Quittacus2

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QUITTACUS LODGE

Location: New Bedford

Chartered By: Edgar W. Darling

Charter Date: 05/23/1991 1991-51

Precedence Date: 05/08/1857

Current Status: Active; formed by the merger of Eureka and Quittacus Lodges, 05/23/1991. Carried forward the charter of the older lodge.


PAST MASTERS

  • George J. P. Breault, 1991, 1992, 1998; N
  • August R. Cote, 1995-1997; PDDGM
  • John E. Cottrill, 1993, 1994, 1999-2002, 2009, 2010; PDDGM
  • Mark E. White, 2002
  • Richard R. Poulin, 2003-2006
  • Robert G. Hughes, 2007, 2008
  • Ralph P. Perkins, 2011
  • Robert A. Hughes, 2012

REFERENCES IN GRAND LODGE PROCEEDINGS

  • Consolidation Petition: 1990

ANNIVERSARIES

  • 2008 (175th Anniversary)

VISITS BY GRAND MASTER

  • 1991 (Darling; Consolidation; Special Communication)
  • 2008 (Pageau; 175th Anniversary; Special Communication)

BY-LAW CHANGES

1991 2012 2016 2017

HISTORY

  • 2008 (175th Anniversary History, 2008-68)

175TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORY, JUNE 2008

From Proceedings, Page 2008-68:

Our Current Masonic Lodge Building

The Hall Committee then purchased the Wamsutta Club property at County and Union Streets, the site of the present Temple.

The new Masonic Temple was completed at an expense of less than $200,000.00 and is considered one of the best for its size in the state.

A Special Communication was held in the new Temple on April 11, 1927 for the purpose of dedication.

Quittacus Lodge and Eureka Lodge: The Merger and Beyond

By 1991, the membership of Eureka Lodge had slowly declined to a point that a merger was considered. Eureka Lodge was in good shape financially but there were six Lodges meeting in the New Bedford location and there simply was not a large enough membership to sustain all six Lodges. A committee was formed to consider the possibilities of a merger and it was determined that Quittacus Lodge should be approached due to its younger and more active membership. Quittacus Lodge responded by forming a merger committee of its own and, after due discussion and deliberation, it was decided to proceed with the merger process. It was determined to retain the name Quittacus Lodge but to retain the Charter of Eureka Lodge due to its earlier precedence by sixty-three years. Although there was some expected trepidation, the true spirit of Freemasonry prevailed and the merger occurred on May 23, 1991.

Since the merger, the overall attitude of the membership has slowly blossomed to reflect the benefits of the merger. The yearly exchange of visits with May Flower Lodge have continued to flourish as have the yearly Past Masters' Nights. However, the Lodge has become more active with its support of the Salvation Army by ringing the bells during the holiday season and participating in the annual dinner for the needy which was instituted in 1993 by our own R. W. George J. P. Breault. We are also participants in the Masonic CHIP (Child Identification) Programs in the District.

Since February of 2002, the Chaplain of the Lodge has organized Brotherhood Breakfasts which are held at the Courtyard Restaurant in Fairhaven (owned by our own Bro. Matthew Gamache) about every six weeks throughout the year. Due to space limitations, the breakfasts are limited to members of Quittacus Lodge and any prospective members. Attendance averages about twenty-four and the list of attendees varies at each breakfast so that during the course of a year, we may have as many as thirty-five different members attend. At these breakfasts, we take a voluntary collection. After the bill and gratuity are paid, the excess goes into a fund which at year's end is donated to the Salvation Army. Our goal each year is to reach $1,000 in that yearly breakfast donation. The breakfasts commence with coffee at 7:30 a.m., we sit down and order at 8:00 a.m. and we are on our way by 9:00 a.m. It is a wonderful opportunity to get to know each other better and to promote a true sense of brotherhood.

During the past several years, due to the efforts by the Lodge and our Grand Lodge to bring Freemasonry before the public that they may know who we are as well as what the principles and teachings of Freemasonry offer, we have experienced a definite increase in candidates. It is not unusual to have eight to ten candidates each year. But the most exciting and significant aspect is not the increase in numbers but the fact that so many of the candidates are younger men who arrive at our door quite well-educated in the basics of Freemasonry due to information available on the internet. The candidates arrive ready to get active and participate. Our current progressive officers' line has few Past Masters in it and next year's line is expected to have none. Another important reason for this strengthening of the progressive officers' line is that several Masters in recent years have graciously consented to serve two years in that station to allow the officers line to strengthen and gain experience. A typical meeting draws about two dozen members plus visitors. We also have a number of members who have affiliated because they are attracted by the attitude and activity of Quittacus Lodge. It is good to know that regardless of which Lodge we attend or visit, the spirit of Freemasonry is the primary factor which unites us, bonds us and allows us to meet, greet and depart on the Level. Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again.

Challenge to Masonry

The record of a hundred fifty years in Quittacus Lodge has been written. It is a story of good fellowship and notable service in the Masonic life of this community, of which every member is or should be justly proud.

It is a record that holds much promise for the future. In these days of strife and turmoil in which we live, when on every hand alien minded individuals, who enjoy our freedom and our economy, seek to tear down and destroy that which in our land has been build so well, it is of vital importance that we should be firmly united in our determination to preserve our national ideals as well as the spiritual values of civilization itself. Only so long as those values and ideals can be preserved can we be sure that our nation, our fraternity or civilization will survive.

There was never a time in our history when it was so vitally important as now to be "vigilant, active and alert in matters affecting our Constitution". On every side, numerous vicious assaults have been and are being made to undermine and impair its control and guidance of our government. We need an enduring faith today in the thought that after the night cometh the day, that after the gloom of the night cometh the glory of the dawn.

Today, as almost never before, the world sorely needs the teachings and philosophies of Freemasonry. It needs to recognize again the Brotherhood of Man. It needs a universal striving for World Peace, hoping ever and praying always for the coming of the day when "swords shall be beaten into plough shares and spears into pruning hooks, when nations shall not life up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more".

OTHER

  • 1883 (Granting of a replacement charter for one destroyed by fire)

1991 2008


GRAND LODGE OFFICERS


DISTRICTS

1991: District 30 (New Bedford)

2003: District 19


LINKS

Lodge Web Site

Massachusetts Lodges