Robert Blackburn is a freelance writer for the Ann Arbor Observer and a member of Ann Arbor Fraternity Lodge No. 262.
In the news
- Masons at the Crossroads, Bro. Robert Blackburn, from April 2009 Ann Arbor Observer, pp. 35-37.
Despite their setbacks, some Masons remain optimistic about the fraternity’s future. Seymour Greenstone, secretary for Fraternity No. 262, has been a member since 1957. The group, he notes, “has seen a significant increase in new members in the last five years, mostly young men in their twenties and thirties. These young members are seriously interested in the philosophy and ethical foundations of Masonry and come to the fraternity well read and with great enthusiasm.” Even if Ann Arbor’s Masons never build another temple, the fraternity is about more than bricks and mortar, or secret oaths and handshakes. It’s about enduring personal connections—sometimes initiated by family, but ultimately strengthened by the special friendships made in a lodge. Tom Hathaway, a thirty-three-year old medical student, says he was introduced to Freemasonry at his grandfather’s funeral. He found the Masonic ceremony more moving than the Episcopal liturgy and subsequently joined Fraternity No. 262. Busy today with studies, his family, and his church, he finds time for the group, he says, because “the people I meet in Masonry inspire me to be a better person.”
