Canton Masonic Temple: 100 years marked in rededication ceremony
CANTON ‒ Organizers of Saturday's Masonic Temple rededication ceremony tried mightily to find and remove a 100-year-old time capsule entombed within its cornerstone.
The memorabilia from a century ago would have been a great addition for the 1:30 p.m. service.
"We X-rayed it, we bore holes into it, but that [cornerstone] was solid," explained Roger Evans, tyler of the William McKinley Lodge 431 of Freemasons, one of five Masonic groups that uses the building.
In other words, no time capsule inside.
"And that stone weighs 2400 pounds," Evans said.
No problem a little creativity couldn't fix. Instead of holding the ceremony outside by the cornerstone, the event unfolded in the building's Blue Room. Masons and local politicians gathered to recreate the original dedication service to honor the structure's 100-year anniversary.
Following a procession and prayer, a new cornerstone was filled with lodge history books, aprons and pins, a mug, a York Rite coppery penny, a Scottish Rite ― even a Canton Repository newspaper.
The new cornerstone will be displayed inside the building.
Wayne A. Fisher, grand orator of the Grand Lodge of Ohio F & AM, delivered a speech about the original dedication day, Nov. 9, 1924. He spoke of a march from the old building to the new site, which would be completed and opened two years later.
On that day, the assembly sang "America."
"Over the years, the splendor of many of the great Masonic buildings around our state has unfortunately waned," Fisher said. "Membership, while healthy, has found it difficult to justify those once glorious edifices, and many have been sold and put to use for other purposes ... ."
Canton's temple, though, has persevered.
"However, as we stand here today," he said, "...the [Masonic bodies] can truly be proud of their ability to continue bringing brotherly love, relief and truth to the city of Canton as well as the surrounding communities of the area, and we pray that this great structure will continue to the Canton Masonic Temple for another 100 years."
Besides McKinley 431 and the York and Scottish rites, Canton 60 and Trinity 710 lodges also share the Temple.
Although the bodies are open only to male members, many rooms in the Temple at 836 Market Ave. N. can be rented for special events, such as weddings.
Evans said the temple board added rentals because the cost of keeping up the old building keeps getting more expensive.
"It really was the only way," he said.
The four-floor facility includes a grand ballroom in the sub-basement, along with a host of other rooms. The largest is the Cathedral room, with theater seating for as many as 812 people.
Reach Tim at 330-580-8333 or tim.botos@cantonrep.com.On X: @tbotosREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Service recreates 1924 Canton Masonic Temple dedication 100 years later
