ABOUT the AWARD
The Masonic Information Center (MIC) enthusiastically introduces the Mark Twain Masonic Awareness Award. Up to 50 lodges may win the Twain award.
The goal of the award is two-fold:
- The MIC intends for the Twain Award to recognize those lodges, regardless of size, that demonstrate energy, innovation and creativity communicating the values of Freemasonry as suggested in the MIC report, It’s About Time.
- Lodge participation in the Twain Award means signing up as early as March to benefit from a MIC-sponsored communications forum, the Twain Award Participant Forum, designed to bring lodges closer together through Internet resources. The Twain Forum links lodges with Masonic resources through online forums, chat rooms, listservs, and emails. Using improved communications, lodges across North America can share with each other new and exciting ways of bringing Freemasonry into the social fabric of the community.
Competition entries represent the work that lodges have accomplished during the time period of December 1 to November 30 of each year. The submission deadline is December 1.
To enter, download and return the Registration to Participate Form.
Please see Submission Instructions, Submission Format for more information.
ELIGIBILITY
Masonic lodges of North America represented by the Masonic Information Center are eligible to enter.
Entries must reflect Masonic activities that are initiated between December 1 and November 30 of the competition year.
TWAIN AWARD PARTICIPANT FORUM
MIC invites lodges to Register to Participate and join the Twain award participant forum. This MIC-sponsored communications forum is designed to bring lodges into closer communication through Internet resources.
To participate in the competition, a lodge must submit a Registration to Participate no later than June 1 so that entrants can benefit from the same networking resources made available through MIC. Lodges may submit the form to the MIC via email (msana@ix.netcom.com) or fax (301) 608-3457.
Download Registration to Participate Form in PDF.
ABOUT MARK TWAIN
Brother Mark Twain (1835-1910) lives on through his works as author, speaker, humorist, innovator, inventor, and Mason. Twain expressed his vision of the world not only in his writings, but also in his presence. Photographs of Twain across his very long life span show a man full of, energy, wit, and creativity.
His stories awakened new understandings about relationships across continents and communities. His performances sparked discussion and inquiry in search of better communication among individuals. In 1910, Twain referred to Freemasonry as "the grip and the word that lift a man up and make him glad to be alive."
E.A. - May 22, 1861
F.C. - June 12, 1861
M.M. - July 10, 1861
Polar Star Lodge No. 79, Missouri
Source: Denslow, William R., 10,000 Famous Freemasons, 4 vol.,
Missouri
Lodge of Research, Trenton, Missouri, 1957-61.