Liverpool/Syracuse Lodge No.501 has been awarded the Mark Twain Award for Excellence in Masonic Awareness by the Masonic Information Center located in Silver Springs, Maryland. The award recognizes excellence in both internal and external Masonic awareness and emphasizes the importance of Masonic awareness to stimulate the quality of the lodge experience and to raise awareness among the community about Freemasonry’s history and value to the community.

Liverpool/Syracuse is the only lodge in the entire State of New York to achieve the honor, and one of only eighteen in the entire country to receive this prestigious award. Mark Flemming, W.M. of 501 says the award submission process was all encompassing and dovetailed perfectly with the ongoing recruitment and retention efforts of the Liverpool Masons. “Our submission contained our video, viral marketing materials (including stickers and posters), our world-class website, and pictures and descriptions of our ongoing programs and materials that have been developed to recruit and maintain membership in our lodge.” In order to attract new brothers, a community wide marketing campaign was launched, and education programs were also put in place to retain the new brothers. The programs have met with great success and W.M. Flemming believes they will be fine tuned in the years to come.

The award was announced at the Grand Masters Conference in Alexandria, Virginia in February and will be presented at Grand Lodge in New York City this Spring. The brothers of Liverpool/Syracuse 501 are excited about the recognition the award brings, and the outstanding results the programs have produced. The Twain Award celebrates Masonic Lodges that show exemplary work in planning, implementing/documenting, and reflecting upon how its members collectively enrich the fraternal experience that is uniquely Masonic. Lodges must demonstrate high energy, fresh enthusiasm, new creativity, and visible productivity in communicating a positive identity of Freemasonry within the lodge and throughout the greater community. Liverpool/Syracuse Lodge No. 501 is proud to have been recognized by the Masonic Information Center and seeks to improve and reinvigorate Masonry into the twenty first century.