A Night To Remember, A Preview Of Things To Come?

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Darin A. Lahners

Brethren and Guests of Homer #199 

It started with a conservation between Illus. Bro. Steven Harrison, soon to be Illus. Bro. Greg Knott and myself.  Although it was derailed last year due to the pandemic, Steve Harrison has always been kind enough in the past several years to stop in Urbana, Illinois for lunch with Greg Knott, Todd Creason, Brian L. Pettice, and I (along with various other brothers who have shown up over the years) as he winds his way to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500 from his home in Missouri.  This year we were able to have this lunch, and Steve offered to give an educational presentation for us when he made his way through the area the following year.  As circumstance would have it, Steve contacted me about two months ago to inform me that he'd be coming through the area as he needed to conduct some research in Michigan. 

Initially, I looked at him potentially coming for a stated meeting of my mother lodge, Saint Joseph #970, but as fate would have it, Steve was going to Indianapolis for the Indy, Xfinity, and NASCAR races this past weekend.  My plural Lodge, Homer #199, was meeting on August 16, the day after the final race had ended, and Steve would be coming directly by the area. Steve was also needing to have a face-to-face discussion with the Midnight Freemasons co-editor, Robert Johnson; so once Robert was able to commit to being able to travel downstate from his home in Northeastern Illinois for the meeting, the date was selected.  Steve asked what presentation we would like to see, and after performing a quick poll of our lodge members, we decided that we would like him to present: "Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi", based on his book of the same name. 

With this, the wheels were set in motion.  I started heavily advertising the event on Social Media.  I started an Eventbrite event page to try to get a count of how many would be coming in so that I could accurately buy enough food for the pre-meeting dinner. Although, I'm Senior Warden currently, I informed the Junior Warden, Sam Shreeves, that I'd handle the meal for the event. I spoke with Robert, and agreed that he'd stay at my place, Steve would have his RV which he would be able to park in the spacious lot south of our Lodge building in Homer.  I will spare you the minutiae of the rest. 

The evening came and dinner was served.  I was amazed at the number of people that had turned out.   We had a total of Twenty Three brothers in attendance.  Now maybe that's a normal turnout for a stated meeting for you, but for someone who is attending meetings where we normally are struggling to make a quorum, that is incredible.  We opened the meeting on the first degree as we had an Entered Apprentice in attendance, and followed the opening with Steve's presentation which lasted approximately 45 minutes and was followed by a short Question and Answer session.  Immediately after the presentation, Our Worshipful Master, Dale Katterhenry, presented Illus. Bro Harrison with our Grandmaster's Pin.

WM Dale Katterhenry presents Illus. Bro. Harrison with MWGM Stephen Oakley's pin 

Homer Lodge #199 surprised both Steve and Robert with honorary memberships.  I presented the certificates and dues cards to both of them along with our Worshipful Master, Dale Katterhenry, stating that we wanted to honor them for their contributions to Masonic Education, but that from a purely selfish standpoint that I felt it would be so freaking cool to have them as members of a Lodge that Greg Knott, Todd Creason and myself already belong to.  

WB Darin Lahners and WB Dale Katterhenry present honorary memberships to Steven (background L) and Robert (foreground L)

To finish the presentations, the Midnight Freemason Blogs Founder, WB Todd Creason, presented  Midnight Freemason Senior Contributor, WB Greg Knott, with a gift to commemorate Greg being conferred the 33rd Degree in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.  The gift was an illustration of Greg by the uber-talented Midnight Freemason emeritus contributor and fellow 33rd conferree, Travis Simpkins.    

Soon to be Illus. Bro. Greg Knott by soon-to-be Illus.Bro. Travis Simpkins

Following the presentations, the lodge business was handled, and after the meeting, we took the fantastic photograph that headlines this article.  We also were able to get a picture of the six Midnight Freemasons in attendance.  This made Robert jokingly remark that we should change the name of the lodge to the Midnight Freemason lodge.    

From L to R: Illus.Bro. Brian L. Pettice, Illus. Bro. Steven L. Harrison, Illus.Bro. Todd E. Creason, RWB Robert Johson, Soon to be Illus. Bro. Greg Knott, WB Darin Lahners

We also had our guests come in from across the state. WB Tim Thomason, (Fifth from the left in the headline picture above), who is the current Worshipful Master of Landmark Lodge #422, drove 128.5 miles from Plainfield, Illinois for the event. One of my fellow Area Education Officers, Bro. Jordan Kelly, drove along with Bros. Andrew Friend and Kyle Koestner drove 110 miles from Springfield Illinois to attend the event.  I want to thank them personally for taking the extraordinary effort of doing that.   I also want to thank everyone who came out, again from the bottom of my heart.  I also want to thank my brethren of Homer #199, especially our secretary, WB Stephen Hooper who jumped through multiple hoops to get the honorary memberships.  

Illus. Bro. Steve Harrison, Bros. Jordan Kelly, Kyle Koestner, Andrew Friend

After the event I was texting with Greg Knott and Todd Creason. Greg stated that it was an awesome event and I did a great job.  As much as I appreciate the compliment, what made it all worth while is all of my brothers in the headline picture getting together, enjoying fellowship and education.  But the funny thing is, it really wasn't that hard to do.  Maybe I was lucky because I had connections, but at the end of the day, it's something that can easily be replicated in your lodge. 

Here's the very simple recipe:

1. Get your lodges buy-in (if you can).  In my case, Homer #199 has prioritized Education, so when I asked, everyone agreed.  But if you don't think that your lodge would approve doing an event like this, then you don't really need them to.   You just need a space to hold the event. Work with other lodges in your area, and brethren that you know that have a passion for Masonic education.  I'm willing to bet that someone will give you the space for it.

2. Arrange a speaker.  Browse https://masonicinstruction.com/the-speakers/ and find a speaker that you might want to bring in.  Reach out to them. 

3. Plan the event.  Make the event as simple or complex as you want. The sky is the limit. 

4. Hold the event.  If you build it, brethren will come. If you don't believe me, look at the above photos.   

This is the second event that I've planned, The first being the 2018 Illinois Lodge of Research Spring Symposium. Let me tell you, that event was a lot harder to pull together than this one, but it still wasn't too difficult.  It doesn't take an expert level planner to put something like this together.  If you need advice about how to do it, my email is in my bio.

In closing, I'd like to think of last night as the first of many.  My hope is that you read the article and you get inspired to do something in your own backyard. I'd also like to float the idea of having a Midnight Freemason Con.  I'd like to get as many of our contributors (past and present) into one room with a bunch of brothers and just have some fellowship, fun and hopefully learn some things along the way.  If you think that'd be a good idea and something that you might try to attend, please comment on Social Media or on the blog below.    

~DAL

WB Darin A. Lahners is our co-managing Editor.  He is a Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No.970 in St. Joseph. He is also a plural member of Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL), where he is also a Past Master. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, a charter member of Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and is the current Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign – Urbana (IL). You can reach him by email at darin.lahners@gmail.com.              

Masons Descend on Florida

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

On March 7th, 2020 a lodge in Florida opened its doors to Freemasons from around the world. Brothers from Arizona, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia, and even Germany were present--not to mention a multitude from the Tampa area and around Florida. As Masonic Conventions pop up all over the country, it's only natural that Brothers ask themselves, "Why can't we do this?" And that's just what Worshipful Billy D. Schmidt did.

Billy wasn't even the Master of his lodge when he started to think about putting on the Southeastern Masonic Education Symposium. He had his plans, and as fate would have it, the backing of his Secretary, Tom and the Brothers of Hillsborough Masonic Lodge No. 25.

Hillsborough Lodge lies right smack in downtown Tampa, Florida. The hustle and bustle of many big cities are not evident here. It's not overly dense in population. It's clean. And that local business flair is evident—small shops boutiques and restaurants lining the streets. The only downside? Some places are only open Monday through Friday when the corporate folks are in town. That seems to be the same way in most big cities though.

Nestled in a row of connected building space that seems to be an entire city block, is the lodge. Beyond the brass doors lay a foyer that would fit my home lodge inside of it. As you walk inside, Past Masters stare at you from the walls. Then you make your way through two brazen pillars, then up the staircase which leads to a massive common area complete with a pool table, several areas for lounging, offices with glass panes and expertly painted letters, "Worshipful Master". There's also a secretary's office and many other rooms and vaults. It's amazing.

Of course, this doesn't do it justice. The lodge room is as impressive as you can imagine. Ceilings that remind me of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. A lodge room, with the gallery, that seats over 400 people. Blue carpet, modern lighting and all the traditional elements that make you fall in love with the architecture and history of the Craft.

I flew in on Friday evening and met Jon Ruark at our hotel. We dropped our things off and walked three blocks to the lodge on a cool evening. Floridians were cold. Jon and I being from Illinois and Virginia were... comfortable. After arriving and shaking the hands of a few local Brothers, we assisted in setting up some things and met our friend and Brother Juan Sepulveda of The Winding Stairs and Gentleman's Brotherhood. He was busy setting up his art.

After some great conversation and fellowship, we all went back to the hotel to get rested up for the day ahead of us—The Symposium. Of course, I watched some Rick and Morty and read a little before falling asleep.

My phone rang at 8:05 A.M. "Good Morning, sunshine." It was Jon. I was 5 minutes past our designated meeting time to walk to the lodge. I got ready in nearly record time. And walked to the lobby...15 minutes. Not too bad.

Jon was the first to present that morning and he did a wonderful job. His presentation was on the Circumpunct and it's esoteric origins and symbology. He unveiled some amazing concepts which truly had brothers asking questions. Next up was me. I did my presentation on esoteric origins and different wisdom schools with an emphasis on Freemasonry. After this was Brother Nick Harvey. Nick in a very charismatic way, spoke about a Mason's legacy— He asked us repeatedly, "Who is performing Your Masonic Funeral?" It made us think about our relationships with Brothers and reflect on the impression we might be leaving behind for them to remember. He also was witty as heck, with a few jokes that left us in stitches. Nick was great.

We all adjourned for lunch. Jon and I "escaped" for a quick lunch at a bistro located in the old Federal Court building. The words, "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" prominently etched into the front of the massive stone facade.

After lunch, Jason Richards who was unable to be present physically, presented via the web. His
presentation on the multiple flood mythologies in the world and their relation to Masonic degrees was as amazing as always. I've seen it three times now and each time, he adds to it, making me more interested each time. Simply fascinating. I wonder when History Channel will call up Jason Richards to be on an episode of some show—or better yet give him his own.

The final presenter for the day was John Nagy, some of you know him as "The Coach". John's a business and life coach in his professional career and is a wonderful presenter. His presentation had some great twists and turns but mainly focused on the contextual meanings of words in ritual. This presented problems—we're not actually doing what we're supposed to be doing because the meaning of words has changed over time. After John was done, I made my way to the common area and picked up two of his books, The Craft Unmasked and A Brother Asks Vol.1. I'm looking forward to diving in after my current books.

We closed out the day with a live taping of The Masonic Roundtable. Jon, Juan and I along with a lodge full of members hung out together to talk about Masonic Conferences. Then, we brought on the Worshipful Master, Billy Schmidt to get his thoughts. You can find that episode coming soon to the YouTube channel or via our podcast. There will be a short wait since we need to put it together.

After this we retired to dinner where conversations ensued, stories were told—and then topped, and inspiration flowed. The conversations and inspirational ideas from guys attending, were for me, the best. Hearing the impact that events like this have on local Brothers who crave a better experience solidified my inclinations- this is the future.

To the Brothers of Hillsborough No. 25 in Tampa Florida, thank you. You're making a HUGE impact on Freemasonry in Florida, but also a beacon. I think about the other places that are doing these Conventions, and I imagine them like giant Masonic "bat signals" being shown into the night. They're saying "We're here." The more conventions we have, the more that light adds to the others to illuminate the world. The verbiage from ritual paraphrased is coming to mind "...that light when added to the coming light..."

We'll see you at the next convention in Attleboro MA, Masonic Con 2020.

~RHJ

You can follow Hillsborough Masonic Lodge No. 25 on these social media accounts. 

Hillsborough 25's Website - www.hillsborough25.org

Facebook: Facebook.com/Hillsborough25

Twitter @Hillsborough25

Instagram - @hillsboroughlodge25

Esotericon - The First of Many Masonic Moonshots

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Bro. Kevin Homan

Many of you have probably heard either through here, or any number of the other Masonic dedicated sites and social media of the recent success of the first inaugural Mid-Atlantic Esotericon held in Manassas Virginia. Many thanks to RWB Johnson for writing about the success of our Conference, and even bigger thanks for your direct involvement in making it a success. As RWB Johnson adequately covers all the details of the event, we won’t rehash them here, what we did find both eye-opening and concerning from his piece however was this line;

“Conversely, The Mid-West Conference of Grand Lodge Education had a whole 20 dudes present.”

This line is eye-opening and disappointing for the sole reason of we were four Brethren who ran a Conference that outgrew its venue in our first year. We had 147 Brethren attend our event, Brethren from as far west as Seattle Washington, and even an international Brother who came down from Canada. We…were four…Brothers. Contrast that with the Mid-West Conference of Grand Lodge Education where you have multiple Grand Lodges coordinating an event, with far more resources at their disposal than we had, and the disparity becomes really clear. Now, we don’t know exactly why this event only was able to pull in twenty Brethren, and while we have some guesses, we will not speculate without knowing concrete facts. 

What we can talk about without speculation is that the hunger for Masonic education is most definitely there, and it’s there for more than just Esoterics, although we certainly know that hunger is there for that as well. No, the appetite for Masonic education is there for ALL topics, as shown by the success of the Masonicon held annually by the Brethren of Ezekiel Bates Lodge in Attleboro MA. The Grand Lodge of Ohio each year hosts Camp Masonry, a multi-day Masonic event combining education, ritual and Degree exemplification all in one weekend, making both ritualists AND education seeking Masons happy at the same time. Of course, and again, our Esotericon was a rousing success with an educational focus of esoterical and mystical topics. What is our point you might be asking? Our point is that the interest in these Masonic topics is absolutely there, so getting more than twenty Brethren to show up to an event shouldn’t be happening, these are the types of things that sell every single ticket or seat available to them and STILL have interest for attendance.

You all may be wondering what our special sauce was that made our first-time event a success. While we’d love to claim it was hard, and a lot of blood sweat and tears went into the making of the Esotericon, the reality is ANY Mason or group of Masons can put together a successful event like this with limited resources. Now, that’s not to say it was an entirely pain-free event, it was not. We certainly have some things to improve upon for next year’s Con, but we also got lucky in that we did not have anything seriously terrible go wrong. So, how did four Brethren run a successful first-time event you may be asking yourself? Here’s how;

• We started our planning early, especially the social media campaign. After our initial discussions, and our consensus that we would go forward with our event we created our Facebook page, Twitter and Google accounts and put teasers out there as we came up with our speaker list.

• We put together a truly kick ass group of speakers, and got all but one of our initial list of eight speakers. 

• With our speakers set, we opened our sale on event tickets…without announcing our speaker lineup. For the first several months of ticket sales we sold tickets for a ten-dollar discount, and also offered a limited run of pre-event tickets to a brewery the night before. We created an incentive for people to buy tickets early.

• After a week we started our announcement of speakers, releasing a new speaker each week after that. Each speaker announcement coincided with a bump in ticket sales. It was a way to keep the event fresh in the minds of those following us and interested in attending.

• We would be remiss to point out that two Brethren of our Organizers are Masonic podcast hosts…we got some really good advertising on the Masonic Roundtable and Whence Came You Podcasts. Don’t fret if you don’t know any of the hosts on these shows, they’re really nice guys and I’m sure they’d be happy to help out if they can.

• Good planning. We planned everything out, put it on a scheduled and held occasional meetings when we felt they were necessary. We enlisted our local Rainbow and Demolay for help and encouraged donations to their organizations from the attendees.

• Last but not least, frequent communication with our attendees. We tried to let our attendees know what was going on when there was something important to relate to them. Whether it be asking for shirt sizes, meal preference, etc. we made sure we stayed in touch from time to time.

All this is to say, anybody, any Mason can run one of these. All it takes is an idea, a plan, a bit of dedication and with the interest out there in Masonic education the Brethren will come. Whether you’re a Grand Lodge, a group of Grand Lodges or just a group of four Brethren like ourselves, if you’re interested in putting on an educational program similar to what we did, please, reach out to us. We want to see these events pop up all across the Masonic World, and we want them to be a success. Masonic education never truly went away, but it has been neglected for far too long. If we’re going to stem the flow of Brethren out of our Lodges, if we’re going to hold the interest of the Millenial and future generations, and give them a reason to join, its going to take more than just four Brethren to effect that change. Join us, let’s do something great together!


~Joe, Jason, Jon and Kevin - Hosts and organizers of the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Esotericon

Bro Kevin Homan was Raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in August of 2007 at Olive Branch Lodge No. 114 in Leesburg, VA., and since then, has like many Masons, involved himself in more and more bodies. In addition to being a Past Master of Olive Branch Lodge, Kevin is a member of Potomac Chapter No. 88, RAM, currently serves as the Eminent Commander of Piedmont Commandery No. 26 and the Alexandria Scottish Rite Bodies. Additionally Bro Kevin is a member of several of the York RIte invitational Bodies.

Bro Homan has been married to his wife Hillary for the past ten years and they have three wonderful (mostly) children. When he’s not doing something with his family or the Lodge Kevin enjoys a good glass of Scotch, the occasional cigar and reading a good book in his office, which “smells of leather-bound books and rich mahogany”.

What is a Masonic Symposium?

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Gregory J. Knott

WB Steve Harrison presents

One of the most exciting developments in Freemasonry of late is the growing amount of lodges, research societies and others that are hosting a Masonic Symposium. But what exactly is a Masonic Symposium?

The Greeks seem to be the origin of the symposium “The Greek symposium was a male aristocratic activity, a tightly choreographed social gathering where men drank together, conversed, and enjoyed themselves in a convivial atmosphere. Bedecked in garlands, participants reclined—one or two to a couch—in a room designed to hold seven to fifteen couches with cushions and low tables.”

I was privileged to recently attend a symposium hosted jointly by The Masonic Society and The Philalethes Society. The event was held at the Valley of Chicago Scottish Rite Cathedral in Bloomingdale, Illinois.

An all-star line-up of presenters was on tap for the day. Leading off was The Midnight Freemasons very own WB Steve Harrison who gave an amazing talk on “The Mystery of Oak Island: Masonic Connections to a Real National Treasure Site”. Brother Harrison was followed by WB Shawn Eyer whose presentation was entitled “The Role of Song and Music in Traditional Freemasonry”. Many of you know may know Brother Eyer with his role as Director of Communications at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial and as Editor of The Philalethes Journal.

Returning after lunch, WB Mark Robbins gave his talk, “Freemasonry and Law Enforcement: Compatible or Conflicting?” that delved into some of the laws that have been passed over the years in the United Kingdom, trying to force members of the judiciary and law enforcement to register if they were Freemasons.

Next was WB Alton Rountree, who is Editor of The Phylaxis Society magazine. Brother Rountree focused his remarks on how to conduct quality masonic research “Masonic Historical Research and Presentation: Intricate and Acceptance”.

We finished up the evening with a fine dinner and an excellent presentation by WB Andrew Hammer, whose talk “Observing the Craft: The pursuit of excellence in Masonic Labour and Observance”, who has also published a very popular book by the same title.

I believe it is extremely encouraging to see so many of these events popping up across the country. It is starting resurgence of interest in masonic research. Has your lodge considered hosting such an event? You could start simple, by even having just one speaker. Masonic education should be a part of every lodge meeting, even if it is simple as reading the Masonic Short Talk Bulletin that is sent to every lodge by the Masonic Service Association.

Who knows, perhaps sometime you will see “The Midnight Freemasons Symposium” coming to a town near you.

WB Gregory J. Knott is the Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star and is the Charter Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign-Urbana. He is also a member of ANSAR Shrine (IL) and the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. Greg serves on the Board of Directors of The Masonic Society and is a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society and The Philathes Society. Greg is very involved in Boy Scouts—an Eagle Scout himself, he is a member of the National Association of Masonic Scouters.