The following story I wrote in the early 2000's. Sorry that I cannot remember the exact date. The Louisville Illinois Lodge has since closed. Brethren, Last evening I had the privilege and honor of attending the raising of a Master Mason. As Every Master Mason knows, the raising of a new Brother to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason is, in itself, a solemn and beautiful ceremony. The Lodge I attended is situated above another building in this small, rural, south central Illinois town of Louisville, Illinois. We got to town and parked at the Town Square. The Lodge was located on the block south of the Town Square, facing north. We walked though a narrow alley and entered a small door. I noticed that the narrow stairway, leading up, had a lot of wear on the treads. Upon entering the Lodge there were a couple tables for the Brethren to relax at and when I went to get a drink of water, there was only one spigot above the sink. There was no hot water and I had to duck to get into the restroom, but, like the rest of the building, it was neat, orderly and clean. The Lodge itself was by no means new. I did not ask how long the Lodge had been there, but, the furnishings attested that this was an old and well used Lodge. The floors were uneven, the carpet well worn and when a visiting Brother was asked to turn on the ceiling fans, the switch gave him a jolt....and he promptly exclaimed "Someone else is going to have to turn off those fans!" The Altar interested me very much. It was not large, but it was handcrafted and was intricately inlaid with small pieces of wood. It was one of the most beautiful Altars that I have ever seen. The Holy Bible was probably the newest item that I seen in the Lodge ...well....except for the Brother that was there to be Raised! The Officers of the Lodge were most friendly and very gracious for us being thre. I was informed that the Chaplain was 96 years young, the Marshall 79 years young and I observed that the Secretary used a cane. From what I gathered, the rest of the Officers are in their 70's and 80's. Even though it might take some of these Brothers a little longer to stand upright, I watched, with a deep and respectful pride, of the satisfaction that emulated from these Brothers as they readied themselves for the tasks they were about to undertake. As the Degree was happening, one of the members of the Lodge told Brother Neil Richars to dim the lights. The 'switch' to dim the lights was a pretty good sized circular cast iron contraption that had a large handle sticking out of it. To dim the lights, one had to rotate the handle in a circular motion. When Brother Richars turned the handle a pretty large spark jumped off the contacts! (When I say 'large spark', I am talking 4-6 inches or so! I later found out it was a pretty old rheostat that was used back years ago to dim the lights.). Brother Richars had a couple choice words to say and he then said "I am NOT touching that again!". Instead of using a slide projector for the lectures, there was a wooden stand which has a roll of papers at the top, (similar to the retractable maps I learned from in school), and from the age of the paper, one had to very careful when they were unrolled. I have attended numerous Lodges, in the last couple of years that I have been a Master Mason, and I have learned something precious at every one. Last evening I again learned, but more importantly, felt, what Masonry teaches ....it is not about how new the Lodge is, if it has all the comforts of home, if the carpeting is new, or even if the roof doesn't leak. It is about the Pride, the Respect and the Brotherly Love that is present there. These Brothers continue to go to Lodge and hold Offices because of the respect that they have for Freemasonry, their Brothers and themselves. What I seen and felt last evening is something that I pray every Master Mason will experience at least once in their lives. Fraternally, Ed Martin Newton Lodge #216