From FREEMASONS OF WOOD COUNTY LODGE #112
The Freemasons of Wood County Lodge #112 will open their doors for a public open house on Saturday, April 22, from 1-5 p.m.
The Lodge is located at 159 N Main Street in Bowling Green, directly across from Uptown/Downtown bar, with its front door sandwiched between Loonar Station and Get Inspired Nutrition. The lodge room is on the third floor, accessible via the front entrance stairway, and an ADA compliant wheelchair lift is available in the rear of the building.
Anyone who would like to know more about Freemasonry or is just curious and would like a peek inside may attend. Members and their families will also be present to share the day. Building tours and light snacks and refreshments will be available throughout the event.
Wood County Lodge is the oldest continuously-meeting lodge of Freemasons in Northwest Ohio – meetings have been held regularly since 1843. The first meetings were held by moonlight in a barn in Tontogany; the location changed a few times over the years, then the downtown building was purchased and renovated in 1920, and meetings have been held there since that time. The lodge holds many historical documents, including many photos of local Masons dating back to the 1800s.
Several of the chairs in the lodge room are also original seats from the Cla-Zel theatre, saved and refurbished when it was being renovated.
Freemasonry is the world’s oldest and largest men’s fraternity in the world. Thirteen signers of the Constitution and fourteen Presidents of the United States, including George Washington, were Freemasons. Today, there are more than 2 million Freemasons in North America alone, 90,000 of which are Ohio Freemasons.
The origins of Freemasonry are rooted in the guilds of stonemasons, who built the castles and cathedrals during the Middle Ages. The tools and objects used by stonemasons have been adapted as symbols in the ceremonies of modern Freemasonry to teach moral lessons; known worldwide as a symbol of character, charity and friendship, the Square and Compasses design is the emblem of every Masonic lodge.
Today, Freemasonry is a fraternity that brings together good men from various political, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds to work to improve themselves and their communities in the spirit of brotherly love, relief, and truth.
For more information email WoodCountyMasons@gmail.com or visit the Ohio Grand Lodge at www.freemason.com, or come to the open house on April 22.
