Masons Bob Ryan, Fred Johnson and Drew Coleman stand outside the Masonic Lodge in Port Townsend. -- Photo by Charlie Bermant/Peninsula Daily News
By Charlie Bermant, Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND,Wa-- The worse-for-wear Port Townsend Masonic Center No. 6 is getting a face-lift, but the changes are more than just brick deep.
"When we are finished, this will be the best looking brick building in Port Townsend," lodge Secretary Drew Coleman said.
"It's symbolic of our rebirth, where we are becoming more involved with the community."
The lodge is commemorating its 151st anniversary this year in a building that was built in 1901, burned in 1934 and rebuilt shortly afterward.
In recent years, the brick facade at the corner of Jefferson and Van Buren streets has deteriorated, with members hoping to rehabilitate the exterior.
It came to a head last year when one of the entrance bricks fell out.
Coleman pushed it back into place, but the project took on a sense of urgency.
The deadline to buff up all 4,500 bricks is Sept. 11, at which time the lodge will hold a celebration for members and widows.
The event begins at 3 p.m. and will be preceded by an open house from 9 a.m. until noon that will welcome the public into the renovated building.
Now in its third week, the project included a powerful water blast, followed by drilling out the mortar between each brick by about an inch.
This is enough to allow the application of a new layer of mortar, but not so much that the building will tumble down.
The project is planned to be completed well before the rainy season.
It will cost about $45,000 and is being completed by a local contractor.
"The Masons is a volunteer organization," Coleman said, "but you can't get any of these old guys up a scaffold."
The lodge now has 50 members with an average age of 70.
Recognizing this, the local lodges are making an effort to get younger people involved.
Coleman said Masons have never talk about their accomplishments, preferring to perform good deeds under the radar.
In the past 50 years, they have been talking even less, which has built the group's reputation as a "secret" society.
The high age average is attributable to this trend, as those who are Masons today were recruited at a time when the lodges were more forthcoming.
Today, a trend toward openness along with publicity on cable TV and the Internet have helped to spread the word.
The depiction of the Masons in popular novels by author Dan Brown has also helped.
"Dan Brown's books were obviously fiction, but they helped to tell people what we were all about," Coleman said.
In simplest terms, the Masons are a fraternal -- that is, all male -- organization that strives to help the community.
Members need to be 18 or older, of good character and have never committed a felony -- or if they have, they must have made restitution or served the time.
They also must believe in a supreme being.
"We don't accept atheists," Coleman said. "You have to believe in God to be a Mason, but it doesn't matter which one."
The Masons aren't secret because all of the teachings are in books available online, according to District Deputy James Hansen.
In addition to their low visibility, they do not proselytize, and new members have to ask to join.
Once a petition for membership is received, the applicant is vetted and begins three levels of training, which usually takes from three to six months,
New recruits are assigned a mentor and taken through the three levels.
Those recruits who become masters become mentors for new members.
Masons are worldwide and recognize each other by a tie, ring or lapel pin.
"Whenever I travel and meet other Masons they treat me very well," said Fred Johnson.
"We are getting the word out," Coleman said.
"We are becoming more a part of what is going on in the city."
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