News Releases

Masons to lay cornerstone at library

Date posted: 03/03/2010 12:38:05 PM

Following an American tradition dating back hundreds of years, local Masons will gather at the Bay County Library at 10 a.m. Friday morning to lay a cornerstone at the building to demonstrate their support of "intellectual light."

"The Masons support anything to do with learning and the search for light, and in this case, it's intellectual light," District 6 Deputy Grand Master Wayne Wert said.

The laying of the cornerstone will be the first in several decades in Bay County – the last was placed at the former Bay County Library at the Panama City Marina in 1966.

"Since we became a nation, most of the leaders of our country have been members of the Masonic order, and the Masonic principles reflect our nation's principles," Bay County Commissioner Jerry Girvin, a Mason, said.

He said it is customary for government buildings to have a cornerstone laid by the Masonic order, pointing to George Washington's laying of the cornerstone at the U.S. Capitol in 1793. The custom, he said, has fallen by the wayside in Bay County.

"We're very pleased that it's being reborn, and hopefully, this will remind people that we are truly one nation, under God," Girvin said.

District 6, which includes Bay County, has 11 Masonic lodges and some 1,600 members in this district, Wert said. The Masons are the oldest philanthropic fraternity in the world and provide millions in donations to various causes in the United States and abroad each year.

Three Bay County Commissioners are members of the organization, including Girvin, Commissioner Mike Thomas and Commissioner George Gainer.

The general public is invited to attend the event.

For more information, call Bay County Public Information Officer Valerie Lovett at 248-8170.