Cleaning Up the Decades

 Cleaning up the Decades

By Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor

Gregory J. Knott, 33°

The Moving Crew

Items moved to St. Joseph

More items that were moved.

The recent merger of the Ogden lodge and St. Joseph lodge to form the new St. Joseph-Ogden Masonic Lodge no. 970 (name change pending grand lodge approval), came the task of cleaning out the Ogden lodge building.   A small committee had been appointed to coordinate the sale and the move. The building sold quickly and we had to get to work on the clean-up.

Ogden lodge itself was the product of a merger with Broadlands Lodge in 2008, which had merged with  Sidell Lodge 1983.  So within the Ogden building we had items and records from all three lodges that needed to be gone through.

After our passing of the light ceremony, we moved everything in the building into the dining room to use it as a staging area.  At that point we could begin sorting through what was going to St. Joseph and what was not going to be needed.   Furniture, member records, financial records, proceedings, masonic regalia, kitchen ware, tables, chairs, etc.   It was overwhelming.   But methodically we went through everything and began the sorting.   We ordered a dumpster, as there was just a bunch of stuff that had no value or reuse.   

We made contact with the local volunteer fire department and were able to donate a stockpile of tables and chairs, kitchen equipment and more that they will be able to reuse in their events with the community.  I took a load of items to the Salt and Light ministries retail store, which benefits their outreach programs.  Many individual items were given to brothers or other local people that could use them.    But there was still a large amount going to the St. Joseph Lodge.

I went through all of the paper records to ensure that all items of historical value such as petitions, minute books, register books etc were saved.  These include records dating back into the late 1800’s.   At a later time, we will go through all of the records in detail and consider a large digitization project to further preserve the information.  I will also be reaching out to the https://fraternalcenter.iu.edu/index.html Center for Fraternal Collections and Research at Indiana University for advice.

With everything sorted, packed and labeled, moving day was upon us.  We made contact with our local high school football coach to see if they might have any players who could assist us with moving.   Five players came to assist us and they did an awesome job!  We loaded and moved an entire moving truck full and had the items in St. Joseph Lodge all within two hours.   We are making a generous donation to the football program for their assistance.

With the contents taken care of, the closing of the sale of our Ogden building will be taking place in a couple of weeks. Numerous brothers helped in this process and it was truly a team effort.  I want to thank all of them who played a role.  It was a ton of work, but as I mentioned to someone, I have this as part of my Masonic experience now!

I am looking forward to the strong lodge we are forming in St. Joseph-Ogden Masonic Lodge no. 970!

~

Gregory J. Knott, 33° is the Senior Contributor for the Midnight Freemasons.  He is Past Master of both Ogden Lodge No. 754 and St. Joseph Lodge No. 970.   He is also an avid photographer since retiring.  You can see more of his photography at https://whyknottmedia.com/ 

Civility: Can We Talk?

 by The Midnight Freemason

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Can we talk?  Too often in our society today, the answer is no.  Scroll through your social media feed for five minutes. Read the comments on any news article. We even struggle to talk around the table during family gatherings. What you will find, more often than not, is not a conversation—it is a collision. 

I’ve never seen it this bad in my lifetime.  And I can almost hear people reading this assigning blame to one person or another, or this political party or the other, or this news media source or another.  And that’s the problem.  And unfortunately, the world has seeped into some of our Lodges creating debate and dissention amongst the Brethren—in fact it’s a big part of the reason I took a step back for a few years. 

I’m sure it’s not the same everywhere, but in general, I think a step back is what the Fraternity itself needs.  There’s a reason we’ve been around as long as we have.  We have a vital mission.

Freemasonry, and I’m talking traditional Freemasonry, could actually do a great deal of good in promoting the ideas of civility in the world.  Our history and our traditions would certainly show that civility has been important to us going back centuries.  That’s because our primary goal, our main purpose, has been character development.  To encourage and build men of strong character, principles and values.

But we seem to have shifted our focus.  If we want to continue being relevant, we have to get back to building men of good character.  We spend so much time being a charity these days we’ve drift away from our primary purpose, which is being an institution of learning.  In the beginning the charitable side of Freemasonry was the natural result from building men of character.  Now it’s all fund-raising and very little enlightenment or personal development. 

The world has plenty of charities.  What the world lacks is morality, decency, virtue, and character—which would include civility.  What the world needs is what we used to focus on a lot more.

Let’s get back to building.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor. He is the award-winning author of the Famous American Freemasons series.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL) and Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL). He is also a member of St. Joseph-Ogden Lodge No. 970 (IL).  He is a Past Sovereign Master of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a Fellow at the Missouri Lodge of Research. (FMLR). He is a charter member of Admiration Chapter No. 282 and a Past EHP.  You can contact him at webmaster@toddcreason.org

Passing the Light

By Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor

Gregory J. Knott, 33°

It was the day we had hoped to avoid, but reality said otherwise, Ogden Lodge No. 754 voted to merge with St. Joseph Lodge No. 970.

The last few years for Ogden Lodge have been a struggle.  Not unlike many lodges right now, our membership was aging, costs to operate the building had risen dramatically and consistently obtaining a quorum to open and meet was a constant challenge.  St. Joseph Lodge was facing similar challenges and members from both lodges began conversations about merging.  

Ogden and St. Joseph are two small communities about five miles apart in east-central Illinois.  We share a long history together.  Ogden Lodge was chartered in 1877 and St. Joseph Lodge in 1914.  When the St. Joseph lodge was formed, most of the original members had been members of Ogden Lodge.

In 1963 our two communities voted to merge our high schools, forming St. Joseph-Ogden High School.  It was a similar story at that time: both high schools were challenged to offer all they could to students, were already sharing teachers and classes and finally the public decided they would be stronger together.  63 years later St. Joseph-Ogden High School is one of the premier public schools in our area.

Our conclusion was also similar for the two lodges, coming together would make us both stronger and ensure that Freemasonry could thrive in our communities for the generations ahead.  Through numerous discussions, we decided to sell the Ogden Lodge building and meet in the St. Joseph Lodge building.   As of this writing the Ogden building was listed for sale and sold quickly to a local business.

At Ogden, we held a short ceremony to pass the light from Ogden to St. Joseph.   Written by PM Steve Guess, this ceremony was a meaningful way to pass the light.  The ceremony said in part: 

Brethren, we assemble tonight not in sorrow, but in reverence.

For one hundred and forty-nine years, the light of Masonry has

burned in this place through the labors of the Brethren of Ogden

Lodge No. 754.

Generations of good men have entered these doors seeking light.

Here they met upon the level, worked upon the square, and

parted upon the plumb.

Within these walls friendships were formed, lessons were learned,

and the timeless principles of Masonry were passed from one

generation to the next.

Tonight, we honor the legacy of this lodge, and we celebrate the

continuation of its spirit as our brethren join with St. Joseph Lodge

No. 970 to make the new St. Joseph – Ogden Lodge.

At the closing, we ceremonially passed the light to St. Joseph Lodge WM Jeff Baine who will carry the light from Ogden to St. Joseph.   We are planning a similar ceremony in the near future that we will receive the light in the St. Joseph Lodge as we welcome our new combined membership.

It was an emotional day for me personally.  I am a member of both lodges, but I was raised in Ogden Lodge and began my journey in Freemasonry at the Ogden altar.  Looking ahead, I foresee a new combined energy for the St. Joseph-Ogden Lodge.  We will be able to better serve our membership and communities. 

The WM said the following words as we closed the work of Ogden Lodge:

Brethren of Ogden Lodge No. 754,

Tonight, we stand at a moment that few lodges ever reach.

For one hundred and forty-nine years, the doors of this lodge

have opened to men seeking light. Within these walls, good men

knelt at the altar and took solemn obligations. Here friendships

were forged that lasted lifetimes. Here we mourned our departed

brothers and welcomed new ones into the fraternity.

Think of the men who sat in these very seats before us.

Farmers… soldiers… teachers… fathers… grandfathers.

Men who came here after long days of work, not for glory or

recognition, but because they believed in something greater than

themselves — Brotherhood, Charity, and Truth.

They lit the lights of this lodge long before any of us were born.

And tonight, we are the stewards of that light.

A lodge is more than a building.

It is more than a charter on the wall.

It is the spirit of the men who gathered here.

That spirit cannot be closed…

and it cannot be extinguished.

The work of Ogden Lodge does not end tonight.

Instead, it continues as our brethren join with the brothers of St.

Joseph Lodge.

The light that has burned in Ogden for nearly a century and a half

will not go dark.

It will simply shine in a new place.

And someday, years from now, when future Masons meet in St.

Joseph - Ogden Lodge… they may not know all our names.

But they will still be working by the same principles.

They will still stand upon the same foundation.

And part of that foundation will always be Ogden Lodge.

So mote it be.

~GJK

Gregory J. Knott, 33° is the Senior Contributor for the Midnight Freemasons.  He is Past Master of both Ogden Lodge No. 754 and St. Joseph Lodge No. 970.   He is also an avid photographer since retiring.  You can see more of his photography at https://whyknottmedia.com/