| OPERATIVE MASONS |
| Thomas Boduch |
|
ROBERTSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HELPS A BROTHER IN NEED |
| Robertson County HFH was chartered as a HFH affiliate in November 1996.
On August 3, 1997, this affiliate completed and dedicated its first
house, which was built in 9 days! The house was built for Brother Marty
Groves, his wife Patty and their children Brandon, Brandy and William,
ages 14,12 and 6. Brother Groves, who is a member of Greenbrier Lodge
#753 works as a Robertson County Deputy Sheriff and is coordinator of
the D.A.R.E. program. Daughter Brandy is ill with cystic fibrosis--she
had been hospitalized during most of the time while the house was being
built, and was released from the hospital the day prior to the
dedication. The family had been living in a small old house, which aggravated Brandy's health problems. Brandy had a long standing wish for a bedroom of her own; this came to the attention of the local Dream Makers Foundation, who worked with Robertson County HFH to make this dream a reality. Countless volunteers from local Churches and Civic groups were joined by over 50 brethren and Eastern Star sisters and contributed donations of materials, money, food for workers and 150 hours of sweat equity. Brother Ralph Baggett (District 7 Chairman), Brother Walter Lee (Robertson County Chairman) and Brother Jim Purviance (W.M. Western Star Lodge #9) organized efforts and also worked on site. Brother Walter reports that while working on the house as an operative builder, he was asked for Petitions for the Three degrees by several HABITAT volunteers. Current information about Lodges involved with Habitat projects can be obtained from W. Brother Tom Boduch's (Vision 2013/HFH Task Force Chairman) home page: Tom Boduch, M.D., 1997 Grand Marshal M. W. Grand Lodge F&AM of Tennessee Past Master Union Lodge #38, P.O. Box 1030, Kingston, TN 37763 FAX: 423 376 0010, VOICE: 423 882 7537 (From the Editor: Brother Tom, a longtime contributing editor, is keeping back issues of the Hiram Worldwide Newsletter on his Website. Anyone wanting a copy of a PAST HWWN or is looking for a PAST article please invoke your browser towards Brother Tom's site.) |