Kerens Masons observe 150th anniversary

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June 1, 2009

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Relief Lodge No. 238 of Kerens Worshipful Master Robert Stucker opens the celebration ceremonies for the lodge� 150th anniversary, held Saturday in the Kerens Alumni Center. Also at the head table were, from left, 50-year lodge member Joe White, Stucker, Texas Grand Master W. David Counts Jr., and District Deputy Grand Master (110th District) Hughie Libhart. Special to the Sun/Loyd Cook
Special to the Sun/Loyd Cook Robert Stucker, worshipful master of Relief Lodge No. 236 in Kerens, presents Billy McManus with the Golden Trowel Award, the highest honor a Masonic lodge can present one of its members. McManus is a past master of the Kerens lodge and a former Navarro County commissioner for Precinct 2.
Special to the Sun/Loyd Cook Joe White was presented with his 50-year membership pin, which was pinned on his lapel by his wife Velma, during the 150th anniversary celebration of Relief Lodge No. 236 in Kerens on Saturday.
Special to the Sun/Loyd Cook Otis Ray Spurlock, center, has his pin for 50 years of membership in Relief Lodge No. 236 in Kerens pinned on his lapel by his wife Ann as Texas Grand Master W. David Counts Jr. looks on.
Special to the Sun/Loyd Cook Oscar Christman has his 50-year pin put on his lapel by his wife Doris during the presentations commemorating 50 years of membership in Relief Lodge No. 236 in Kerens. The presentation was part of the lodge's 150th anniversary celebration held Saturday.

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By Loyd Cook, Special to the Sun

KERENS — Masons from Kerens, Navarro County and state Masonic dignitaries gathered Saturday to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Relief Lodge No. 236 AF&AM in Kerens.

The event was held in the Kerens Alumni Center.

Buddy Wigley, a past master of Corsicana’s No. 174 lodge and noted area Masonic historian, spoke at length about the history of the Kerens lodge. He noted the feeling he gets each time he enters Kerens Masons’ present lodge hall, one they have used for the past 92 years.

“Every time I go into the lodge, I look at the pictures and think of these men,” Wigley said, “the lives they lived and the integrity with which they lived it.”

The historian gave context to the time period around the founding date of the Kerens lodge — June 16, 1859.

He noted that date was about two years before the first shot of the Civil War was fired at Ft. Sumter in South Carolina. Wigley said that the Navarro County population in 1859 was listed at 7,159 people.

The population for Rush Creek/Wadesville — the towns that would later become Kerens after moving to Kerens’ present location — was 52 people that year.

The initial lodge building was in Wadesville and was a two-story structure, Wigley said. He said Masons used the second floor as their meeting place and opened a public school in the ground floor, even paying the teachers that instructed the town’s children.

He noted that Masonic lodges across the state often see their ages mirror that of the communities where they are located. They often were formed in the communities’ early days, after businesses and schools came in, and usually around the time of the formation of the first churches there.

Relief Lodge No. 236’s present worshipful master, Robert Stucker, gave the opening welcome at the event. Longtime lodge member Joe L. White was the master of ceremonies.

White, along with Otis Ray Spurlock and Oscar Christman, were presented with 50-year membership pins for their long association with the Kerens lodge.

Billy McManus — a past master of the lodge and a former county commissioner from Precinct 2 — was awarded a Golden Trowel award for his service to the lodge. The Golden Trowel award is the highest honor a lodge can bestow to one of its members.

Saturday’s sesquicentennial celebration for the lodge was liberally attended by many dignitaries from across the county and from the state’s Masonic organization.

Keynote speaker for the evening was W. David Counts Jr. Counts is the grand master for the Grand Lodge of Texas, the top office in the state. Hughie Libhart, district deputy grand master for the 100th District, was also a speaker.

Farouk Qubty, past master of Blooming Grove’s lodge (No. 407), gave the opening invocation and McManus gave the benediction to close the evening’s proceedings.

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Loyd Cook is a former Daily Sun editor and writer.

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