Last updated: Saturday, May 03, 2008 09:23 AM
Acacia Lodge No. 16 was severely damage by the Natural Disaster in June of 2006 details here
Attention: Masonic Publishers and Editors, please read part two of this Historical Event for Freemasons below here
If you are visiting this site from other then the U.S. please send me an email and let me know what country you are from, Webmaster@Acacia16.org comments from the US are also most welcome. This is what others are saying here

Historical Event for Freemasons

To honor our fallen Brother, former President Gerald R. Ford, 33rd Degree Master Mason, fellow Brethren from the Washington DC area gathered at Naval Lodge No. 4 on Sunday, December 31st, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. We walked together about three blocks to the U.S. Capitol where we gathered in front of the Capitol at the statue of Brother and former President James A. Garfield; where a speech and prayer were done. We then made our way through a one hour wait inline, passing through security check points and into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda where Brother Ford was lying in state. One by one we gave our respect, as well as honors to our fallen Brother.

While inline reporter Laura Marquez of Good Morning America ABC News interviewed us. (see video & pictures below)

During our walk several in the crowd took pictures of us, and you could often hear by-passers say to one another, "The are a Secret Society" We were often asked "who are you", and when asked several of the Brethren stopped and explained who we were and why we were there.

Northern Virginia Masons were well represented. The Worshipful Masters of Acacia Lodge No. 16 Worshipful Jon Shelton and Henry Lodge No. 57 Worshipful Arleigh Rice were there. Other Lodges in Virginia were represented, as well as Maryland and Washington DC. and other States.

Facts:
Gerald R. Ford, the thirty-eighth President of the United States of America, was initiated into Masonry on September 30, 1949, in Malta Lodge No. 465, Grand Rapids Michigan, along with his (half) brothers Thomas Gardner Ford 1918-1995, Richard Addison Ford 1924 and James Francis Ford 1927. The Fellowcraft and Master Mason Degrees were conferred by Columbia Lodge No. 3, Washington, D.C., on April 20 and May 18, 1951, as a courtesy to Malta Lodge. More information from the Supreme Council Scottish Rite. here Brother Ford was also a Shriner. Brother Ford was the last Presidents to be a Freemason.

There have been no know requests by Brother Ford's family for a Masonic Service or Funeral. None are know to have been preformed.

Brother Ford visited the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Va. on George Washington's birthday in 1975 to unveil the bronze plaque of himself that now hangs in the auditorium. Bill Morlock gave me (Brother Don Robey) a picture that the Navy photographer took that day moments after Ford unveiled the plaque. You can read a copy of Brother Fords speech he gave on February 17th 1975 here

click on thumbnail for larger view

Left to right in the picture are: Brother Gerald R. Ford, Worshipful Raymond C. Ellis, Past Grand Master of New York and the President of the GWMNM Assoc, Don Robey, Worshipful Master of Alexandria- Washington Lodge No. 22, (unknown), Most Worshipful Marvin E. Fowler, Past Grand Master of District of Columbia and Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the GWMNM Assoc. The above picture and information was provided by Brother Don Robey.

Above is a souvenir, it is a copy of the card they handout to each person that enters the Rotunda.

Videos:
Full video LOW resolution 7.2megs 7.0 minutes here Server 1

The speech was by Brother Alan Patterson, Senior Warden of Naval Lodge No. 4. Washington, DC.
The prayer was by Brother Robert W. New, Chaplain for Acacia Lodge No. 16. Clifton, VA.
The interview with ABC News was with Most Worshipful Jules S. Tepper, 2003 Past Grand Master of Washington DC.
Popular quote from that interview in reference to Brother ford was
"He built character. He built integrity. He built honesty and put the nation back on an even course"

The same video as above and only recommended for users with broadband access.
With over 1,000 visitors per day the servers are overloaded, so download times will vary
Please only download these larger HIGH resolution files after 5pm ET.
Full video HIGH resolution 91.7megs 7.0 minutes here Server 2
Full video HIGH resolution 91.7megs 7.0 minutes here Server 3 FTP Server

News video:
Short clip showing us in the Rotunda that aired on ABC 6pm 12-31-2006
5.9megs 0.23 minutes here Server 1
5.9megs 0.23 minutes here Server 3 FTP Server
Seen in this footage are, Worshipful Master of Samuel Gompers-Benjamin of Franklin Lodge No. 45, F.A. A.M. in Washington DC, Worshipful WB Merriman Parkinson, the one in regalia along with a Brother from Federal Lodge No. 1 in Washington DC.

Interview aired on ABC News January 1st 2007 showing us honoring Brother Ford in the Rotunda and the interview with Most Worshipful Jules S. Tepper, 2003 Past Grand Master of Washington DC. This is an edited version where most of the broadcast not related to us has been cutout.
4megs 1.01 minutes here Server 1
4megs 1.01 minutes here Server 3 FTP Server

Other news media:
WKRN Nashville Tn. 2.2megs 0.43 minutes here

All the newspapers here say the same thing, just published in different ones coast-to-coast
The Desert Sun Palm Springs Ca.
Sheboygan Wisconsin here
Greenville South Carolina
Gannett News Service Ithaca New York here

The Grand Master of Michigan ordered all Masonic Lodges to drape their alters for 30days here

The 86 pictures start here.....Click on thumbnail of pictures below to see a larger view.

Microsoft PowerPoint Slideshow of all pictures, .PPS file 11.2meg here Server 1
Microsoft PowerPoint Slideshow of all pictures, .PPS file 11.2meg here Server 3 FTP Server

PDF Slideshow of all pictures, .ZIP file 16.5meg here Server 1
PDF Slideshow of all pictures, .ZIP file 16.5meg here Server 3 FTP Server

The above picture has been edited. Brothers David Johnson and William J, Baumbach II who were taking the pictures have been added, Text describing the event and other pictures have been imposed over the original. To see the 3.8meg 3008 x 2000 high resolution version here.

As of June 2007 about 30 copies of the above picture have been put in nice wood frames and presented to several Lodges in Virginia and a copy given to the Grand Masters of Washington DC. Virginia. and one to Navel Lodge No. 4.

The inside of Naval Lodge No. 4 Washington, DC.
I thought it was a very beautiful  lodge inside. The picture on the right is of the ceiling.

The outside of Naval Lodge No. 4

These two pictures provided by Brother Jay Patterson.
Left picture
Worshipful W. Clesson McDonald Jr., Past Master Henry Lodge No. 57
Worshipful Master Arleigh Rice, Henry Lodge No. 57
Brother John P. Charneco,
David T. Lang, Junior Warden Freedom #118, Dist 2 DEO,
Worshipful. Ralph Smith, Secretary Henry Lodge No. 57

I think the picture on the right is the second best one.

I think the picture on the left is the best one DSC_1570.jpg

The picture on the left.
Left to right, fare left in the hat, Worshipful Master Arleigh Rice, Henry Lodge No. 57. Past Master Worshipful W. Clesson McDonald Jr. Henry Lodge No. 57. Worshipful Ralph Smith (in the back behind Jon) Secretary of Henry Lodge No. 57
Front left to right, Worshipful Master John Shelton Acacia Lodge No. 16. Brother William J. Baumbach II (Me) Acacia Lodge No. 16 and Brother David Hill, Senior Warden of Acacia Lodge No. 16.
Back right, in the hat, Right Worshipful William (Bill) Shortt, Springfield Lodge No. 217 Springfield Virginia and (unknown) and (unknown)
I am not in the group picture because I am the one taking them!

If you are wondering why we selected this location for the memorial speech, besides a great location for picture taking, the statue is of Brother James A. Garfield President 1881 who was assassinated. details on this site here

The interview with ABC News, is with Most Worshipful Jules S. Tepper, 2003 Past Grand Master of Washington DC.

The business card of reporter Laura Marquez of Good Morning America ABC News

Worshipful Master WB Merriman Parkinson of Samuel Gompers-Benjamin Franklin Lodge No. 45, F.A. A.M. of DC,

Brother Don Gauger Senior Warden and Worshipful Jay Patterson Herndon Lodge No. 264 Herndon Virginia

This was the last chance you have to take pictures before you enter the U.S. Capitol Rotunda

View when leaving the U.S. Capitol Rotunda

Who They Are and other facts of this Masonic event
I am working on a Who They Are page, I need help putting names with faces here

Acacia Lodge No. 16 was severely damage by the Natural Disaster in June of 2006 details here

If you want prints or enlargements I can email them to you and you can upload the pictures to a photo lab and then go pick them up, like Costco, CVS, K-Mart, etc. If you want a couple of the original high resolution 3008 x 2000 300 dpi pictures emailed to you please contact me. They are about 2.5 to 3megs each. please provide me the file name of the ones you want. i.e. DSC_1550.jpg. IF you want all of them I will need to mail you a CD or DVD.

Pictures were taken with a Nikon D70S digital camera at resolution 3008 x 2000 300dpi the lens was a Tamron XR Di II model A14, 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3. The Nikon D70S camera body with Serial # 3075038 that was used to take these World famous pictures of this historic Masonic event was sold on eBay on 01-29-2007 to a woman in Mesa, AZ. I still have the Lens at this time.

The above pictures and videos are available in two formats, data CD for viewing on a computer and DVD format for viewing on a TV. I am not doing a VHS videotape at this time. (By special request only.)

Pictures, videos and content unless otherwise noted have been provided by Brother William J. Baumbach II, Acacia Lodge No. 16. William@Baumbach.com 703-323-1939 As long as they are not being used for monetary gain I see no need to copyright my pictures and or video, so use them as you see fit, just please give credit where applicable.

Viewer Comments:
Messages received with comments about this site here

The Grand Secretary of Washington DC. called me on the phone and personally thanked me for sending them copies of the pictures and DVD.

Letter from the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Virginia thanking me for sending them the pictures and DVD here

Added 04-03-07 a Thank you card that Most Worshipful George Bernard Dungan Jr. sent me thanking me for presenting him the picture here

Places on the internet that have picked-up on this Historic Masonic Event

The Supreme Council Scottish Rite, it is on the home page, you might need to refresh your browser to see it, here Later published in the Scottish Rite Journal, March-April 2007 issue here

Connecticut Freemasons here

York Rite Removed link 06-19-2007

Naval Lodge No. 4 Washington DC. here

Grand Lodge of Scotland here

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Part two of this Historical Event for Freemasons
These pictures and videos were put on the Acacia Lodge No. 16 website assuming that only a few Masons from Lodges in the Washington DC area were the only ones that might look at them, It seems that the interest in this Masonic event, pictures and videos where grossly under estimated. Within hours of putting the information, pictures and videos online, 12-31-2006 (Sunday Night) by 9am Monday morning the website was so overloaded by visitors that the videos had to be put on three different servers and T-1 lines in an attempt to keep up with the demand, The website has been getting over 1,000 visitors per day, and that number is growing exponentially as word of their availability spreads around the World. It is a safe bet to say that there has been no other Masonic related website in history that has received over 5,000 visitors within the first four days of going online.

Word that the Historical Masonic Event had taken place and the availability of the pictures and videos was original sent 12-31-2006 at 9:16pm to the Virginia Masonic Information Net list server run by Brother Jack Canard that only has a little over 550 email addresses on it. By 9am the next day the server was overloaded and the T-1 line was choked-down to a stop with visitors to a point that the webpage would not load, and it was not able to handle its other job of delivering emails for the many business users that depend on the same server.

Within hours of that original email being sent it was forwarded to countless thousands across the U.S. and around the World. Word has spread like wildfire, being posted on other websites, Internet News Groups and on Blogs around the World. Here is a good example of that, an email from England was sent to Massachusetts and then forwarded to Canada, Australia, UK and Germany. Comments about the website have even been received from Chile.
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In April 2007 on the behalf of Acacia Lodge No. 16. I mailed two 11x14 inch wood framed pictures of the Masons in front of the U.S. Capital to First Lady Betty Ford. Below is a copy of the card I received back acknowledging that she had received them. Although a little generic in nature, it is a nice card with a raised Presidential Seal on it.

Key words: did former president Ford have a Masonic funeral. Masons in Washington DC for Brother Fords masons pay honor president ford Masonic service for president ford Masonic Presence at President Ford's Funeral Masonic historic event freemason Gerald R Ford was Ford a Mason Masons president Ford the Mason Gerald Ford Memoriam Pictures Masons Are Among Thousands Who Paid Respect to President and Brother Ford Masons from the Washington D.C. metro area gathered at Naval Lodge The Brethren processed to the U.S. Capitol rotunda

Number of visitors since January 1st, 2007