Tuckahoe Celebrates 93 years of Masonic Service!

Return with me now to 1923! Tuckahoe Lodge had its beginning when twenty-nine brethren petitioned the Grand Lodge of Virginia and were granted a charter for a new lodge on February 14, 1923. March 2nd was the first stated communication of Tuckahoe Lodge. Our first meeting was held in the Westhampton Lodge building, and that night there were 6 petitions and 5 applications read for the first time. The dues were set at a dollar a month, and the fee for conferring the degrees was set at the princely sum of $50. By the way, if our Lodge dues and fees had kept pace with inflation over the last 93 years, you would be paying $168 a year in dues and over $694 for the degree fees. Just thought you might like to know what a bargain your Lodge membership really is.

Here are some highlights gleaned from the minutes in the archives of the lodge. We find that in January of 1924, Amity Lodge #76 presented the rough and perfect ashlars to the lodge. Later that same year St. Johns Lodge #36 presented us with six past master’s jewels, and Lodge of Strict Observance #207 presented us with “The wages of a worthy brother Fellowcraft”…and they’re still in use today.

In the early years the officers and brethren were proud to take part in Masonic ceremonies to lay the corner stones of three West End churches. Wor. Bro. James E. ‘Jimmy’ Kirk was the Master during the 25th anniversary celebration year. Do you remember the old Lodge building on Maple Avenue? Wor. Kirk designed the front of our old Lodge building, and the Masonic emblem above the door. 1973 was our 50th anniversary year, and Wor. P.D. Lawrence was Master (he was celebrating his 49th year as a Mason). February of 1998 saw the arrival of another milestone in Tuckahoe’s life, our 75th birthday celebration. Wor. Robert Lanier served as Master and we held a celebration at our February stated communication. Special commemorative mugs and other mementos were distributed, and an in depth retrospective of the ‘first 75 years’ was presented.

Mt. Wor. Frederick G. Martin, III, the Grand Lodge Officers, brethren of the Masonic fraternity and citizens from the surrounding community gathered to celebrate the dedication of our Lodge building at Bethlehem & Dickens Roads at a very successful and well-attended community-wide celebration on June 14, 2003.

In May of 2004, following the adoption of a visitation compact between the Grand Lodge of Virginia and Virginia Prince Hall Masons, three members of Tuckahoe were among the first Masons in Virginia to sit in a tiled lodge with the brethren of Richmond Lodge No. 65 (Prince Hall Affiliate). Fraternal greetings from the two Grand Lodges were exchanged, as well as mementos of that historic occasion. 2

Following the December 2013 Stated Communication the Tuckahoe Time Capsule was loaded with documents and items donated by members, then sealed and placed within the Lodge with strict instructions to future Masons that the capsule is to be properly protected and cared for, and is to remain sealed until the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Tuckahoe Lodge on February 14, 2048.

Of course February 14th is a special day that our wives and sweethearts won’t let us forget… St. Valentines Day. Actually, that celebration originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic Bishop who was martyred in 278 A.D. by Emperor Claudius.

Over the last 93 years some other important events have occurred on Tuckahoe’s birthday:

• February 14 was also the day the IBM Corporation and UPS were founded.
• Sugar Ray Robinson defeated Jake La Motta for the middleweight championship.
• Russian born Chemist, Chaim Weizmann became the first president of the modern state of Israel.
• The 6th winter Olympics opened in Oslo, Norway.
• 1912 – Arizona was admitted to the Union as the 48th state.
• 1929 – Penicillin was discovered.
• St. Valentine’s Day Massacre: six rivals of Al Capone’s gang are murdered in Chicago.
• 1978 – The first computer chip was patented by Texas Instruments.
• And just 26 years ago the first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit….and now we can’t live without them.

And that’s just some of what happened on our birthday, February 14th.