Monument Lodge wins ‘Mark Twain’ award

    SILVER SPRING, Md. — Monument Lodge 96 of Houlton has been awarded the Masonic Information Center’s coveted Mark Twain Masonic Awareness Award in recognition of its exemplary work in constructing a positive Masonic identity within the lodge and throughout the local community.
    Lodges nationwide participated in the 2007 Twain Award competition as part of the growing network of lodges that are working together brother by brother, lodge by lodge to achieve the goals expressed in the report, “It’s About Time; Moving Masonry into the 21st Century.”
Richard E. Fletcher, Executive Secretary of the Masonic Information Center says, “The number of entries more than doubled in 2007, and the quality of the winners raised the bar for next year’s competition.” Fletcher continues, “The MIC provides Twain Award competition guidelines through its website and through numerous publications; this year, we’ve posted online video updates at important stages of the competition.”
Monument Lodge held a series of lectures on Men’s Health issues inviting local men to attend. Later in the year the lodge sponsored a Symposium on Peace inviting local spiritual leaders to participate, giving their perspective on peace issues. These symposiums were open to the public.
“Our small lodge in Houlton intends to be a center for learning and discussion concerning vital issues such as peace” said Richard Rhoda, Master of Monument Lodge.
“Lodge by lodge, we see new levels of enthusiasm for communicating the relevance of Freemasonry to members and to our communities,” says Fletcher. “The Twain competition is just one way that our new and veteran members are working together to innovate Masonic education and communication.”
Most historians believe Freemasonry arose from stonemasons’ guilds in the Middle Ages and began to flourish in the 1700’s in Europe and the American Colonies. Today North America’s Masonic Fraternity provides fellowship for over 1.5 million members. Masons are known throughout their communities for their work with schools, hospitals and speech and language clinics.
Find out more by visiting the Masonic Service Association of North America (MSANA) at http://www.msana.com