Grand Lodge schedules initiation ceremony

Western Star Lodge has been instrumental in development of this area.
STEUBENVILLE -- Western Star Lodge 21 of Boardman will participate in an initiation ceremony to be held by the Grand Lodge of Ohio, Free and Accepted Masons, on March 31 in Steubenville.
The Grand Lodge will celebrate its 200th birthday in 2008 and Western Star will mark its bicentennial in 2013.
In the beginning
The local lodge met for the first time in 1813 in Canfield, moved to Boardman, then to Youngstown in 1852. In 2001, it moved to a newly constructed facility on Tod Avenue in Boardman.
The organization has been involved in the early settlement of the Western Reserve, the development of Mahoning County and the growth of Youngstown, and continues to be a major part of the civic life in the community.
The first master was Gen. Elijah Wadsworth, a member of the group that purchased the Western Reserve from Connecticut in 1795; the second was the Rev. Charles A. Boardman, for whom Boardman was named; and the third was Elisha Whittlesey, the first attorney in the area and a prosecutor, who was appointed auditor of the treasury by presidents Harrison and Lincoln.
There are more than 100,000 Freemasons in Ohio from all walks in life, and the Masonic organizations of North America contribute more than two million dollars a day to charity.
For more information about Freemasonry contact Robert Ellway, (330) 792-7007, or visit the lodge Web site, www.westernstar21.org.