1. The Beginning

The concept of the Widows Sons Masonic Motorcycle Riders Association International was conceived by W.Bro. Carl Davenport in Chicago, Illinois in 2000. Through networking, posting on Masonic websites and other contacts, the foundation was laid for what would become an international organization with over a 1500 members today.

2. Who We Are

Membership is open to Master Masons in good standing who ride a motorcycle capable of highway riding. Some chapters have associate memberships for women and non-masons, wearing similar patches without Masonic references. Here in Alberta we only admit Master Masons.

You don’t have to own a Harley to become a member, we ride all kinds of bikes: cruisers, race bikes, big and small.

We are not an MC or 1% club. We are Master Masons first and it is important that the public will see us as such. The Square & Compass is therefore an important part of our presentation.

Although we have Alberta in our name we do not claim territory, it only refers to the Province we hail from. We respect each and all other motorcycle organizations and we have gone out of our way when we just started to introduce ourselves to other motorcycle clubs and associations. We also made sure the RCMP, the Edmonton and Calgary Police Services know about our existence.

Our primary goals are:
• Introduce motorcycling to our Brothers
• Introduce Freemasonry to the motorcycle community
• Contribute to society by way of fundraising and charity work
• Support Blue Lodges by active participation in Lodge

Our Alberta membership includes a deputy Grand Master, several Masters, Past Masters and other Lodge officers as well as newly raised Master Masons. In age we range from early twenties to well past retirement.

3. The Organization

The Widows Sons internationally currently consists of three jurisdictions. North, South and New England. The South covers the Southern States, the UK & Ireland as well as Mexico, the Caribbean and South America. The North covers the Northern States, Canada and Western Europe. New England covers the North East U.S.

Although South of the U.S. there has not been much activity, the support is growing rapidly in the UK and on the continent primarily in The Netherlands and Germany.

Each jurisdiction is entitled to grand new charters to a Grand Chapter. Requirements to receive a charter is an officers base of 6 Master Masons and by-laws that the new Grand Chapter will adapt.

Once that is approved by the Jurisdiction, a charter will be issued. In North America Grand Chapters are State or Province based. A Grand Chapter is authorized to issue charters to chapters that want to set up in that Grand Chapter’s jurisdiction.

4. The Start of the Alberta Grand Chapter

When I became a Mason in 2004 I was curious to see if there wasn’t a way to combine my two biggest hobbies of Freemasonry and motorcycles and I started to investigate. I learned about the Widows Sons in the U.S. but noticed that there was no activity in Canada yet. After talking to Bro. Fred Broecker, the Director of the Northern Jurisdiction based out of Illinois, I learned that there was one other Master Mason in Calgary who was interested as well and who acted as the main contact for Alberta. Brothers in Medicine Hat, Elk Point and Grande Prairie already contacted Darren in Calgary, so we had a small base to begin with. Together we joined forces and we started visiting Lodges to spread the word.

During festive boards I would introduce myself and explain what we were trying to accomplish. In the fall of 2005 we had 8 potential members to start the first Canadian Chapter. In January of 2006 we met at the Coliseum Inn after visiting the motorcycle show. At this meeting we discussed what we needed to do to start a Grand Chapter in Alberta.

In March of that year we had appointed the mandatory officers consisting of a President, a Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Guardian of Membership and Road Captain. We set up our bylaws and submitted al this to the Northern Jurisdiction who issued us our charter on March 10. Since then Grand Chapters have been started in Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec, Newfoundland and interest has been expressed in Saskatchewan and B.C.

5. The First Year in Alberta

Together with Adam I visited the Masonic Spring Workshop in 2006 to promote our organization. This was a great success. During the dinner on Friday night we wore our vests and were immediately approached by several interested Brethren. We set up an information stand where we posted some flyers and application forms, which were snapped up rapidly. Several new applications resulted in this. We had such a great time that every year since we had more Widows Sons come to the workshop and our hospitality suite has become well known in some circles.

We started organizing rides to the Reynolds Alberta Museum and several others events during the summer and a dozen or so group rides were held throughout the first year. During our monthly meetings we discussed what needed to be done to formalize our Chapter. We accomplished this by filing for incorporation and set up a bank account in our name. Since December of 2006 the Widows Sons Alberta Grand Chapter is a registered non-profit organization with the Alberta government.

During our first year our membership has tripled from 8 to 23 and at this point, just after our 3rd anniversary we have just over 70 members province wide. Two years ago the Widows Sons members who are hailing from the Lethbridge and Medicine Hat area started the High Twelve Chapter and we started discussions about a Calgary Chapter as well.

6. Other Masonic Motorcycle Groups

Of course the idea of Masons coming together to ride is not exclusive to the Widows Sons. There are other organizations, and we try to stay in contact with those groups.

The Masonic Motorcycle Club is spread out over the North East U.S. and consists of 40 chapters. Australia has also several Masonic Motorcycle Club chapters.

The Freemasons RC is another rapidly growing organization primarily in Eastern US, but working on new chapters in all states and abroad.

The Traveling Men is a group based in Georgia.

And here in Canada there are the Canadian Masonic Riders.

7. Last year and the coming year

2008 was a significant year for the Alberta Widows Sons. We participated in our first international ride when more then a dozen members met up with the Widows Sons chapter in Montana during a long July weekend. It was also the year when our current President’s daughter made us aware of a young girl suffering from cystic fibrosis, and whose friends were trying to raise funds to buy her a vest which would enable her to breath more easily. Known as ‘Lydia’s vest’ the Masonic community, spearheaded by the Widows Sons raised a large portion of the funds necessary and we all gathered in the fall to hand Lydia her vest at a picnic in Fort Edmonton Park.

Other causes we have been involved in over the years are the iHuman Youth Society, the Blood Bank and the Salvation Army. If at all possible we prefer providing sweat equity over monetary donations in our goal to bring communities together.

Aside from community work we are always on the lookout for Masonic opportunities as well. Several chapters in the U.S. for example received dispensation to organize outside motorcycle degrees and have special degree teams set up.

Two international meets have already been organized in the U.S. with a third one to follow this Labour Day in Kentucky. Ontario will host the 2011 international meet for a weekend of riding, music, festive boards and fellowship.

During the second weekend of July the two Alberta chapters and several U.S. chapters will come together in Southern Alberta’s foothills for what we expect to be a highlight of the riding year.

Then 'ere's to the Son's o' the Widow.
Wherever, 'owever they roam.
'Ere's all they desire, an' if they require,
A speedy return to their 'ome.

Rudyard Kipling