"If Freemasonry is good, let us talk about it" Theodore Meriam - Part 4

2. LODGE ACTIVITIES - or, in other words, our public appearances as a group of Masons making up a Lodge.  Th are several natural Masonic functions that give the public an opportunity to watch us in action.  Many of the smaller Lodges have the custom of having an annual open installation and this is excellent providing, or course, that the ceremony is done in the most creditable manner possible.  Perhaps no other Masonic ceremony gives a more important image of the Masonic Fraternity than a Masonic funeral - for here, perhaps more than at any other time, many of the precepts of Masonry are presented to an attentive public and this is why it is so important that the ritual of our funeral service be done with DIGNITY and with QUALITY - and certainly there is a wealth of SUBSTANCE in the service itself.

Our sponsorship of Public Schools Week throughout California provides annually a very important function which the public can observe. For many years it seemed to be the pattern for the sponsoring Masonic Lodge to stay very much in the background and say almost nothing publicly about the fact that Public Schools Week actually was sponsored by the Masons.  Fortunately, in recent years, this pattern has changed and Lodges throughout California have become definitely identified in the mind of the public with this very important annual observance - Public Schools Week.  This is as it should be for certainly we are proud of our founding of and our sponsoring of Public Schools Week.

Annually, too, during Constitution Month there is the opportunity in every community for the Masonic Lodge or Lodges to stage an interesting and important observance, built around what should be, and can be, strong public interest in the tremendous value and importance of the Constitution of the Untied States of America.  I think there is a real challenge here to every Lodge to devise ways and means of developing greater public interest through outstanding programs in the annual Constitutional observance.

From time to time there are Grand Lodge functions which convey to the public an important image of the function of Masonry in California.  For example, in May of 1961, the Grand Lodge of California officiated at the re-enactment of the laying of the cornerstone of the State Capitol at Sacramento.  Perhaps the most important highlight of this occasion was the informal parade of approximately 1,000 Masons in aprons marching from the Masonic Temple on "J" Street several blocks to the State Capitol.  Many thousands of people in Sacramento saw this parade and saw the assemblage of Masons at the State Capitol building.  This provided a good image.

This past summer also he Grand Lodge officiated in the dedication of a public park in the City of Redding.  The park had been named as a memorial to a very prominent Redding citizen, and ardent Mason, who had devoted his live to the service of his community.  To the best of my knowledge, this was the first time in the history of our Grand Lodge that a public park had been formally dedicated by the Grand Lodge.  This attracted widespread and very favorable attention in the general Redding community to the Grand Lodge of California.  This was good public relations!  Most important, though, we should be ready, willing and able to tell the public about such events.  We should not hesitate to tell the public what we are doing, if we are doing anything.  Just a year ago a Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Information was formed; although the title of the Committee is Masonic Information, what really is meant is public relations.  This Committee has done an excellent piece of work during its first year of existence and those of us who are strongly interested in this subject of Masonic public relations feel that as the Committee continues to serve, very splendid results will accrue to Masonry in California.  The Committee will be of much aid in the future to individual Lodges, and we suggest that the officers of each Lodge be anxious to use the suggestions an material which will be provided by this important Committee.