Brethren,

On behalf of The Colonial Lodge, No. 1821 I hereby issue a challenge to you, your lodge, and your "Muggle" (non-Mason) friends to participate in the first-annual Colonial Challenge on June 15.

The Challenge is a team-based competition that includes a scavenger hunt, trivia competition, and a reception at the House of the Temple. 

Teams compete in the fraternal (on behalf of a lodge) or open divisions. Prizes will include trophies/medallions, bragging rights, gift certificates, and the labor of Colonial Lodge brothers at your next meeting or event.

The day begins with the scavenger hunt across DC. Teams are given metro cards and picture clues/tasks to complete (e.g.: can you get a stranger to do a cartwheel? get a picture with a uniformed Marine?)  in a limited amount of time. The second half of the challenge is a trivia competition at the House of the Temple. The winners will be 'crowned' at the reception following trivia.

Those who do not wish to compete but want to participate may join us at the House of the Temple to watch the trivia and celebrate/heckle the victors. Separate registration required.

Why should you/your lodge participate?

The Challenge is intra-fraternal, as well as a great lodge-building activity. We recommend pairing some of your newer members with some of your older members to help them get to know one another in a way not often presented through regular communications. Also, many of our members will be in attendance and we are always happy to meet other masons and their friends.

Logistical Details:

·  June 15th, starting at Noon

·  Teams of 2 (lodges are encouraged to register more than one team)

·  Non-Masons/"Muggles" are also welcome and encouraged to participate!

·  $99 entry fee includes all supplies for the challenge and the after party

·  $10 off for every team you refer that signs up

·  $30 for those who only wish to attend trivia/reception but not compete.

If you want to learn more:

All the details for the challenge are available at http://www.thecoloniallodge.org/challenge. If you still have additional questions, please reach out to Tyler Coffey, our Junior Warden who is in charge of the event at tyler@tylercoffey.com.

S & F,
Morgan P. Corr
Worshipful Master
The Colonial Lodge, No. 1821

Greetings Brethren,

This year’s Hands on DC work-a-thon will take place on two dates: May 4 and May 18. During the work-a-thon, more than 2,000 volunteers will spend the day working to create a better learning environment at one of about 40 DC public schools.  Projects are available for every skill level and typically include painting, cleaning, and landscaping.

The Freemasons of the Nation’s Capital team is recruiting volunteers for to help on either or both workdays.

Work-A-Thon Day 1 – May 4

Stuart-Hobson Middle School, 410 E St N.E., Washington, DC 20002
Street Parking Available, Union Station is the closest Metro stop.

­Work-A-Thon Day 2 – May 18

Garfield Elementary School, 2435 Alabama Avenue, S.E., Washington, DC 20020
Street Parking Available, Limited on-site parking

You can volunteer for this service project by visiting the “Freemasons of the Nation’s Capital” team recruiting site at http://www.firstgiving.com/handsondc.  Select the event for which you would like to register (the May 4 and May 18 events are listed as separate events). As you complete the online registration form, you will be asked to “Join a Team.” Select the Freemasons team for your intended volunteer date. To volunteer on both days, you will be asked to register twice.

If you have any difficulty with online registration, please contact me at Dustin.Rawlins@SingletonLodge.com. Please include the names, ages, and Lodge affiliation of your attendees and I can add them manually.

This is an open event, so please encourage your family and friends to come out for one day to refurbish the District’s public schools, get some exercise, and witness an excellent example DC Freemasonry in action.

Once you join the team, you will receive periodic updates via e-mail that will provide instructions regarding the day’s schedule, reporting times, school assignments, and metro/parking instructions.  The day usually begins around 8:30 A.M.; breaks for lunch around Noon, and work/clean up conclude around 3:30 P.M.

Recommended dress for the Work-a-thon should be “work” clothes such as sturdy and comfortable shoes, jeans or long pants, and so on.  Work gloves will be provided to all volunteers at no cost.

Please sign up today to join your fellow Brothers, family and friends in this important endeavor.

For any questions, please contact Brother Dustin Rawlins at Dustin.Rawlins@SingletonLodge.com.

Is It Time Yet for Stewardship?
by James T. Feezell, PM
Deputy Grand Master

I've often thought we Freemasons have given short shrift to our Stewards.  Historically, a Steward was an officer of authority and great responsibility, think the British Lord High Steward, or Tolkien's Stewards of Gondor.  Somewhere along the way, Stewards took a low path from right hand of the monarch to sommeliers and inflight wait staff.  The lodge Steward, nowadays, often appears relegated to the role of mere Masonic gopher, shuttling candidates within the lodge, and food and refreshment without.  In those lodges with real, installed Stewards, and not just Stewards du jour for a particular conferral, or an empty chair with the collar and jewel draped over the back, the office is more often simply a first dues-paying step on that path to pillar officer, Wardens and Master, where the "real" glamour and power are found, where "the magic happens".  I think it's an unfortunate evolution of the office and its importance; Stewardship may be our greatest responsibility to the Craft and responsible Stewardship our greatest contribution.

It appears to me now may be the time to focus on Stewardship, in the sense of responsible planning and management of our Craft, particularly Freemasonry in the District of Columbia.  Collectively, we've enjoyed a helluva decade.  Since 2003, we've basked in the media spotlight of Messrs. Brown's and Hanks's explorations of our myriad plots and conspiracies (mostly imagined), as well as Nick Cage's of our vast, hidden holdings of precious gems and metals (sadly, also imagined).  In 2011, we celebrated our 200th anniversary, with the attendant fanfare, celebrations, and congratulatory commemorative medallions and breast jewels.  In 2012, we raised our Bic lighters and called the band back for an encore to celebrate the first year of our third century.  In the past decade, we've commissioned art exhibits, hosted international conferences, founded Grand Lodges across the globe, chartered our annual constituent lodge and minted our annual Honorary Past Senior Grand Warden or Grand Emeritus, twinned ourselves nigh unto exhaustion, and even planted our Grand Lodge banner on distant soils.  All pretty impressive for four thousand and some members of our modest planned city of 68 square miles.

Still, we are Free Masons, emulating the operative designers, planners, and builders who founded the Craft, not the bed sheet-clad, perennial revelers of the Faber chapter of Delta Tau Chi.  It appears to me it may be time to nudge our brother in the South to set down his column already, roll up our sleeves, and set our collective attention to the business of laying a solid and sustainable foundation for the coming century.  A survey of our lodges, constituent, as well as Grand, and their accounts, suggests to me we may be well served by some candid assessment of the State of the Jurisdiction.   

The organization that supports and embodies our ancient and gentle Craft may want for some repointing.  For cautionary examples of extended hiatus of Stewardship in our Craft, we need not look so far as the "recent unpleasantness" across the Atlantic.  Some of the "aggressive" measures our sister jurisdictions have implemented at the corner of Waning Membership and Waxing Overhead ought suffice.

It appears to me the Grand Lodge, the Masters, Wardens, Past Masters, and Past Grand Masters of the jurisdiction, would do well to begin a frank discussion about where we are today, including ritually, operationally, and financially, and how that compares not only to the vision of the Founders of our Grand Lodge, but also our potential as a model of excellence, both in our community and in the Masonic fraternity.  Are we, collectively, building and improving, or coasting and depleting?  How to close the gaps between our current state and our aspirational?  What actions would the responsible Steward undertake?

Reveling in the vineyards makes for a pleasant respite, but it is the quarries and the temple where the great works are built and the great builders are cultivated.  Let's undertake the assessment and labor that need be done to place our lodges and our jurisdiction on a firm footing for our tercentennial.  If you have ideas, suggestions, or comments, please contact me at  jt@feezell.com.   The Grand Master's and my door, phone, and inbox are always open to ideas for the good of Masonry, as well as offers to help labor in their implementation.

The Grand Lodge Communications are of great importance to our fraternity. It affords us the opportunity to gather together, to renew old relationship and foster new ones and most importantly gives us the forum to discuss, debate and shape the future of our Grand Lodge and Freemasonry in this jurisdiction and perhaps influence the Masonic policies and proceeding elsewhere within the fraternity.

The 2012 Annual Communication will convene on Saturday, November 17th, in the Auditorium of the DC Scottish Rite Center, at 10:00 a.m.

Admission will be strictly by valid dues cards and registration for voting members of the Grand Lodge will commence at 8:30 a.m. in the auditorium lobby. Only Worshipful Masters, Senior and Junior Wardens, or their proxies, as well as Past Masters will be eligible to vote.

Attendees can anticipate a streamlined morning agenda that is much lighter on ceremony and weighted towards getting down to business.

As in the past years, the morning business session will see the presentation of the reports of the Grand Master, Grand Lodge Officers and Committee reports requiring Grand Lodge attention or action; presentation of Valentine Reintzel Medals, Grand Lodge Gold Fidelity Medal and introduction of the nominees for the Distinguish Service Award, The Freedom Medal and the Humanitarian and Community Service Award, if such are to be awarded; and consideration of the resolutions submitted to the Office of Grand Secretary. The Ballot Box will be declared open before breaking for lunch.

The afternoon business session will feature the election of Grand Lodge officers, one Grand Lodge Trustee, Grand Lodge Representatives to Masonic and Eastern Star Home of D.C. Charities, Inc., and the recipients of the Distinguished Service Award, Freedom Medal and Humanitarian and Community Service Award, if such have been nominated in the morning session. Other business will be taken care of while the ballots are counted and tabulated after the closing of the Ballot Box at 2:05 p.m.

Grand Lodge Annual Membership Banquet

The Grand Lodge Membership Banquet will be held on Friday evening, December 7th at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. hotel: Tickets are $75.00 per person [$750.00 for tables of 10 and may be purchased through PayPal (for an additional service charge) or directly from the Office of the Grand Secretary].

Masons, their families and guests are all welcome. Reservation forms mailed to each Lodge Secretary on October 31st must be completed and returned to the Office of the Grand Secretary by November 30th. The Banquet tickets for paid reservations received by November 19th will be mailed to the secretaries for distribution. Tables will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

The Third Communication and the Installation Ceremony

The 3rd Communication of the Grand Lodge will convene Saturday, December 8th, 2012 in the Lodge Room, at the Scottish Rite Center. Master Masons will assemble at 4:45 p.m. and the Grand Lodge will be opened at 5:00 p.m. for a brief business session, namely the consideration of the Report of the Committee on Jurisprudence, and shortly thereafter will move from labor to recess to assemble in the Auditorium for the public portion of the program, open to members, family and friends. The program will include the introduction of the Masonic dignitaries, presentation of the Grand Lodge Distinguished Service Award, Grand Lodge Medal of Freedom, farewell message of the outgoing Grand Master and the installation of the incoming Grand Master and Grand Lodge officers. A sumptuous reception will follow in the Refectory.

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

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.

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,
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)