MacCalla Lodge Gives Community A Striking New Town Clock

It took time ­ 18 months of dedicated effort by MacCalla Lodge No. 596 ­ to give the Souderton community a striking new landmark, a distinctive town clock.

On Saturday, June 1, on the corner of Main St. and Reliance Rd. (Rt. 113), Clarence Heffendrager, Jr., P.D.D.G.M., 8th Masonic District, was the master of ceremonies when the lodge officers, led by Robert G. Lynch, W.M., presented the new landmark to the President of the Borough Council, John U. Young. It was the mayor, Bro. Charles H. Allebach, Jr., who introduced the idea to MacCalla Lodge to raise the funds to purchase the town clock.

The clock is a replica of the popular post clocks produced by Seth Thomas and the Howard Company in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Measuring 16 feet high, the clock has dials facing in four directions, each three feet in diameter. The lodge name and the Masonic square and compasses are hand-painted on the faces, encircled by the Roman numerals.

The funds were raised through donations from the lodge members, citizens, businesses, and organizations as well as from the sale of eight-inch miniature clocks. The Chairman of the Town Clock Committee, G. Carson Freeman, P.M., and a Grand Steward of the Grand Lodge, reported that donations completely supported the cost of the clock and the base plaques.