MinnPost - D.C. Dispatches: Happy birthday 'Happy Warrior': Senate honors Hubert Humphrey

MinnPost - D.C. Dispatches: Happy birthday 'Happy Warrior': Senate honors Hubert Humphrey

Bro. Hubert Humphrey was a member of Cataract Lodge #2.

D.C. DISPATCHES BY DEREK WALLBANK

Happy birthday 'Happy Warrior':  Senate honors Hubert Humphrey

By Derek Wallbank | Published Thu, May 26 2011 2:12 pm

WASHINGTON — A day before he would have turned 100, the Senate on Thursday honored Minnesota's "Happy Warrior," Hubert H. Humphrey.

Humphrey was a political icon whose influence can still be felt today. Rep. Keith Ellison and Sen. Al Franken are among the politicians who love to quote Humphrey's famous phrase on the role of government: "It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

His titles tell the story of his political acumen: Mayor of Minneapolis from 1945 to 1948, senator from 1949 to 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson's vice president from 1965 to 1969, a presidential candidate when Johnson decided not to run for a second term. He lost in a close race to Richard Nixon, but shortly thereafter ran for Senate again, won, and served from 1970 until his death in 1978.

I'd encourage you, if you haven't yet, to read the four-part story on Humphrey's career that has run on MinnPost this week. It can be found here:

1. 'Into the bright sunshine' -- Hubert Humphrey's civil-rights agenda
2. Loyal lieutenant: On the ticket with LBJ
3. Two favorite sons: the Humphrey-McCarthy battle of 1968
4. The final chapter: Hubert Humphrey returns to public life

Both Klobuchar and Franken paid tribute to Humphrey again on Thursday.

“I inherited Hubert Humphrey’s desk on the Senate floor, and it’s been truly humbling for me to follow in his footsteps,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “You can go down the list of landmark federal legislation from the past 60 years, and Hubert Humphrey’s fingerprints are there: civil rights, Medicare, nuclear arms control, the Peace Corps, and countless others. But I think the most important thing about Hubert Humphrey is that he was an optimist, and he believed in America and believed in our democracy.”

“Hubert Humphrey was a giant of Minnesota politics and a political hero of mine,” said Franken. “He led the effort to merge the Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties into the DFL before being elected to the U.S. Senate. There, he successfully fought for some of the most important legislation of the 20th century, including the Civil Rights Act and the creation of the Peace Corps. And his service as Vice President of the United States secured his place in the hearts of Minnesotans as a true statesman and a visionary progressive.”

In a show of bipartisanship befitting a man of his stature, the Senate's resolution honoring Humphrey passed unanimously.

St. John's Lodge celebrates 250th anniversary - NorthJersey.com

John's Lodge celebrates 250th anniversary - NorthJersey.com

PARSIPPANY LIFEFRIDAY, MAY 27, 2011
On May 14, people gathered at Parsippany Hilton to celebrate an event 250 years in the making. St. John's Lodge 1 of Free and Accepted Masons held a 250th anniversary gala to commemorate its distinction as being the oldest Masonic Lodge in New Jersey.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID BERGER

Most Worshipful William L. Morris Jr., left, grand master of Masons for the Jurisdiction of New Jersey, holds the Charter to St. John's Lodge 1 Free and Accepted Masons, with Right Worshipful Harold Buchanan, right, worshipful master of St. John's Lodge on the 250th anniversary of the lodge, established in 1761.

Freemasonry has been woven throughout the nation's history, including many notable Masonic leaders like 15 U.S. presidents starting with General George Washington, who at one time used some of the furniture and equipment from St. John's Lodge to create a military lodge room so he and some of his entrusted brethren could hold Masonic meetings between battles in Morristown back to the days of the Revolutionary War.
The evening included dedication ceremonies by a Benjamin Franklin re-enactor and a personal visit by Most Worshipful William L. Morris Jr., grand master of Masons for the Jurisdiction of New Jersey,
St. John's Lodge in Mountain Lakes was established on May 13, 1761, in Newark. Through the years, it merged with three other Masonic Lodges inParsippany, Boonton and Mountain Lakes to form the lodge that exists now.
The lodge was created more than 25 years before the Grand Lodge of New Jersey was established by St. John's Lodge 1 of the Grand Lodge or New York, the same lodge that owns the Bible that several presidents have taken the oath of office on, as did George Washington.
Read More At Above Link 

Old Masonic Building In Redwing, Minnesota

In 1901 the Lodge, with Company G of the First Minnesota National Guard, built the Armory on Plum Street. The building at the time cost $25,000. The entire third floor of the building was given over to Masonic purposes, and constituted at the time, and for more than 20 years following, one of the best equipped Lodge rooms in the State.

Early in the morning on April 13th, 1925, fire of an unknown origin broke out in the Armory, and by daylight the building was completely gutted. Of all the beautiful equipment the Lodge had, only an iron safe and the Master’s chair used in the Smith building escaped the flames.

New Fellowcraft Brothers