(I found this article about Laredo Masonic Lodge. I guess its from when it moved to it present location. I could not find a date for the article if some one knows about it please share. KC)
BY CHUCK OWEN
Times staff writer
Laredo Masonic Lodge No. 547 dedicated its new temple on the north end of McPherson Road at Crystal Court Saturday afternoon. Visiting Grand Master of Texas Vernon Burke led the ceremony. The temple dedication ceremony, only a third in the Laredo Lodge 117-year history, included prayers, traditional ancient readings, as well as member and visitor participation.
Many well-wishing Masons, family members and friends attended the event. Seven visiting Masons from Mexico were introduced, including Hector Manzo, master of the Nuevo Laredo Cedros de Libeno Lodge. Other dignitaries included past Grand Master of Texas Jack Kelly, District 39A Deputy Grand Master James Todd, Master of Army Lodge 1105 Joe Guerra, Alzafar Temple past Potentate Emmett George, and Alzafar Temple Chief Ribban Bob Stephens. Philip Leveck is master for the Laredo Lodge.
Masons have a long history in Laredo, as revealed in an anthology commemorating their Centennial, dated Dec. 12, 1981. Beginning on Nov. 1, 1881 as Jones Lodge and later chartered on Dec. 12, 1881 as Laredo Lodge No. 547, Laredo Masons have moved from an original meeting place at Keller’s Saddle Shop on Iturbide St., to the old Werner Building (built in 1896) and then to an upstairs location over the old Taylor Brothers Jewelry Store. The Laredo Lodge moved to its first owned Masonic Temple, purchased from the Methodist Church, in about 1950 at 1613 Hidalgo, then to a newly constructed temple on I-35, dedicated Aug. 16, 1965, and now to this new facility.
From “Masonic Facts You Will Find Worth Knowing,” written by James C. Oslin and contained in the anthology, it is said that all governors of the original colonies were Masons when Washington was inaugurated as president; four of the five first members of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, were Masons; Stephen F. Austin and all five members of the Mexican Congress Colonization Comm-ittee were Masons; and in Texas history to 1861, 33 of the 81 unincorporated schools were under the direct supervision of Masonic Lodges. From a pamphlet titled “Who are the Masons? And what do they do?” it is learned that Masons, also called Freemasons, are dedicated to the “Brotherhood of man under the Fatherhood of God.” Masonry has a singular purpose “to make good men better,” while encouraging “its members to practice the faith of their personal acceptance.” It teaches that each person “has an obligation to make a difference for good in the world.” Notable Masons (present and past) are highlighted in the pamphlet, including country singers Eddy Arnold and Roy Acuff, astronauts Buzz Aldrin and John Glenn, baseball hero Ty Cobb, former presidents Gerald Ford and Harry Truman, inventor Benjamin Franklin, actors Burl Ives and John Wayne, comedian Red Skelton, generals Douglas MacAuthur and Omar Bradley, music composers Ludwig Van Beethoven and Irving Berlin, and numerous others.
In a separate announcement at the dedication, dignitary Bob Stevens was introduced as the coming leader, potentate, of the Alzafar Shrine Temple, a branch of the Masonic Order that sponsors a number of children’s burn and orthopedic hospitals throughout the country. Stevens was also in town to present a special appreciation plaque to Ninfa Alcuraz of Nuevo Laredo for her work in assisting transportation of Mexican children going for treatment in the shrine’s hospitals.
(Chuck Owen can be contacted at 728-2564 or by e-mail at chucko@lmtonline)
KC
