Hello All!

My name is Alex and I am interested in becoming a freemason. The only question I have is where, in your opinion, should I look for a lodge? I am from Long Island but I go to college in Providence and am there for most of the year. The only time I am home is for summer. Would it be smarter to try and find a lodge in the New England area since I am there more often? I would really appreciate your help! Thank you so much!

Warm Regards,

Alex

Greetings Alex, glad to be of help. Yes, you should look for two lodges- one in NY and one in RI.  If a man wishes to petition (apply) for Masonry, he must find a lodge, and request the appropriate paperwork and forms, then complete the application process.  Normally, a man will locate a lodge near his residence. I am from a college town in Kentucky, and we have a number of students, who reside in our city part of the year, and then return to their homes elsewhere when school is out.

I suggest that you seek out a lodge in your area of primary residence, there on Long Island.  You can obtain a petition form, from the Lodge Secretary. You can begin the process of joining right there.  If you do not complete the entire process, by September, when you return to school, you can have a lodge in Rhode Island, complete the process, as a “courtesy”.

You will request that the lodge in Long Island,sign over a “power of attorney” to the lodge in Providence. You will do the ceremonial and ritual work in Providence, but your membership will be in the New York lodge. This procedure is often used, for college students, military people, and anyone who is away from their primary residence for an extended period of time.  I am in Iraq, and we may have to employ “courtesy work” for some of the soldiers here.

If you would like me to assist you in locating a lodge in New York, please send me a PM with your name/address/phone/email, and I will assist you . I belong to a lodge in Buffalo, NY.

All the best,

AlexA411 - 11 May 2008 11:24 AM

Hello All!

My name is Alex and I am interested in becoming a freemason. The only question I have is where, in your opinion, should I look for a lodge? I am from Long Island but I go to college in Providence and am there for most of the year. The only time I am home is for summer. Would it be smarter to try and find a lodge in the New England area since I am there more often? I would really appreciate your help! Thank you so much!

Warm Regards,

Alex

Alex;

I’m originally from Long Island (where I received my Masonic degrees), and can tell you that most - if not all - of the lodges there do not even meet during Summer. So you’re best bet is to join in Providence, and then affiliate with a lodge down on LI. I was active ALL OVER Long Island, in both Nassau (Floral Park, Oyster Bay, Freeport, Hicksville, Rockville Centre) & Suffolk (Babylon, Huntington, Sayville, as well as Eastern Long Island), so if you can tell me where you live there, I can personally put you in touch with any number of Masons in the area.

Just email me through the link in my profile here!

Just out of curiosity, I am very eager to join the Masons and I wanted to know since RI and NY are both areas where you need to be 21 to join, would I be able to go into a local Massachussetts area (which is 18), such as Attleboro, and petition there?? Or is there a rule against that??

Good question. Normally, an individual will petition the lodge in his city of residence. A man can petition a lodge from another jurisdiction, only in extraodinary circumstances (military service, college attendance,etc). The lodge in your city of residence has “dibs”. You have an alternative. You could consider joining the “Order of DeMolay”, which is the young men’s auxiliary organization to Freemasonry. I suggest you visit

http://www.demolay.org

Once you are near your 21st birthday, you can petition a masonic lodge in New York. I wish you every possible success in Masonry.

Hello Alex,

My name is Jacob, I am a college Mason from Massachusetts. I go to UMass and live in Newburyport, which ironically are on opposite ends of the state. I chose to take my degrees in Amherst since I live there 9 months out of the year and since have also petitioned the local lodge in my home town. Now Long Island and Providence are a bit of a distance compared to my situation. The other challenge is being in two different states which involves two different Grand Lodges.

Your best bet would be to find a lodge where you can be most active in, I chose the lodge near my school since that is where I live for most of the year. Good luck and I hope you take your degrees soon.