Kingston Lodge

History of Kingston Lodge

Here is a link back to my main lodge page.

**** Kingston 1967 to 2016 ****

Kingston Lodge Update: closed 4/14/2016 and “merged with” Lodge # 548 Trojan. This is an archive of the info I found off the old lodge website. kingstonlodge676.org

***

Kingston received its Charter as Kingston Lodge Number 666, A.F. & A.M from the Grand Lodge of Iowa on September 20, 1967. This makes it one of the youngest Lodges in Iowa.

Many of the Charter members of Kingston Lodge were Masons employed in the construction of the Duane Arnold Nuclear Power Plant, then being built near the town of Palo, about 10 miles NW of Cedar Rapids. They decided they wanted a Lodge of their own, petitioned the Grand Lodge of Iowa for a dispensation, worked for some time, and eventually received their Charter.

The members of Kingston Lodge initially met in a Methodist church building, in a part of Cedar Rapids known as Kingston. From this location, the charter members selected the name for their new Lodge. After meeting there for several years, they determined that they would like a dedicated place to hold their meetings. Determining that the construction of their own Lodge Hall would be prohibitively expensive, they joined with the brethren of Mizpah Lodge to refurbish a room on the second floor of the Scottish Rite building, and met there until about the year 2000. To facilitate the attendance of some older members, they moved downstairs to the Consistory classroom. After meeting there for two years, they moved to next door to the Cedar Rapids Masonic Temple. In 2006, they moved their meeting place to the El Kahir Shrine activity building. This provided them with a ground floor meeting place, a large parking lot, year round air-conditioning, and other benefits.

In 2001, the brethren determined that their Lodge number, "666", was an unnecessary bit of baggage, since it was viewed very negatively by some prospective members. They sponsored legislation at Grand Lodge to change their number to the next available number, which just happened to be "676". This was quite fortuitous, since the number changed by only a single digit, making it easier to remember and still maintaining links to the original number. This legislation was passed by the delegates to Grand Lodge on September 22, 2001. Of course, this activity was viewed as extremely news-worthy by the news media, gaining front page headlines in the Cedar Rapids Gazette. (Apparently it was a slow news day.) This rapidly spread through the national media, including prominent mention on the "Bob and Tom" show. At least it was attention.

During the short history of Kingston Lodge, it has been honored by having by having its members serve many important roles in Iowa Masonry, including a Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, a Grand Master of the Grand Council of Iowa, a Grand High Priest of the Grand Chapter of Iowa, a Deputy Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, a Potentate of El Kahir Shrine, two Chief Camaxtlis of the Central States Quetzalcoatl Association, and a Supreme Tlaloc of the Order of Quetzalcoatl.

In 2003, Mel Price, a charter member of Kingston Lodge, was also awarded the T.S. Parvin award, the highest award given to Iowa Masons.

With a current membership of about 50 men, Kingston Lodge remains extremely active, and looks forward to a bright future.

Intro to Freemasonry from there website

Freemasonry is a fraternity dedicated to the moral and intellectual improvement of its members. Membership is limited to men with Faith in God, a good reputation, and a desire to improve themselves and their community. It is frequently described as "a beautiful system of morality, hidden by allegory and illustrated with symbols". As such, the philosophical lessons of the fraternity are taught by a series of three degrees, which are the initiatory ceremonies of the fraternity. They teach the morals and history of the fraternity through a series of allegorical plays, using the working tools of operative masonry as symbols to remind us of our obligations to ourselves, to our brethren, and to our community. Within its membership, you will find men of all walks of life: farmers, teachers, lawyers, bankers, ministers, engineers, plumbers, carpenters, and even an occasional operative stone or brick mason.

Many books have been written about the fraternity. We strongly recommend the book "Freemasons for Dummies" which is readily available at most bookstores and online at www.amazon.com . Don't be put off by its title. It is not really intended for dummies. It is intended for anyone interested in learning more about the fraternity. Another excellent book, with an equally off-putting title is "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Freemasonry." Both of these books contain a wealth of information concerning the craft, its history, its goals, and its symbols.

Much information is also available online. If you search for Freemasonry on any search engine, you will find literally thousands of sites purporting to tell you all about the fraternity. However, be warned that while many of these sites are filled with good information, many more of them are filled with extremely erroneous information. Many of them are actually sites intended to denigrate the purposed of the fraternity, and are filled with either outright lies, or misinterpreted information.

Past Masters

1968 Ithiel Bean

1969 Jesse G. Hunter

1970 Marvin G. Astor

1971 Melvin C. Price

1972 Melvin C. Price

1973 Ellsworth F. Fife

1974 Robert Jerry Cowan

1975 William O. Mc Collum

1976 Terry Charles Cooper

1977 Donald E. Myers

1978 Elmer Hartgrave

1979 Gary Evilsizer

1980 Robert Trask

1981 Almer Puckhaber

1982 James D. Holmstedt

1983 Cecil Middleton

1984 J. Harvey Smyth

1985 Cloyd Bishop

1986 Roy Tull

1987 Elmer Hartgrave

1988 Walter Pratt

1989 Douglas Wiley

1990 Fred Madison

1991 Charles Eoff

1992 Glenn N. Marshall

1993 Robert Soukup

1994 Donald E. Mosier

1995 Donald E. Mosier

1996 Robert Soukup

1997 Troy Winegar, Jr.

1998 Donald E. Mosier

1999 Randy E. Cejka

2000 Randy E. Cejka

2001 D. Michael Bonney

2002 Tim S. Anderson

2003 Douglas R. Heath

2004 Terry G. Day

2005 Randy E. Cejka

2006 Randy E.Cejka

2007 Michael G. Zinser

2008 Michael G. Zinser

2009 Clifford Weaver

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

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