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St. John's
Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Masons Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Constituted June 24, 1736
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St. John's
Lodge No. 1 Free and Accepted Masons Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.A. Constituted June 24, 1736
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About St. John's and Its History
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From the Worshipful Master January 2008
Brethren,
I am sincerely honored and excited that you have elected me to be Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge for 2008. The trust you have placed in me is very much appreciated and I will do everything in my power to continue the proud traditions of our Fraternity.
My family has a long history in St. John's Lodge. My Great-Great Grandfather, George Henry Tripp filed his application for membership in our lodge in June of 1886. My Great Grandfather Charles Leslie Hinkley was a member and my Grandfather Arthur Roland Hinkley submitted his application to St. John's on August 10, 1931. I know my Grandfather loved this Fraternity and I have heard so many stories from so many other brothers that I am in awe of our history. I am proud to be a part of it.
Over the last few years I have become aware that “things aren’t the way they used to be” in our Fraternity. We used to have very large parades on St. John’s Sunday. We used to have well attended Table Lodges, and the Ladies of our Lodge all seemed to be friends. Our membership was much larger years ago and when we held special functions like the Clambake I’m told attendance was very good. I’m also told that over the last several years as our membership has declined that attendance at lodge and special functions has suffered as well. The good news though is that we have just finished two good years of membership growth and we had the first increase in membership last year in many years.
The reason I write the statements above is because I
believe our lodge is becoming an exciting and entertaining place to be. We have
many new members who attend regularly and we entertain visitors all the time.
There is no shortage of ideas for things we want to do and accomplish and as I
look forward over the next few years I believe you will see a dramatic
resurgence in our fraternity not only in St. John’s but throughout New
Hampshire. My goals as Master of St. Johns are threefold. First, I want to continue to revitalize our membership and provide entertaining activities and programs. Second, I want to promote an outward focus on serving our community, and third I want to revitalize the sense of “family” that we used to have in our Fraternity. I want our wives and families to be friends with each other. I hope I can count on your support to reach these goals and I look forward to serving as Worshipful Master this year!
Tom Haslam
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