WHEREAS, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia and the constituent Lodges
and appendant bodies owing allegiance thereto have, within the Divine providence of our Heavenly Father, enjoyed
the continued blessings of freedom of life in a society with privileges of thought and action and the opportunity to
promote and practice Brotherhood among men; and

WHEREAS, Brethren of the Masonic fraternity profess a belief in the ever presence of the Supreme Architect of
the Universe and rely upon His great and holy presence for guidance in their daily lives; and

WHEREAS, all Freemasons so dispersed in the District of Columbia should unite and publicly display their
gratitude and thanksgiving for His manifold blessings and mercies;

NOW THEREFORE, I, Joseph S. Crociata, Grand Master of Masons of the District of Columbia, do hereby
proclaim Sunday, October 14, 2012 A.D., 6012 A.L. as the day in this year on which all Freemasons in the District of
Columbia shall gather together in His presence to render unto Almighty God our thanks and praise for all that we
have received at His hands.

BY THIS PROCLAMATION, I hereby request the Worshipful Master, Wardens, Past Masters and other Officers
and Brethren of the several Lodges in this jurisdiction, as well as the Officers and members of the concordant and
appendant bodies, to assemble on that date at the All Souls Church, Unitarian, 1500 Harvard Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC for a Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance that will begin promptly at 4:00 P.M. The
attendance of families and friends is also encouraged. Refreshments will be served after the service at the Scottish
Rite Center, 2800 16th Street, N.W.

Dress on this occasion for the Grand Lodge Officers, Past Grand Masters, and the officers of the Constituent Lodges
will be business suits. Aprons and jewels of office should be worn for this occasion. The officers of the
concordant and appendant bodies are also requested to dress in business suits.

DONE in the City of Washington, the District of Columbia, on this the 24th day of September 6012 A.L.

Joseph S. Crociata
Grand Master

Attest:
Mansour Hatefi, PGM
Grand Secretary

Brethren and guests:

Please take note that the Grand Lodge e-mail servers will be down from Thursday, August 9th to Friday, August 10th for maintenance. We will try to minimize the downtime during this upgrade, but if you need to contact the Grand Lodge, please do so via phone, 202.686.1811.

-Grand Lodge IT Committee

Mark your calendars! The Masonic Family Picnic on September 8, 2012 from noon to 5 pm at Glen Echo Park (MacArthur Blvd at Goldsboro Rd).

The Grand Master of Masons for the District of Columbia invites all freemasons of this jurisdiction to come with their families and friends to join us for an afternoon of fun, food, drinks, clowns and music. We have arranged for fun activities for all ages.  Entertainment will be provided the band Pocket Change.

Attendance is free. RSVP for this event by visiting the Event Registration page.

 MEDICAL  ALERT  DEVICES through MESH Charities, Inc. 

MESH has negotiated with a company to provide individual services to every Masonic and Eastern Star member in the District of Columbia and members of their extended families.
There is no long-term service contract required.  No penalties for terminating at any time. 

Summary of Services:
1)     BASIC:  You pay $10 per month (Options 2, 3 & 4 are additional to you)
  Neck pendant with range of 3 football fields from your home.  Not necessary to speak to anyone. Once you press the pendant button, responders are automatically notified and activated. One unit serves a household with a pendant per person.

2)    iLIFE / “GABRIEL”
  Fall Detection Sensor with activity monitor.  Detects falls, abnormal body movements, or extended periods of inactivity.  Summons assistance without your needing to notify them.

3)    MEDICATION ADHERENCE – “MED-READY”
  Reminder system that automatically dispenses medication and vitamins with your doctor’s prescribed treatment program.

4)     The  CARE  WATCH
  A wrist watch equipped with a GPS giving virtual contact no matter where you are within visible satellite locations and with adequate cell phone signal.

ARE  YOU  INTERESTED?

MESH  HAS  BROCHURES FOR  YOUR  INFORMATION.  PLEASE CONTACT THEIR OFFICE AT 301-654-3172  or  MESHMARGE@EARTHLINK.NET.

The Pythagoras Lodge of Research (PLoR) is pleased to announce the Illuminated Research & Education Award Program (I-REAP).  I-REAP is an awards competition for producing literary works of Masonic interest, education and research; and invites all Masons in the District of Columbia to transcribe their thoughts into meaningful written expressions.  Contributing authors do NOT have to be members of PLoR.

ILLUMINATION AWARD:  The Illumination Award is a highly interpretative paper and may be based entirely on personal opinion, expectation and/or experience of the Craft.  Because of its very personal nature, the Illumination Award is reserved for Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and/or Master Masons who have been raised not more than one (1) prior to the date of submission.

Work prepared in written commentary necessary to the advancement in a Symbolic Lodge is encouraged, however, there is no restriction the EA, FC or MM must submit a paper in their Lodge to be eligible for participation in I-REAP.  Therefore, any EA, FC or MM (as defined above) may submit a paper directly to PLoR.  The Master of a Lodge may also submit papers on behalf of advancing candidates should the Lodge determine the work worthy of such consideration.

EDUCATION AWARD:  Important to encompass a broad spectrum of interests, the I-REAP Education Award may address any Masonic topic or perspective related to the good of Freemasonry.  It is designed for Master Masons with a higher level of knowledge and expertise using more thorough investigative analysis techniques, but does not adopt the same stringent documentation criteria required for the Research Award.

The Education Award should incorporate some established Masonic references/resources which better allows the author to focus on: 1) different interpretations of traditional perspectives; 2) presentation of new Masonic information; and/or 3) development of Masonic training mechanisms, programs, or other significant materials and information which may be migrated throughout the Jurisdiction to the benefit of all members.

RESEARCH AWARD:  The I-REAP “Research Award” offers the greatest level of prestige and difficulty.  It requires the development of an abstract, titles, footnotes, and bibliography.  Winning entries will be suitable for publishing independently or in a compendium with other appropriate work as a valuable resource to complement the Masonic wealth of informed research.

The Research Award further allows the Masonic collaboration of several contributors, but only the lead author/editor will be honored with receipt of the distinguished Research Medal.

SUBMISSION CRITERIA:  The deadline for submission is 30 October 2012.  Winning entries will be determined by 29 November 2012, and announced in December 2012.

All contributors must be a (EA, FC or MM) in good standing, of a Lodge in the District of Columbia; but no Mason must also be a member of Pythagoras Lodge of Research to be eligible to participate.

Contributors may submit up to three (3) papers simultaneously for consideration (i.e. one each for Illumination, Education and Research), but not more than one (1) entry will be considered for any distinct Award Class during the same Masonic Year.

There is no minimum or maximum word count to qualify for submission under any Award Class.  However, winning authors should be prepared to condense in-depth work to not more than 2,000 words for publication in The Voice of Freemasonry.  Abstracts, bibliographies, and most foot/endnotes will not be included in the condensed magazine submission.

Contributors may resubmit and/or rework and submit the same Masonic paper in a subsequent Masonic Year if such work was not previously selected.  Previous awardees may also submit new topic papers for consideration, and if selected may be issued a “cluster/pin” for attachment to the medal to designate multiple awards.

All winning entries must include a Release of Information affirming same will become the property of Pythagoras Lodge of Research, and that same may be published in print, e-communications, presentations, or other Masonic educational venues as may be determined by PLoR, but with appropriate credit to the contributing author.

Papers must be submitted as a Word or PDF document to the Chair of the Awards Committee, WBro. Ted Berry at: eab_dc@yahoo.com.

Brethren,

The Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia invites you to participate in a Festive Board in Commemoration of St. John's Day.

Join us on Wednesday, June 27 at 7 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center (2800 Sixteenth St., NW) for a catered feast with formal toasting, special presentations and entertainment.

There will be two presentations for the program. One - to honor the three Honorary Senior Grand Wardens, the other is a special presentation by Benjamin B. French Lodge No. 15.

All Masons are invited, and male guests are welcome.  Attire is business suit and tie.

The cost of attendance is $25 per person.  Contact the Grand Lodge office at 202-686-1811 for tickets.

Fraternally,

The Office of the Grand Secretary

Brethren,

Join us for Universal Brotherhood Celebration events on June 15 and 16, 2012!

We will showcase the Craft diversity in the District of Columbia at the following events:

Friday, June 15 from noon to 2:00 p.m. at the Scottish Rite Center – A seminar "Seeing Beyond the Fog", organized by Justice-Columbia Lodge No. 3 is focused on providing a deeper understanding of matters of international impact that will be shaping the world in the years to come.

The speakers at the event:  
Dr. Mark Lowenthal, an author and adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University who has retired from a prolific career with the United States Intelligence Community;
 
Dr. John Duke Anthony, the Founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations who currently serves on the United States Department of State Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy and its subcommittees on Sanctions and Trade and Investment.

The event is open to everyone and lunch will be provided.

Friday, June 15 at 7:00 p.m. – At the Almas Shrine Temple (1315 K Street, NW), we will hold a Festive Board to celebrate the anniversaries of chartering three DC lodges – 1st Anniversary of Maynilad Lodge No. 1521, and the 20th Anniversaries of Alianza Fraternal Americana Lodge No. 92 and La France Lodge No. 93.

Bring your lady or a prospective Mason to this event for a memorable evening of great food, toasting, and entertainment!  The seating is very limited – reserve your tickets ($50 each) by contacting Roman Volsky at rvolsky@dcgrandlodge.org or 410-499-0580.

Saturday, June 16 at 10:00 a.m. – Universal Lodge meeting at the Scottish Rite Center.  Open to Masons only.  Lunch will be provided.

Come and participate or observe the diversity of the Craft in the District of Columbia practicing Masonry in different tongues, but speaking in one language.

For more information on any of these events, please contact Roman Volsky at rvolsky@dcgrandlodge.org or 410-499-0580.

Brethren,
On Saturday, May 19, 2012, Hands on DC will hold its annual Work-a-thon. It is my sincere pleasure to announce that the Freemasons of the Nation’s Capital team has been placed at Orr Elementary School, located at 2200 Minnesota Ave SE.  It is not too late to volunteer for this event.  To register, visit http://handsondc.kintera.org/freemasons and click select "Join Our Team."  To further identify your affiliation please add your Lodge number or other group name, parenthetically, in the “Last Name” field following your name.  For example, I would register as Dustin Rawlins (#7).

A few notes about our school:

1.)  Lunch is always different at each school – sometimes there are food donations, sometimes teams buy food, sometimes everyone brings a few bucks for pizza.

2.) Itinerary for the day:
8:30AM - Arrive at the School, Register, Begin work
12:00PM - Break for Lunch
1:00PM - Resume Work
2:30PM - Begin Clean-up
3:30PM – Work day concludes

3.)  After you've cleaned up from the event day, be sure to join us that evening from 8:00pm-11:00pm at Union Pub (201 Massachusetts Ave, NE) on Capitol Hill about 2 blocks from Union Station for a party to celebrate the success of Hands on DC.  The after party is age-restricted - only 21 and up may attend.  We will also be giving prizes to teams and individuals at the after party that have raised the most money.

4.)  If you have youth participating, be sure they fill out the waiver and have a parent/guardian sign it. You may fill out this waiver at the school on the day of the event.

Remember:  Volunteers will be expected to be at the school ready to work before 9am.

Encourage your family and friends to come out for one day to refurbish the District's public schools, get some exercise, and witness DC Freemasonry in action!

Please sign up today to join your Brothers, family and friends in this important endeavor.  If you have any questions, or require assistance in registration, please feel free to contact me.

On Behalf of everyone at Hands on DC and the Freemasons of the Nation’s Capital team, thank you again for your willingness to participate and all your hard work on Saturday, May 19th.
We are all looking forward to a successful and fun event!

Sincerely and Fraternally,
Dustin R. Rawlins
Aide to the Grand Master
Chair, 2012 GLDC Community Outreach Committee
Dustin.Rawlins@SingletonLodge.com202-531-3865 (cell)

Celebration of the Craft:   May 19th, 2012 at 6:00 pm - 12:00 am, EDT

This celebration of the Scottish Rite will be similar to a telethon but broadcast over the internet on May 19th. Our Web Event will pay tribute to Freemasonry with entertainment, celebrities, humor, and educational programming.  Our host will be Ill. Norm Crosby, 33°.  It will be broadcast through the Scottish Rite web site at www.scottishrite.org.

For donations made online or called in during the Web Event, 50% of the net proceeds will benefit the Rebuilding the Temple Campaign to restore the House of the Temple and 50% will benefit Orient and/or Valley 501(c)3 organizations.

What can you do?:

1.       Mark May 19th on your calendar.

2.       Plan on watching with your Valley or at home.

3.       Let all of your Masonic friends know about the Web Event and its importance.

4.       Plan on making a gift to help us preserve and restore the House of the Temple and also benefit your Orient.

5.       Donations can be made online, by text, by phone, and on Facebook. Throughout the broadcast we will give up to the minute updates.  If every member made just a $5 contribution we would hit our goal of $1 million.

Brethren,

The annual meeting of the Masonic Foundation of the District of Columbia will be held on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at the Grand Lodge building, 5428 MacArthur Blvd., NW at 7:00 pm.  Use the rear entrance off the parking lot.

The agenda for the meeting will include receipt of the 2011-2012 financial report, nominations and election of Trustees, and appropriations for scholarships and proposed contributions to other charitable activities for the ensuing year.  Submissions for such contributions should be made in advance to the Secretary of the Foundation at least one week prior to the meeting.

Masters & secretaries, please encourage your lodge representative to attend.  The meeting should last about 90 minutes.

Sincerely & fraternally,

The Office of the Grand Secretary