The long legacy of the Freemason movement is cloaked in intrigue and bedazzled with mystery, but the modern version is focused on the simplest of mundane ideas: charity.
A local Freemason with almost 30 years of membership said the group revolves around philanthropy, benevolent acts, and community development. Rod Holmes is a past Prince George lodge master and one of the local people helping to organize this week's busy schedule for Freemasons across B.C. and Yukon. Their annual convention is underway in Prince George and will continue through the weekend.
Holmes said the agenda is packed.
One of the first acts for the gathering Freemasons was to open an exhibit Wednesday on the local masonic order. It is now on display at The Exploration Place.
Secondly, the masons cut the ribbon on a new designation. Their downtown temple and meeting space had its name officially changed to the Hilliard Clare Masonic Hall.
There are also a number of tours, site visits, social functions and official meetings like the provincial Annual General Meeting that will install a new executive and kick off the new masonic year.
"We have two lodges here locally and we have over 150 members between the two, and they are jointly working to host the provincial convention," said Holmes.
The two local branches are Nechako Lodge No. 86 and Prince George Lodge No. 178. The former is celebrating its 98th year while the latter turns 50 as of this August.
"If you go to the museum and take a look at the exhibit, you see old pictures with names like the first mayors of Prince George, the first town managers and business people, the people who have streets now named after them," said Holmes. "They were the people involved in making the community what it is today. It's a rich legacy and it continues today."
Not far away are other masonic lodges in neighbouring communities. Holmes said the freemasons have lodges in Vanderhoof, Burns Lake, Chetwynd, Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, and a very special one still officially active based in the national historic town of Barkerville.
"Barkerville's lodge even precedes the provincial organization," said Holmes. "They received their charter out of Scotland," and when it and the other founding lodges of B.C. finally formalized themselves as a set, Barkerville was officially designated Lodge No. 4. Holmes will become the lodge master of Barkerville next year. He said, "the real Billy Barker was a mason and the actor who now plays Billy Barker in Barkerville has become a mason."
Another bright spot on the convention's agenda is the lighting of the flame in Canada Games Plaza today at noon.
"Ron Yates, the Most Worshipful Grand Master for B.C. and Yukon, came up a number times over the last couple of years to make sure the convention organization was going well. When he heard about (the torch-enabled cedar log) that was built for the Canada Winter Games, he thought it would be a really good thing to do, to show awareness, show a connection to something uniquely Prince George, so we arranged to have it lit for the duration of the convention," Holmes said. "And you'll also notice that Mr. PG is happily waving our flag through the week and weekend."
Prince George has hosted the B.C. & Yukon convention before, the last time being 2009. There has been a strong connection between the provincial Freemasons organization at the governance level as well. Bill Cave, a resident of Cariboo hamlet Kersley, has been the provincial grand master, as has Prince George's George Baldwin and former Prince George lodge member (now living in Prince Rupert) Murray Webster in previous years.
Despite being outside the Lower Mainland where populations are more dense, Holmes said the Prince George edition was more than satisfactory in its delegate numbers. An estimated 450 people were registered to attend, plus all the family and friends who might come with them. Holmes said two buses were delivering people from Vancouver Island, others were confirmed incoming from Washington, Alberta, Yukon and Alaska as well as other parts of B.C.
"The thing about being a mason, no matter where you are in the world, is when you're at lodge, you are a brother. Everyone is an equal, no matter what your background in society," Holmes said. "Rudyard Kipling was a mason and he wrote about it. Robbie Burns was a mason," Holmes said. "There is something great, in this world of rapid change, about being able to reach back to basic values: treating people well, doing the right thing for the right reasons, some stability in our community and our world. That's what makes me feel good about being a mason for 28 years now."
