We have received the following message from the Grand Lodge of B.C. & Yukon regarding a new Ukraine Relief Fund:
“Brethren, all :-
The Grand Lodge of Ukraine has contacted our Grand Lodge, requesting assistance during their current humanitarian crisis. Brethren wishing to make financial contributions are asked to forward cheques to this office, payable to the Grand Lodge of B.C. & Yukon, noting that the funds are to be directed to the Ukraine.
This is an excellent way to provide direct financial support to our Ukrainian Brethren during these times of desperate need in Ukraine.
We will look at setting up a way of collecting cheques from any Vancouver Island Brethren wishing to contribute and then forwarding those cheques to the Grand Lodge of B.C. & Yukon in a single package.
Ormond Towers Smythe on Mt. Prevost, circa 1920. The tent is for the surveyors’ pin that is still on the west hump of Mt. Prevost. (photo courtesy of Larry Kier – private collection)
The photo shows Ormond Towers Smythe on the west peak of Mt. Prevost, circa 1920. The tent in the photo is covering the surveyors’ pin that is still in place on the west peak of Mt. Prevost.
We will take a hike on Mt. Prevost in the near future to get a photo of this site.
The Temple Lodge No. 33 Historian would like to start doing videos similar to this on Cowichan Valley buildings associated with Freemasons and Freemasonry.
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The Grand Historian, VWB Trevor McKeown, has requested the assistance of anyone interested in Masonic history in identifying an unidentified Mason, a Past District Deputy Grand Master, who appears in the photo below.
The Grand Historian has requested assistance in identifying this photo of an unidentified Past District Deputy Grand Master, taken by the Vancouver studio of Kenneth G. McKenzie (photo: Grand Lodge of B.C. & Yukon)
Some additional information for interested historians:
The regalia is that of a District Deputy Grand Master but no particular Lodge or District is identified on the regalia;
“Kenneth McKenzie was born Nov. 21, 1884 in Bristol, England. He arrived in Vancouver in or before 1921, at which time he was working as a photographer at Geo. T. Wadds. In 1922 he was working under his own name and continued to do so until he formed a partnership with Reuben Marlow in 1932. The partnership operated under the names Art-O-Rama Studio, then McKenzie & Marlow. By 1935, it appears that McKenzie may have left the city, returning some time in the 1940s.
In the mid-1950s, McKenzie operated his own studio located at 1900 Commercial Drive.”
Based on the style of this deceased Brother’s clothing, I am speculating that this photo could have been taken between 1922-1932 or between the mid 1950’s and early 1960’s, during the two separate periods in which Kenneth G. McKenzie operated his own photographic studio in Vancouver.
Here are links to more information about photographer Kenneth G. McKenzie (1884-1975):
Researchers should forward their findings to the Grand Historian, VWB Trevor McKeown, at the Grand Lodge of B.C. & Yukon office.
UPDATE: The unidentified Brother has been identified as RWB George Arthur Woodland. We received this from the Grand Historian:
“I sent the photo to the secretary of Tyee Lodge No. 66 in Prince Rupert, who quickly identified it as that of RW Bro George Arthur Woodland, who had affiliated with Tyee Lodge from Acacia Lodge No. 22, Vancouver on 10 March 1914. He had affiliated with Acacia from Civil Service Lodge No. 3118, England, on 4 January 1912. Woodland was master of Tyee in 1921 and DDGM for District 11 in 1927.
I don’t know why he’s wearing the Deputy Grand Master’s collar jewel but I suspect that at the time all Grand Lodge regalia were kept in the Grand Secretary’s office and when Woodland came to Vancouver for his portrait by Kenneth McKenzie, he borrowed the first collar that came to hand. I can find no evidence of him serving in any other role than DDGM.
The gavel in his hand is also interesting. It appears to be either a gavel presented to Grand Lodge in 1927 by Charles Blaney of Pacific Lodge 16—made from stone taken from King Solomon’s Quarry, Jerusalem–or else a duplicate. There is no symbolic reason for a DDGM to be holding a gavel and, again, I suspect it was lent to him by the Grand Secretary for the photograph, especially since Tyee Lodge has no similar gavel.
Here I’d thought I’d found a picture of one of our Deputy Grand Masters who didn’t become Grand Master. We may never know the sequence of events that led to this photo, but it does demonstrate that photos are evidence, not proof.
S&F
Trevor”
WB Mark Anderson
Historian, Temple Lodge No. 33
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Due to subsequent developments in provincial public health policy and the resulting Grand Lodge of B.C. & Yukon policy, the Regular Meeting of Temple Lodge No. 33 scheduled for 14 September 2021 and the Open Installation scheduled for 15 October 2021 have been cancelled.
R.W.B. Tom Tams, the Secretary of Temple Lodge No. 33, has circulated the following statement on the potential resumption of Regular Meetings of Temple Lodge No. 33 in September 2021:
“Wor. Bro. Pirie, Wor Master elect Tim Brown and myself met to discuss opening plans for temple Lodge. We took into account the situation as it is now and how it may develop in the near future.
The consensus was that for the meeting Sept. 14th those not fully vaccinated would be required to wear a mask. For the open installation Oct. 5th, only those fully vaccinated would be admitted.
Everything is tentative and subject to change. We have no knowledge of what measures the government will invoke between now and Sept. 7th or what the position of Grand Lodge will be so please take this all under advisement and we will try to keep you all up to date.
Fraternally,
R.W.B. Tom Tams
Secretary, Temple Lodge No. 33″
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We came across this interesting lecture from Hillsdale College by Dr. Richard Gunderman on the Importance Of The Liberal Arts, which have a prominent place in Masonic philosophy. Skip ahead to 1:25 for the start of the lecture.
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Duncan resident Larry Kier has kindly provided Temple Lodge No. 33 with a copy of this photo from his personal collection. The photo shows the Duncan baseball team in 1905.
Duncan baseball team, 1905. Back row (L to R) W. Gatt, Alec Gatt, Hope Herd, Jess Gidley (his father William Gidley was a Charter Member of Temple Lodge No. 33), Andrew Peterson. Front Row (L t R) David Alexander (his father David Alexander was a member of Temple Lodge), Kenneth F. Duncan, Ormond T. Smythe, W.R.J. Smythe, Charles Grassie (photo courtesy of Larry Kier – private collection)
This photo shows the following members of Temple Lodge No. 33:
Our newly Installed Grand Master of B.C. & Yukon for 2020-2021 is M.W.B. Don MacKenzie.
M.W.B. Don MacKenzie, Grand Master, B.C. & Yukon, 2020-2021.
M.W. BRO. DONALD WALTER MACKENZIE
Grand Master 2020-2021
MW Bro Don Mackenzie was born in New Westminster on 4 April 1951 and educated in Maple Ridge. Our Grand Master is a proud seventh generation Freemason. As you would expect, he was exposed to Freemasonry from a young age, which influenced his early childhood. This masonic influence has continued throughout his adult life.
In 1974 he started a more than thirty-year career contracting for Columbia Bitulithic, a well established paving and road building contractor located in Vancouver.
Our Grand Master was initiated in May of 1992, passed in February of 1993, and raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason in March of 1993, in Prince David Lodge No. 101, in Maple Ridge. He was elected as Worshipful Master for the 1997-1998 Masonic year, the fourth member of his family to hold that office.
Our Grand Master has served as Director of Ceremonies for his lodge on several occasions and has stepped into other rôles whenever necessary. He was appointed District Deputy Grand Master, representing District 28 for MW Bro Donald E. Stutt for 2013-2014.
He is a 32º Scottish Rite Freemason and a member of Fraser Valley Lodge of Perfection. Our Grand Master was elected Junior Grand Warden in 2017 and installed as Grand Master in June of 2020.
Married in 2006 to Rita, they have a blended family of three sons, two daughters, and nine grandchildren.
When not being busy with Freemasonry MW Bro. MacKenzie also enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, camping, and travel.
