Bringing Back The Light Conclusion: The End Of The Beginning

by Midnight Freemasons Founder 

Todd E. Creason, 33° 

The Final Installment of the Bringing Back The Light Series

I look back over the last few years, and what has been accomplished at Homer Lodge No. 199 is remarkable.  We've rebuilt our Lodge--with a lot of hard work and sweat we've restored it to its former glory.  We've created a museum that celebrates not only Freemasonry, but tells the history of our Lodge and its decades long service to the community.  We've established Admiration Chapter, a new chapter of the Royal Arch dedicated to service and education which will soon receive its charter.  We had several excellent education meetings now, and a truly remarkable group discussion on civility.  One of the best meetings I've attended in my decade as a Master Mason.

The Grand Chapter of Illinois has taken notice of what we're doing in Admiration Chapter, and I have no doubt the model we've established in providing education and instruction for our members will inspire other Chapters of the Royal Arch to do the same thing--improve the member experience.  And we've opened our doors to the community so they share in our history, as well as gotten out from behind the walls of the Lodge Room ourselves and gone out into the community again to continue our long history of service to the community.  We've even made the newspaper with our restoration efforts.  We recently spent a day out on Main Street during the town's annual Soda Festival pouring samples of old fashioned handcrafted sodas in a tent while the rain poured down.  One thing I didn't hear this year I'd heard in the two previous years--I didn't know the Lodge was still active.  The town knows we're still there, and we've come out from behind the walls of the Lodge again.

And our lights are burning again--more than just once a month for our regularly stated meetings.  The York Rite is back again with Admiration Chapter.  The Irish Sea Council of Knight Masons have used our Lodge to confer their degrees.  The Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 of the Allied Masonic Degrees has held their meeting at Homer Temple.  Our beautiful Homer Temple with its stunning stained glass windows recently served as a backdrop for a video produced by the Scottish Rite Supreme Council (NMJ).

But the hard work is still ahead.  We've rebuilt the Lodge building and put it back into use, but now it is time to rebuild the Lodge membership.  We have just enough active members to fill our chairs, and only two of those active members are true Homer Lodge members.  Most of those chairs are filled with dual members from neighboring Ogden Lodge No. 754 and St. Joseph Lodge No. 970.  It is our goal to fill that Lodge with Homer Masons--to raise and train a new generation of Master Masons and one day hand the keys back to them and let them continue the legacy of serving their community as generations before them have.

There is still a great deal of work to do, and the future of the Lodge is still uncertain.  But we're dedicated to rebuilding the membership because it's important.  It certainly would have been easier to let it go.  To merge Homer Lodge into one of the neighboring Lodges.  That's the conventional wisdom--let the old building and all the headaches involved with it go.  But we've seen that happen before.  We don't want to see that happen again.  When the light of Masonry goes out in a small Midwest town, the community loses something too.  It loses a place where men can go to learn, to make friends, and to improve themselves.  Freemasonry does make good men better--better husbands, better fathers, better employees, and better community leaders.  These old fashioned principles, virtues, and characteristics we learn as Masons are what helps to make our communities strong.  When that Lodge goes dark, that light doesn't often return.  As far as the members of Homer Lodge No. 199 are concerned--failure is not an option.  But nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Our Grand Master Tony Cracco and the officers of the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. & A.M. are coming to Homer Lodge No. 199 in September to rededicate our Lodge.  We plan to open the doors and let the entire community in to celebrate that momentous occasion.  I believe it will begin a brand new chapter in our Lodge's long history.

I've tried to tell a story here over the last few weeks.  Don't let that light go out.  The world has never been in more need of men of good character than it is today--and the more places men can go to learn those values the better.  There are probably few people who have spent more time than I have studying the lives of famous Freemasons over the last decade--it's my thing.  All of them were good men when they joined, but many became great men after they became involved with our Fraternity.  There is something about our Craft, when it is taught properly, that propels men to accomplish things they didn't know they were capable of.  It's not just something you see with famous Freemasons either--you'll see it amongst the less famous as well.  There are one or two Masons like that in every Lodge I've attended.  We need a lot more than that to make a difference.

We have to get past reading minutes and reports and get back to teaching all those things that most of our members can only get if they read on their own now--most of our members frankly don't.  Sadly, most of what I've learned about Freemasonry that has inspired me I've learned on my own--that's something we have to do better.  We have to bring that knowledge back into the Lodge--bring back that light.  When you teach men how to improve themselves, you wind up with a better man, and that man goes out into the world and makes it a better place to live.

Todd E. Creason
Worshipful Master
Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL)

Todd E. Creason, 33°, FMLR is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the award winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as the Secretary.  He currently serves as Worshipful Master of Homer Lodge No. 199 and serves as Sovereign Master of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), Ansar Shrine (IL), and Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL).  In 2015 he was honored by the Missouri Lodge of Research and named a Fellow (FMLR).  He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  Todd is the father of two daughters, and recently became a grandfather.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Bringing Back The Light Part 6: Elbow Grease

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Homer Lodge No. 199 had meetings amid the mess of renovation

Part 6 of the Bringing Back the Light Series

The final job at Homer Lodge No. 199 was the biggest--renovating the Lodge room. This is no small Lodge--it's approximately 2,500 square feet with an 18 foot ceiling. The last time it had been painted we think was in the early 70's. That's a lot of walls that needed paint. And upon closer inspection, we had need of some plaster work to be done as well. Obviously, it was too big a job for our dedicated crew of Master Mason handymen to handle. We needed a professional with the right equipment and scaffolding, etc.

After one of our work days, the furniture was glowing after being cleaned and oiled down.

So we hired one, and he went to work on the Lodge room about Thanksgiving and finished a little after the New Year. He patched and plastered, he painted the walls, the ceilings, and decorative medallion that houses the light over the altar. Although he had a lot of experience, it turned into a lot bigger job than even he had anticipated. But the results were worth the effort. He did a fantastic job.

And while he was working on the plaster and the paint, our dedicated Master Mason crew went to work cleaning and resealing the floors, wiping down and oiling the woodwork and all the furniture, cleaning all the glass, washing down all the picture frames. We finished cleaning out the closets. We even rearranged the seating in dining room.

And when we finally finished and took a step back, we realized that Homer Lodge was now ready for another generation of Freemasons. The difference we saw due to all that hard work and toil was stunning. We posted pictures on our Facebook page as we went along, and everyone wanted to see it when it was finished. And believe me, the building has seen more use in the last few months than it has in decades.

Homer Masonic Lodge No. 199 before the renovation . . .

And after . . .

Not only has Homer Lodge No. 199 enjoyed our newly renovated Lodge, but the new Admiration Chapter I wrote about previously has been meeting there, the Allied Masonic Degrees asked to hold a meeting there and did, and just a few days ago, the Knight Masons conferred their degrees on a group of candidates at the Homer Masonic Temple--in fact, I'm sure the Knight Masons will ask to use our building again as they work at building up their new council.

 

Irish Sea Council No. 98 of Knight Masons recently conferred degrees at the Homer Masonic Temple

The building has been brought back again. It's created a stir in the Masonic community and has become a central meeting place for a number of groups. It demonstrates what can be accomplished when a group of Master Masons put the time and effort into something they really believe in. 

But that still leaves one thing remaining. The final and perhaps biggest challenge of all--bringing the Lodge itself back to health. But we seem to be heading in the right direction. You know that painter we hired to renovate our Lodge--not only did he do a great job on painting the Lodge, but he decided he wanted to join it as well. He's now our Brother.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as the Secretary, and is also a member of Homer Lodge No. 199 where he serves as Senior Warden.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL), and a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research.  He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  He was named the 2014 Illinois Secretary of the Year Award by the Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Bringing Back The Light Part 5: The Return Of The Rite

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Most Excellent Grand High Priest of Illinois, Sean McBride holding old Homer Royal Arch sign

Part 5 of the Bringing Back the Light Series

The Royal Arch had an important role in Freemasonry in Homer, Illinois from the beginning of Freemasonry's story in that community.  In fact, it was Royal Arch Chapter funds that built the Homer Temple in 1896.

But the Homer Royal Arch Chapter's light went out just a few years ago--its long history ended with little more than a note in the Lodge minutes and the surrender of the charter to the Illinois Grand Chapter.  We took the metal Royal Arch sign down from beside our entry door outside, and tossed it in the junk room.  There was little that could be done to save it at the time--the Lodge struggled each month to just get a quorum to open the Lodge.  The Lodge knew when the Chapter went under that if something didn't change soon, they'd be next.

MEGHP Sean McBride and Greg Knott prior to Admiration Chapter opening for the first time

A lot has been done in the last three years, but the Lodge has a long way to go.  The last thing you'd expect us to be thinking would be about bringing back the Royal Arch.  But that's exactly what a few of us were thinking.  And we began talking about it in earnest with the Grand Chapter of Illinois.  We had some different ideas about what a chapter might look like in Homer.  We didn't seek to reform the original chapter--we thought we had a far better idea.  We wanted a new chapter--a more regional chapter.  We wanted a chapter with a particular focus on Masonic education and member development.  We wanted a chapter that wouldn't only thrive, but could serve as an Education resource to other York Rite Chapters and Blue Lodges in the area.  And the Grand Chapter liked that idea very much.

And that's how the idea for Admiration Chapter was born.  In fact, it is still going through the process of being chartered, but in Illinois, there are few Chapters doing work that is getting more talk and attention than Admiration Chapter in Homer, Illinois.  Even before we've got a charter, we're growing rapidly.  We have great meetings, short on business and long on excellent educational programs.  During our last meeting we had a moderated discussion on civility that was probably one of the best meetings I've ever attended.  A few weeks ago, we had Chapter degrees at Homer Lodge--nine candidates went through those degrees (including the Worshipful Master of Homer Lodge No. 199).  There were probably more Masons in the Homer Temple that evening than had been congregated in that building in many decades.

Admiration Chapter members with nine new Royal Arch candidates at Homer Temple in April 2016

We understood that Chapter would play a key role in bringing back Homer Lodge--in fact, we believe that Admiration Chapter will help a lot of Lodges because our focus is on education.  That's what our new members want, and that's what we so often fail to provide.  Boring meetings are much of the reason we can't get our members coming to our meetings, or retaining the interest of our new members.  It's going so well with Admiration Chapter that even the Grand Chapter is looking at some of the things we're trying to do and how they might apply some of those same principles at the State level--providing our members with good education, and resources so that they can continue to explore and come to understand and apply all that Freemasonry has to teach to their own lives.

As I said in my first book, Famous American Freemasons, our Fraternity has always attracted industrious men.  It still does. 

~TEC 

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as the Secretary, and is also a member of Homer Lodge No. 199 where he serves as Senior Warden.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL), and a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research.  He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  He was named the 2014 Illinois Secretary of the Year Award by the Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Bringing Back The Light Part 4: The Museum

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

The Homer Masonic Temple Museum (IL)

Part 4 of the Bringing Back the Light Series

So thanks to our previous efforts at Homer Lodge No. 199, the former junk room had been cleaned out.  New carpet had been put down, but we didn't really have a plan yet for that spare room.  About the only thing in that room was three glass display cases (leftovers most likely from past business tenants on the first floor).  And we're looking at this huge pile of historic records and artifacts and trying to figure out what to do with all of it--specifically how to tell the story contained in those records and those objects we found up in the attic.  It was a no-brainer.  We could display the best pieces on the walls and in the display cases in our spare room.

And so we went about deciding what we'd put in that room.  We found an old projector, along with two sets of old hand-tinted glass degree slides.  We found several old Master's hats (including a collapsible silk top hat).  There were old collars and jewels from the Lodge, from the York Rite that had a long history of the building, and the Eastern Star.  In fact, once curtains were hung in that room, the curtain tiebacks are actually Eastern Star jewels.  One of my favorite things was something that Greg Knott found rolled up in a tube.  The original 1896 blueprints for the Lodge printed on cloth.  Greg scanned them and we framed one of the best reproductions to display.  Without even trying we filled those cases and the walls with the story of Freemasonry in Homer, Illinois. 

Todd E. Creason examining some old degree slides found in the attic.

But something interesting began to happen as we went along--we began receiving donations.  One of the first items we got was the altar that belonged to a Broadlands Lodge, which had merged with Ogden Lodge some years earlier.  The members of Ogden Lodge wanted to see it put to better use than collecting dust in their back room.  One of Ogden's members died and his daughter donated some of his personal items to the museum, including his Shriners fez.  We have received a few photographs of past members taken during WWII and Korea that we'll be hanging.  Ogden Lodge also donated some beautiful old tracing boards that we have prominently displayed.

The museum is quickly outgrowing our little room.  We have plans to take over the hallway walls and dining room as we get further along.  We also have plans to beginning documenting our present day work as well by hanging some new photos on the walls of our restoration efforts, and our resurgence in the community.  We may be an old Lodge, but we're an active Lodge--the history continues, and we believe the story is a long way from being over.

We've had a few open houses since where we've opened the museum.  We have plans to do that on a more regular basis.  Each time we've opened the Lodge the public, we've collected stories.  Almost always as people look at the photos on our walls and the pictures of our Past Masters, they'll point at something or someone in particular and tell a story about something the Lodge was once involved in, or a story about one of the men or women involved with the bodies that met in our building over the last 160 years.  And I'm sure as we go along, we'll collect many more.

We should all remember that Lodges are often historic places, and we should take the effort to preserve that history, and find ways to share that history with the communities we're in.  If you don't have room like we do in our Lodge, perhaps find out if your local historical society or county museum would be interested in sharing some of your history.  It's been pretty remarkable what the response has been to our little museum, and the reactions we've gotten to it.  

~TEC 

Todd E. Creason, 33°, is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as the Secretary, and is also a member of Homer Lodge No. 199 where he serves as Senior Warden.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL), and a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research.  He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  He was named the 2014 Illinois Secretary of the Year Award by the Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Bringing Back The Light Part 3: Hidden Treasures

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Part 3 of the Bringing Back The Light Series

We were well into getting the Lodge cleaned up.  The junk had been hauled off from that spare room.  Some of the painting had been done.  New carpet had been laid in the preparation room, and in that spare room as well.  And there was already a brand new roof on the Homer Temple!

It was time to dig into a project we'd been putting off.  We knew there was a lot of stuff in the attic of the Lodge--Greg Knott had seen it at one time.  We knew it needed to be brought down and gone through.  So one Saturday morning we gathered at the Lodge, and with the help of several Boy Scouts, we set about the task of bringing it all down.  We knew a lot of that stuff could have some historical significance, not only to the Fraternity but for the community as well, so we had two members of the Homer Historical Society, Molly Shoaf and Ray Cunningham, there to look through what we were bringing down. 

We set up a bucket brigade, and the ones that lost the coin toss and were up in the attic began handing down load, after load, after load, after load of stuff.  We filled several tables in the dining room.  We covered the floor of the Tyler's room . . . and it just kept coming.  I think we were all shocked at just how much was up there.

Left to right: Molly Shoaf, Greg Knott, Denver Phelps, and Jared Fritz

There were Grand Lodge Proceedings, newspapers, old movie posters, Lodge jewels, collars, hats probably belonging to Past Masters, etc.  There were records going back to the chartering of the Lodge 160 years ago--and since the building is only 124 years old, that means some of those records were moved from wherever the Masons met prior to building our current Temple.  There was framed art.  There were records pertaining to the York Rite Chapter and the Easter Star Chapters that had met there.  There were photographs and newspaper clippings pertaining to members of the Lodge from decades past.  There was evidence that a lot of entertainment was had in that old Lodge--there were many, many decks of old playing cards and poker chips.  It was a time capsule.

Molly Shoaf beginning the process of organizing the enormous treasure trove of records we discovered.

Most of the records and newspapers went with the Historical Society.  So far as I know, they are still going through those records.  Some of the things they've found were missing puzzle pieces of the town's history.  There were a few things we found up there that were pretty amazing--like old ceramic record albums with degree music on them that were recorded by the John Philip Sousa Band.  There was an old print up there so covered in dust we didn't even realize there was anything in the old frame when it was brought down--I've looked, and never found another Masonic print like it.  Every square inch of that 18 x 24 print is covered in tiny text quoting Masonic ritual and teaching.

As we looked at all this stuff, something changed . . . the purpose of our project seemed to change.  At least it did for me.  It was no longer about saving an old building, or even a Lodge.  It was about saving a piece of history that at least for the time being, was still alive and well after 160 continuous years. 

Once we got all that stuff down from the attic, the question was what we were going to do with it once we got through it all.  Put it all back up there to collect dust again?  How could we tell the 160 year old story of Freemasonry in Homer, Illinois that all these old artifacts represented?

Remember that spare room I mentioned?  It had three old glass cases in it--probably left overs from one of the businesses that operated out of the first floor of the temple at one time or another.  Kind of like the display cases you'd use in a museum.  Perhaps that's a story for the next installment--the story of the Homer Masonic Temple Museum.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33°, is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as the Secretary, and is also a member of Homer Lodge No. 199 where he serves as Senior Warden.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL), and a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research.  He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  He was named the 2014 Illinois Secretary of the Year Award by the Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Bringing Back The Light Part 2: The Plan

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Part 2 of the Bringing Back The Light Series

It didn't take the members of Homer Lodge No. 199 very long to decide whether to merge the Lodge with another, or to work to keep it open.  The decision was made that we'd work to keep it open.  And we identified two areas to focus on first:

The Building
The building had solid bones, but it had been neglected.  The roof hadn't failed yet, but needed to be replaced.  As our District Deputy Grand Master had so painfully pointed out during his visit, the lodge was a mess.  The closets were full of junk.  There was a spare room full of junk.  The lodge was dirty and disorganized.  The lodge needed some plaster and some paint.  Several areas needed carpet.

But two members stepped up and lead the way--Denver Phelps and Dave Harry.  They took it upon themselves to begin the process of cleaning up the lodge, making some basic repairs, and start going through the junk that had collected for decades and begin hauling stuff away. A third member, Greg Knott, had some ideas about how to get some funds lined up to replace the roof.

The Membership
The other major issue was membership--there weren't many members of the Homer Lodge that were actually from Homer.  Most of the active members of the lodge were dual members from another local lodge--Ogden Lodge No. 754.  The idea from the inception was to build the membership of the lodge back up again, and then hand the keys of the the lodge back over to true Homer Lodge members.

The challenge of building the lodge back up was obvious--almost nobody in the community was even aware that the lodge was still open.  That's what we heard over and over again, "Homer Masonic Lodge?  I didn't even realize they were still in existence!"  So the first thing we did was to start letting people know we were still there.  We started a Facebook page.  We got a few small pieces about the lodge placed in the local papers.  And the community of Homer has a number of annual events in town--an annual Soda Festival that brings in around 10,000 people each year, an annual town celebration called Crazy Days, and an annual day-long Fourth of July celebration that included a parade and fireworks event.  Every time there were people in town for one of these events, the Lodge determined they were going to be there.  We poured sodas at the soda festival.  We had an open house during the Crazy Days celebration and gave tours of the lodge in the midst of its renovation.  

Once we got the dust flying during the initial clean up stage, and the buzz going as the local residents realized Homer Lodge No. 199 wasn't a thing of the past, we started building some excitement among our members that maybe, just maybe this was really doable.  And something similar began to happen outside the walls of the lodge as well--interest began stirring about our lodge in the little town of Homer, Illinois.

But that was just the beginning.  What we discovered next, hidden away in the attic, was truly remarkable. I'll tell you all about that in Part 3.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33°, is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as the Secretary, and is also a member of Homer Lodge No. 199 where he serves as Senior Warden.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL), and a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research.  He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  He was named the 2014 Illinois Secretary of the Year Award by the Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Bringing Back The Light: Introduction

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) has many of the common problems Masonic Lodges struggle with today, but it's how the members of this lodge came to deal with these issues that make it an extraordinary story.

It's an old Masonic Lodge in a small town.  The membership aged, and hadn't brought in any new members in a long time.  As a result, it was suddenly faced with some very grime realities.  The Royal Arch Chapter of the York Rite that had met there for more than 150 continuous years lost its charter.  In fact, so strong was the Royal Arch in Homer, that it was the York Rite that had financed the building in Homer.  But they were no longer able to make quorum, and the Chapter's long history in Homer ended.

The members of the Lodge saw the writing on the wall, and fearing the same demise as the Royal Arch Chapter as it struggled to get enough members to a meeting to make the quorum.  Without new members, the Lodge would inevitably face closure as well.  There were enough dual members from another local Lodge, Ogden Lodge No. 754 to prop up the lodge--that bought time, but wasn't a permanent solution.

To make matters worse, during the annual District Deputy visit, the Lodge got a very bad report.  The work wasn't up to par.  The lodge was dirty, disorganized, and not in the best state of repair.  Of course the members knew the building issues well.  The roof needed to be replaced.  The plaster and paint hadn't been attended to in decades.  The floors needed work, the furniture was in bad shape, the entrance door needed to be replaced, some electrical work, carpet, insulation, windows . . . you name it the lodge needed it.  It seemed pretty hopeless.  There was a difficult decision that had to be made.  Do we try and bring it back, or do we let it go?  The conventional wisdom is to let lodges like that go--merge into a stronger lodge.

But Homer Lodge had a few things going for it.  Like three businesses on the first floor dutifully paying rent each month--including a United States Post Office.  The lodge had some money.  And while the membership problem was difficult--the town for the most part didn't even know they were still there!  It made them wonder what might happen if the town knew they were still there.

As I said, the problem is pretty ordinary--we've all heard stories like this before.  But three years ago, it was the decision the lodge made, and all the things that followed that makes this story extraordinary.  And that's the story I'm going to tell you over the coming weeks, with the hope that you'll take something from it. 

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33°, FMLR is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as the Secretary, and is also a member of Homer Lodge No. 199 where he serves as Senior Warden.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL), and a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research.  He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  He was named the 2014 Illinois Secretary of the Year Award by the Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org