Island City Report 2016

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H. Shirley

Island City Series

Our annual family sojourn to Wisconsin’s North Woods has come and gone, and thus it’s time for my Island City Lodge No. 330. We were away for three weeks this time, which meant I was able to attend two breakfasts and two stated meetings. Since our last trip, Island City has added a stated meeting on Wednesday night in an attempt to attract younger men who aren’t able to attend a 10 am meeting. It’s early days, yet, but things look promising (despite an occasional grumble from the north that things shouldn’t change). The morning meeting lasted for two-and-a-half hours, for no readily discernable reason, other than that Masons like to talk, and Masons who are retired like to talk more.
report on my home away from home: Minocqua’s

The evening meeting was not as well attended, but was more fun for me, as I got to demonstrate Illinois opening and closing, and the intricacies of Illinois’s rod work. Opening and closing in Wisconsin and Illinois are very different, and most of the Brethren there had not seen anything of Illinois Work. Worshipful Brother Dave Imlah, who had been asking me to demonstrate Illinois Work for a while now, declared himself fascinated, and thought it would be worthwhile to travel rather farther than Rhinelander to observe degrees. I hope someday that my trip north will coincide with a degree so that I can observe Wisconsin Work beyond perusing the cipher book.

We all have things to teach one another, if only that Masonic ritual varies, but that the lessons it teaches are universal. I’m grateful to my Wisconsin Lodge for allowing me to bring Illinois ritual to the North, and look forward to learning more from my Brethren there and elsewhere. With my pending move to Indiana, I hope to learn even more of the manner in which our eternal truths are expressed by Brethren in other jurisdictions.

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He is Past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, IL; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. The author of several article on British and American history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com

Island City Lodge - A Farewell

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H. Shirley

My family’s annual two-week sojourn north has come and gone, where. I usually manage to get to a stated meeting and a breakfast at my lodge there, Island City No. 330, F & A.M., but the first Wednesday of June fell on the first this year, and we arrived the Saturday after, so I was only able to go to breakfast each week. Both times it was a pleasant way to catch up with Brethren I don’t see otherwise, and whose fellowship I value. 

On my first visit there a few years ago, Worshipful Brother Bill Hughes was in the East. I didn’t get much of a chance to know Bill, but over the years it became clear to me that he was a committed member of the Lodge, always doing what was he was asked, and filling whatever need he could. This year, he was Senior Warden. If I recall correctly, he wasn’t at the first breakfast this year, but was certainly at the second one. I didn’t have much of a chance to talk with him, but we were able to exchange greetings. I didn't manage to say goodbye to him when I left, but I wish I had, because he died, suddenly and unexpectedly, two weeks later. I found out when I received my monthly email lodge bulletin. It contained his obituary:

FAREWELL TO A BELOVED BROTHER 

We mourn the loss of Brother Bill Hughes, who was called from labor by the Great Architect on Saturday June 27th. He now dwells in the Lodge Eternal with those who have gone before. 

He was Raised an Entered Apprentice on February 1st, 1970, Passed to Fellowcraft on February 21st, 1970, and raised to the Sublime Level of Master Mason on April 18^th, 1970, in Valley Station, Kentucky. 

Bill was a Past Master and Trustee of the lodge. This year he sat in the West as Senior Warden. Brother Bill was devoted member of the lodge, and cheerfully made himself available for the numerous lodge projects that required him. We will carry with us fond memories of his soft Kentucky accent, and cheerful sense of humor. 

Bill is survived by his wife Marge, two sons, Mike and Travis, daughter-in-law Jenny, and two grandchildren, Riley and Bryson. 

There’s not much I can add to that, save this: Brother Bill Hughes reminds me, and should remind all of us, that the messenger of death comes when least expected; that nothing we do on this earth is matters, save those things that work toward the growth and perfection of individual character, which necessarily means loving our fellow creatures and working toward their betterment. This he did. We remember Brethren like Bill with affection and admiration because those departed Brethren are exemplars of what Masonry is. As the Illinois Masonic funeral ritual reminds us, “while our eyes may be dim with tears as we think of our departed brother, we may also, in the sincerity of our hearts, accord to his memory the commendation of having lived a useful and exemplary life, and as a just and upright Mason.” So may we all be remembered.  

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. A Scottish Rite Mason, he is past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, AASR-NMJ; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com

My Yearly Travelogue

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley

My wife and I determine how stressful our lives are by how early we start dreaming of escaping to the north woods of Wisconsin. This year, the dreams started in early December, which is a new record. So on May 31^st, we packed up the new van (the old one had been totaled by a hailstorm that made the Weather Channel’s national broadcast), and drove to YMCA Family Camp Nawakwa in Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin. 

As always, the stress bled away the further we drove, and by the time we arrived there, we were feeling great, unpacked, and headed straight to bed so that we could sleep as late as we wanted (with kids, animals, and jobs, we don’t get to do that much). The mosquitos were bad this year, so we mostly stayed indoors, reading, relaxing, and playing UNO (my eight-year-old daughter is a demon at the game). But on Wednesday morning, the first Wednesday of the month, I had a stated meeting to get to.

I’ve been attending the June stated meeting of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, since 2012, but this was my first year as a member. I’d petitioned for plural membership at the request of the Master and several other members, and was duly voted in, so I was quite excited to be there. My lodge polo shirt and dues card were waiting for me, and I was able to look and be fully at home. 

Worshipful Master Dave Imlah was the only Brother present when I got there, and we had a chance to catch up. I asked if they’d had any degree work lately, and he told me that they had just had a First Degree, but they hadn’t been able to finish it, because no one there had been able to give the Entered Apprentice Lecture. I was curious about that, because I’d never heard of that lecture. It turns out that the EA Lecture in Wisconsin is what Illinois calls the Explanatory Lecture, and that they’re not different in any material way. I told Worshipful Brother Imlah that I’d be happy to do the lecture if it would help out, which seemed to intrigue him. He told me he’d check on whether that was allowable and let me know after he returned from Grand Lodge that weekend.

The stated meeting itself was fun, since I could now vote on things from the mundane (approving the minutes) to the sublime (electing the Worshipful Master’s son to affiliation with Island City Lodge). After a long meeting (no one is ever in a hurry to leave), we parted on the square.

Breakfast at the lodge on the following Wednesday was pleasant, especially since Worshipful Brother Imlah told me the Grand Secretary had no problem with my giving the lecture to complete our newest Brother’s First Degree, so after the meal we repaired to the lodge room and opened solely for the purpose of the lecture (Wisconsin ritual allows that). At the Worshipful Master’s invitation, I ascended to the East, received the Master’s hat, covered, invited the candidate to stand in front of me, and gave the lecture. There are few things I love more than our Work, and the circumstances here made it an honor to do it. I’m pretty sure I didn’t make a mistake, but as Most Worshipful Brother Terry L. Seward says, our work doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be impressive. I hope it was, but it was sufficient for the purpose at hand, and our newest Entered Apprentice was able to sit with his mentor to begin preparing for his Second Degree. They were deep in conversation when I left.

As I was heading to my van, Worshipful Brother Imlah suggested that he might ask me to provide some Masonic education on some aspects of Illinois ritual on my next trip north, and he promised to come south to Tuscola for a visit to my home lodge (“I need to see how you crazy guys do things down there,” was the way he put it). I’m really looking forward to his visit, and already have plans to take him to a degree or two. That much Masonic fellowship may even calm me down enough that I won’t start dreaming of my vacation until January. 

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He currently serves the Valley of Danville, AASR, as Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com