january - Grand Encampment, Knights Templar

Dear John Palmer:knight templarLetters to the EditorI just received Knight Templar magazinefor May 2012. In it was an articleabout Ernest Borgnine, the actor. How refreshingto have this type of stuff in printrather than all the information aboutHalton Castle, or other items alluding tothe history of the Knights Templar. I’d liketo see more Masonic study of people weknow or Masonic history about America’sforefathers. I liked what was said aboutErnest Borgnine and would strongly encouragestill further information aboutother Masonic Brethren and places elsewherein the United States. In the meantime,keep up the good work.David N. Woods, P.M. and 50 year memberof Wayfarer’s Lodge, No. 1001, A.F. &A.M., Evanston, Illinois.Sir Knight Woods,Thank you for your feedback. Thereappears to be a diversity of opinionabout what people would like to see inthe magazine. It may even be due to ageneration gap. At any rate, we will continueto try to put both types of materialin the magazine so there will hopefullybe something everyone enjoys.Dear John,The Ed.Congratulations to you and to SirKnight Ivan M. Tribe for the outstandingarticle about Sir Knight Ernest Borgnine. Ithink it would be very appropriate to adda footnote to that article in order to pointout that Sir Knight Borgnine has also beenhonored in a particular manner by theGrand Encampment of Knights Templar.At the Triennial of the Grand Encampmentin August, 2000, in Nashville, Tennessee,the Grand Encampment, underthe leadership of Grand Master JamesWard, presented Sir Knight Borgnine withthe prestigious National Award. This isthe most unique recognition given by theGrand Encampment.This award is allowed to be presentedonly once in each triennium, with the recipientto be recommended by a specialcommittee and approved by the GrandMaster. The qualifications for the awardare broad. It is given based on serviceto Knight Templary, Freemasonry, theUnited States government, the military,or the community as a whole. BrotherBorgnine’s receipt of the National Awardis significant since the number of recipientsis extremely small. The committeesin 1991, 1994, and 2006 reported thatthey could not locate a suitable candidatefor the award. In 1997 the committee reportedthat they found two possibilities,but neither could attend the triennium,so no award was given. No mention ofthe award or a committee report can befound in the 2003 Proceedings. Therewas an award presented in 2009.It is unfortunate that, when a committeeon national awards makes itsreport during the Triennial business session,no name is given, only that a candidatehas or has not been found. Theannouncement is not made until theContineud on page 20. 17