Masonic Lodge

Chorus to hold 'Visitors' Night' Tracy Cline of Sharpsburg, vice president of chapter development for the Mason Dixon Barbershop Chorus, is having a Visitors Night on Monday, May 22, at 7:30 p.m. at Haven Lutheran Church in Hagerstown. Men who like to sing and would enjoy a night of singing and learning four-part barbershop harmony are invited. Light refreshments will be available. Come and see how much fun singing four-part harmony can be. For information, call 301-790-3178.

Donald E. May, 78 AUG. 9, 1925-JULY 12, 2004 Donald Emner May, 78, of 419 Fairmeadows Blvd., Hagerstown, died Monday, July 12, 2004, at Williamsport Retirement Village. Born Aug. 9, 1925, in Hagerstown, he was the son of the late Ralph E. May and Clara Sox May. He was preceded in death by his wife, Florence M. May, in 1979. He was employed by C&P Telephone, retiring in 1980. He was a member of Halfway Lions Club, Masonic Lodge of Hagerstown and Ali Ghan Shriners of Cumberland, Md. He is survived by one son, Todd E. May of Hagerstown; one sister, Marion Holtry of Chambersburg, Pa.; three brothers, Lloyd May of Waynesboro, Pa., Johnny May of Hagerstown and Kenneth May of Greencastle, Pa.; and two grandchildren.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A nuisance hearing concerning a local lodge, which is occasionally rented out for parties, will be rescheduled after at least one City Council member expressed concerns because police have been called to nearly all parties held at the building. The hearing, held before Martinsburg City Council members, was set for Wednesday night. It was rescheduled in part because Pastor Earl Hairston, who filed the formal complaint against the lodge, could not attend.

HANCOCK - Members of the James W. Bowers Lodge 173, the Masonic lodge in Hancock, celebrated the opening of their new building Saturday with a cornerstone laying ceremony. "This was a very big day for us," said Jeffe Mills, a past master at the lodge. "We haven't had our own building since 1988. " In 1988, the lodge sold its Main Street building and began meeting at a Hancock community center. Work on the new building began in April 1999 and was finished that September, said R. Francis Shives, secretary at the Hancock lodge.

Halfway residents oppose billiards parlor Most of the more than 50 people who showed up for a zoning hearing Wednesday night were opposed to a billiards parlor and restaurant proposed for York Road near the Western Sizzlin' restaurant on Halfway Boulevard. Opponents said their chief concern was about Hagerstown Billiards Inc.'s plan to serve beer. Jason Carbaugh, co-owner of Hagerstown Billiards with his brother Gary, told the Washington County Board of Zoning Appeals that a special exception should be granted for the parlor because it is functionally similar to principal permitted uses in the Business Local zone, including taverns.

By CLYDE FORD Staff Writer SHARPSBURG - Accompanied by the haunting sound of bagpipes and drums, a solemn procession of high-ranking Masons from the Tri-State area marched into Antietam National Cemetery on Saturday afternoon. The Antietam National Cemetery was rededicated Saturday afternoon with a highly symbolic Masonic ritual and government officials in period costume recreating the original dedication ceremony 130 years ago. Re-enactors, including government officials in 1860s dress, read from the speeches and poems that were presented at the Antietam National Cemetery's original dedication in 1867, five years after the bloodiest day of fighting in U.S. history.