December 2020 Officers of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut Table of Contents A.F. & A.M. 2020- 2021 Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah ...............................3 Congratulations to Our 75- and 50-Year Brothers ...........4 Grand Master's Message - Stephen W. Petri .....................5 The Connecticut Freemasons Foundation .......................6 Bro. Stephen W. Petri Most Worshipful Grand Master Call for Nominations for CT Freemasons Foundation ....6 Bro. William E. Bohman Grand Chaplain's Message ...............................................7 RW Deputy Grand Master Called by the Grand Architect ........................................7 Bro. Bruce R. Bellmore RW Grand Senior Warden Grand Historian’s Corner.................................................8 Bro. Joseph J. Porco From the Desk of Jon-Paul Venoit .................................10 RW Grand Junior Warden Bro. Newton Buckner, III Norma Brandt Nursing Scholarship Awards ..................11 RW Grand Treasurer Why Punctuation Matters .............................................12 Bro. Grant S. Gould RW Grand Secretary Hiram's Travelers Presents Arthur E. Richards Award ....13 Bro. Edward C. Page District 1,..................................................................14-15 RW Grand Senior Deacon Can Freemasonry Save the World ..................................16 Bro. Les B. King RW Grand Junior Deacon District 3, 4, 6, 7 ......................................................17-21 Bro. Rinaldo F. Magliano The Elephant in the Room ............................................22 RW Grand Marshal Bro. Shane Dufresne 2020 Masonicare Virtual Wine & Beer Tasting .. 23 & 32 RW Grand Senior Steward Astronomy .....................................................................24 Bro. F. Matthew Heinrich, Jr. RW Grand Junior Steward MM Celebrates 21-Years of Holiday Cheer ...................25 Bro. Joseph R. Krusienski Now You Can See Your Own Record ...........................25 RW Grand Chaplain Lafayette Consistory ......................................................26 Bro. Carl H. Anderson RW Grand Almoner Valley of Hartford, AASR ..............................................27 Bro. Andrew R. Melillo Donate Life ....................................................................28 RW Grand Historian Craft At Labor ...............................................................28 Bro. Gary Graham RW Grand Organist 2018 Grand Lodge Proceedings Form ..........................29 Bro. Richard C. Memmott, Jr. RW Grand Tiler Booster Lists .............................................................30-31 Bro. Robert J. Kovi Wanted: Administrator for Masonic Building .................32 Associate Grand Tiler If - A Poem by Rudyard Kipling ...................................33 Bro. Frank R. Mangiero Associate Grand Tiler The Connecticut Freemasons Foundation Letter ...........34 Bro. Brian E. Beals 2020 Grand Lodge Officers ...........................................35 Deputy Grand Treasurer Masonicare Nutmegger Reunions ..................................36 Bro. James M. Anderson Deputy Grand Secretary Bro. Mark H. Hawkins Assistant to the Grand Master Letters, articles and advertisements may be sent to the Editor Frank Way at [email protected] and are due on Not Just a Man. A Mason. the 10th of the month prior to the next issue. 2 Connecticut Freemasons • December 2020 ctfreemasons.net for the Rest of Us of Rest the for ans of the Netflix series Stranger Festivus Happy Things will recall that the alternate dimension that played such a big Happy Hanukkah, Hanukkah, Happy Fpart in the first and subsequent seasons was called “the upside-down.” In 2020, Volume 16 - Number 6 Christmas, Merry that pretty much describes the entire year. Worshipful Masters, who had Publisher planned their work, were barely in their THE GRAND LODGE by Francis G. Way Oriental chairs when everything went, OF CONNECTICUT A.F. & A.M. well, upside-down. PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE From that point in March, the year has taken on a surreal quality. Overnight, everyone Theodore J. Nelson, Chairman was locked down, looking for masks and nitrile gloves, hand sanitizer and toilet paper. Francis G. Way, Editor Chlorox Wipes still can’t be found in a lot of places. With bars and restaurants closed, Jeff S. Bartlett everyone was pretty much staying home and -- until lodges and other Masonic bodies got Bud Buckner rolling with Zoom, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video -- lots of books got a good workout. Rev. Carl H. Anderson, Masonicare Heavy traffic on the road, became a memory for the most part, and for those who had Adam Raider, Masonicare to work from home, pants became a memory as well, most of us completely ignoring the asinine advice to “dress like you’re going to the office and you will work better.” Yeah, right. CREATIVE/LAYOUT Pat Kalinauskas CONTRIBUTORS At first, Teams, Webex, and Zoom had a novelty to them. The viral video of the woman John Amarilios who, in the middle of a meeting, grabbed up her laptop, walked through her house to her Donald M. Casey, Jr. bathroom, and proceeded to take care of business, all while still on Zoom video, provided David Cole laughs, and relief to everyone that they had not (yet perhaps) screwed up like that. Viewing David R. Blythe, Sr. a co-worker’s occasional nose pick on Zoom was a reason to smirk and chuckle (on mute, Richard F. Denno of course). By the end of the year, however, Zoom was so ubiquitous that other proclivities Shane Dufresne rose up, making some doubt that a pants-optional approach was all that okay, and even Sandie Greene those who love a good schadenfreude moment were left shaking their heads. What was William L. Greene Toobin thinking??? It was all just getting old. Very Rev. Joseph Krusienski Time has taken on a strange quality as well. Last March seems like five years ago. A Edmund M. Hart, II month more like a year. Summer came and went – at one point even a simple trip to the Jamie Paul Lamb beach could require filling out a form and self-quarantining for two weeks. It seemed to Roy Nealon blur together with spring and fall. Fourth of July fireworks became a homemade event John Main and lasted from Memorial Day to Labor Day and beyond, popping up (or booming, Graeme K. MacKenzie depending on the DIY skill level) at a moment’s notice, sometimes even in mid-afternoon. Andrew R, Melillo A tropical storm at summer’s height added just the right amount of insult to injury, killing Stephen W. Petri power, and then neighborhoods filled with the sound of generators, AC didn’t work, and Michael D. Sabia, Jr. nights were long and hot. For days….and days... Emma Tuthill Charles W. Yohe Even the fall foliage seemed a little off. At first there were touches of color, but nothing Nicholas A. Valinsky really bright and vibrant. Then, as we waited and hoped, more trees changed, but still, it Jon-Paul Venoit wasn’t quite there, like a Monet painting but without all of Monet’s talent behind it. A quick afternoon trip to Kringle Candle in Bernardston, MA, on a Sunday normally in peak season, provided some nice yellow and orange views, but still a lot of green. And then the Grand Lodge of leaves were on the ground and that was that. Connecticut A.F. & A.M. Now, once again, the year is waning. Orion rides high in the night sky, and darkness comes 69 Masonic Avenue • Wallingford, CT 06492 earlier and lingers longer. The mornings are cold, the mid-day sun is weak, and the nights are Office Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. frigid. The trees are bare, the Thanksgiving turkey is down to the most meager of leftovers, 1:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday and Christmas and Hanukkah are about ready to ring the doorbell. The feats of amazing 203-679-5903 • 800-529-4161 (in-state only) strength around the Festivus Pole may be somewhat curtailed, but the Airing of Grievances Fax: 203-679-5996 email: [email protected] will be epic – how could it not be this year? Snow may or may not be flying – the NOAA web: www.ctfreemasons.net Continued on page 4 ctfreemasons.net Connecticut Freemasons • December 2020 3 Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah continued from page 3 long range winter forecast said lower than average CONGRATULATIONS snowfall -- but in the upside-down it snows all the time, so who knows? TO OUR In the midst of all this chaos and upside-down 75-YEAR BROTHER! insanity, the end of the year, as it always has, brings a message of hope and salvation. And in this direst year in any living generation’s memory, hope is a most welcome Wood D. Beeghly commodity, a balm from Gilead, as it were. One night’s Union Lodge No. 5 portion of oil lasting for eight days. A baby boy, born in a stable, laid in a manger, while shepherds watched their flocks by night... The holidays will be a respite from all the upheaval of this very odd year. As with everything else in 2020, the year of the upside-down, even the holidays may not be exactly as expected. The family gathering may be a bit different. The traditions will still be enacted although maybe not quite the same way. But look to those small AND TO OUR messages of hope, those seeds planted and growing in 50-YEAR BROTHERS! the frigid ground under the winter snow, and know that eventually everything will return to normal – not a “new” normal, but a normal-normal. Eventually we will Paul F. Stacoffe all return from the upside-down, and all of the stranger things we have experienced will exist only in stories, Annawon Lodge No. 115 stories that start with “Remember when...” Stanley R. Warner Washington Lodge No. 81 The