Community members came together on Sunday for a Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony at the new Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue station on Mountain View Avenue in Ellensburg.
The Grand Lodge of Washington, which is the statewide organization for the fraternal order of Freemasons, along with the local Ellensburg Masonic Lodge 39 performed a dedication ritual, which is the “laying of the cornerstone” for the new building. Jim Mendoza, grand master for the Grand Lodge of Washington, led the ceremony.
The members used ancient tools to measure if the building was square, plumb (straight) and level.
Additionally, they used corn, wine and oil to symbolize prosperity, health and peace.
While the practice of laying a cornerstone has fallen by the wayside in recent decades, the symbolism is what is most important about the dedication ceremony, said Patrick Stanton, secretary of the Ellensburg Lodge.
“The first stone in a building needs to be square, level and plumb because all the other stones adjoin it. That was important when buildings were made of stones,” Stanton said. “Masons in a way use the symbolism of building good buildings as a discussion of how to build each man as a better man.”
Stanton said most Masonic traditions have layers of meaning and symbolism.
The highest ranking members of the Freemasons used a gavel to tap three sides of the cornerstone that was already attached to the new fire station at the ceremony. Mendoza then invited members of KVFR and the Department of Natural Resources to tap the edges of the cornerstone as well.
“Without a doubt, that is one well-set stone,” Mendoza said with a laugh.
“To use a gavel to tap a stone is a symbolic way of setting a stone,” he added. “We’re setting the stone symbolically. Now we’ve set it, what’s the purpose of the building? As you see, the purpose of the building is to serve this community.”
The new KVFR station opened in early June, replacing the former fire station downtown. The cornerstone was created by Centralia Monument, a Centralia-based stone company. Nick Henderson, past district deputy for the Ellensburg Lodge, and KVFR Fire Chief John Sinclair came up with the design for the cornerstone. The stone has the emblems of KVFR and the Masons on it, along with the names of the KVFR commissioners.
In addition to the cornerstone, the Masonic lodge is leaving a shadowbox inside of the station with a grandmaster’s pin and two grandmaster’s coins to show the back and front, Henderson said. A printed story about the ceremony also will go in the box.
Henderson said the Freemasons generally do cornerstone ceremonies for buildings used for public safety, government and public education.
Nick Caveness, a junior steward mason, said he looked up the history for the group and couldn’t find the last time a Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony happened.
“I don’t think it’s been done in this town for 70 or 80 years. I don’t know exactly but it’s been a long time,” Caveness said. “They used to do them a lot when they built old buildings, especially brick buildings. There’s a lot of old buildings that have cornerstones.”
Marc Thompson, worshipful master of the local chapter, said there’s a local member who is 97 and he “couldn’t remember the last time they did a ceremony.”
Stones’ meaning
Mendoza said he has a special place in his heart for firefighters because they are the reason he is alive today. He took a pain reliever and realized too late he was allergic to it. “Luckily for me, I had presence of mind to call them and they came and basically saved my life.”
“I wish you great boredom,” Mendoza said to the firefighters at the conclusion of the ceremony.
“I have a great affinity for them and the work they do,” he said. “The idea of dedicating a building of a service of a community is, I believe, a noble thing to do.”