WORSHIPFUL BROTHER CHARLES N. BARNEY, P.M.

 

Report of the Award of the

Seventy-Five Year Masonic Service Emblem

of the M.W. Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Colorado

 

Date: April 23, 2009

 

This is to report that the Seventy-Five Year Masonic Service Emblem awarded to:

 

Worshipful Brother Charles N. Barney of Silver State Lodge No. 95

 

Was presented to him on April, 22nd, 2009 by MWB Brian Cotter, Grand Master of Masons in Colorado at an open dinner meeting held at The First Christian Church in La Junta, Colorado. The presentation was done on W.Bro. Barney's 100th birthday which also happened to be the 48th birthday of our Grand Master M.W.Bro. Brian Cotter, Grand Master. His son John Barney came from California. Also there were 4 other relatives from different States who had come for his birthday as well as the Award presentation. We had a total of 42 friends and lodge members present for the presentation.

 

Enclosed please find a copy of the front page article from the La Junta Tribune Democrat of April 23rd, 2009 covering the Charles Barney 100th Birthday and 75 year membership award.

 

Fraternally,

 

Hubert T. Hinman

Secretary, Silver State Lodge # 95 A.F. & A.M.

Grand Jurisdiction of Colorado

Charles Barney was honored by Brian Cotter, right and Chad Chaddick, grand master and master, respectively, of the Mason's Silver State Lodge 95 in Pueblo during a reception in La Junta. It was Barney's 100th birthday and his 75th year as a master Mason.

 

Barney honored for 75 Years as Mason on his 100th birthday

 

By David Vickers

davevickers@ljtribune.com

 

Charles Barney let the years speak for him.

 

Barney suffered a nasty fall in his home last Sunday and was hospitalized briefly, but that couldn't stop him from attending a reception in his honor Wednesday evening, hosted by the Masons' Euclid Lodge 64 at First Christian Church in La Junta.

 

His fellow Masons had the highly unusual honor, in turn, of attaching a 75-year pin to Barney's suit lapel and celebrating his 100th birthday at the same time.

 

Brian Cotter, Grand Master, and Chad Chaddick, Master, respectively of Silver State Lodge 95 in Pueblo came to La Junta to present Barney with his rare 75-year pin. They both noted that Barney has been a Master Mason longer than they've been alive.

 

"Worshipful Brother Charles, thank you for your three-quarters of a century of service," Cotter said.

 

Barney Smiled and waved while his brethren and their wives stood to applaud him.

 

Don Lowman from Euclid Lodge 64 was the main organizer of the event and helped Barney"s family members, who came from Houston, Texas, California, Wyoming and Colorado, celebrate the accomplishments of their family's eldest member.

 

Barney's son, John, Said, "I know, speaking for dad, that this dad, that this banquet and presentation have been fantastic."

 

Cotter also briefly touched on Barney's personal history as a Mason and the lodge where he was "raised" to the level of Master Mason, Manzanola Lodge No. 124. Barney joined the lodge and attained his Master rank in 1934. The Manzanola Lodge and the Lodge in Fowler, which absorbed the Manzanola Lodge, were later absorbed by Silver State Lodge 95, which is why Cotter and Chaddick were given the honor of presenting Barney's 75-year pin. Barney served as master of the Fowler Lodge in 1939.

 

Cotter said that in 1909 the year Barney was born, Masons played a much larger role in Manzanola and Fowler than they would in later years. A Third Degree Mason banquet that year in Fowler attracted 400 people, about 10 times as many as were on hand for Wednesday evenings celebration. Also that year, the Lincoln Head penny was first minted, the first concrete was poured to build the Panama Canal and construction began on what later would become the U.S. Navy's base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

 

Ernie Pyle, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Colorado Masons, and former Teacher in Cheraw, came to the event and said he felt privileged to be back in the community for such an august occasion, Ralph Newby, Grand Chaplain of the La Junta lodge, extended his thanks to the Masons for attending the event, while La Junta Mason Red Hinman recounted the days when he worked with Barney at the local pickle plant, where Barney served as foreman of the dock.

 

Perhaps Pueblo Mason Mike McMillan said it best, though.

 

"Charles, 75 years is a long time. That's a lot of meetings. That's a lot of green beans, too," he quipped. Everyone, including Barney, got a chuckle from the inside joke.