The Traveling Ashlar Weekly Trestleboard | Edition 0011 | Week of November 2, 2026 · A.L. 6026

The Historic Osgood Preservation Society and the Free and Accepted Masons are preparing a public screening of "A Light On The Lakes", a documentary tracing 200 years of Freemasonry in Michigan, at the Osgood Event Center on November 12. Doors open at 5 p.m., the film begins at 6, and producer Benjamin Tigner will host a post-screening Q&A. Proceeds support the preservation of the historic Osgood auditorium. The film explores Masonic ties to figures such as Henry Ford, Herbert H. Dow, Douglas Houghton and Governor Woodbridge N. Ferris, showcasing a fraternity whose influence extended far beyond lodge doors.

For one weekend only, the upper floors of Watertown's long-closed Masonic Temple were open to the public, turned into a haunted house by Youth of Lewis County as a fundraiser. The temple's untouched upper stories and darkened corridors offered a naturally spooky setting equipped with scare actors and atmospheric decorations. Tickets were $10, or $5 during sensory-friendly hours, raising funds for the group's community projects. More than mere Halloween fun, the event briefly lifted a veil on a historic lodge room seldom seen by non-Masons.

A storied Masonic building in Oakland has been sold to a spiritual nonprofit at a rate of about $108 per square foot, according to The Real Deal. The sale ensures the building will continue as a gathering place for contemplative, communal work rather than simply being redeveloped for profit. For Brothers, theses adaptive-use outcomes often walk the line between preservation and transformation, a building that once echoed ritual may now ring with service and spiritual assembly in new forms.

A Freemason from Hampshire has raised more than £93,000 over ten years through endurance events, marathons, triathlons, cycling rides, all in support of charitable causes. The Chronicle reports that his efforts underscore how individual commitment can amplify the Craft's community impact, especially when disciplined personal challenge translates into public benefit. The funds have supported local health and youth services, placing the Brother at the center of a quiet but sustained philanthropic legacy.

A former Freemason in McAllen convicted of murder is seeking a new trial after a mental-health expert supported an insanity claim. Defense attorneys argue that newly acknowledged psychiatric evidence warrants judicial review. The case, detailed in local reporting, raises complex questions at the intersection of criminal law, Masonic affiliation, and mental-health standards. While Masonry does not endorse past or present behavior of members, such news inevitably sparks reflection in lodge corridors about the humanity behind the apron.