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Notes from the Northern Light
A Publication of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction
Officers Elected at Chicago Meeting
John Wm. McNaughton was elected to the position of Sovereign Grand Commander for the Scottish Rite Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction at the recent annual meeting in Chicago. He has been serving in that capacity since April following the death of Commander Walter E. Webber.
Bro. McNaughton became an Active Member of the Supreme Council in 1998 and Grand Lieutenant Commander at last year’s annual meeting in Michigan.
Also elected were Jim S. Deyo of Ohio as Grand Lieutenant Commander and Richard W. Elliot of New Hampshire as Grand Marshal General. New state Deputies (presiding officers for the state) include Frederick E. Jackson, Vermont; James R. Spencer, Connecticut; David A. Glattly, New Jersey, and Lee B. Lockwood, Illinois.
Six new members were elected as Active Members to the governing board of the Supreme Council.
They are Eric Ginette of Vermont, Robert F. Ogg Jr. of Rhode Island, Robert J. Sheridan of New Jersey, James T. Elliott Jr. of Delaware, William J. Dover of Michigan, and John T. Phillips of Illinois.
The names of 175 nominees were announced to receive the 33° at next year’s meeting in Washington, DC, on August 28, 2007. That meeting will be held in conjunction with the biennial session of the Southern Jurisdiction.
Commander Seale Honored
Right: Commander Seale is honored with the Gourgas Medal presented by Commander McNaughton.
Sovereign Grand Comman-der Ronald A. Seale, 33°, was the recipient of the Northern Jurisdiction’s Gourgas Medal at its recent annual meeting.
The award also was presented posthumously to the late Sovereign Grand Commander Walter E. Webber. The Webber family was in attendance for the presentation.
The medal is named in honor of John James Joseph Gourgas, a conservator of the Northern Supreme Council during the tumultuous anti-Masonic period in the 1800s.
It was established in 1938 to recognize Masons with “notably distinguished service in the cause of Freemasonry, country or humanity.” Since that time there have been only 35 recipients.
Mason at the Brickyard
In May a member of the Scottish Rite was first to cross the finish line at the famed Indianapolis Speedway.
Bro. Sam Hornish Jr., 32°, took home the Borg Warner Trophy, emblematic of Indy 500 triumph.
Bro. Hornish is a member of the Valley of Toledo.
His margin of victory was the second closest in race history as he bested the second-place finisher by a mere 0.0635 seconds, representing about 15 feet.
