Grand Lodge dedicates school addition
<p>Plains Superintendent and Grand Master of the Grand Lodge Thom Chisholm and acting Grand Chaplain Alan Frohberg say reverence during the Plains Elementary School addition dedication.</p>
PLAINS – Fifty years in the making was completed in less than an hour as the Plains Elementary School addition received a rare honor.
Officers with the Grand Lodge of Montana helped dedicate the school building in a public ceremony.
Superintendent and Grand Master Thom Chisholm presided over the dedication.
On a brisk, breezy afternoon, his officers traveled from all over Montana to dedicate the building for future generations to come.
“It’s not too often that we get to dedicate a public building that’s being built from the ground up,” Chisholm stated.
The first building dedicated in Montana was in 1872 and Chisholm was happy to bring the historic ceremony to Plains for all to see.
“Today we have assembled here at the Plains Elementary School to continue this tradition that has lasted over 100 years. It’s been a time honored custom of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Montana,” Chisholm stated.
Plains School Board of Trustees Chairman Ron Warren was tasked with reading a brief history on the importance the masons have placed on education throughout their time as an organization.
A record of the dedication was written and was confirmed that it was safely stored within the Grand Lodge’s archives. As a surprise, Chisholm brought out the recorded history of the educational system in Plains, which began in 1884.
The bulk of the ceremony was preparing the cornerstone – a stone that symbolizes the “foundation of the future.”
The stone, provided from a local quarry, was symbolically laid on the corner of the foundation after it underwent ancient customs. The stone will later be displayed on a plaque inside the school.
The rituals included measuring the stone, ensuring it was true and ideal for placement.
Once measurements of the stone were completed, the stone was consecrated with corn for nourishment, wine for refreshment and oil for peace and joy.
“(The new addition) will help alleviate the problem – the nickname that we have of the Wildhorse Elementary – calling it the Wildhorse Island because the teachers and the students felt so isolated over there,” Chisholm explained.
The project encompasses the wants and wishes of board members in the past. According to Chisholm, the new addition has been in the process for 50 years or so.
“For the past many years, (the Wildhorse Elementary School) served this community and this new design here is fulfilling a goal of former board members to transition over to this new campus,” Chisholm said.
He stated the ideas for a combined campus originated in the 50s and 60s.
“It is life changing proposition for this community. The children and the teachers are yet to understand the implications, the positive implications, that are about to happen,” Chisholm stated. “No longer will they be isolated near Highway 200, we will all be together in one unified building, one unified principle, one unified set of order.”