On the Town: Masons carry on their reverent tradition

In a tradition that dates back to the early 16th century, the desire to promote a greater degree of fellowship and kinship between Free and Accepted Masons saw the organization establish what has become known as the Table Lodge.

A special meeting that includes a feast, a series of toasts and the singing of Masonic songs, this event has been carried on to prescribe reverence for divinity and the moral law, strengthen the devotion that Masons hold for their lodge and country, and to increase the unity and fellowship of the craft.

Burbank Lodge No. 406 recently presented a Table Lodge that was presided over by the organization’s Worshipful Master Steven Harris. Honored with the presence of Frank Loui, who serves as the California Grand Master of Masons, the group were also pleased to have Tommy Chavies, who serves as the worshipful master of the Pasadena Masonic chapter, as their guest.

Among the local Masons who participated in the traditional dinner held at their Irving Drive headquarters were Billy Campbell, Erik Adams, Marc Canterbury, Norm Furman, Jeff Yates, Jeremy Chongco, David Williams, Peter Babaian, Thomas Quiroz, Leon Adkins, Anthony Sandino, James Laage and Elvan D’Moen.

In 1909, a dispensation was granted by the California Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons for a group of men who would become Burbankers (Burbank was not yet an established city) to form Lodge No. 406.

The organization’s inaugural meeting took place on July 1 of that year in their first home, the second floor of a building on South San Fernando Road.

With initial membership applications received from five ranchers, five farmers, a doctor, a carpenter, a teamster, a butcher, a teacher, an oil driller and a railroad worker, the Burbank lodge continued to grow and moved to its second location on Olive Avenue in 1931.

It then moved to its current location in 2000.

Today, with more than a century of service to the community and the charitable organizations they embrace, local Masons are currently supporting “Raising a Reader,” a national nonprofit organization that helps families successfully build and sustain literacy routines in the home.

DAVID LAURELL can be reached by email dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.