Monroe County Masonic Service Bureau

The Rochester Area and surrounding communities have a rich history of Freemasonry. This site contains information about local Freemasonry and serves the Fraternity and General Public with information about Local Lodges and the Masonic Service Bureau of Greater Rochester, NY, Inc. You may also learn about the local Concordant Bodies: Damascus Shriners; Valley of Rochester, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; York Rite; and Order of the Eastern Star.

If you are interested in learning more about Freemasonry in the local area or about joining the Masons, use the links at the top of this page.

From the Grand Lodge Web Site

The Grand Lodge of New York was organized on December 15, 1782 under a Provincial Grand Warrant dated September 5, 1781 from the “Athol” or modern Grand Lodge of England. Our Grand Lodge declared its independence on June 6, 1787 and assumed the title “Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York.”

For more information, visit the Grand Lodge Web SIte: Grand Lodge F&AM of the State of New York.

Rochester's Ronald McDonald House is a "Home Away From Home" for families whose children are receiving treatment at area hospitals. The House provides relief from the hospital surroundings while allowing families to remain close to their children. It allows parents to rest and renew their strength at a time when their children need them most. This will be the our fifteenth consecutive year that area Masons, ladies, family and friends will have offered RED hearts for the Ronald McDonald House.

Why should we fingerprint our children?

450,000 children run away each year

300,000 children are abducted each year by family members

More than 58,000 children are abducted every year by non-family members

That's more than 800,000 children in America missing each year - one child every 40 seconds. Yet, when the National Child Identification Program began; less than two percent of parents had a copy of their child's fingerprints to use in case of an emergency.

The National Child Identification Program is a community service initiative dedicated to changing these statistics by providing parents and guardians with a tool they can use to help protect their children. The I.D. Kit allows parents to collect specific information by easily recording the physical characteristics and fingerprints of their children on identification cards that are then kept at home by the parent or guardian. If ever needed, this I.D. Kit will give authorities vital information to assist their efforts to locate a missing child

Child Identification programs have been as varied as their sponsoring organizations, including everything from still pictures, DNA sampling, fingerprinting, dental impressions, etc. 15 years ago, in 1991, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the state of New York began providing, free of charge, child identification videotapes to any family that desires them.

As Monroe District Masons, it is our goal to continue, improve and expand upon this child identification program. In doing so, we will be providing our local communities with a very valuable service, promoting a positive image of Masons as being involved with our communities, and also increasing activity within our lodges, encouraging our brothers to become more involved in the community.

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DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a collaborative effort by DARE certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, parents and the community to offer an educational program in the classroom to prevent or reduce drug abuse and violence among children and youth. The emphasis of DARE is to help students recognize and resist the many direct and subtle pressures that influence them to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, inhalants or other drugs or to engage in violence.