WELCOME BROTHERS!   Welcome to the home of Merritt Island Lodge No. 353, Free and Accepted  Masons (F&AM). Chartered in 1966, Merritt Island Lodge is located on South Tropical Trail in beautiful Merritt Island, Florida, just south of the Hubert Humphrey Bridge (Rt 520). Merritt Island is home to the John F. Kennedy Space Center. Kennedy Space Center is the site where man's greatest achievement - to travel to and return from the moon - began. The Space Shuttles are gone but the legacy continues with an ever expanding array of new rocket programs. Rocket launches can be witnessed on occasion from  the front porch of the lodge or while relaxing in our Garden of Reflection while enjoying the nice island breeze. Across the Banana River, only a short drive from the lodge, is Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The station is the site where Alan Shephard and John Glenn blasted off into history. Cocoa Beach is nearby and boasts the nearest and cleanest beaches to the Orlando area.

Merritt Island Lodge is the center of The Thundering 17th Masonic District and has a rich tradition of giving and fellowship. We are one of the most active and diverse lodges in the District with Brothers as young as 18 and as old as - well, pushing 100 years young. We all have something to offer each other and to the Masonic fraternity. We support numerous organizations such as the Childrens Hunger Project, Brevard Hospice, Azan Shrine Center, the Shrine clubs, and the American Veterans. We embrace our neighborhood communities with local charity support, sports team sponsorships and the Child ID program. It is our honor and privilege to be a part of building strong community allegiance.

Whether you are a brother of the lodge, a brother of another lodge, a fellow traveler or interested in what Freemasonry may offer, we invite you visit with us. Come to any stated meeting or business night (see schedules below) and enjoy Merritt Island's hospitality and the company of the brethren.  I extend our hospitality to all!

  With Fraternal Harmony,   

Michael J. Ovens    
 Worshipful Master    

Calendar, Important Notices & Events!

   Passing of brother Walt Bryan. Brothers, you should have received notice that brother Walt Bryan passed away this past week. Brother Bryan was one of two honorary past masters of the lodge and a lobg-time supporter of the lodge and Freemasonry. He seldom missed a meeting or supper and always had an interesting story to tell. The steak nite on September 21 has been cancelled and we ask that all brothers instead turn out for his viewing and pay their last respected for brother Bryan and his family. The viewing will be held at 5:30 pm at Brevard Memorial Part, 320 Spring Street, Cocoa.

   Update your Circumscribe account. Brothers, the Grand Lodge has aksed that we remind the craft to check their Circumscribe account to be sure it is correct and up to date. The secretary has provided instruction here how to create and/or login to your account. Please update ut and keep it current.

   Many brothers are behind in their dues!  My brothers, it is that time of year again where I must remind all that there are many who have not paid their lodge dues. If you have not paid for the year, please contact the Secretary to make arrangements to pay and avoid being listed as NPD or having your lodge membership suspended. 

   Sick or Distressed?  Brothers, if you know of any brother that is sick, in need of help or otherwise in distress, please contact the Worshipful Master or Chaplain.

 "The secret of Masonry, like the secret of life, can be known only by those who seek it, serve it, live it. It cannot be uttered; it can only be felt and acted. It is, in fact, an open secret, and each man knows it according to his quest and capacity. Like all things worth knowing, no one can know it for another and no man can know it alone."     - Dr. Joseph Fort Newton