Freemasons For Dummies: UPDATES: Hurricane Helene Hits Six States

Monday, September 30, 2024

UPDATES: Hurricane Helene Hits Six States

The 600-mile path of Hurricane Helene (Image: New York Times)

by Christopher HodappS
UPDATE TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2024: Over the last several days, the Masonic Service Association has issued separate Disaster Appeals on behalf of the grand lodges in Florida, North, and South Carolina. CLICK HERE to see that story.

UPDATE: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2024: Added appeal from North Carolina Masonic Foundation seeking donations.

The path of destruction and devastation over the weekend from Hurricane Helene stretched 600 miles across six states. Thousands are without homes in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, while deaths from the storm continue to rise – as many as 130 are reported dead as of 10:30 Monday night, according to the Associated Press.

Scores of communities all along the storm's path have been wiped out, and images from small, hard-to-reach Appalachian towns in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee look apocalyptic in scope.

The Masonic Service Association has not yet issued any official disaster relief announcements for grand lodges in the affected states, but I will update this post as news specifically involving Masons and lodges in the hurricane areas become available.

Please send information to me directly at hodapp@aol.com .

FLORIDA

Gulf Beach Lodge 291 before the hurricane

Gulf Beach Lodge 291 in Madeira, Florida, near St. Petersburg, sustained extensive flood damage from the hurricane's unprecedented storm surge.

A photo on Facebook of the lodge's front door shows the flood rose to about 4-feet, and water damage to the secretary's office, kitchen, and dining room is extensive. Worshipful Master Bobby Burkett reports they will be meeting at Northside Lodge 283 until they are able to repair or rebuild their building.

NORTH CAROLINA

Western North Carolina has been badly hit by the storm, and images from Chimney Rock and Lake Lure near Asheville show almost unfathomable destruction. Entire towns have been swept away. The Grand Lodge of North Carolina's Masonic Foundation is accepting donations online specifically to help, aid, and assist Masons and their families in their state. The NCMF will be matching donations up to $25,000, so your money will go twice as far. When you go to their website at https://mfnc.org/ a pop-up window will open with information and a link to donate (or CLICK HERE if the popup doesn't work on your browser.)

SOUTH CAROLINA

MW Steven D. Hames, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of South Carolina has issued a blanket dispensation to all lodges in his jurisdiction permitting Worshipful Masters wide latitude to cancel or reschedule all meetings, including regular stated meetings.

2 comments:

AnonymousMon Oct 07, 08:34:00 PM 2024
Appeals from MSA for NC, FL, and SC
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Legendary brotherhood
With a mythic past
And a visionary future.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those Biblical stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men, using Solomon as our ideal example of wisdom, justice and faith.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

It's not for everybody. It never has been, and was never meant to be. That's the point.

Maybe it's for you.

Christopher L. Hodapp is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the international, best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity; and Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C..

Prior to joining the Masons and becoming an author, Chris spent 23 years as a commercial filmmaker with Dean Crow Productions in Indianapolis.

Since 2009 he has been on the Board of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, and serves as its Associate Director and Treasurer. In 2021, Chris was named as Public Relations and Marketing Director for the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana.

As a Freemason, Chris is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge No. 643 and of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 under the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana; he is a member of Indiana's Schofield Lodge 1818 U.D.; and of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. Most recently, he served as the Worshipful Master of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. in Indiana for 2019-21.

In 2018 he was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris is a 33° Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a Past Sovereign Master of Imhotep Council No. 434 of the Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and he is an officer of the Indiana College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis. He belongs to numerous other Masonic appendant organizations.

As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris was a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society, and was the founding Editor in Chief of The Journal of The Masonic Society. He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith" by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focusing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Heredom, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

His most recent Masonic book, Heritage Endures, was published in January 2018 as part of the 200th anniversary of Indiana's Grand Lodge.

Chris is also the co-author with his wife Alice VonKannon of The Templar Code For Dummies and Conspiracy Theories And Secret Societies For Dummies. Together they developed scripts for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in the 2024 episode of America's Book of Secrets - The Freemason Factor for History and Prometheus Productions.

Chris and Alice reside in Indianapolis with their canine companions , Sophie the Flying Poodle and Maxwell, the Idiot Circus Doodle, who have them both answering to basic commands. They can frequently be found alarming the wildlife and dazzling the rustiks in their Airstream trailer as they crisscross the country. Appropriately, their newest books together are RVs and Campers For Dummies, released in June 2021; and RV Vacations For Dummies - 7th Edition, released in June 2023.

APPEARANCES

Contact Chris directly to enquire about speaking at your event.

2025

January 11, 2025
Grand Lodge of Indiana 'Founders' Day'
Indianapolis, Indiana

March 22, 2025
AASR Valley of Rochester
College of Freemasonry
Rochester, NY

April 11-13, 2025
Wisconsin Masonic Con
Eau Claire, Wisconsin

April 25-27, 2025
Big Sky Masonic Con,
Great Falls, Montana

May 12, 2025
200th Anniversary of General Lafayette's American Tour
Parade and Grand Lodge Plaque Dedication
Jeffersonville, Indiana

May 20, 2025
Grand Lodge of Indiana
Annual Communication
Indianapolis, Indiana

June 2025
Denver Scottish Rite, Denver, CO

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