Scottish Rite Masons and their Families VALLEY VOICE. September 2014

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1 Scottish Rite Masons and their Families VALLEY VOICE September 2014

Valley of Detroit VALLEYVOICE September, 2014 Valley Voice is the official publication of Detroit Scottish Rite.

the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America whose Grand East is in Lexington, Massachusetts. Ill. John Wm. McNaughton, 33 o Sovereign Grand Commander Ill. David R.

O Dell, 33 o, MSA On the Cover: (L-R) Scottish Rite Masons Roger Moore and Jim Miller enjoying the Valley s Suite at the Detroit Tigers ball game.

2 Valley of Detroit VALLEYVOICE September, 2014 Valley Voice is the official publication of Detroit Scottish Rite. The Bodies of the Scottish Rite, sitting in the Valley of Detroit, State of Michigan, acknowledge and yield allegiance to the Supreme Council, 33 o, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America whose Grand East is in Lexington, Massachusetts. Ill. John Wm. McNaughton, 33 o Sovereign Grand Commander Ill. David R. Bedwell, 33 o Deputy for Michigan Ill. William J. Dover, 33 o, MSA Active Member for Michigan Ill. Walter F. Wheeler, 33 o Active Member for Michigan Ill. Robert H. Sale, 33 o, MSA Ill. Erwin W. O Dell, 33 o, MSA On the Cover: (L-R) Scottish Rite Masons Roger Moore and Jim Miller enjoying the Valley s Suite at the Detroit Tigers ball game. Join Us for an Evening of Fun Friday, September 12, 2014 Dave & Buster s Victor Pkwy ~ Livonia Come celebrate with us while we honor our members and show appreciation for those that work hard to make our Valley the place you want to be! This is also a great opportunity to show your Lodge Brothers the fun and fellowship the Valley of Detroit provides! $20.00 per person ($50 Value) Prepaid reservations required! Potential Candidates with their significant other, no charge. Call the Valley to make reservations. or call Ill. Gerald F. Thorp, 33 o, MSA 32ndDegreeMasons.org All correspondence concerning this Publication should be directed to the Executive Secretary of the Valley of Detroit, Timothey S. Marshbanks, 33 o Mailing Address 907 Monroe St. Dearborn, MI Fax Toll Free valleyofdetroit@32nddegreemasons.org Editor Ill. David R. Bedwell, 33 o dbedwell@ameritech.net Permission to reprint original articles in the Valley Voice is granted to all recognized Masonic publications with credit to the author and this publication. Copyright 2014 Board of Trustees of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Detroit

The Valley of Detroit Presents ~ The Founders Series: Trenton-Wyandotte Lodge No. 8 Tuesday, Septemb

The program is approximately 35 minutes. Refreshments and fellowship following the presentation.

6432 or via email to valleyofdetroit@32nddegreemasons.org.

3 The Valley of Detroit Presents ~ The Founders Series: Trenton-Wyandotte Lodge No. 8 Tuesday, September 8, 2014 ~ 7:30 p.m. We invite you to attend our September Valley Meeting. A short business meeting will open at 7:30 p.m. Following that we ll open our Cathedral to members, guests and ladies for a presentation highlighting Trenton-Wyandotte Lodge No. 8. The program is approximately 35 minutes. Refreshments and fellowship following the presentation. For the purposes of a refreshment count, please make reservations with the Valley Office Toll Free at or via to valleyofdetroit@32nddegreemasons.org. New Scottish Rite Club Chartered On Saturday, June 28, 2014, the Valley of Detroit traveled to Tecumseh Lodge to charter and install a new Scottish Rite Club. The South East Michigan Scottish Rite Club (S.E.M.) will meet on the first Thursday of the month at 8:00 p.m., at the Country House Restaurant, located at 8495 N. Adrian Hwy, in Tecumseh. The main contact person for the S.E.M. Club is Brother Royd Buchele, rbuchele@provide.net. Above ~ New S.E.M. Club officers being installed at Tecumseh Lodge. Left ~ Ill. Ronald J. Bethune, 33 o, MSA, Commanderin-Chief of the Detroit Consistory, presenting Brother Charles Wright (L), Club President, with the Club s new charter.

Louis Felix s Gift to His Lodge By: Hilary Anderson Stelling, Director of Exhibitions and Audience Development, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library.

4 Louis Felix s Gift to His Lodge By: Hilary Anderson Stelling, Director of Exhibitions and Audience Development, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library. In the 1800s, many new and established Freemasons made gifts to their lodges to publicly express their support of an organization they valued. Bookkeeper Louis Antoine Felix ( ) joined Monitor Lodge of Waltham, Massachusetts, in He presented this attractive glass bell to the lodge the following year. This twelve inch high bell topped with a mushroom-shaped knob looks like a cloche or garden bell designed to protect young plants. Starting in the 1810s, American glass companies offered their customers garden bells crafted from inexpensive bottle glass. Taking a different approach, workers shaped Felix s gift out of top-of-theline colorless lead glass. Handsomely engraved in the gothic script fashionable at the time, this bell doubtless cost more than the garden variety bell. Felix could easily commission this unusual glass object; he kept the books for the Cape Cod Glass Works in their Boston office. Company workers formed the glass bell at their factory in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Felix likely arranged for a specialized workshop to engrave the bell, since Cape Cod Glass Works did not have an engraving facility. Somewhere along the line, the name of the lodge was incorrectly spelled as Moniter. Members of Monitor Lodge used their new bell chime symbolic midnight during ritual based on the Biblically-inspired story of Hiram Abiff s murder at King Solomon s Temple. In one mid-1800s description of the third degree from Duncan s Masonic Ritual, the Master approaches the candidate who, playing the part of the murdered Hiram, is lying on the floor and then strikes the hour of low twelve on a triangle or bell near the candidate s head. In 1870, when he served his lodge as Master, Felix would have sounded the bell himself. When the museum purchased this bell several years ago, staff had not seen another like it. Since then, a similar bell presented to Revere Lodge of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1871, has come to light. It forms part of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts collection on extended loan to the Museum. Like Felix, the man who gave Revere Lodge its bell had worked in the glass industry. The giver, Henry Francis Spurr ( ) started as a clerk at the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company and ended

5 his career with that company as general manager. Felix s bell was a meaningful gift that represented both his professional and Masonic lives. Because of the bell s role in ritual and because Felix s name was permanently engraved upon it, members of Monitor Lodge likely thought of him at a solemn point in their ceremonies for many years. In time, the tradition of marking symbolic midnight with a bell fell out of fashion in Masonic lodges. Brothers replaced the striking of a ceremonial bell with twelve notes played on an organ. Eventually, elegant bells like Felix s gift no longer held a place in ritual. An intriguing example of a presentation object adapted from a domestic form to especially suit the needs of a Masonic lodge, Felix s bell gives us interesting insight into how brethren furnished their lodges in the mid-1800s. To learn more about the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library s collections, exhibitions and programs, visit monh.org. Scottish Rite Open Casting Call! Looking for more Cast Please call or send an to rbethune@outlook.com. If you are interested in a part in our November 8, Fall reunion. Rehearsals will be on Tuesday or Wednesday starting October , at our Scottish Rite Center, 907 Monroe Street Photo credit: Ritual Bell, Cape Cod Glass Works, Sandwich, Massachusetts. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Photograph by David Bohl. Vacant Chair Ceremony Tuesday, October 14, 2014, 7:30 p.m. All gave some, some gave all. Please join us on Tuesday, October 14, as we honor those Brethren who made the supreme sacrifice in service to their country with a Vacant Chair Ceremony. The concept of a vacant chair is very old, and refers to the custom of placing a vacant chair at a family or organizational gathering as a mark of remembrance for a lost member of the family or group. The Masonic ceremony seeks to recognize the many members of our Fraternity who have served to defend our way of life, and did not return. The vacant chair reminds us of our lost Brethren, and symbolizes that their spirits are welcome to return to enjoy the fellowship that they knew in life. Following the ceremony, refreshments will be served. This solemn ceremony is free of cost and open to all, you need not be a veteran to attend. For reservations call or valleyofdetroit@32nddegreemasons.org.

Scottish Rite Masons and their Families VALLEY VOICE. September 2013

Scottish Rite Masons and their Families VALLEY VOICE September 2013 Valley of Detroit VALLEYVOICE September, 2013 Valley Voice is the official publication of Detroit Scottish Rite. The Bodies of the Scottish