Boy Scouts & DeMolay: A Perfect Pair

It’s been a memorable year for Mason C. Barrick, Past Master Councilor of Elizabethtown Chapter, Order of DeMolay. The 18-year-old joined Prince Edwin – Spring Creek Lodge No. 486, Middletown, with his proud father conferring all three of his degrees; he’s been appointed Chaplain of his lodge; he’s served Pennsylvania DeMolay as State Junior Councilor; and he earned his Eagle Scout in the fall of 2023. At his Eagle Scout Court of Honor, he was presented with several special awards including the Masonic Eagle Scout Lapel Pin, and a large representation of his DeMolay family was in attendance.

In a tremendous show of the cooperation that can and should exist between the Scouting program and the Order of DeMolay, Mason invited his DeMolay brothers to partner with his Scout troop, Troop 97, Londonderry Township, in his Eagle Scout Project: the erection of bat boxes at the Swatara Beagle Club in Elizabethtown. Scouts and DeMolays worked together, side by side, in raising funds for the project at a car wash, as well as in the actual erection of the bat houses.

In presenting the Masonic Eagle Scout Lapel Pin, Brother Dave Berry, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Masonic Youth Foundation, noted how the cooperation between the organizations was important and set an example that should be embraced in communities throughout the Commonwealth.

Brother Stephen Kiessling, Jr., D.D.G.M.-2, also participated in the honor court when he presented Mason with the Eagle Scout Commendation Letter from R.W. Grand Master Larry A. Derr. In a truly inspirational moment, Mason surprised his Scouting mentor, Brother Christopher Kiessling, also a member of Lodge No. 486, who earned his Eagle Scout in 2018, by presenting him with the Masonic Eagle Scout pin.