The Grand Lodge of Nebraska hosted a Lincoln Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony, in conjunction with their centuries-old Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony, on June 9th. These ceremonies were held in honor of their new office, located at 301 N. Cotner Blvd.
The ceremony that was presented is essentially the same one used by George Washington, a Freemason, when he laid the cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol in 1793 while serving as president.
In Nebraska, the Masonic cornerstone ceremony has welcomed more than 500 government, school and church buildings to communities across the state during the Grand Lodge’s 156 years of existence. Each cornerstone encloses a time capsule with artifacts noting the occasion, events of the day, historical information, names of ceremony participants and photos.
The new Grand Lodge office is almost twice as large as its previous location at 1240 N. 10th St. The additional space allows for inclusion of a lodge room, a larger and more appealing lobby and more storage space.
Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest non-religious, non-political, fraternal and charitable organization. The fraternity can be found around the world in nearly 80 countries with about six million members. Nebraska’s membership is 12,000 members in 137 lodges in 113 communities.
For more information The Grand Lodge of Nebraska, please contact Michelle Fulmer at (402) 475-4640, michelle@glne.org, or visit www.glne.org.