[Editor's Note: This is the first of an on-going series about the uses and benefits of the dramatic, very popular, and highly informative web site of The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.]

How are Pennsylvania Masons using the internet? They're using it in increasingly high record numbers to make their fraternal experiences more fulfilling.

Like so many of your brethren, you can learn much and enjoy the special fellowship through cyberspace simply by clicking on www.pagrandlodge.org to call up the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge's highly professional web site. It's all there for your practical, educational, organizational, and entertaining enlightenment and enjoyment.

Practical - Want to visit a lodge, but don't know the location or day of meeting? That's easy! Right up front on the home page, there's the easy-to-find "button" labeled, "Lodge Locator." Click on it and you can find the answers by entering bits of information such as the ZIP code, town name, or lodge number. The answer will tell you the name and number of the lodge, the address and day of meeting. Click a spot marked "map" on that page and an area map will appear pinpointing the location. Don't forget to have your dues card with you when you visit a lodge.

Educational - While a "Hall of Presidents" doesn't exist in the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, there is an excellent exhibit of "Masonic Presidents of the United States" in The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania and that's dramatically available on the internet. Just click on the "Library and Museum button." Click again on the portrait of Bro. George Washington and portraits of all of the Masonic presidents will appear. By clicking on and scrolling down, you read the fraternal records, biographies, and historical data about each; or click on the respective president's portrait and you'll be linked for individual historical data. This site is a favorite for those who are doing Masonic research on the birth of our country and its subsequent leadership.

Organizational - There's no quicker way to find out what's going on among the Family of Freemasonry ­ about functions of the Grand Lodge, lodges and districts, appendant bodies, youth groups, and ladies' organizations. Click on the "Calendar button" and just about everything you need to know about "what's happening when" will be on the screen, either as a list of dates or as a calendar page, whichever you choose. Pennsylvania Masonic lodges and bodies of the Family of Freemasonry are always welcome to submit the dates of their activities to the web master and they will be posted within 24 hours.

Entertainment - Whether or not you have had the pleasure and thrill of touring the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia, the magnificent home of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, you'll find renewed enjoyment and pride as a Mason when you "take the tour on the internet." The online version has options for a guided tour, a self-directed exploration, and new 360-degree images by which you feel as though you are standing in the middle of a room and able to control your view all around. Many Masons have made it a habit to return to the web site to take the tour of the Temple from time to time.