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 The Masonic Home, A Great Tradition The Masonic Home is a strong tradition in Freemasonry. Hopefully this list of facilities worldwide will be handy for anyone who may be looking — these places can only stay afloat if they have residents! Here’s what I have so far:
United States
Alabama
Alabama Masonic Home
3033 Vaughn Rd, Montgomery, AL
(334) 272-8961
California
Masonic Home For Adults
34400 Mission Blvd
Union City, CA 94587-3604
(510) 471-3435
Colorado
Colorado Eastern Star Masonic
Retirement Community
2445 S Quebec Street
Denver, CO 80231
(303) 756-9489
Connecticut
Independent Living:
Masonicare At Ashlar Village
Cheshire Road,
Wallingford, CT 06492
203-679-6400
or toll-free 800-382-2244
A. Norman Johnson Apartments
Masonic Avenue
Wallingford, Connecticut
203-679-5473
Wells Apartments
at the Masonicare Health Center
2 Masonic Avenue
Wallingford, CT 06492
(888) 679-9997.
Hawkins Apartments
at the Masonicare Health Center
2 Masonic Avenue
Wallingford, CT 06492
(203) 679-5905
Assisted Living:
Pond Ridge At Ashlar Village
Cheshire Road,
Wallingford, CT 06492
203-679-6425
Lockwood Lodge
Toddy Hill Road
Newtown, CT
203-364-3179
Residential Care:
Wright Residence
2 Masonic Avenue
Wallingford, CT 06492
203-679-5473
Delaware
Highfield Masonic Home of Delaware
4800 Lancaster Pike
Wilmington, DE 19807-2559
(302) 994-4434
Florida
Masonic Home of Florida
3201 1st St NE
St Petersburg, FL 33704-2299
(727) 822-3499
Illinois
Mason Point
One Masonic Way
Sullivan, IL 61951
217-728-4394
Indiana
Indiana Masonic Home
1626 Woodfield Drive
Greenwood, Indiana, USA
Iowa
Iowa Masonic Health Facilities
2500 Grant Street
Bettendorf, IA 52722
563-359-9171
Eastern Star Masonic Home
715 West 3rd Street
Boone, IA 50036
515-432-5274
Kansas
Kansas Masonic Home
401 S Seneca St
Wichita, KS 67213-5588
(316) 269-7500
Kentucky
Masonic Home of Louisville
3701 Frankfort Avenue
Phone: 502.897.4907 (Local)
866.764.6631 (Toll-Free)
Spring Hill Village
Retirement Community
700 Taylor Spring Court
Taylor Mill, Kentucky
859.581.0542 or 859.653.7657
Maryland
Maryland Masonic Homes
300 International Cir
Cockeysville, MD 21030-1300
(410) 527-1111
Massachusetts
Overlook Masonic Health Center
88 Masonic Home Road
PO BOX 1000
Charlton, Massachusetts 01507
Toll-Free: 866-430-6642
Local: 508-248-7344
Fax: 508-248-0119
Michigan
Masonic Pathways
1200 Wright Ave
Alma, MI 48801-1133
(989) 463-3141
Minnesota
Minnesota Masonic Home
Bloomington
11501 Masonic Home Drive
Bloomington, MN 55437
Phone: (952) 948-7000
Toll-free: 1-800-869-8665
Minnesota Masonic Home
North Ridge
5430/5500 Boone Avenue North
New Hope, Minnesota 55428
Phone: 763-592-3000
Missouri
Masonic Home of Missouri
6033 Masonic Dr., Ste. A
Columbia, MO 65202
Toll Free 1-800-434-9804
573-814-4663
FAX 573-814-4660
Montana
Masonic Home of Montana
2010 Masonic Home Rd
Helena, MT 59602-9514
(406) 458-5431
Nebraska
Nebraska Masonic Home
1300 Avenue D
Plattsmouth, NE 68048-1098
(402) 296-7300
New Hampshire
Masonic Home of New Hampshire
813 Beech St
Manchester, NH 03104-3100
(603) 669-7361
New Jersey
Masonic Home of New Jersey
902 Jacksonville Road
Burlington, NJ 08016
Main Number: 609-239-3900
Social Services: 609-239-3888
New York
Masonic Care Community
2150 Bleecker Street
Utica, NY 13501
315-798-4850
North Carolina
White Stone
Masonic and Eastern Star Community
700 S. Holden Road
Greensboro, NC 27407
(336) 547-2947
Ohio
Ohio Masonic Home
3 Masonic Dr
Springfield, OH 45504-3658
(937) 525-3001
Oregon
Jennings McCall Retirement Center
2300 Masonic Way
Forest Grove, OR 97116
Phone: 503-357-4133
Fax: 503-357-4936
Jennings McCall Assisted Living Center
2221 Oak St.
Forest Grove, OR 97116
Phone: 503-359-4465
Fax: 503-359-8552
Pennsylvania
Masonic Villages of Pennsylvania
801 Ridge Pike
Lafayette Hill, PA 19444-1799
(610) 825-6100
Texas
Texas Masonic Retirement Center
1501 West Division
Arlington, Texas 76012-3818
817-275-2893
Metro 817-261-7612
FAX 817-275-1065
Virginia
Masonic Home of Virginia
4101 Nine Mile Rd
Richmond, VA 23223-4999
(804) 222-1605
Washington
Landmark on the Sound
23660 Marine View Drive South
Des Moines, WA 98198-0466
Telephone: (206) 878-8434 / 1-800-820-4630
FAX 206-878-9116
West Virginia
West Virginia Masonic Home
Box 869
Parkersburg, WV 26101
Telephone: (800) 366-8384
Wisconsin
Three Pillars
Wisconsin Masonic Home
410 North Main Street, Dousman, WI 53118
262.965.2111
800.848.5306
Canada
Royal Arch Masonic Home
7850 Champlain Crescent, Vancouver, BC, V5S 4C7
Canada
Tel: 604-437-7343
United Kingdom
Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution
60 Great Queen Street, London,
WC2B 5AZ
Ardnablane Masonic Home
Leewood Road
Dunblane
Stirlingshire
Scotland
Phone: 01786 823610
Tel: 020 7596 2400
Australia
See Masonic Homes:
Masonic Homes Ridgehaven Rise -
Seniors Living Community:
Ridgehaven Lodge
Gate 3, Hazel Grove
Ridgehaven SA 5097
Telephone: (08 ) 8397 0100
Facsimile: (08) 8396 5763
& Ridgehaven Rise Independent Living call 1300 132 132
Masonic Homes Somerton Park -
Seniors Living Community:
Somerton Lodge
Grainger Road
Somerton Park SA 5044
Telephone: (08) 8375 1523
Facsimile: (08) 8375 1515
& Somerton Park Independent Living call 1300 132 132
Masonic Homes Hillside -
Seniors Living Community:
Hillside Lodge
177 Longwood Road
Heathfield SA 5153
Telephone: (08) 8131 0002
Facsimile: (08) 8131 0006
& Hillside Gardens Independent Living call 1300 132 132
Masonic Homes Tiwi Gardens -
Seniors Living Community:
Tiwi Gardens Lodge
11 Creswell Street
Tiwi NT 0810
Telephone: (08) 8922 6600
Facsimile: (08) 8927 6900
& Tiwi Gardens Village/Villas & Tiwi Gardens Independent Living call 1300 132 132
Masonic Homes Residential Care Division/Corporate
67 Henley Beach Road,
Mile End SA 5031
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8152 6299
Masonic Homes Community Care:
Telephone: Enquiries line 1300 132 132
Northern & Eastern Regions
PO Box 593,
St Agnes SA 5097
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8265 2688
Southern Region
PO Box 79,
Marleston DC SA 5033
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8294 6308
Western Region
PO Box 79,
Marleston DC SA 5033
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8346 7799
Hills & Eastern Regions
PO Box 1758,
Mt Barker SA 5251
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8391 4655
Darwin Region
11 Creswell Street
Tiwi NT 0810
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8981 6870
Therapy Services
Somerton Park
Grainger Road,
Somerton Park SA 5044
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8375 1515
Ridgehaven Rise
Gate 2, Hazel Grove
Ridgehaven SA 5097
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8265 2688
Darwin
11 Creswell Street
Tiwi NT 0810
Telephone: 1300 132 132
Facsimile: (08) 8981 6870
 A Traveling Man A Brother of mine has received a bunch of Masonic collectible stuff as a gift from a Masonic widow. One of the pieces of ephemera was a little card, brown with age, with the following anecdote that all Traveling Men will find amusing:
The Traveller
From One of the Boys Who Has Been There.
A traveling man who applied for a loan of money, was put through the following examination by a member of the Drummer’s Association:
“Where did you come from?”
“From the town of St. John’s Mich.”
“What came you here to do?”
“To take a few orders and to collect a bill of Billson.”
“Then you are a drummer?”
“I am so taen and accepted by the boys.”
“How may I know you to be a drummer?”
“By my cheek and my forty-pound sample case. Try me.”
“How wll yo ube tried?”
“By the Squire’.”
“Why by the Squire’?”
“Because the “Squire is a magistrate.”
“Where were you first led to be a drummer?”
“In my mind.”
“Where next?”
“In a printing office adjoining a post of drummers.”
“How were you prepared?”
“By being divested of my last cent.”
“How were you received”
“On the toe of a boot, applied to the seat of my trousers.”
“What did that teach you?”
“Not to fool around too much.”
“What happened next?”
“I was put astraddle of a 2×4 and trotted nine times around the room, and then directed to the Left Bower for further instruction.”
“Did this teach you a lesson?”
“You bet. It taught me to look out.”
“Shake, brother. Will you be off or from?”
“Both, if I can borrow miney.”
“Have you any cigars?”
“I have.”
“Give em to me?”
“I did not so receive ‘em nor will I so impart em.”
“How will you dispose of ‘em?”
“On sixty days, two per cent.”
“All right, you begin.”
“No you begin.”
“You Must begin.”
“Up.”
“Em.”
“Set.”
“Set ‘em up. the words and signs are right. You are O.K.”
***
According to the Brother who received the card, the card itself (based on the age of the Brother who has gone to refreshment) was probably from the fifties or so. After doing a little google search, I found a longer, better version of this tale here. Interestingly, I came across this longer version on a couple of non-Masonic sites — needless to say, the posters of it were somewhat confused by it. Amusing stuff!
 Freemason and President of Gabon, Ali Bongo Those of us in the Anglo-American tradition of Freemasonry are quite proud of our Brethren who have become heads of state, whether by birth or election. American Freemasons have George Washington and the other Masonic presidents and the British, King Edward VII, to claim as one of their own.
But in Africa, at least according to this article, the Masonic affiliation of a head of state for any particular country may be less benign. Now, I don’t vouch for the accuracy of the claims of this article — I just find it interesting that Masonic cronyism reaching the upper levels of government has been raised as a substantial political issue in a couple African countries. And by raised as an issue, I don’t mean idle speculation of the conspiracy set. So with that caveat, it is a least something to think about. I’d welcome comments from our African Brethren, or anyone else, for some illumination on the topic.
 English Judges May Stay Mum On Masonic Affiliation The UK Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, has announced that judges in the UK will no longer be required to make known publicly their Masonic affiliations. This overturns a judicial policy, in place since 1998, that sought to allay alleged public concern over Masonic cronyism having improper influence in court cases in which a Freemason appeared before a Freemason judge.
Not surprisingly, this policy reversal has been met with skepticism amongst the anti-masonry crowd, with some claiming that it is proof of a wider Masonic conspiracy that includes Jack Straw himself.
The reason for the change, however, has less to do with conspiracies and more to do with a European Court of Human Rights (ECHT) ruling earlier this year. The court ruled in favor of the Grand Orient of Italy in its lawsuit challenging an Italian law that required governmental appointees to declare their Masonic affiliation. In its decision the court cited Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, a provision that guarantees freedom of association and was originally intended, in part, to ensure the ability to organize labor unions.
Nice summary of the European Court of Human Rights decision.
Read the UK Guardian story on the change of English judicial policy here.
Photo credit
 Emporia Masonic Lodge #12 Here’s a great story of Freemasons stepping up to help during an emergency flu situation. But I’m not talking about the Swine Flu. No, I’m referring to the Spanish Flu pandemic that killed between fifty and one hundred million people worldwide — nearly a fifth of those who contracted it.
When the Spanish Flu hit in Emporia, Kansas in the fall of 1918, there were so many ill, that the Red Cross turned the second floor of the Emporia Masonic Lodge hall on Merchant Street (where it remains to this day) into an emergency hospital.
Of course it was great fortune that the Freemasons had built this hall and it was available, and I’m sure they were happy to turn it over as a hospital as per Masonic teachings. But the real heroes of the story were the female Red Cross nurses who attended the ill.
Read the entire Emporia Gazette article on how the city responded to the 1918 flu pandemic here.
[Note: The photograph of the lodge hall on the site of the 1918 era lodge hall seems to show a more modern building -- perhaps it replaced the original? If someone has some information on that building, I'd enjoy hearing about it]
 Or not. Frankly I can’t tell what’s supposed to be happening in this photograph that the Dominion Post of New Zealand breathlessly claims must be showing The Secret Masonic Handshake, because, well, there were some Freemasons gathering for an event and shaking hands.
This kind of thing cracks me up every time. Hey, if you are so curious, why not join for crying out loud?
Check out the ridiculous story here.
 Olympic Torch, 1936 Olympics, Berlin, Germany Freemasons, not surprisingly, are fascinated by the often hidden-in-plain-sight influence of Freemasonry on everyday culture. Well, I just came across a very intriguing example that will have particular relevance as the world turns its attention to the upcoming 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games.
In case you missed it, the official Olympic flame was just lit on October 22 to kick off the torch relay that will culminate in Vancouver next year. [Here's a cool interactive map showing where the torch is at any particular moment]. The torch, we’ve always been told, represents the light of the Olympic movement passing peacefully through the various participating countries. While this is a laudable undertaking, the torch relay has an unfortunately sinister origin in the propaganda that surrounded the Nazi-hosted 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. The Nazis invented the torch relay (it had never occurred previously in either the ancient or modern versions of the Olympics) as subtle symbol of the spread of Nazi Fascism throughout Europe. [For more on the story of the Nazi torch relay, check out this interesting article].
 Marathon Tower and Flame Chalice of the 1928 Olympic Games Stadium But where did the Nazis get the idea of the Olympic flame? As it turns out, the Olympic flame was another modern invention, this time originating with the 1928 Summer Olympics stadium in Amsterdam, Holland. The Olympic flame burned in a huge chalice atop a tall tower adjacent to the stadium. The result was an effect not unlike a giant candle overlooking the stadium, a symbol that will be familiar to all Freemasons.
Here’s where the intriguing Masonic connection comes in. The designer of the stadium was the Dutch architect and active Freemason, Brother Jan Wils (1891-1972) who was a member of the l’Union Frédérique Lodge in Rotterdam.
To be sure, it’s fair to say that candle-like tower is just a coincidence. Brother Wils did not become a Freemason until 1929, at least a couple years after he would have completed his design for the stadium.
But according to Professor Bob Barney in the interview for the CTV article on the Nazi torch relay cited above, “Jan Wils, the architect of the Amsterdam stadium, was looking for inspiration . . . And so he turned to his lifelong infatuation with the Masonic order.”
 Brother Jan Wils, Masonic Architect Further, once Wils became a member, he was very involved with the design of Masonic Lodge halls. For starters, he designed the lodge hall for the Silentium Lodge in Delft. Also, he was on the board of directors of the Foundation for Rites and Temple Building, a group dedicated to bringing modern ideas of architecture into the realm of Masonic lodge halls.
This foundation promoted the notion that lodge halls should employ subtle references to Freemasonry in the underlying architecture through the use of spatial geometry — connecting lines that form stars within circles, etc. — rather than overt iconographic decorations. And these subtle Masonic gestures can be found in both public and Masonic buildings designed by the architects associated with this group. [More on Dutch Masonic architecture].
So, is the Olympic Flame a re-tooled Masonic Candle? It’s hard to say for sure. But the connections are, to say the least, quite striking.
 International Masonic Brotherhood I’m delighted to announce that Masonic Regalia is now available in fifty languages thanks to some amazing translation software available from Wordpress, the blogging platform I use here.
While I’ve known for some time that this page enjoys a wide international audience, I’ve recently discovered that many of my visitors are relying on Google to translate the pages they wish to see. It occurred to me that if my pages were already translated when indexed by Google, the site might get an even larger international Masonic readership because the translated version would appear in the non-English search results rather than in English to be translated by the reader before browsing.
What is so cool about the software I chose to translate the Masonic material here is that once it has been translated, the software creates a whole new page with the translation as part of the site’s permanent sitemap. Thus Google can index and cache all of the translated material as well as the native English version.
Aside from my nerdy enjoyment of great traffic to this site, I’m especially delighted with this development as I think it promotes one of the great aims of Freemasonry: reconciling true friendship from those who must have remained at perpetual distance.
 Well so much for the great Masonic Conspiracy. We can scarcely preserve our old lodge halls.
A judge in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania has ordered that the owner of the old Masonic Lodge hall in Carbondale must present a plan to either fix or demolish the historic building ten days to present to the court a plan to either fix or demolish the structure or face contempt of court and possible jail time.
It is unclear whether the building in question is still owned by the lodge or whether, like so many of our stately old lodge halls, it was sold off.
As with the problem of fire destroying many of the old halls, the loss of Masonic halls due to simple neglect or the inability on the part of lodges to keep them threatens a wonderful part of our Masonic heritage. Maybe there should be a dialogue about how best to insure that these grand old building stay in the Fraternity. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised that, even as you read this, several threatened old lodge halls come to mind.
Here’s the original Times-Tribune story.
 Termites: The true silent destroyers I came across a particularly unfair Masonic slur today in the comments section of a news story that I thought deserved special mention because it seems to have gained some traction in the Google search engine: Silent Destroyers.
The news article wasn’t too exciting — another small town UK paper reporting on the (shocking!) fact that there are Freemasons on the town council (fifteen percent of the members!).
I’ve seen a number of these stories of late, a likely consequence of the Dan Brown excitement. Folks, it seems, are quite curious to know whether there is a secret ruling cabal right under their noses in their home towns. What the articles usually end up reporting are the (accurate and un-sexy) facts that 1) of course Freemasons are involved in local politics because they are often hardworking and successful pillars of the community, 2) the influence of Freemasonry, such as there ever was, has declined in recent years due to its aging and contracting demographic, 3) the biggest impact of Freemasonry isn’t secret nepotism but quiet charity.
What really caught my attention, though, was the comment section. As any reader of Masonic web material can attest, the comment sections are usually where our, well, less enlightened friends tend to spout off. One commentator suggested that everyone do a Google search for the term “Silent Destroyers”. I of course did and came up with quite interesting results. Out of 27,400,000 (!) pages indexed by Google containing the words “silent destroyers” the first two text links on the first page were virulent anti-Masonic sites that use the phrase to describe the old anti-masonic chestnuts of Satanism and undue influence.
Further, when I did a Google image search for the term, the first images where Masonic lodge rooms and buildings.
Now, what surprised me with this search is that whenever I’d previously heard the phrase “silent destroyers” it’s *always* been in connection with termites. And in fact, stuff about termites immediately followed the anti-masonic links. This is curious because insect pest control is a big industry — one would think that the phrase “silent destroyers,” as clearly associated as it is with termites, would have called up the surely more reputable pest control websites first and foremost.
The fact that it didn’t speaks to the popularity in Google’s eyes of these anti-Masonic sites. And how does Google determine which pages rank higher? The method for ranking at Google is a closely guarded secret, but it is known that one of the primary factors is how many other sites link to the site in question. Clearly a lot of people are linking to these anti-Masonic sites.
 Solomon's Temple. Freemasonry has always been about building! Normally anti-Masonic stuff rolls off my back. In this case, though, it irked me because Freemasonry has always been about building up, not tearing down. I simply couldn’t let the irony of linking us on Google to termites stand.
So, what can you do about it? I say fight fire with fire. I would love to see this rebuttal to the Secret Destroyer slur rise to the top of Google for the search term and displace the hateful sites. How can we achieve this? Easy. If you don’t have a website on which you can link to this article, use the share button below the article to share this article on your favorite social media — whether it be Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Reddit or whatever. Google loves those sites and will boost the ranking of any site receiving links from them. It only takes a second, so please share this article with the button below.
If you have a website, link to this article at the above URL using “secret destroyers” as the anchor text for the link. This will also have the happy side effect of bumping the termites photo above ahead of the anti-Masonic stuff in the Google image search.
Let’s give termites their due place as the real secret destroyers! (And I’ll follow up with further postings to see where we are on Google!)
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