Granville Masons’ lodge rededicated
By Erik Pekar, Town Historian
The Granville Masons celebrated the 225th anniversary of the chartering of their lodge at a ceremony on Aug. 7 on the grounds of the Slate Valley Masonic Center on North Street in the village of Granville, under the shade of a large tent.
The ceremony commenced with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a classic-style singing of the national anthem. Introductions were made and attending local and regional dignitaries were named.
The rededication ceremony followed. A speech was delivered by Grand Master William Sardone, who dedicated a ceremonial cornerstone. Since the building doesn’t have a cornerstone, the dedication stone was worked on a table in view of the attendees. A speech was made as the Grand Master poured certain liquids and used certain tools, such as the trowel, on the ceremonial “cornerstone.”
This was followed by the presentation of service awards to members of the Granville Lodge.
The DeWitt Clinton Awards were presented to people outside of Masonry whose actions have positively contributed to their communities. The recipients were Rev. Jerry McKinney of the Granville United Church and Cindy Anoe of the Granville food pantry.
Speeches were given by State Sen. Dan Stec and Assemblyman Matt Simpson. Jacob Miller spoke on behalf of Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Two group photos were taken in front of the lodge building facing North Street, one of all lodge members and another where anyone who wanted to appear in the photo could appear. A buffet luncheon followed, catered by the Pine Grove Diner.
A time capsule was dedicated during the celebration, but not sealed; the delay was done to allow items from the program to be placed in the capsule.
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The town of Granville has a new look at night. New LED streetlights were installed by NYSEG the week of July 29, replacing those lights under the authority of the town. These areas include the Middle Granville and North Granville lighting districts, the latter of which also includes West Granville and Truthville; it also includes a few other isolated light installations on lower Quaker Street and Church Street outside of the village, as well as a light at the corners in South Granville.
The town had been looking into replacing the old mercury vapor lights with new lights last year. The LED lights have a “yellow” color, like those installed in the village last year. The new look is a great improvement over the old lights, and will save the town money now and in the years to come.
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Two awards given to Granville students around graduation time have been handed out. The Sam Eppolito Award and the Beverly Tatko Award were usually given out at a banquet a couple of weeks before graduation. Last year, the awards were personally delivered to recipients in late July. This year, the awards were bestowed upon their recipients as part of the 2021 graduation exercises. The recipients for the Sam Eppolito Award are Logan Beebe and Lexyss Zovistoski. The recipients for the Beverly Tatko Award are Ryan Kunen and Jenna Tooley. Congratulations to the recipients of these awards, and all the others.
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Washington County has finished repaving County Route 12A, the Truthville loop. Attention now goes to County Route 25, the Pine Hill road. Starting from a point a few hundred yards south of the village line, and continuing to the end at the Vermont state line, the pavement has been milled. This road has needed the work for some time; frost heaves and worn-out pavement on the shoulders have damaged the road.
While it may seem that the pavement was torn out, the road was milled. Unlike County Route 12A, where only a couple of inches were taken off the top, on County Route 25 the entire pavement layer was milled to the dirt level. Milling took three days, with a section of the road being milled each day.
For the time being, County Route 25 is a gravel road north of the village. Those who use the road should be careful entering and exiting the gravel section, as the transitions from Route 31 in Vermont and the paved section of Pine Street are rather bumpy. The county will repave the road.
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