 Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren you have already been notified of Brother Mike’s passing and I wanted to remind everyone that his Memorial Service is this Saturday. The details are listed below. William Michael (Mike) Farrow, 72, of Wilmington, passed away peacefully, on Monday January 13, 2025. He was born in Wilmington on November 7, 1952, the son of the late William H. Farrow and Doris Pickett Farrow. Mike was a member of Masonboro Baptist Church. Mike started his Masonic journey as a Master Mason and member of the Wilmington Masonic Lodge #319 AF&AM in April 1999. He became a Sudan Shriner in 2000 and a member of the Wilmington Shrine Club, where he served as Club President in 2012. Mike was also a volunteer fireman at the Winter Park Volunteer Fire Department. He retired from Koch Industries after 35 years of service. Surviving are his former wife, Cathy Beeker Farrow, one daughter, Wendy Farrow Farr and husband Chris Farr of Wilmington and one granddaughter, Mackenzie Farr of Wilmington. A memorial service will take place at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 1, 2025 at Masonboro Baptist Church Cemetery Memorial Garden. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Mike to Masonboro Baptist Church Cemetery Maintenance Fund, 1501 Beasley Rd, Wilmington, NC 28409. |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren I received a call this morning that our friend and Brother, Gene Parker's health has taken a turn for the worse. Brother Gene has been fighting with an infection for several months and at times they thought it was improving, but it seemed to always come back. Hospice has now been called to his home to help and provide care for him and his family. Please keep all of them in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to support Gene. I will keep you updated as information becomes available. Eddie Gaskins, PM Secretary |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, just another reminder about our annual Charity BBQ fundraiser which will be held on February 8th.; with the food being served from 11am to 4pm. Eat-in or take-out is available. A plate of Q is $10. each and we need everyone to buy the tickets that were sent to you and send that check on in so we can keep an accurate account. Many of you have already sent in your money and a very special thank you for supporting this endeavor. Our 3 masonic charities are the beneficiaries of this event: The Masonic Home for Children at Oxford The Masonic and Eastern Star Home, LLC The NC Masonic Foundation The BBQ plate will consist of bbq, baked beans, slaw and a roll. In addition to your financial support we also need workers that Saturday. We need folks to help setup, food prep, food servers, drive thru attendants, dining room ambassadors, and the all dreaded task of cleanup. If you can't be there all day, we will take whatever you have available. Some folks come early and stay through the lunch rush and others will show up midday and stay to cleanup. Of course we have some that come early and leave late. Please support this effort as much as possible, it is our main charity project for the year. On behalf of the Master, Lane Marshburn and his 2025 officers; we look forward to seeing everyone there on Saturday, Feb 8th. Fraternally, Eddie Gaskins, PM Secretary |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| It is with sadness that I inform you of the passing of our Brother William Michael (Mike) Farrow this morning, he was 72 at the time of his death and a 26 year member of Wilmington #319. Mike was a lifelong resident of Wilmington and was proud to be from Masonboro Sound, Miss Mables Store if you remember where that was. 😉 I first met Mike in 1975 when I went to work at the Hercules Chemical Plant on Hwy421, he was a plant operator and worked in the control room until his retirement. We don't have any information about the funeral arrangements at this time, but I forward them to you as soon as I hear. |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren we are off to a great start with several events already on the calendar. We have the Grand Master of Masons, MW Robert Rideout scheduled to be at St John's #1 on January 25th to hold our 12th District meeting. He will be presenting his vision and goals for his term. I'm sure he will be accompanied by many of his GL officers and the Directors of our homes. Breakfast will be served at 8am and the meeting at 9am, reservations are required and can be made from the Grandview app. #319 has 2 degrees scheduled, a Fellow Craft degree is planned for January 28th and an Entered Apprentice degree for February 11th. Both degrees start at 7:30pm with a meal served at 6:30pm. February 4th is our stated communication, the meeting starts at 7:30pm with a meal served at 6:30pm. February 8th we will hold our annual BBQ fundraiser, food will be served from 11am to 4pm. This event is for the purpose of supporting our Masonic charities. It is very important that we support this event as much as possible and ensure that it is a major success. We need everyone who can to come help that day, early morning setup to serving and clean up. Tickets have been mailed to you and we need for you to send in your donation as soon as you can, if you need more tickets just let any line officer know. Respectfully & Fraternally, Eddie Gaskins PM, PDDGM,SOD Secretary |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren welcome to the new year, it's time to put the holidays behind us and enjoy getting back together with our Masonic Brothers. This Tuesday Jan 7th is our first stated meeting of the year and our Master, Lane Marshburn and the 2025 officers are ready to get busy. We have a lot to do in the first quarter of the year with new candidates coming in and advancing the ones already in the system. We have our BBQ charity fundraiser scheduled for Feb 8th and we will need everyone to sign up and help out. I'm looking forward to working and seeing everyone soon. Eddie Gaskins, PM, PDDGM, SOD Secretary |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren I regret to inform you of the passing of our Brother Edsol Rowell, who entered into the perfect light on December 27th, 2024. Edsol was 90 years old and had been a member of Wilmington #319 for over 51 years after being raised on June 28, 1973. The family is requesting a Masonic Service as part of the celebration his life. The Funeral service will be held at 2pm on Friday January 3rd at the Andrews Valley Chapel on S. College Rd, visitation will begin at 1pm. Following the Chapel service burial will be at Oleander Memorial Gardens with Masonic Rite. |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
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Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
Wilmington Lodge will be conducting its 2025 Officers Installation on Saturday, December 7, 2024. An emergent Master Masons Lodge will be opened at 11:00 am to conduct some necessary business before the lunch and Ceremony, the Lodge will then be called from labor to refreshment. The meal will begin at 11:30 am. The installation ceremony will begin following the meal. Several service awards will be presented following the installation. The lodge room will then be purged and the lodge called from refreshment to labor, at which time the Lodge of Sorrow will be opened for 2025. The meal and installation ceremony are open to the public, so be sure to invite your family and friends. This is also a good time to bring anyone that may be interested in joining masonry so that they can meet the brethren, ask questions, and have a glimpse of what we are about. |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
Brethren, It is that time of year again when the lodge dues are about to be due. As I hope you all remember, the lodge voted in 2023 to raise the dues starting with the 2025 dues. That time has now come. The dues for 2025 will be $130.00. If you are interested, the breakdown of those dues are as follows: $94.00 - Lodge dues $35.00 – Grand Lodge Per Capita $1.00 – Required Donation to the George Washington Memorial Association (GWMA) If you are a 50-Year member, you are not required to pay Per Capita or the GWMA donation. Therefore, your dues will be $94.00, all of which stays with the Lodge. I am working to get the dues updated and rolled over in the Grandview system so that payments can be made through Grandview. I hope to have it ready and available by November 1st. The easiest way to pay your dues now is online through the Grandview system. If you are not registered in that system, please do so as soon as possible. You may go to the link below to register with Grandview. You will need your Member Number, which you can find on your dues card. If you have any issues let me know. You can text or call me at 910-409-0762. Grand Lodge Masonic Membership Manager Please do not pay online until your account shows that you owe for 2025. Grandview may be accessed from either a computer or a smart phone. I recommend that you put it on both. And remember the password that you use. I will be emailing out dues notices to those who are already registered in Grandview as soon as the system is updated. Hard copy dues notices will be mailed out as well, so you may get two. I just received the dues cards from the Grand Lodge, so there will not be a delay in sending those out like last year. Fraternally,Samuel P. Watson, PM Secretary Wilmington Lodge #319 |
Wilmington No. 319 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, Due to some unforeseen scheduling issues the EA degree that was scheduled for Thursday, August 29, 2024, has been postponed until Tuesday, September 17, 2024. In addition, we have added a MM degree for Tuesday, August 27, 2024. Please plan to be at both events. To summarize, we have the following degree events scheduled for the near future: August 27, 2024 - Tuesday - MM Degree September 17, 2024 - Tuesday - EA Degree |
This is a follow up from the 5 Hour Lecture Service that was held yesterday (2/24/2024). I just wanted to share these handouts that I mentioned . Take a look at them if you want. Also the link that I mentioned is
https://www.grandlodge-nc.org, (click on Center For Members, scroll down to certified lecturers information, then forms and links for lecturers).
If I can be of any further assistance, please let me know. Thanks and have a nice weekend.
Freddy Szakasits