• lhernand@visalia.gannett.com
• April 11, 2008
As they celebrate the lodge's 125 year, members are seeking to increase membership, driving it back to where it was in the 1950s when there were an estimated 350 members. Currently, there are 97 members.And as far as Lodge Master Jack Hodge is concerned, there is no reason not to belong to his organization.
"I guarantee you: I'll give more reasons to become a Mason than you can give me not to be a Mason," he said. "We take good men and make better men out of them."
To join the local mason lodge, members must:
Be adult men.
Believe in a supreme being.
Have strong moral values.
"If you're interested in Tulare, Tulare history, the antique nature of the building [on West Tulare Avenue], it makes a very nice organization to be a part of," said Steve Presant, a 22-year lodge member.
Similar to other service clubs, the Mason's lodge seeks to contribute to the community, Hodge said.
"We promote friendship, brotherly love, relief and the truth," he said.
Among other civic-oriented project, the lodge:
Hosts as annual essay writing event promoting local education and honoring students.
Sponsors a child registration program for safety purposes.
"We're a proud organization," Hodge said. "We're proud of our heritage. We're proud of the fact we go back to the time when the temple of King Solomon was built. We have carried masonry through the ages."
And what's not to be proud about an organization that has been around for three centuries and past membership includes some prominent early Tulare
residents?
"It tells us that the things we stand for, and stood for, are good," he said. "We have weathered the storm of time and we're still in existence. There must be something that we're doing right."
Presant agreed.
"It's a good way to get involved with some good men who meet on a regular basis," Presant said.
While there is plenty to accomplish while being lodge master, Hodge said near the top of the list is membership increase.
"We are always working on membership," he said. "We would like to see new members come and take the reigns."
The Mason lodge has met uninterrupted at the Masonic Temple, 135 West Tulare Ave., for more than eight decades. Presant, also President of Tulare Cultural Arts Foundation, said the temple, also known as the Pratt Building, is the city's oldest commercial building.
And while it previously was a rooming house and an armory and some renovations have been made, the temple is a historic building, Presant said. A large room for lodge meetings was added, but some of the original rooms still remain. The brick front is an attractive look for the two-story building.
Hanging on a second floor wall, there is a frame containing photos of former members. Reading the names and their involvement in early Tulare is like taking a trip back in time, Presant said.
"There is a lot of history here," he said.
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*** from article emailed/forwarded by Comp Allan Miller.
*** Tulare Masonic Temple--- Home of Sequoia Council No. 228 (AMD)
