SHELBURNE FALLS — Shelburne Falls native Joseph Earl Perry — “one of the greatest Grand Masters of the 20th, or any other century” — was remembered at the 100th dedication anniversary of the Mountain Lodge Masonic Building this week in Shelburne Falls.
Perry, born in 1894, and the author of “The Masonic Way of Life,” set the bar for community service, according to R.W. Walter H. Hunt, Grand Historian for Massachusetts.
Hunt was among the 80 Masons and guests at the Mountain Lodge Masonic building on Wednesday — 100 years to the day when the building was first dedicated by the Masons.
The building at 7 Main St., which also serves as the Shelburne Falls Senior Center, was built in 1869 and was a former Universalist Church building. After the church left, it was purchased by the Mountain Lodge for $2,000 in 1917.
There are past Mountain Lodge Masters whose names are still known in town today. They include Edwin Baker of Baker Pharmacy; Ira Arms, founder of Arms Library, and C.W. Ward, who opened the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley.
Perry became a Mason in Shelburne Falls, then went on to other lodges in the eastern part of the state, closer to where he worked. But Hunt said Perry never forgot his hometown and was only one of three state Grand Masters to come from western Massachusetts.
During the Great Depression and on the eve of World War II, Perry argued that “the greatest depression has not been financial or economic. It has been the world-wide slump in ideals and integrity,” said Hunt. “It was important to stand for principles even if ‘the rest of the world abandons them.’ The challenge has never been so serious,” Hunt said.
The evening included a ceremony in the upstairs lodge room, which is usually closed to the public. At that event, the lodge presented a $5,554 check to a representative of the Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield. In return, the lodge was given an award to acknowledge its many donations to the hospital over the years.
Also present was District Deputy Grand Master Jeffrey R. Gordon, who pointed out that “men of all generations” participate in the fraternal organization. “The goal is to be the best version of ourselves that we know how to be,” he said.