Masons Urged to Support Veterans Visitation Plan Of Masonic Service Assn.
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Bro .. M. !'d.iler, !' member of"Pi;mouth Lodge No. 332, one of the Masomc Hosp~tal Vtsttors m Pennsylvama, ts shown visiting with patients in the Wilkes-Barre Veterans Hospttal.
"Freedom Is Not Free"
Grand Master Spoke at Coudersport Program "Freedom is not free - a price must be paid," Bro. John L. McCain, Grand Master, warned a full-house audience in the Scottish Rite Auditorium at Coudersport during the first Grand Lodge Bicentennial Celebration on Tune 12. A crowd of 1,200 filled the auditorium for the first of two programs at 1:30 p .m. Over 800 were on hand for the secend progra111. at 3:30 p.m. Bro. Walter P. Wells of Coudersport, Deputy Grand Master, also spoke. The weather was perfect for the celebration in scenic Potter County. In attendance were Master Masons from all parts of the state, their families and friends and the pvblic. The audience enthusiastic.ally applauded musical num-_ hers, a processional and a play by representatives of various Masonic bodies. THE PENNSYLVANIA FREEMASON Distribution Office MASONIC HOMES Elizabethtown, Pa. 17022 (Send FORM 3579 to Above Address)
"If we wish to continue what they did in Philadelphia 200 years ago (at the Constitutional Convention), we must be ever vigilant and aware that there are others who think diff~rently ," said Bro. McCain. He referred to a piece written about 1912 by a Communist Party leader in Europe- a thesis outlining plans for a "subtle" way to "deliver America to our (Communist) cause" by fomenting racial strife as the first step. As a protection against all who have designs against America and Americans, Bro . McCain urged a continuation of the 200-year-old spirit that won the Colonies' independence from Great Britain and framed the Constitution which h as guided the United States through two centuries. Second Class POSTAGE PAID AT Elizabethtown Pennsylvania
This is a recognized Masonic charity, and contributions are deductible for income tax purposes. · Checks from Lodge and individuals may be made payable to the Masonic Veterans Fund and mailed to: Grand Master, Masonic Temple, One North Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.
New Policy for Homes
POSTMASTER: Please Include Complete Imprint of Address on Your Postal Return Clipping.
The Committee on Masonic Homes has authorized issuing applications to non-ambulatory qualified applicants. This includes Master Masons, wives, widows of Master Masons and mothers of deceased Master Masons. This policy is possible since there are a limited number of beds available for skilled and intermediate care at the Masonic Homes at Elziabethtown. First consideration will be given to non-ambulatory applicants on merit, looking at the immediate need.
The PENNSYLVANIA
FREE1VIASON
The veterans hospitals provide the best in medical attention, and do what they can to alleviate loneliness and despair, but still more is required. A handbook for agents of the Masonic Service Association explains the need and the reason: "Everyone has had experiences in which the mind affects the body. Worry, and appetite disappears; grieve, and sleep departs; have a great joy, and feel twice as young and healthy as normally. "Conversely, the body affects the mind. Have a bad headache, and lose all desire to see a show; get the flu, and the world seems a very poor place in which to live; have an operation, and care little whether life continues or not; be seasick and afraid-not of death, but that it won't come!" Grand Lodge has been financing the visitation program in Pennsylvania veterans hospitals through use of about $150,000 left over from the Masonic Veterans Fund of World War II . Only about $8,000 now remains. However, Grand Lodge is committed by agreem ent with the Masonic Service Association to pay about $25,000 in November for the current year's activity. Consequently, Bro. McCain urges that Lodges make contributions from their Charity Funds and that members make donations to help restore the almost-ex~ hausted fund which has been paying the bill for hospital visitation in this state.
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AN OFFICIAL PUBLICATION Of THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS Of PENNSYLVANIA
VOLUME XXIII
AUGUST
•
1976
NUMBER 3
"Fourth Bicentennial Dedication" - Oct. 9
Masons Are Urged to Participate at Valley Forge Music by the Lu Lu Temple Band and the Scottish Rite Choir of Allentown and the singing of the American and British National Anthems will feature the program which begins at 3:30p.m., with a processional by unifor med Maso nic bodies. The ceremony will be held in the area of the statue, "George Washington at Prayer," which was presented to Freedoms Foundation by the Masons of Pennsylvania. Sculptor Donald DeLue will be present. Bro. Stubbs will speak again at an evening banquet and entertainment in nearby Pottstown following the events at Valley Forge . The Valley Forge schedule includes:
The campsite where a battered American army-housed in rudimentary huts and poorly fed-endured the winter of 1777-78 and sallied forth to victory in the spring will be the scene of pomp, ceremony and music on Oct. 19. Grand Lodge's fourth Bicentennial Dedication will be held at a Revolutionary War shrine memorializing that devotion to freedom which won the embattled American colonists the right to form a nation. Mere mention of the name of the site of the final program in Grand Lodge's Bicentennial series - Valley Forge evokes visions of men with the raw courage to buck impossible odds and to disregard extreme physical hardship in their fight for justice. Joining the American Masons' Bicent~nnial celebration on the Valley Forge grounds where Gen. George Washington's Colonials prepared for their 1778 campaign against the British will be Bro. fames W. Stubbs, Grand Secretary, Grand Lodge of England . Bro. Stubbs, whose country long since has been a friend of America and her ally in two World Wars, will deliver an address during an outdoor ceremony at the Valley Forge Freedoms Foundation.
t t a.m.-2:30 p.m., Freedoms Foundation open house and tours. 2:30 p.m., a concert by the Lu l..u Temple Band. 3:30p.m., a processional. 3:55 p.m., opening of the program. The program includes: • Invocation - Grand Lodge Chaplain. • Singing of the first verse of the NaBro. Washington at Prayer
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Brethren and Lodges Asked to Help Veterans' Program To enable Grand Lodge to continue offering friendship, cheer-and most important of all, hope-to former servicemen who are long-term patients in veterans hospitals, Bro. John L. McCain, Grand Master, urges Lodges and Brethren to lend a helping hand. The Masonic Service Association has been conducting a visitation program al veterans hospitals in Pennsylvania for six years at a cost of about $25,000 a year to Grand Lodge, and the money
for this purpose is all but exhausted. H owever, the need for visiting hospitalized veterans is great as ever. Afllictions of World Wars I and II and the Korean Conflict have a delayed-action way of surfacing in later years, adding to the number of such veterans already hospitalized, and Vietnam fighting has contributed its thousands. Carefully ·chosen trained field agents of the Association visit the veterans Brothers and non-members alike - to
make sure that these fighters of their country's waro; know they are not forgotten although they are separated from family and friends. The visitors perform many special services for the hospitalized veterans. They run outside errands for those unable to leave the hospitals, and accompany others whose condition permits on brief outside trips for a variety of missions which help bring peace of mind to the patients. Continued on Page 12