by Will Hobson
Panama City News Herald
3/5/10
PANAMA CITY — King Solomon’s Temple, the U.S. Capitol, and the Bay County Library. Before Friday, the three structures had little in common, except that they are all buildings (or used to be; King Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.).
After Friday’s cornerstone-laying ceremony at the library, the three buildings are now linked by their connection to Masons. Solomon’s Temple is used by the Masons as an allegorical basis for their organization, while the U.S. Capitol also bears a Masonic cornerstone like the one installed Friday morning in the Bay County Library.
“As Masons we’re always looking for light. Not just the light from the sun, which supports all life on the Earth, but intellectual light as well,” District 6 Deputy Grand Master Wayne Wert said before the ceremony.
Bay County Commissioners, three of whom are members of the Masons, participated in the symbolic ceremony, in which a 70-pound stone was set into the corner of the 55,000-square-foot building, which opened in May 2008.
“This is a custom that has not been in place here for a number of years,” said Commissioner Jerry Girvin, a Mason along with Commissioners Mike Thomas and George Gainer. Friday’s ceremony was the first in Bay County since the last county library had a Masonic cornerstone installed in 1966.
“I think it’s only appropriate, since we seek light, that we put a cornerstone on a library for the first time in 50 years,” Girvin said.
The Masons sported their symbolic garb, aprons signifying the aprons worn by real stonemasons.
Dale Goehrig, grand master of the Masons in Florida, explained the link between the imagery of stonemasons and the goals of his organization.
“Stonemasons build a building,” Goehrig said. “Masons build a better man.”
