At the April 23, 2024 Meeting of Lavonia Lodge No. 241, F&AM, WM Shannon L. Thomas (left) presented Bro. David H. Gill (right) with his 25 Year Certificate and Apron. 

Note: This presentation was VERY late. Bro. Gill is just two years away from reaching his 50 Year Milestone. The Award was apparently misplaced and was found when moving to the new Lavonia Masonic Center. We look forward to presenting Bro. Gill with his 50 Year Award in a more timely manner.

At the February 27, 2024 Meeting of Lavonia Lodge No. 241, F&AM, WM Shannon L. Thomas (left) presented WB Mark A. Sewell (right) with his 25 Year Certificate, Apron, and Pin. 

At the Annual Communication of Lavonia Lodge No. 241 in December, the Lodge voted for its 2024 Officers.

WM Shannon L. Thomas

SW Matthew L. Johnson

JW John L. King, Sr.

Treasurer Mark A. Sewell

Secretary Joshua M. Blakely

Chaplain Benjamin F. Johnson, III

Senior Deacon Michael P. Ruff

Junior Deacon Evan L. Herring

Senior Steward Thomas R. Craig

Junior Steward Robert M. Ogburn

Tyler Ivan D. Haynes, Jr.

At the November 14 Communication of Lavonia Lodge No. 241, and in commemoration of Veteran's Day, WM Shannon Thomas recognized our Veterans.

After thanking them for their service and sacrifice, WM Thomas brought them forward and presented them with a Masonic Veteran's Challenge Coin.

Lavonia Lodge thanks our Veterans for their Service. 

Brothers and Friends, at a recent meeting of Lavonia Lodge No. 241, the Brothers of the Lodge decided to allow the Great Room (dining hall area) to be rented out for private events. This follows with the tradition of the Community Center providing event space to the public. Many of us, over the years, have attended events that were held at the Community Center, and many family reunions and traditions center around this space.

Recently, the City of Lavonia Downtown Development Authority reached out to us and asked if we could accommodate some groups during the month of December, since the renovations at the new Lavonia Community Center (the old Woodmen of the World building) are not complete. As such, we currently have three bookings for the month of December, with a few more pending.

At this time, and due to the speed at which this has occurred, the Lodge has decided to honor the deposit and rental fees used by the City of Lavonia, which are $150 for the deposit, and $150 for the event space rental.

If you are interested  in hosting an event in Lavonia, please take a look at the "Lavonia Masonic Center" tab at the top of this page. Feel free to refer your friends and family to the page as well, for more information. The calendar on the page shows the dates available and provides instructions for booking.

And keep checking in on the page, because we are actively making updates to the building and the amenities available.

Lavonia Masonic Center - lavoniamasoniccenter@gmail.com 

Mr. Andrew Schmakel (Phantom Fireworks) presented a Big Check to Lavonia Lodge No. 241

Brothers, you missed a great meeting on Tuesday, September 12. 

It was only our second meeting at our new location, but all the seats were filled. 

Lavonia Lodge No. 241 hosted visiting Brothers from in and out of state. WB Eddie M. Addison, Past Master of Spring Lodge No. 1174, AF&AM of Spring, Texas; and Brother Cory A. Baird, Junior Steward of Carson Valley Lodge No. 33, F&AM of Gardnerville, Nevada were present. Also present were Brothers from Grove Lodge No. 652, Mt. Airy Lodge No. 141, and John H. Jones Lodge No. 348.

We discussed the final stages of our relocation, held a Special Election to fill an officer vacancy (due to resignation), learned of new Committee appointments, and planned for upcoming fundraisers.

Finally, several presentations were made. WB R. Ben Shiretzki, Jr., was belatedly presented with his 25 year award, as well a that of his late brother, Bro. Harry Shiretzki. Bro. Randall S. West was also presented with his Lodge apron. 

Please make plans to join us soon, as big things are coming!

Strange title, good day. We met at the new Lodge building on Saturday, August 5, at 9AM. We cleaned out and cleaned up the temporary Lodge Room.

Then we migrated to the old Lodge building and moved and cleaned the Lodge furniture that we need for the new Lodge.

Then we got our new (temporary) Lodge room set up!

We had a great day, and thank you to all the Brothers, and Mrs. Alexx, for all the help!

On January 24, 2023, Lavonia Lodge No. 241, F&AM, will be conferring the Entered Apprentice Degree on candidates from both Lavonia and Grove Lodges. The degree conferral will be conducted by a team of officers from both Lodges. 

At the November 22, 2022 meeting of Lavonia Lodge No. 241, Fellow Craft Brothers Evan Herring and John King were raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.

They stood for an examination for their proficiency on the Master’s Catechism on January 10, and passed.

We are very proud of Bros. Herring and King.

The 2022 Lodge Fundraiser is about to kick-off, and tickets will soon be available. This year's raffle is as follows, and features three prizes:

1. Radical Firearms AR 5.56 Rifle 

2. Springfield XDS 9mm Handgun with a Crimson Trace Red Dot optic

3. $100 Gift Certificate to LA Armory

Please let us know if you want tickets. The cost of these tickets is $20 each, or 6 tickets for $100.

Thank you all in advance for helping us out with this fundraiser.

(September 7, 2022 Daniel Brown -92.1 WLHR News - https://921wlhr.com/lavonia-police-chief-receives-prestigous-award/) - Brother Carlisle is a member of Lavonia Lodge No. 241, F&AM.

Lavonia Police Chief Bruce Carlisle was recently awarded the 2022 Judge Arthur M. Kaplan First Responder Leadership Award. 

The award was presented by Ancient And Accepted Scottish Rite Valley Of Atlanta last week at the Atlanta Masonic Center in downtown Atlanta. 

Carlisle said the award was great honor but added the award represents all Lavonia law enforcement. 

“I’m very humbled and honored to receive this award.  Anytime that I step outside the city of Lavonia and receive any type of recognition or represent the city, I keep that in mind that I am representing the city of Lavonia.  It’s been such a honor to be here in the city, and we have such great people, and I’m just grateful that I’ve been given the opportunity to put Lavonia on the map a little bit outside of our area and statewide.  Like I say, this is not just something for me.    It’s for the whole city.  It represents who we are and how far that we have come in the field of public safety here in the city.  I’m just honored and humbled to be small part of it.

Carlisle thanked the Lavonia City Council and Mayor Courtney Umbehant for the opportunity to serve the citizens of Lavonia. 

Judge Arthur M. Kaplan First Responder Leadership Award is named in honor of Judge Kaplan who served Atlanta both as a judge and a first responder. 

“I have a lot of friends that worked for the Atlanta Police Department that actually knew the judge and worked with him and told me what a great asset he was to the first responders in the Atlanta area and how many people that he helped along the way during his lifetime.  So this award being named after the judge was quite an honor to him and for his family.”   

Kaplan passed away in 2010 at the age of 84.

According to his obituary in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Kaplan was honored by the Secret Service, trained thousands of law enforcement officers in emergency rescue and on a few occasions personally treated wounded officers even as shots were being fired.

Kaplan taught his lifesaving techniques to officers and Secret Service and FBI agents as well as some probation violators who would appear before him in court.

During his career Kaplan appeared on the television shows To Tell the Truth and he was featured on This Is Your Life. 

Newsweek Magazine included the judge on its list 100 “unsung heroes” of America in 1986.