Masters Message September 2021

Greetings Brothers,

After a year mostly spent apart from our brethren, families, and friends, it has been wonderful to get back into the familiar summer rhythms that mark the start of the Masonic year at Saint John's Lodge #1 Providence!

SJ1P’s Annual “Steak Fry” Banquet was held on June 24 at Rhodes on the Pawtucket. Although the look and feel of the Steak Fry were different this year, it was refreshing to once again be able to freely enjoy drinks, steaks, cigars, and laughs with our brothers. We were similarly blessed with warm fellowship and perfect weather for our Family Picnic on August 1, and we owe Brother Junior Warden and his dedicated team our gratitude for putting together such a successful and well-attended event.

Throughout the summer, the lodge officers and I have been very busy with planning and logistics for the coming Masonic year. With the COVID-19 pandemic still an ongoing concern, we have worked to put multiple contingency plans in place to ensure that the Lodge will have the flexibility to adapt to any new developments while continuing the important work of Masonry. As Prudence commands us, “hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”

But we are still in a season of hope, and I am eagerly looking forward to September’s Communication! The program for September’s meeting is close to my heart: we will be presenting “Stories from the Ashlar Project” – three short interviews featuring memorable stories from our brethren about Saint Johns Lodge #1P and Freemasonry in Rhode Island.

If you’ve never heard of the Ashlar Project before, you’re not alone – September’s meeting will be its kick-off event!

The Ashlar Project has based on a simple idea: that each of us is a repository of valuable and irreplaceable stories and experiences of Freemasonry – years and decades of Masonic wisdom, memory, and history that once lost can never be recovered. The Ashlar Project is our chance to record and preserve the memories, stories – and most important – the faces and voices of our brothers before these things are lost forever. This type of project is known as an "oral history," and the goal is to create a lasting and ever-growing archive of memories and stories of the brethren of SJ1P to be kept by the Lodge for posterity.

These Ashlar Project interviews will be professionally recorded and edited and at first will be made available to Lodge members on a private website. After seeing for yourself how easy and fun the process can be, I hope that many of you, especially those brothers with long years in the quarries of Masonry, will take the time to add your memories, stories, and voices to the Ashlar Project in the months and years to come.

Fraternally,

Greetings Brothers,

After a year mostly spent apart from our brethren, families, and friends, it has been wonderful to get back into the familiar summer rhythms that mark the start of the Masonic year at Saint John's Lodge #1 Providence!

SJ1P’s Annual “Steak Fry” Banquet was held on June 24 at Rhodes on the Pawtucket. Although the look and feel of the Steak Fry were different this year, it was refreshing to once again be able to freely enjoy drinks, steaks, cigars, and laughs with our brothers. We were similarly blessed with warm fellowship and perfect weather for our Family Picnic on August 1, and we owe Brother Junior Warden and his dedicated team our gratitude for putting together such a successful and well-attended event.

Throughout the summer, the lodge officers and I have been very busy with planning and logistics for the coming Masonic year. With the COVID-19 pandemic still an ongoing concern, we have worked to put multiple contingency plans in place to ensure that the Lodge will have the flexibility to adapt to any new developments while continuing the important work of Masonry. As Prudence commands us, “hope for the best but prepare for the worst.”

But we are still in a season of hope, and I am eagerly looking forward to September’s Communication! The program for September’s meeting is close to my heart: we will be presenting “Stories from the Ashlar Project” – three short interviews featuring memorable stories from our brethren about Saint Johns Lodge #1P and Freemasonry in Rhode Island.

If you’ve never heard of the Ashlar Project before, you’re not alone – September’s meeting will be its kick-off event!

The Ashlar Project has based on a simple idea: that each of us is a repository of valuable and irreplaceable stories and experiences of Freemasonry – years and decades of Masonic wisdom, memory, and history that once lost can never be recovered. The Ashlar Project is our chance to record and preserve the memories, stories – and most important – the faces and voices of our brothers before these things are lost forever. This type of project is known as an "oral history," and the goal is to create a lasting and ever-growing archive of memories and stories of the brethren of SJ1P to be kept by the Lodge for posterity.

These Ashlar Project interviews will be professionally recorded and edited and at first will be made available to Lodge members on a private website. After seeing for yourself how easy and fun the process can be, I hope that many of you, especially those brothers with long years in the quarries of Masonry, will take the time to add your memories, stories, and voices to the Ashlar Project in the months and years to come.

Fraternally,

Joshua A. Irizarry
Worshipful Master