From the East
My Brethren, we are off to a wonderful start, and I thank all you who have helped to make it happen. We continue to attract new members, and that gives us confidence that we are doing something right. We have initiated one Brother, and he will receive his second degree very shortly, perhaps even before this message is even posted.
As part of our Lodge’s commitment to Community Service, we should all thank “Chico” Sanchez, Ron VanSteenwyk, and Chris Smith for the fantastic job of installing the double doors at the south entrance of the “Opera House” at Pioneer Village. Their effort makes it possible for us to tile our Lodge properly.
I want to congratulate the Brothers of Montezuma Lodge No. 35 for the very fine job of landscaping the Phoenix Masonic Temple in downtown Phoenix. They installed an underground watering system and planted new grass sod that not only beautifies the Temple, but contrasts to the surrounding area. People will take notice. Thank you.
Talk about wonderful things that happen in our Fraternity… Several years ago I had the opportunity to donate a proper Tyler’s Sword to the Tucson Lodge No. 4. I never thought more about it, until MW Brother Bob Conrad brought a beautiful replica of a shotgun to Pioneer Lodge No. 82 to be used as our “Tyler’s Sword.” It is painted all white with appropriate brass engraving. We thank our brothers of Tucson Lodge No. 4.
We had some wonderful visiting Brothers at our last meeting, and we welcome them to come back a visit us whenever they get the urge to be Pioneer Masons. If any brother Mason from other Lodges or other jurisdictions, want to take a step back in time to experience the rustic atmosphere of pioneer days (guns, spurs, chaps, and all), plus some great home style cooking, join us at our next Stated Meeting. It’s always held on the 3rd Monday of each month at Pioneer Village, Arizona located at I-17 about a mile north of Carefree Highway.
From the West
It's finally starting to cool off. The doors are finally in, a little
more work will be done for cosmetic reasons. We look forward to conducting
our first second degree. I thank all the line officers and the brothers
for stepping up and doing work.
We need to bring in more candidates, and affiliations so we can get the Master Architect and Master Builders awards. We have our very first election of officers in November, vote for the good of Masonry.
Chris Smith, S.W.
From
the South
Like a newborn baby, as a spanking new Lodge, we are just
beginning to open our eyes to view the world around us. Curiosities
abound, nooks and crannies to explore, tasks to master in a world of
unlimited opportunities and expectations. We are ready; we have the
necessary tools, people and resources.
It is ironic though, as we enter this world as the States’ newest Lodge, word swirls the Leadership of our Fraternity in Arizona is looking to the past. Rumor has it that a new set of standards, which when implemented will require actual proficiency of Elected Line Officers in all the constituent Lodges in the State.
As I understand the plan, the Master and Wardens of a Lodge will be truly assessed as either proficient or not. Those Lodges that do not meet standards will be subject to having their Charter suspended. To some perhaps, this sounds like a scary proposition! To many others, this is the only path to stem the tide of decay among the Craft. I agree with the latter.
Legislation has been authored and submitted for approval at the next Grand Communication, requiring all seeking the East in their Lodge to demonstrate proficiency in at least one of the lectures. This means either the EA, FC or MM lecture, not allowing any attempt to proclaim competence with the “Apron” lecture, “G” lecture or even a “working tools” lecture, as has been done in the past.
This is bold. This is huge. This is necessary. Any further steps to lower standards of expectation, to rubber stamp proficiency, to exempt, to waiver, to capitulate to minority whining, will ultimately reduce this glorious Fraternity to a mere sliver of itself. An organization of little more than a few dozen social gathering points with curious logos on their exterior walls.
I feel confident the motivations for these decisions are not borne of any Norman Rockwellian fantasy of the “good old days.” On the contrary, the essential need to restructure, to define objectives, to dedicate resources only to those enterprises demonstrating the capacity to succeed. Many Lodges may be closed. Sadly most of those, have persisted in recent years only for the sake of their contribution to Per Capita, rather than their ability to fulfill the mission of a Blue Lodge to “make Masons” If they do expire, it will be from self inflicted wounds.
I will endeavor to insure Pioneer Lodge #82 and any others that wish to participate, are completely exempt from this possible reality by providing all our Officers with training in the Ritual as well as the Arizona Masonic Code and Officer duties, beginning this November. “Forewarned is forearmed.”
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or for details.
Fraternally doing what I can for the good of Masonry,
Ed Barron JW ecbfam@msn.com
Our Secretary at Work
W. Bro. Mike Deapen, Secretary, works hard to maintain our Lodge records and keep us informed. The reading of the Lodge minutes and the approval by the membership attest to his good work. Thank you Mike, for doing a fine job!
Celebrating Constitution Day
One would have thought it was Constitution Day at Pioneer Lodge No. 82. Pictured here are some of the members during the opening ceremony of the last Stated meeting. Presenting the Flag at the Altar is Josh VanSteenwyk just recently home from his tour of duty as a U. S. Marine serving in Iraq. We are all very proud of him, and we thank God that Josh came home in good health, save for the scars of battle with those opposed to freedom. Thank you, Josh, for your willingness to fight and helping to preserve our freedoms.
Dinner is Served at Pioneer Restaurant
Great Food!
Members and guests were treated to one of the best fried chicken dinners served anywhere, and here at the Pioneer Restaurant they even served fresh cut fruit to us for desert. The camaraderie and great fellowship at the dinner table is exceptional. Everyone can tell we are here for a good time.
How about those New Doors!
For the first time, we actually had a tyled Lodge. Our thanks to Brothers Fermin “Chico” Sanchez and Ron Vansteenwyk. Until this September Stated Meeting, we had to contend with a three-fold dressing-room screen to keep Cowans and Eavesdroppers at bay. And though the doors were donated for the opening along with appropriate hardware, they still needed to be installed. Through the good work and auspices of Chico, and Ron the doors were properly hung as the gateway to the Lodge room. We all extend our gratitude to Brothers Chico and Ron for their conscientious labor and diligence to see the job through to its completion. All Masons should labor in the quarries just as these Brothers continue to do. Thank you, Brothers Chico and Ron.
Just one additional note: These Brothers were also assisted by Steve Konik, who is now interested in becoming a Mason.
Welcome Home
Ron VanSteenwyk gives his son Josh a big welcome home by attending Lodge with him. Josh has been serving our country as a member of the U.S. Marine Corp fighting in Iraq. Welcome home Brother Josh. We are all very proud of you.
Congratulations
We Congratulate Brother Ace Underhill on receiving his 1st Degree here at Pioneer Lodge No. 82 He will receive he 2nd Degree very shortly.
Shotgun
Pictured here is Ron VanSteenwyk, as he might appear when he is Tyler at Pioneer Lodge. As can be seen, Ron is also a member of Peoria Lodge No. 31.
Tucson Lodge No. 4 donated this shotgun to our Lodge. It is painted white and decorated with an engraved brass plate..
We thank the Tucson Lodge for their thoughtfulness.
By Skip Boyer
For a generation of small boys, most of whom are passing middle age now, cowboys were just about the greatest people in the world. They were real (or reel) honest-to-goodness heroes, and well worth the 25 cents or so that a Saturday matinee at the neighborhood theater cost in those days.
What most of us didn’t realize at the time was that the virtues of those celluloid heroes were Masonic virtues. We thrilled to the adventures of our brothers Hoot Gibson, Roy Rogers, Gene Audrey, Tom Mix and Buck Jones, among others. Those were the days when the hero shot off his gun, not his mouth, and things were great in the Wild West!
Interestingly, a few of those sage brush idols were the real thing before they became the “reel” thing. Mix, Gibson and Jones, for example, were real cowboys before they moved to the silver screen. And Brother Buck Jones may have actually been a real hero, too.
Brother Buck was a member of Harry S. Orme Lodge #458 in Pasadena, Calif. (The lodge is now part of South Pasadena #290, following a 1971 merger.) His real name was Charles Frederick Gebhart and, depending on your source, was born on the outskirts of Vincennes, Indiana, in 1889 or 1891. He moved to Oklahoma with his family when he was a child and grew up working for the famous Miller Brothers 101 Ranch and later performed with the Miller Brothers’ equally famous 101 Ranch Wild West Show, one of several western shows which developed to compete with Brother Buffalo Bill’s popular show.
Before his “discovery” by a generation of young matinee-goers, Buck served in the U.S. Sixth Cavalry and appeared with the Ringling Brothers show (another Masonic family enterprise). For a time, he and his wife, a circus rider, ever formed their own show and toured the west and midwest.
In time, like many other cowboys and performers, he arrived in Hollywood, then the growing heart of the young movie industry.
After a couple of years as a Universal Studios extra, he got his first starring role. It was “The Last Straw” in 1920. He was a hit and became one of the silver screen’s first superstars, producing and starring in more than 200 westerns, including Monogram Pictures’ Rough Riders series.
In the ‘20s, he again attempted a live show. Unfortunately, the late 1920s were not good years for the variety of truck, mud and rail shows still crisscrossing the country. The Buck Jones Wild West Show folded and he headed back to Hollywood, where he became one of a handful of silent movie stars to survive the transition to talking pictures.
Up to this point, you’ve heard this story before. Just substitute any of a variety of western movie stars or comedians or dramatic actors from the 1920s and ‘30s. After a hurly burly career elsewhere, they become the Heroes of the Silver Screen. For Brother Buck Jones, however, the story takes a tragic twist at this point and an element of controversy enters the tale.
On November 28, 1942, Buck was attending a party at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, Mass. He was in Boston to promote his Monogram films and selling war bonds. It was a Saturday. Earlier that day, he attended a rally at Boston Garden for 12,000 children, the ones he referred to as his “little shavers” and who were proud to be junior Rough Riders.
That evening, shortly after 10 p.m., according to Newsweek magazine, a fire started in the Club’s Melody Lounge in the basement. Within minutes, the fire flashed across the ceiling and into the upper levels of the Club. Between 800 and 1,000 people were inside. A side exit door was jammed, another locked. Only the main revolving door was open. Nearly 200 died at the door as the fire raged through the highly flammable club and its décor.
The worst was over in about 15 minutes. Brother Buck Jones was the 481st person to die; eventually, 492 lost their lives.
Now, the controversy.
Witnesses and newspaper accounts say that Buck was led out of the club to safety, but went back in to the flaming structure twice to save others. On a third trip, he collapsed and was carried to safety. He died in the hospital two days later of second and third degree burns to the face and mouth and smoke inhalation. He would have been 51 in two weeks.
Buck’s friend and Rough Rider co-star, Col. Tim McCoy, said later, “He died saving others. That’s what got us through our grief. Still, it was a shock losing him. A great shock. Columbia shut down for a day. Nobody could work. It was like the death of a president.”
No everyone agreed.
In 1995, western expert and author Boyd Magers examined the story of the fire and the heroics of Buck Jones carefully. His conclusion echoes the tragic fires in New York at the beginning of the last century, when the Gen. Slocum burned to the waterline and Triangle Shirtwaist factory went up. No one really knows exactly what happened.
But Magers concludes it was highly unlikely that the heroics of Buck Jones ever happened in the manner in which they were described by the contemporary press. Magers does add this note, “We would all like to believe Buck was a hero. And he was. All 492 who died that night are heroes who have saved other lives through the years because of fire laws that have been changed and enforced to prevent any such mass tragedy from every occurring again.” To read his entire account, check the Internet for his article from Western Clippings, issue number 8, November/December, 1995.
Whether Brother Buck Jones was a real hero in the short term or in the long term or both, may not really be important. By virtue of the clean-living, honest, strong character that he played, he was always a hero to his fans. When asked why he didn’t occasionally play “bad guys,” he said, “I don’t think the little shavers would like it.”
He’s right. We wouldn’t.
Brother Buck Jones and his great horse Silver, heroes by any stretch of the imagination, even after more than 60 years.
Thank you, Bill Greenen
W. Brother Bill Greenen, Past Master of Apache Lodge No. 69 and Past Master of White Mountain Lodge No. 3, and an active member of Paradise Valley Silver Trowel Lodge No. 29, has helped us tremendously by not only setting up our web site (www.pioneer82.org) but taught this old “Pioneer” how to do the fancy work necessary for our members to receive our Trestle Board on this web site. . Thank you Brother Bill
Bill even looks like a "genious"