By: George J. Bibilos

Masonry in the past several years has had me "on the road" much more than I have ever been in my Masonic career.  As a Warden and Master of GRL I certainly did a fair amount of travelling around the District.  Obviously when I became District Deputy Grand Master my Masonic travelling definitely picked up.  Seeing the different lodges around the district was certainly fun as was meeting the brethren from around the area.

More recently in my roles on the Membership and now Education committees I have had the opportunity to travel well beyond the Lucky 13th Masonic District.  On membership we have been to Fall RIver, Marlboro, and East Longmeadow doing Ambassador training.  It was great to see these buildings and you get a sense of the personalities that are tied to each building.  Usually it is a Past District Deputy Grand Master or a permanent member that has been very active for a long time.  I also find on these visits people love to show off their buildings and give visiting brethren tours and show off their history.

On education I have gone west with trips Westfield, Ayer, Millbury and Greenfield for the Masters' Path as well as other parts of the state.   It is truly another world out there and it is beautiful.  Visiting Greenfield was like stepping back in time with their wonderful old downtown, with so many locally owned business and stores.  It wasn't littered with the chain stores and restaurants that we are in the eastern part of the state.

I remember going to the Lowell Masonic Building for a cigar dinner and admiring what a beautiful buidling they have.  The gameroom where they actually hold the smoker is fantastic with the great old mission style furniture.  Their lodgerooms are beautiful as I poked around a few af them while getting a little "fresh air" break from the smoker.  We have also lost some buildings due to the increased cost of maintenance.  The Springfield building comes to mind.  This was a beautiful buidling with great lodge rooms and a lot of detail, but it was clearly falling into disrepair and I believe it has been sold.

I remember the Haverhill building and their lodgeroom, in particular their electrician's station for the lodgeroom lighting.  The old lighting switch to raise and dim the lights is a bit scary.  As I recall they sparked a bit when you engaged them.  I guess what is scary is that for an old lodge building the resides over a meatmarket, having already had a fire many years ago, that lighting system might give me pause.  That said, it is a great building with lots of history and we Masons certainly enjoy that.

Getting out and seeing what masonry is like across the state and the facilities that house our different lodges can be very enjoyable.  Ask Ernie Bean if he'll give you a tour of the Masonic Building in Lexington (you can see his handsome Past Master's portrait), or Andy Maninos for a tour of the Malden Building which has many historic items displayed or Joe Denicola and the work they are doing in the Hingham Building.  Visiting these brothers and seeing Masonry beyond our local Masonic world is a great perk of our fraternity.  Remember you are a travelling man - get going!