Oriental Lodge No. 33

Upcoming IL CHIP Events

Oriental Lodge will be helping and participating in several IL CHIP events this summer and fall.  We are looking for more volunteers to help out with this great service that our fraternity provides to the public at no cost.  Please check out their web page for more specific information.  Anyone who wishes to volunteer to assist contact R.W. Brother Manny Roth at (331) 462-2110 or send him an email here.  We need at least 1 volunteer for each event so please do everything that you can to attend one or more of these sessions.  If we have enough volunteers we will be able to work half shifts.

Saturday June 12^th 2010

Muebleria Continental & Hispanocare Health Fair

1921 N. Mannheim Road Melrose Park

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Saturday July 10^th 2010

Muebleria Continental & Hispanocare Health Fair

2719 W. Cermack Ave Chicago

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Saturday August 7^th 2010

Muebleria Continental & Hispanocare Health Fair

1425 N. Milwaukee Ave Chicago

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Thursday August 12^th 2010

TBD

Saturday August 14^th 2010

6^th Annual Ravenswood Community Fair

4600 N. Ravenswood Chicago

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Saturday October 2^nd 2010

Iglesia Agape Community Health Fair & Lecture

1634 N. Kedzie Ave. Chicago

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Scottish Rite Biannual Public Installation of Officers

The public installation of officers for the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Chicago will take place at the Union League Club of Chicago, 65 West Jackson (Jackson and Federal) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 5th.  On this biannual occasion, several members of our lodge will be installed into office.  Please consider coming to support our hard working brethren.  Admission is free, but you must make a reservation.  The preferred method is through there web site which can be found here.

Oriental Lodge No. 33 brethren to be installed:

Oriental Consistory

Johnathan Barnes

Commander in Chief

Richard Lozins

Second Lieutenant Commander

Kyle Bieneman

Hospitaler

Matthew Robinson

Standard Bearer

James Patton, 33^o

Prior

Gourgas Chapter of Rose Croix

Patrick Jones

Senior Warden

Antwane Lee

Hospitaler

Paul Scheeler

Master of Ceremonies

Chicago Council Princes of Jerusalem

Jerry Sparks

High Priest

And Martin Starr, 33^o, will be the Convening Officer for the installation.

Downtown outing, Wednesday, May 19th

Dear Friends and Brethren,

Our May downtown outing will be at Clark Street Ale House, which is located at 742 N. Clark Street.  I will plan to be there by 6 PM, so feel free to show up at any time after that. 

If you do intend to show up I'd appreciate an email, so that I know to be on the lookout for you. As always, though, you're more than welcome to show up even if you have not provided advance word.

The purpose of these downtown outings, for those who don't know, is threefold.  First, to enable new candidates to meet Oriental lodge members in a casual setting, and learn about the lodge.  Second, to provide a regular event in Downtown Chicago, to keep Oriental Lodge's downtown orientation, in spite of our Jefferson Park meeting location.  Finally, third, to have a good time and promote fellowship.

Fraternally and Sincerely,

Matt Robinson
Membership Development Co-Chairman

Cubs Rooftop Fundraiser

Our brethren at DC Cregier Lodge #81 have invited Oriental Lodge and everyone who can attend to their first Cubs Rooftop Fundraiser!  Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the ongoing support of: The Illinois Masonic Children’s Home, OMNI Youth Services in Wheeling and DC Cregier Lodge.

• Includes unlimited food, drinks, and gratuity!
• Steak, Salmon, Chicken, Italian Beef, Hot Dogs, Burgers, Brats, and more!
• Access to the 3rd floor indoor luxury suite!

Please contact Mike Murphy at 847-800-9655 or Scott Kendall at 847-840-3183 for reservations or more information.  This event can only hold a limited number of people so please register ASAP!

Come out and help us support some great Masonic causes and have some fellowship at the same time!

Check out the full brochure here!

Join us for Past Masters Night!

Oriental Lodge cordially invites you to attend our annual Past Master’s Night which will take place Tuesday May 11^th, 2010. The purpose of the evening will be to honor those members of our lodge who have served in the oriental chair.

This will be an evening of fun and fellowship. We will begin the evening at 6:30 p.m. with a delicious catered Italian dinner prepared at Past Master Domenico Mancini’s family business, Lucia’s Ristorante. Dinner for our Past Masters is, of course, complimentary. We will open lodge at 7:30 p.m. and will briefly transact the current business of the lodge. We will then recall the recent history of the lodge, introduce each of our Past Masters and hear their remarks. 

We hope you will be able to join us for this special event. It will give our current active members and officers an opportunity to meet you and to learn about the important recent history of our lodge. You also will have a chance to see how your works have prospered during the passing years. Past Masters are requested to please email our Secretary with your R.S.V.P. as soon as possible. 

ORIENTAL LODGE NO. 33, A.F. & A.M. – PAST MASTERS

Nelson O. Hanks	1933
Lawrence Welsh, III	1963
Nicholas J. Schwarz	1973
Daniel F. Healy, Jr.	1978
Donald E. Maas	1979
Daniel A. Fornelli	1983
William G. Finke	1984
Warren N. Barr, III	1985
Craig P. Colmar	1986
Ronald Wise	1987
Jack P. Muscia	1989
Michael E. McLean	1991
R. Craig Parsons	1992
I. Michael Toth	1993
Eugene Steingold	1994
John A. Bartel	1995
Ronald S. Moll	1996
Martin P. Starr	1997
Jozef F. Dabros	1998
Felipe J. Benitez	1999
Conrado Manzano	2000
Mark E. Pecen	2001
Johnathan E. Barnes	2003
Benjamin T. Liberman	2004
Ridgely Hunt	2005
Richard H. Lozins	2006
Paul A. Scheeler	2007
Eric W. Diamond	2008
R. Todd Newton	2009

 

ORIENTAL LODGE NO. 33, A.F. & A.M. – AFFILIATED PAST MASTERS

Bruce D. Hudson (739)	1972
Harry R. Brahmstadt, Jr. (865)	1978
Howard L. Graff (774)	1978
James W. Patton (1175)	1985
Richard R. Gordon (711)	1996
Domenico Mancini (1084)	1999
Benjamin Wechsler (Missouri)	1999
Milan Vydareny (865)	2004
Richard B. Taman (1058)	2005
Jonathan W. Lackland (500)	2007
Thomas D. Kleiner (1098)	2008

Downtown outing, Thursday, April 22nd

Dear Friends and Brethren,

Our April downtown outing will be at the Tilted Kilt, which is located at 17 N Wabash. Unfortunately, the beautiful weather we've had this week is not expected to continue, so I judged it wiser to start inside, and then go outside to smoke cigars later in the evening if weather permits. I will plan to be there by 6 PM, so feel free to show up at any time after that. 

Given that the Tilted Kilt is a large venue, if you do intend to show up I'd appreciate an email, so that I know to be on the lookout for you. As always, though, you're more than welcome to show up even if you have not provided advance word.

The purpose of these downtown outings, for those who don't know, is threefold.  First, to enable new candidates to meet Oriental lodge members in a casual setting, and learn about the lodge.  Second, to provide a regular event in Downtown Chicago, to keep Oriental Lodge's downtown orientation, in spite of our Jefferson Park meeting location.  Finally, third, to have a good time and promote fellowship.

Fraternally and Sincerely,

Kyle Bieneman
Membership Development Chairman

Are you a Lewis?

The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois is now offering the Lewis Jewel. The Lewis Jewel may be worn by a Mason, if, at the time of his Initiation, his father was a Mason in good standing. If you are interested and qualify please download the order form here and return it to our lodge secretary.

Old English Tracing Boards of the entered Apprentice degree show the Lewis, a peculiar tool of operative masons. The instrument is made of a pair of dovetail wedges, provided with a hook or ring. Inserted in a hole in a large stone, pulling on the hook or ring spreads and locks the wedges securely in the stone, so that it may be raised by derrick or other lifting force, without putting a rope or chain about it. The greater the pull, the heavier the stone, the more securely is the Lewis locked in the hole. From this the Lewis easily became a symbol of strength, and is so denominated in certain old English rituals.

The son of an English Mason is called a Lewis, for a reason which is set forth in Browne’s “Master Key,” which purports to be a verbatim account of a part of the original Prestonian lecture. It reads: 

What do we call the son of a Freemason?

A Lewis.

What does it denote?

Strength.

How is a Lewis depicted in Mason’s Lodge?

As cramp (clamp) of metal, by which, when fixed into a stone, great and ponderous weights are raised to a certain height, and fixed upon their proper basis, without which Operative Masons could not so conveniently do.

What is the duty of a Lewis, the Son of a Mason, to his aged parents? To bear the heavy burden in the heat of the day and help them in time of need, which, by reason of their great age, they ought to be exempted from, so as to render the close of their days happy and comfortable.

For more information on the details and history of the Lewis please visit the Masonic Dictionary. 

Oriental Lodge Memorial Project

In 1860, at the beginning of the Civil War, the Worshipful Master and brethren of Oriental Lodge No. 33 had the foresight to purchase graves for our fraternal dead in the newly formed Rosehill Cemetery. These graves were intended for indigent brethren who did not have the means to provide for a proper burial. Our lodge purchased the rights of internment in the entirety of Lot 16 in Section O, which is near the Ravenswood Avenue entrance and was one of the earliest sections to open.

Twenty of our brethren now rest eternally in Section O. Unfortunately, due to the financial turmoil resulting from the Great Depression, our lodge was unable to place monuments for six of these brethren who passed away between the years 1922 and 1938. Were it not for the records maintained by the lodge and by Rosehill Cemetery they would be utterly forgotten.

The marked and unmarked graves of Oriental members

Their names are:

Charles E. Ward (Died May 9th, 1922)
John R. Warren (Died March 24th, 1924)
Albert Reeves (Died February 6th, 1928)
Simon S. Walters (Died September 15th, 1929)
Jacob G. Yount (Died November 22nd, 1934)
William Weinand (Died February 14th, 1938)

Brethren, the Depression is over and the time has come to mark these graves.  I am therefore asking for your generous financial support toward fulfilling this important fraternal obligation. We are planning to hold a Memorial Observance at Rosehill Cemetery later this summer during which we will appropriately remember our brethren and unveil their monuments. It is our intention to mark all of these graves this year. This is an ambitious goal, but I really believe if we all get behind it we will achieve it.

Let us all remember the beautiful lesson we learned when we first entered the portals of Oriental Lodge No. 33: “but the greatest of these is charity, for faith may be lost in sight, hope ends in fruition, but charity extends beyond the grave to the boundless realms of eternity”. In a time of great uncertainty and trouble we as Freemasons have a glorious opportunity here to do something of lasting good. Please look for our mailer or contact our Lodge Secretary to make your donation.

Fraternally,

Patrick B. Jones, Worshipful Master

Thanks to those who came out and donated!

Thanks to all who came out and participated!

Three dozen members of lodges from the 5NE & 6NE districts turned out on March 30, 2010, to donate at the Jefferson Park Community Blood Drive coordinated through LifeSource Blood Centers and hosted at Biagio’s Restaurant, where donors also enjoyed a buffet dinner.

Participating lodges included Oriental No. 33, King Oscar No. 855, Paul Revere No. 998, Chicago No. 437, Kelvyn Park Willing No. 1075, and North West No. 271, as well as many family members and friends.

Several brethren opted to donate using the ALYX procedure, which separates much-needed platelets from the blood and returns plasma to the donor, doubling the effectiveness of the donation. In addition to those who donated at this event, 11 people donated earlier at other collection centers, with one ALYX donor. Altogether a total of 48 units were collected, helping to save the lives of up to 144 people in need of blood in the Chicagoland area.

“Illinois Masons are one of the largest groups of blood donors in the state, and the need for blood is never-ending,” said Coordinator Paul Scheeler of Oriental Lodge No. 33. “I want to thank all those brethren, their family members and friends who made this yet another successful drive, and we hope to see everyone again next year.”

 

Downtown outing, Thursday - April 22nd 2010

Haven't been to lodge in awhile and looking to catch up?  New to the fraternity and want a chance to meet more of our membership?  Just curious and want to get to know some of the Masons from Oriental Lodge #33?  Well this is the night that you're looking for! 

Keep your calendars open and check back here for more details as the date approaches!