A Southborough member of a local Freemason Lodge is looking to recruit more men from our town. (The lodge is based in Westborough, but since we don’t have our own, I agreed to share the news.)
This Saturday, October 15th, from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, the Siloam Lodge of Masons is holding an open house. Breakfast will be served until 10:00 am. Tours are available throughout the open house, and members will be present to answer any questions.
The lodge is located at 12 Church Street, Westborough.
The event is to recruit new members. I wasn’t sure what requirements for those members are. (The only familiarity I have with Freemasons is mythical lore from movies like National Treasure!)
Member Mark Pietrewicz shared that the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts qualifies members as:
Men age 18 and older who believe in a Supreme Being and meet the qualifications and standards for membership are eligible to petition a Lodge. We welcome men of every country, religion, race, age, income, education, and opinion.
He also shared this description from the Grand Lodge website of what they are about:
Freemasonry, sometimes just called Masonry, is the world’s oldest and largest Fraternity. It aims to promote Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly Love among its members — men from every race, religion, opinion, and background — who are brought together as Brothers to develop and strengthen the bonds of friendship. There are more than 3 million members meeting in nearly every free country in the world. Freemasonry proposes to “make good men better” by teaching — with metaphors taken from geometry and architecture — about building values based on great universal truths. And of course, charity and community service is fundamental to Freemasonry and something we actively take part in.
On the Siloam Lodge website I found more background:
Siloam Lodge has been a part of the Westborough community for almost 150 years! While we are not strictly a charitable organization we do practice charity. As such we have over the years supported many community events, both financially and particapatory. We have contributed to the Boy Scout council and the Music Parents of the Westborough School System. We were one of the first Lodges in the state to participate in the Masonic Angel Fund to help Westborough, Northborough and Upton school children. We have supported the Rotary Club and participated in parades in Westborough and in Northborough. We have also held numerous Chip events in area schools.
Meetings are listed as taking place the the second Monday of each month at 7:00 PM, except in July and August. They are usually preceded by a dinner at 6:30 served in the banquet hall.
