New items on the Blog site!

As many of you know, 2014 will mark 125 years of Courtland Lodge making good men better. In commemoration of this event we have put together a challenge coin.

There were only 125 coins made, to represent our 125 years. If you are interested in purchasing one we are selling them for $10 each. They can be purchased from the secretary directly. We are also making them available through PayPal (a  processing fee and a shipping fee of $3.00).

Order you coin here!

Challenge Coin

Local Pick-up $10.61 USD With $3 Shipping $13.70 USD

We are also accepting donations, lodge dues, and degree fees through PayPal to make it a little easier on our members. Again there will be a processing fee attached to cover the cost of using PayPal. You will find all of these links on our main blogger page. Please, if you have any questions feel free to contact myself or the secretary at courtland85@gmail.com and we will be happy to answer any questions. WM

August Stated 8-19-14

Pictured: WM Clayton Gaskins and MW Jeffery Hodges

On Tuesday, August 19, Courtland lodge had their stated communication and we welcomed Most Worshipful Jeffery Eugene Hodges, Grand Master of Masons in Virginia 2009, who gave us a great presentation on Masonic research lodges and their purposes. MW Hodges gave a history of the research lodges in Virginia, finally returning to Peyton Randolph Lodge of Research No. 1774.  This lodge was chartered in 2007 and it's purpose is to study early Colonial Freemasonry and the Grand Lodge of England’s influence upon Virginia Masonry.  There are five research lodges in Virginia all looking at different aspects of the history of our great fraternity. A lot of work is being done by our brothers all over the Commonwealth and beyond, as the Civil War Lodge of Research No. 1865 has members from Scotland and elsewhere across the United Kingdom, to keep the history of our fraternity alive. It was truly an honor to welcome MW Hodges in our lodge.

Dual EA Degree 8-13-14

On Wednesday, August 13, I was privileged to welcome 2 more men into our great fraternity. Our two newest brothers are father and son which was such an honor to take part in. Our lodge is growing a lot this year. I did a little quick math and our little "country lodge" has grown 10 percent this year. We have initiated 4 (one has been passed to Fellow Craft) and had one brother re-affiliate. If I have understood my secretary correctly we will have another petition to read this month and with a positive vote that will bring us to a growth of 6. This might not seem like much to larger lodges, but to look back to the last 6 new Brothers we have gained, you would have to look back almost 10 years of combined growth. It has definitely been an honor to sit in the East for this amazing growth of our lodge.

As well as the growth of our lodge it is great to see the growth of the other lodges in our district. At our recent initiation we had 7 EAs on hand to watch and participate where they could. This included one new EA from Wakefield No. 198 who was initiated 2 days prior.

I would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone that has participated in the work going on in Courtland Lodge. I would like to especially thank the wives of our members who have been so understanding as we have been meeting quite a bit more often than usual.

Clayton Gaskins
WM

Grand Masters Visit 8-9-14

Pictured: Wor Andy Bailey PM and Most Worshipful Wayne Sawyer Flora

On Saturday, August 9, Courtland Lodge was privileged to welcome the Grand Master of Masons in Virginia, Most Worshipful Wayne Sawyer Flora, to the 32 Masonic District. Past Master Andy Bailey had the honor of presiding in the East as members from Courtland No. 85 as well as other Lodge members from the District welcomed MW Flora for his quick but informative visit. Thank you to everyone who was on hand to welcome our Grand Master.