual and floor work with the swords. The opening is Friday morning so ready or not, we're on.

UPDATE: Temple Commandery  #4 won the competition- congrats Sir Knights!

Knights Templar floor work

Temple Commandery Number 4 in Des Moines, Iowa has the privilege of opening the One Hundred Forty-Eighth Annual Conclave of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Iowa next weekend. Iowa's Right Eminent Grand Commander, Sir Knight Rusty Hill,  is a member of Temple Commandery so we have the honor of opening the Conclave. As a new Sir Knight, I volunteered to assist with the opening, in part because I thought it would be an opportunity to learn more of the ritual and get to know the guys in my Commandery.

I've had a lot of fun learning the ritual and especially the floor work. The verbal part of the ritual isn't too difficult and the floor work is unique since we use swords throughout. So far, I haven't nicked anyone with the sword, but stay tuned- our practices are not done yet!

A busy Masonic weekend in Des Moines

How does one get to meet both the Governor of the State of Iowa and the Right Honourable Lord Mayor of York in the same weekend? Freemasons in Central Iowa know the answer to that question!

 This weekend the Iowa York Rite College #37 held its annual assembly in Des Moines at which officers were elected, seven new members welcomed, and the Lord Mayor of York made an appearance as part of the cast in the Order of the Knight of York. I was one of the seven new members of the College and I found the degree to be historically exciting and the lectures to be among the most memorable I’ve heard. The cast of the degree included Grand Governor George Harrison, Deputy Grand Governor David Dryer, members of the Lewis and Clark College #199, and York Rite members from around the state of Iowa. After dinner, Iowa Research Lodge #2 met with more than a dozen Iowa Masons joining as new members. More on this event later.

 In addition to Saturday’s festivities, on Friday Iowa Freemasons welcomed Governor of the State of Iowa Terry Branstad as a member of the Des Moines Scottish Rite. Governor Branstad, State Representative Jeff Kaufman, and State Representative Tom Sands joined the Des Moines Consistory in a ceremony attended by United States Senator Charles Grassley, Gary Sissel S.G.I.G., and a large number of Scottish Rite members. The Des Moines Consistory blog as well as  Bailey’s Buddy has more about this event.
(Photo from City of York Public Libraries, http://library.york.gov.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/8bQrKeH5JC/YORKIMAGES/194843551/2/8)

Knock, knock, knock

White bronze tombstones were quite popular around the turn of the twentieth century. These stones were actually sand cast zinc, not bronze, but the white bronze label stuck. The “stones” are hollow and easily identified, either by color or by simply knocking on them: you’ll hear a metallic, hollow sound.

Most of these markers have a plate which can be removed with a screwdriver to reveal their hollow interior; there are anecdotal reports that bootleggers used these hollow markers as a drop. The customer would leave cash inside the stone and the bootlegger would visit, in the middle of the night of course, and leave the booze.

I ran across a white bronze tombstone in the Polk City Cemetery. The tombstone marks the grave of G.E. Merrill, a Past Master of Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City. I didn’t check inside, but I did knock, more than once.

Living History Farm's Dr. Armstrong: Freemason from Polk City

Dr. George Armstrong was one of Polk City’s earliest doctors and also a Freemason. Dr. Armstrong traveled to Iowa from Ohio beginning his Polk City practice in 1857. He owned property at the corner of Broadway and Summer street; current residents believe his office was located there. In 1979, Dr. Armstrong’s office was donated to Living History Farms. The office is located on the main street of Walnut Hill, the recreated town at Living History farms. Dr. Armstrong is buried in Polk City Cemetery.
(Currie, Roxana. Polk City's Early History Before 1900. Iowa City: Camp Pope Publishing, 2000.)

Master Craftsman II is DONE!

(photo courtesy of Scottish Rite)

Master Craftsman II is done! I received an email this past week from the Scottish Rite that my final Master Craftsman II quiz has been scored. It’s been a long but enjoyable process of reading, writing, and researching. Throughout the course, I used the Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor & Guide as well as A Bridge to Light. In addition, I spent quite a bit of time reading Morals & Dogma. My paperback copy of Hutchens’ Bridge to Light is showing considerable wear and De Hoyos’ hardcover Monitor & Guide actually looks like its been read: I can guarantee that it has! Morals & Dogma, which probably should show the most wear, is on my iPad!

I started the course over a year ago. After receiving the first quiz, I set the program materials aside for about six months. Other activities took precedence and a few weeks of delay turned into a few months. What finally motivated me was the Des Moines Scottish Rite’s one-day summer reunion last year. After this slow start, I made good progress:
- on average, it took 10.5 days to complete each quiz
- quiz 5 (15° - 18°) took the longest at 29 days
- quiz 2 (6°- 8°) took the least time at 2 days
- the Scottish Rite averaged 4 days turnaround time in scoring each quiz
(These numbers do not include my delay at the beginning of the course)

I was impressed with the staff at the Scottish Rite in D.C. They scored my quizzes and put the next one in the mail within a day or two. The only time there was a significantly longer delay was over Christmas. As a classroom teacher responsible for grading tests and essays of over 160 students, I was impressed with their turnaround time!

Next!