Please be advised by receipt of this notification that the 2021 Bicentennial Celebration of your Grand Lodge will take place at the Embassy Suites Hotel / Convention facility in downtown Montgomery, Alabama on June 11th, 2021 and at Old Cahawba Archaeological Park, 9518 Cahaba Road, Orrville, AL 36767 on June 12th, 2021. Read more
On January 25th , a tornado ripped through the Fultondale and New Castle Communities in northern Jefferson County, barely missing the Gardendale Lodge, but causing massive destruction to the neighboring communities and taking the life of a 14-year-old boy. It is disasters like these when we, as Masons, can exercise these important tenets in our community.
Brother Nick Chieffo of Brooklin Lodge #704 visited with Brother Paul Thomas of Gardendale Lodge #907, and together, with the help of Brother Melvin Cochran of Sam Thompson Lodge #456, organized an effort to raise funds and supplies for those affected. Brother Chieffo, and another member of Brooklin Lodge, Brother Bryant Fortenberry, operate a food cart in addition to their usual vocations.
After contacting as many of Brooklin’s members as possible in a short time, they brought their food cart to an emergency staging area in Fultondale. Although several of their brothers from Brooklin were able to attend, they were quickly overrun with demand. Brother Chieffo said he was amazed by the number of brothers who were there already or who came after a quick phone call. They jumped in to help man the cart, purchase additional cart supplies and help in any way they could.
Before long the brothers from Gardendale, Sam Thompson and Brooklin were joined by masons from Acacia #670, Maryland #783, Milton H. Fies #722, Brookside #552, Hewitt-North Birmingham #519, Georgiana #285 and Huffman #633 Lodges, as well as brothers from the GAOTU Tribe of the Widow’s Sons. Brother Andy McCaleb of Milton H. Fies, brought his bobcat and helped clear debris.
In a matter of hours, the food cart raised $3,000 from sales, and other contributions – from masons and community members alike – totaled just over $3,000, generating in excess of $6,000 that was immediately donated to the relief efforts.
This truly is Freemasonry at it’s best!
Brother Bruce L. Patterson, PM
Secretary, Brooklin #704
January 13, 2021
Brethren, if you have not reviewed the Social Media Policy lately, I encourage you to do so. While posting on the internet can be fun, rewarding, and educational, at times it can be challenging, especially when engaged in a subject near and dear to your heart. Emotions can sometimes get in the way of expressing yourself in the manner that would be appropriate as a representative of our fraternity.
Having social discourse is a freedom we all enjoy. Please use the social medium platforms we have available today in a positive way and be respectable of others.
Tommy Morrow
Grand Master
Please keep the family of Mrs. Shirley Brackin in your prayers. She is the Widow of Most Worshipful Brother Joseph Brackin, Past Grand Master. She is also the Mother of our current Senior Grand Deacon, Brother Allen Brackin.
Obituary:
Shirley Henderson Brackin, of Dothan, passed away peacefully on December 29, 2020 surrounded by her loving family. She was 85 years old.
Funeral services will be held 3p.m. on Sunday, January 17, 2021, at Sunset Funeral Home chapel with Rev. Mike Pearson and Rev. Teresa Seevers officiating. Burial will follow at Dothan City Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 2-3 p.m. In Lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in her memory to Greystone United Methodist Church, 4401 Fortner Street, Dothan AL 36305.
Shirley was born on December 16, 1935 to the late John Asa and Katherine Henderson. She was a majorette at Dothan High school and graduated in the class of 1954. After high school, Shirley married the love of her life, Joseph Brackin, and they would be married for almost 50 years before his passing. Shirley worked at Fort Rucker as the Inspector General for 33 years until her retirement. She was a dedicated member of Greystone United Methodist Church, formally Lafayette Street UMC, where she served as the Church Financial Secretary, Sunday School teacher, and charter member. She was also a member and secretary of the Forsythia Garden Club.
Shirley was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Joseph Brackin; and her sister, Bobbie H. Jackson.
She is survived by her sons, Allen (Mary Beth) Brackin, Mark (Kathy) Brackin, and David (Kris) Brackin; Her grandson, Matthew (Fiancée Cassie) Brackin; step-grandson’s, Michael Monday, Chris (Elisha) Hollis, and Joey (Erica) Hollis; several great step-grandchildren; her brother, Johnnie (Helen) Henderson; and a host of extended family members and friends.
Brethren, just a point of clarification. If the brethren of your lodge decide that it is in the best interest of the lodge to not meet because of the pandemic issue, I want it to be the consensus of the members who attend on a regular basis, not the Worshipful Master only. The Worshipful Master can determine this consensus in the manner in which he chooses whether it be in a regular lodge meeting or a special called meeting for that purpose, or by contacting these brethren one on one, or in an informal setting with two or more brethren present. Now that a vaccine is in use, hopefully soon we will be back to normal, whatever that normal may be.
Fraternally,
Tommy Morrow
Grand Master
There are two areas of concern for all of us as we deal with this pandemic issue. First, our civil law and guidelines at whatever level. Secondly, our Masonic laws, rules, and … Read more
Please review the attached file for Hotel Reservation information…
It has been my highest honor and privilege to serve you as Grand Master. While I have so many memories and experiences from this year, it will be the relationships that I have had the opportunity to develop with so many Outstanding Masons throughout the State which I will reflect upon for the rest of my life. Each of you have made… Read more
The attached file lists the 2020 proposed changes to the Masonic Code.
Edit: Committee Chairmen May attend as well. Chairmen are asked to have their reports to the Grand Secretary by (preferably before) 15 Oct 2020.
To the Brethren of Alabama,
As we continue to live in the COVID-19 world, your Grand Lodge officers are constantly monitoring the national, state, and local events to ensure we are conforming to the guidelines established by President Trump, Governor Ivey and our local community leadership here in Alabama. There have been many questions concerning our Annual Communication in November and because we have cancelled and/or rescheduled so many Masonic events already this year, I feel that it is important for our Fraternity to have a Grand Lodge Session. However, I also feel very strongly that we cannot just engage in “business as usual” and maintain all of the necessary precautions to ensure the safety and well-being of our Brethren. As such, the general attendance at Grand Lodge this year will be restricted to one member per lodge. This will reduce the expected attendance by several hundred Brethren. Each of the attendees can proxy all four votes for your respective lodges so every lodge will have fair and equal representation at the Session and we will be in full compliance with the Constitution, Resolutions and Edicts of the Grand Lodge. Also, the schedule will be abbreviated to ensure we conduct the required business of our Fraternity and minimize the risk to all. We will not have the Committee on Work Workshop and Divine Service on Sunday afternoon. We will not have the Exemplification of the Work by the Committee on Work and District Lecturers on Monday. We will not have the traditional Hospitality Suite for the attendees. Registration with the Credentials Committee will be from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Monday and 7:00 am to 12:00 noon on Tuesday. The first event will be the Grand Master’s Banquet on Monday evening. The 2020 Grand Lodge Session will begin at 0900 on Tuesday morning. We will be focused on ensuring we make the most productive use of our time together. At this time, we do not plan to have any activities on Wednesday morning. Our intent is to complete all of the business on Tuesday, conduct the elections of the Grand Lodge officers, and have the installation Tuesday evening. The ballroom is large enough to spread everyone out and by limiting the Session to one full day, this will provide the minimum amount of exposure possible.
This will be the 200th Grand Lodge Session of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Alabama. Brethren, this is most definitely not how I wanted this Annual Communication to occur. We had planned to make this a “Session to Remember” and although it will bear no resemblance to events we had originally prepared, I am confident that none of us will ever forget the 2020 Annual Communication. If you have any questions and/or concerns, please contact me at any time and we will work together to make the best decisions for Masonry in Alabama.
Jon Michael Taylor
Grand Master
