Masons to open doors to the public Sunday

Posted 10/19/16

By LARRY TUCKER

news@woodcountymonitor.com

Texas Masons are opening up their lodges statewide Sunday at 2 p.m. for the public to better understand what the fraternity does in hopes of …

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Masons to open doors to the public Sunday

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Texas Masons are opening up their lodges statewide Sunday at 2 p.m. for the public to better understand what the fraternity does in hopes of finding someone interested in what Masonry offers.   This event is to help the community to become better acquainted with Texas Masonic Lodges and the corresponding philosophy, charity work and community service activities.

Guy Brown and Ken Johnson of Quitman Flora Lodge 119 want people to know the Masons are not looming within their lodges holding on to ancient secrets of the past. Brown said in 1962 there were 274,000 Texas Masons and today there are about 74,000.

“Basically we want to show everybody what we do. Everybody has this misnomer ever since Tom Hanks started doing movies about the Illuminati, and this and that,” Brown explained. “If everybody would just open their eyes and look at what the Masons do, especially us in this community, they would see we have a drug program in the schools, the Fantastic Teeth Program in elementary school, feed the teachers at the beginning of school, have a Valentine dinner for our widows and have the big fish fry every year for the Quitman Caring and Sharing program at Christmas.

“We want to get people out and come in to see for themselves what it is to be a Mason. All it is, is a fraternity of men. Ben Franklin and George Washington were Masons. We have been accused of being Satanists, yet we have pastors in our membership,” Brown noted. “Texas, Oklahoma and New York all have Masons, but each state has their set of rules.”

Johnson said there is a program to try and bring back people who have done the first part of becoming a Mason, but for whatever reason have not continued. “In today’s world a lot of people are moving around from area to area. They finally decide not to do it anymore,” Johnson said. “We are trying to get them back into the organization. It’s kind of like the Boy Scouts where you start out as a Tenderfoot, then you do things and learn certain things to get to the next step, all the way up to Eagle. Our program is similar to that.”

Brown said the open house will be informational. “We are going to put out information. There will be members there of Masonic organizations to tell about what they do,” Brown said. “There will be Shriners. You have to be a Mason before you can be a Shriner. We all give our time and our resources, everybody knows about Shriners and the Shriners Children’s Hospital.”

Ever lodge in Wood County is taking part in the open house. Masonic District 11 is made up of Winnsboro, Hawkins, Mineola, Emory, Yantis and Quitman. Each of the lodges will be open Oct. 23. “People with interest or just questions can come and see what it is all about,” Brown added.

Johnson addressed the membership problem. “The idea is membership will keep dropping as the older guys are passing away. That’s where most of it has gone, and as they pass away we are not getting new members,” Johnson acknowledged. “We need to attract more men to come and invest the time in what we do. We are hoping to get people in to see us, see the lodge, and talk to us about it. We want them to know all the things we do in the community. A lot of us have gotten more involved in civic activities as Masons. We must have new blood coming in to the organization or we are going to die. Hopefully this will bring men in to know what Masonry is all about. We like to get a good man and make him better. We believe in God and life after death.”

Why become a Mason? “The fellowship and brotherhood is what I wanted. I was 71 years old when I became a Mason,” Johnson said. “My oldest son became a Mason and I didn’t even know. We talked about it and I decided to try it. It has been very rewarding and I have been a Mason for six years now and it has been rewarding.”

Brown echoed those thoughts. “It’s the fellowship with others. You can go anywhere in the continental United States, and if you know what you’re looking for, you will find a friend,” Brown said.