Howard E. Palmes Lodge 917
I am a Master Mason at Howard E Palmes Lodge. I joined in 2014 and served as Worshipful Master from June 2019 – June 2020 and have served in various other positions through the years. I am currently serving as Secretary. We are located off of Cottage Hill Road and have a Fellowship Hall we do rent out that fits about 100-120 people. We do annual fundraisers by smoking Boston Butts and selling them to the communities, and it is by and large the best pulled pork you can get.
Abba Shriners
The Shriners started as a social club for Freemasons and grew exponentially and it 1920 they started the Shriners Hospitals for Children, now known as Shriners Childrens, and Shriners Childrens treat kids with specialized medical care for orthopedic injuries, muscular-skeletal diseases, burns, treatment for children with spinal cord injuries, cleft lip and palate, and so many many more all with zero out of pocket costs for the family or the child.
The Abba Shrine was founded in Mobile in 1903 and in the 1980s they moved to their current building off Hitt Rd. The Abba Shrine provides an auditorium or Event Venue for a whole slew of events and organizations in the Mobile Area at very reasonable pricing. The Abba Shriners focus on raising money for Shriners Childrens but in addition they also raise funds to allow the Shriners to transport the kids under the Shriners Childrens program to the hospital at no cost to them for their food, lodging, or transportation.
I am currently serving on the Divan (Executive Board) since January 2022. As well as participating in the Public Relations and serving as Webmaster since 2020.
Scottish Rite
Valley of Mobile
The Scottish Rite is an appendant body of freemasonry and focus on supporting the degree work of the regular or “Blue” lodges of freemasonry. Their philanthropy is the Alabama Scottish Rite Foundation who raises money to assist school districts in providing identification and intervention services for students with dyslexia.
I have held various positions in the organizations through the years since 2015 when I joined.
Order of Quetzalcoatl
Any Shriner who works hard at their local temple and shows a special interest in the philanthropy may get invited to join the Order of Quetzalcoatl. The Order of Quetzalcoatl’s biggest focus is raising money for The Q4Kids Foundation and helping their local temple raise money for its transportation.
I served as Treasurer for my local chapter in 2023.
York Rite Bodies of Mobile
The York Rite is an appendant body of freemasonry, and its focus is furthering masons understanding of the degree work or esoteric work so to speak. Their major Fundraiser is the Knights Templar Eye Foundation and the money raised through this charity is given to fund research into several eye diseases and promote finding cures for those ailments.
All Masons in Alabama are beholden to the Grand Lodge of Alabama, and I am on the Internet and Information Systems Committee.
We have several charitable outreaches, including the Child ID Program, Scholarship funds, and charitable matching contributions.