World's Oldest Consecutive Annual Masonic Day Celebration

(I normally post a book review on Friday, but tonight I present with a magazine article that I wrote recently. It appeared on Page 13 of the July 2012 of The Working Tools Masonic Magazine, which was released earlier today. Print copies of the magazine are available for sale, but you can also download a free PDF version of the magazine at the magazine's website. For more information about the magazine, visit its website at www.hawthornefortitude200.com/twtmag.html.)

"World's Oldest Consecutive Annual Masonic Day Celebration"

By Bro. Lee Peacock

Florala, Ala., with a population of less than 2,000, is home to the “World’s Oldest Consecutive Annual Masonic Day Celebration.”

As indicated by the name of this small southern town, Florala is located just north of the Alabama-Florida state line and has been home to an annual Masonic celebration since just after the end of the Civil War.

Also referred to as the “24th of June Celebration,” this event has been held every year in Florala since 1870 to celebrate the important Masonic figures of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint John the Baptist. The 2012 celebration, which marked the event’s 142nd year, officially began on June 1 and wrapped up with a day of events on June 30. It is held annually in honor of St. John’s Day – June 24, 1717 - when the first Grand Lodge, the Grand Lodge of England, was established.

In its early days, Florala’s Masonic Day Celebration was sponsored by three Masonic lodges – Chapel Hill Lodge, Lake City Lodge No. 377 and Fidelity Lodge No. 685 of the Alabama Free and Accepted Masons and Chapter 441 of the Order of the Eastern Star. Over the years, the Chapel Hill Lodge and Lake City Lodge passed out of existence, but Fidelity Lodge No. 685 and OES Chapter 441 are still going strong and continue to sponsor this long-running Masonic event.

This year’s celebration included a wide variety of Masonic-themed events including work in the Master Mason Degree at Fidelity Lodge No. 685, the crowning of a Masonic King and Queen, the naming of the Order of the Eastern Star’s “Sweetheart” and “Mason of the Year,” a dinner served by the Order of the Eastern Star No. 441, a Masonic open installation for Fidelity Lodge No. 685 and visiting lodge officers, a Masonic march through town and a luncheon for visiting Masons, Shriners and their guests.

The celebration, which is free and open to the public, also included a number of non-Masonic activities such as a treasure hunt, a bass tournament, a bicycle race, a womanless beauty pageant, an “anything goes” parade, a “water battle” for children, a beauty pageant, a spaghetti supper, a gospel singing, a sock hop, a street dance, a children’s chalk drawing contest, the 20th Annual Lake Jackson Cruisers Car Show, music on the town square, a parade, arts and crafts, a firefighter skills competition, live music at Lake Jackson, fireworks and the 17th Annual Alligator Trot 5K race and walk.

The annual Alligator Trot 5K road race and walk is remarkable because it is the only 5-K (3.1-mile) race that takes place in both Alabama and Florida. The run starts in Alabama, continues around Lake Jackson and into Florida before reentering Alabama, where the finish line is located. Interestingly, Lake Jackson is named after former U.S. President Andrew Jackson, a famous freemason, who stopped at the lake with a group of soldiers in 1818.

For more information about the annual Masonic Celebration in Florala, visit the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce Web site at tricitieschamberofcommerce.com or the 24th of June Celebration’s Facebook page.