Kentucky's Rubicon Masonic Society 11th Annual Feast and Symposium

by Christopher Hodapp

I'm tardy in thanking the Brethren of Lexington Lodge 1 in Kentucky, the William O. Ware Lodge of Research, and the members of the Rubicon Masonic Society for hosting such a fantastic event last weekend. Friday night was the Society's 11th annual Festive Board at the beautiful Spindletop Mansion, and it was outstanding, as always. Brother Antonio Mantica from Lexington Lodge delivered the keynote address. There was a superb dinner, wonderful surroundings, warm friendships, and the quite unexpected surprise of making me an honorary member of their august group. 

No Rubicon Feast is complete without a group photo
on the grand staircase (like this one from 2017)

On Saturday, I was one of the presenters of papers celebrating four “CLASSIC MASONIC AUTHORS OF THE 20th CENTURY:

* ANDREW SOMMERVILLE MACBRIDE – presented by W.B. Andrew Hammer.

* JOSEPH FORT NEWTON – presented by W.B. Dan M. Kemble.

* DWIGHT L. SMITH, P.G.M. – presented by W.B. Christopher L. Hodapp.

* THOMAS W. JACKSON – presented by W.B. John W. Bizzack.

Brother Mantica introduced the speakers and was moderator for the Q&A session. The program will be made part of Rubicon’s ongoing educational video channel on YouTube.

During COVID summer Rubicon began taping Masonic education presentations and posting them on YouTube. These programs feature a wide variety of speakers, both seasoned veterans and many new faces. They’re currently up to 52 episodes, and they continue to create new ones. I highly recommend these programs — they’re suitable for listening to in the car, or for showing them as part of an ongoing education program for your lodge. 

https://www.youtube.com/@RubiconMasonicSociety/featured

If you’ve never had the experience of attending Rubicon’s annual feasts, or if you are considering hosting a traditional Masonic festive board for your own lodge, I highly recommend a video that was created by these Brothers last year, The Masonic Table. Rubicon is blessed to have the services of Brian T. Evans Jr., who is a professional videographer. As a result, The Masonic Table is a beautifully shot program that demonstrates Rubicon’s traditions and practices when gathered around the festive board. There are as many ways to hold a Masonic evening meal and celebration as there are lodges in the world, but Rubicon’s draws upon formal English Masonic ceremonial dinners for inspiration. 

My deepest appreciation goes to everyone at Rubicon, especially John Bizzack and Bryan Evans for their invitation, their enthusiasm, and their always-warm hospitality.

Unfortunately, the rest of my weekend wasn’t nearly as enjoyable, and is the reason for my delay in posting. I took a hard fall at home early Sunday morning and somehow managed to fracture the business end of my fibula where it connects to the ankle. It’s in a plaster splint, but I’ll find this week whether that means a walking boot, a full on cast, surgery, or if I’ll just be frozen in a clock of carbonite and handed over to Jabba the Hut.

I'm furious that I didn't even get a decent story out of my injury. (AW, yeah, it looks bad, but you should see the OTHER guy!) As you can see, even Sophie's already bored with the whole experience.