Casa Grande Dispatch from Casa Grande, Arizona • Page 10

7KE C'SA DISPATCH Ariscrct'-s Lsctdir.a Newspaper. March 25. 1933 Nineteen Men Formed onic Lodge in 1921 Membership Now Totals 176; ffi-12 Plays Important Role By EM1L MEVER Secretary, Pinal Lodge No. 30. F.

A. M. The first effort to form a in Giamle failed primarily for want of --uitobU building. Tim in the summer of 1915. Now, 44 years later the Mason-: of Cas-a Granite alloy have a strong lodge, plus a young and ttuiving the Knights Templar and are quaru-u-d one of the fraternal buildings in tho Southwest.

What happened betwi-en 1015 and mU-resUnn story of pwsistonci and at-com-j plishme-m that the pio- spirit that taas Arizona sinee the history this. siatc began. -IA meeting to was attend- el by a Aatvn. master masons; lived in and near Casa; Grande and who wished to study' the possibility pt opening a Masonic Lodge here. The idea, was dropped temporarily when it became apparent that there neither a suitable building ia the small town nor was there a reasonable possiblity of erecting One.

Five years later the number of Masons in Casa Grande had doubted along with the gcneial population- Under the direction of Chairman Wilson and Secretary W. Clements, the work of organising a lodge -was started- The record shows that committee comprised of "Brothers Baillie, Hamilton and Peart" was appointed to locate a suitable lodge room. EMIL MEYER Secretary Final Lodge Ho. 30. A.

M. fornia. The first recorded banquet held by the lodge featured quail. The quail -were obtained by sending out a hunting party to A inimth later, the group rented I the Black Mountains eabt ol the buiii tion, ing," then under construc- $50 per month. The in.

not y-et formed a lodge, met in the new the following February feet tentative officers. By in 1927. the lodge bought for or 18. 1921. the lodge was $2.000 two lots on SLCond street where the Post Office JIOH worth, Casa Grande, in me cy- tJe" Colson building is with the thought of Under were placed the tradition- i it ifc llOHl-l.

DiUS 3L ilSt Oi Apr rcaW sairu econd story of the Colson Florence. By MaVch 1, 1923, the lodge had grown to the point that it rented the entire Colson building, using the lower floor for social purposes. Four years later. DICK STURGEON Worshipful Master upon Iht- a-itonKlied candidates" Today there an- hundicds of now jv-idmg Ircun coast to (-oust. In the- initiation, held la.vl autumn, candidates came Irom different states.

In 1954 a number of members of the lodge formed the Hi- Twelve Club. It was through this club that ihe dream of building a new Masonic Temple first conceived in 1927, began to reach fruition. Three years after it was formed, -the Hi-Twelvo. club bought from and Guy Gilbert for S5.000 --quart block fronting an Florence boulevard, jinme- diately noith the Hoemako Hospital. Thur promotion bore fruit.

In May. 1958, a contract was awarded for the construction of a new Masonic Temple The Hi-Twe've Chib deserves most of the credit for bringing the building into existence. On December 4, 1958, a committee of ii-n of the lodge deposited the cornerstone of the temple a brass cvhncU-r, manufactured and donated by William D. KP.lings- JIOH worth', Casa Grande, In the cy- The first public function lo be; eld in the building will be anj pen house and public dinner loj served from 6 p.m. until 9' next Tuesday.

The public cordially invited by the Masonic lodge to inspect the uilding. Gem-rally conceded to be one the in South- rn Arizona, the new Masonic- 'einple promises to become one the iKi-d and best loved ratt-nvil buildings in the Southwest. structure used by the! building a new Masonic Tempi lodge until the comple- A clear title was obtained to the property, but the depression made it impossible to proceed with construction. In February of the new Temple. The the lodge was successively as grocery a the town's city hall and justJ court, and as a lunch foan tot tiie public schools, i Masons themselves fi- Wit 11 UV of 1938 the lodge accepted ani pennies coined in 1958 and it'over, Tfic first lodge was comprised lAwrenceCr.

Wilson, 'nawter; L. Gurtic, aenior warden, and James G. WOfiOn, junior warden, and Harry Fisher, Earl McDonald, Armstead, George Hamilton. Smith, TRmtsr Swanzj', Andrew Jayne, Thompson Peart, Robert Paden, Joseph Steere, William Clem- Can Bindwell, Clarence Wilson and Colson. I Of these have now (Hi with Ihe exception of svho resides in Cali- 176 members, a history of the Hi-Twflve Club without whose active help the building coulc not have been completed, 15 offer from Colson to purchase the building.

For several years the lower part of the building was made available to school authorities without chargi, as a kitchen and lunch room for pupils in the public schools copy of the Casa Grande Dispatch. The new Temple was completed March C. All furnishings were moved jnto the new building the" next day with the volunteer help of Masons, East- H5i The mortgage ior the lodge ern Stars. Rainbow Girl building was burned in 1942. A members ol" DeMolay.

year later, the lower floor was transformed into a clubroom for Ihe use of Masons, -members "fet went to the Ordor of the Eastern Mar, Order of Ham- bow for Girls, and Order of De- Molay. At a time not specifically indicated in the records, the lodge sponsored the Order of the Knights; of the Creeping Serpent, which has, the record states, "produced strange effects The distinction the first group to use the structure isiar whicn hold its regular meeting, 81 prercr.t. on tht following Monday. The Skidmore Assembly, Order of Rainbow for Girls, met tho following night, utilizing the dining facilities to stage a banquet attended by 331 members ant their guests. The Casa Grande ALL THE GLAZING FOE THE NEW HOME OF THE LODGE was done by our firm, qualified to do ANY type of glass work.

you hove need of gloss, ior home or business office, for quick service. You'll be pleased with our work. e's Glass House TE 6-8080 Piaster Contractor beautiful new nduslrial Residential New Temple (Continued from Page 9) dmm-r Maivh 31 tmnal Ma-onie dedication f'i ic buildmr, will bi lit iu-r date MASONS MEET TONIGHT Pinal I.od.'.c- No. 30. A will in.

el at 7 in- ifiht, Tluusd.iy, at the new 1 lasonic Tt-inpie The de- ive uill be ronli-ri-fd. 'n-poil-' mil sn ic liy t'nipiiiandf ty. Kniith' einplar "ii the hmhlii'K Wed t. ami on 12. the M'l nine I.iXlKe the lull.

Two llntdl 1 ciuifet red it etiiiH that tarted at 5 30 in nd that ruhninati cl about ri .111. in a lui key banquet attend- by helueen lllfi and 150 on 1 The v. il- hy 124. THESi: WEN HAVC LED CASA GRANDE BASONS FOR 32 YEARS me tla' men who i thi- iltJir uf Wor- -ihsplul Mil IK- A -ism- it wj--. il in lIijJi'l'- rt) me CT 1'HM i Ciuiver Jjiiii- C.

1' iiieiit-- Rolnit MiNjll fliifi.nl A CKii'. lit-. i Kim 1-' 11 CODIW Henry Uohyne Wiliirm C. and 1940 JtMnii Honur II. Martin 1937 Erm-t Smith 1038 3Mit and 19-J5 -In- Centut! 19 )T Jack Clement-; WilJiiim H.

Goclbo'u 1943 Rilcy O. Parker 1914 Ray's. Park William F. 1'aik 19-1" Hem yO. Pace 1948 Roy L.

Williams Gordon W. Hardesty MASTER'S OFFICE info foyer John Mi.Natt Ralph C. Duki-y W. Mt-' John E. Bcggs William D.

Ctcil C. 195ti Ear! E. Thode Chester II 19.V.) RU-hard Sturgeon 1959 We Arc Happy and Proud To Help With The Furnishing And Carpeting Of The New MASONIC BUILDING For All Your Furnishing Needs Call JONES FURNITURE CO. 407 N. Florence Phone TE 6-5342 VIEW OF KITCHEN from serving windows.

The gas range has 10 burners, griddle, oven. Shop In Casa Grande Hi-12 Club Spearheaded Drive For New Masonic Temple Here It was the Hi-Twelve Club that made the dream of a mod- rn, commodious Masonic Temple, in Casa Grande conic true. The club was formed by 60 Master Masons of Casa Grande Valley in 1955- It was founded primarily to accomplish two jrincipal objectives: to promote construction of a Masonic Temple in Casa Grande, promote a broader understanding of the importance of public schools to the youth of the na- Frorh its inception, the club las steadily worked toward realization of both goals. It will have reached it's first objective next Tuesday when the new Masonic Temple, immediately north of Hoemako Hospital, will be the scene of an open touse and a dedication dinner, both open to the public. The second objective is being pursued by sponsoring annual essay and oratorical contests on the value of public schools to Democratic form of government.

These contests have been held each year since 1S55 both in the grade schools and high school of Casa Grande and the grade school at Stanfield. Both movements were launch ed under the first Hi-Twelve president, E. F. (Bob) Evins. The promotion of the Temple took more definite form in 1956 when Raymond Kottmeyer, who succeeded Evins, appointed the first building committee.

The proposed construction of a Temple which had been given considerable impetus during Kottmeyer's regime, picked up steam in 1957. Allen a i succeeded Kottmeyer as president on Jan. 22. With McFaddin were serving Freeman Rose, second vice-president; Alvin Ethingttm, secretary-treasurer; and Evins, Ralph Dickey, Earl Thode, 11. O.

Pace and Cecil Robson, directors. Six days later the directors at special meeting appointed a committee whose assignment was to (H incorporate the club and (2) obtain a site for a Masonic Temple. The committecj was comprised of Kottmeyer as chairman and Pace, Thode, Rose, Evins, Dickey and Allen McFaddin. Just seven weeks later the club accepted a recommendation from the committee that it purchase a square block of land adjoining the Coolidge highway, immediately north of Hoemako Hospital. The block had been offered at the very low price of by the owners, Guy and Parke Gilbert.

The Gilbert orothers had given special consideration to the lodge and the Hi-Twelve Club as a tribute to their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gilbert, both of whom were charter members of the Casa Grande Chapter oS the Order of Eastern Star. Mi's. Gilbert was a member of Eastern Star for 50 years.

Under the leadership of its president, Allen McFaddin, with the active help of Earl Thode, then master of Pinal Lodge No. 30, raised the $5,000 promptly. During 1958, with Charles McFaddin at the helm, the club worked in close cooperation with Chester Elhington, who had succeeded Thode as master of the lodge, as a learn to get the new Temple under actual construction. On June 24, the Hi-Twelve Club deeded the site to Final Lodee No. 30, as a gift from the clubT On the same dale, Kottmeyer, chairman of the joint building committee of the club and of the lodge, reported that a contractor had been requested to prepare plans and submit a definite bid for building a lodge following somewhat the plans for a Masonic Temple that had been eently in Scottwiale.j Thf Lontiaet was awarded last Octobi-r.

With Kottmt-ycr and Chester Ethington functioning as joint chairmen of the construction committee, the building -was completed early this month. Reed's Floor Serv ic We Are Happy To Have Participated In The Construction of This Fine New Building For The Casa Grande Masonic Lodge Cement Floor Polishing and Waxing Wood Floor Sanding find Finishing REED'S FLOOR SERVICE MESA Awarded the contract for the concrete work for the new Masonic Lodge Building we completed our part of the job quickly and efficiently due to the use of our equipment very latest for such You, too, can have sudden service when you need it! Kachina Redi-Mix Co. W. 14th St. and Pinal Ave.

Phone TE 6-7632 LOCALLY OWNED AND LOCALLY OPERATED.