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History of Collington Lodge # 230
With the rapid development in the 1960's in the Bowie - Glenn Dale areas of Prince George's county, two groups began holding meetings about the possible formation of a Masonic lodge in the area. One group was in the new Belair section of Bowie that was under development by Levitiz & Sons and the other group was in Glenn Dale.
Brothers Albert Miller and Fred L. McKee in 1962 advertised in the local paper about starting a Masonic Club in Bowie. This was but the mustard seed and moving slowing at first, it was not until March 30, 1966, when seven masons organized the Masonic Lodge Organization Committee. Bro. William H. Sorrell, Jr. was elected chairman. In the midst of organizing, the Bowie group discovered a similar group in Glenn Dale headed by Bro. Stanley R. Bice and guided by Past Master George E. Anderson. On April 21, 1966 the two groups met and decided to combine their efforts and began working together.
Bro. Sorrell and fourteen members of the organization committee met on May 26, 1966 with Grand Master Edward R. Saunders, Deputy Grand Master W. Norman Penn, Grand Secretary Gerald M. Pine and Bro. Harrison R. Mosely, Chairman of the Grand Master's Committee on Dispensations and Charters, and discussed the possibility of forming a lodge in Bowie. After discussion and agreement on the technical and legal requirements, the meeting was adjourned. 
On June 13, 1966, the organizing committee submitted a Petition for Waiver of Jurisdiction and Permission to Form a New Lodge to the nearest existing geographical lodge, Birmingham Lodge No. 188 in Beltsville. The petition was unanimously approved by Worshipful Master Beverley G. Fonda and Birmingham Lodge. On June 14, 1966 a Petition For a Warrant to Work Under Dispensation was signed by seventy-two masons, and being recommended by Birmingham Lodge, a dispensation was issued June 16, 1966 to assemble a lodge to be known as Collington Lodge, Under Dispensation (U.D.). The Collington name came from a crossroads community in the Bowie area.
Collington Lodge, U.D. held its first communication on July 5, 1966. The lodge met in the Parish Hall of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church located on Route 450 near Hillmeade Road in Bowie. The officers elected or appointed for the lodge under dispensation were George E. Anderson, P.M. Worshipful Master; William H. Sorrell, Jr. Senior Warden; Rev. Stanley R. Bice Junior Warden; William E. Gibbs Secretary; Henry Brautigam Treasurer; Fred L. McKee Senior Deacon; Samuel M. Smith Junior Deacon; Charles F. Marhanka Senior Steward; Roland E. Thomas, Jr. Junior Steward; and Roland E. Thomas, Sr. Tiler. A chaplain was not appointed.  It was agreed among the members of the organizing committee that the offices would be filled from both the old Bowie and Glenn Dale groups, especially the three principal officers. Worshipful Master Anderson and Junior Warden Bice came from the Glenn Dale group while Senior Warden Sorrell came from the Bowie group.
Petitions for the degrees were received from William Marlow Ward and Charles Arthur Pittinger at the first communication, who became the first two brothers raised in Collington Lodge, U.D. on November 8, 1966. They also became charter members of the lodge.
Collington Lodge, U.D. received its charter at the annual meeting of Grand Lodge on November 15, 1966 and was assigned the number 230. Collington Lodge No. 230 was the first lodge to be chartered in over 10 years in Maryland. The charter was presented to the lodge at a special communication on January 7, 1967, when Grand Master W. Norman Penn and his line, and over 300 Masons visited the lodge after a dinner at Perkins Chapel Memorial Church in Glenn Dale. The Grand Master also installed the officers for 1967 who were the same officers as under dispensation, but also included Irving S. Diven Chaplain; O. Bruce Bayliss, Jr. Marshall; Nelson H. Shapiro, P.M. Ritualist; and Albert Miller Historian. All the officers installed were charter members of the lodge.
Collington Lodge had 66 charter members. This included 53 of the brothers who signed the Petition for a Warrant to Work Under Dispensation, 11 brothers who petitioned to affiliate between the time the charter was received and December 6, 1966, and the two brothers who were raised while the lodge was under dispensation.
At the same time the lodge was being organized, a Collington Lodge Organizing Committee was formed under the chairmanship of William H. Sorrell, Jr. to try to find suitable property for building a Masonic Temple. Eventually, the committee was replaced by Collington Holding Corporation incorporated in December 1966 under the chairmanship of Bro. Jack Chernikoff, a charter member. Bro. Raymond Campbell Carlton, a charter member, held a purchase option on property that included a building and about three acres at the corner of Church and Old Stage Roads in Bowie, which he offered to the organizing committee. The property was a former Catholic Church owned by the Archdioceses of Washington. The property was purchased and in January 1967 plans were made to turn it into a Masonic Temple. Bro. David L. Thomas, a charter member, was appointed to supervise the project as the Master Architect and Builder, and Bro. Cherkinoff was the financial genius behind the project. The mortgage on the property was paid off in 1984.
On September 18, 1968, a special communication of Grand Lodge was held for the purpose of dedicating Collington's new Masonic Temple. The Grand Lodge was opened in due form and Most Worshipful Grand Master W. Norman Penn dedicated the new Temple. In the conversion of the church to a Masonic Temple, the Masonic family donated most of the labor and material. In those instances when material was not donated, they were able to purchase it at little cost. The conversion project was a remarkable achievement.
Grand Master John R. Fogle and his line visited Collington Lodge on February 15, 1972. The Grand Master and his line raised seven brothers-Leon Roy Rickards, Charles Casper Clough, Don Alden Thumann, Robert Gleason Fowler, Delmar John Gasser, Jackie Mills Calloway and Charles Thurston Almond, Jr. This was the largest class ever raised in Collington.
Collington celebrated its 25th Anniversary at its stated communication on November 26, 1991. All the chairs were filled by past masters. Bro. George E. Anderson, Collington's first worshipful master, sat in the East. The other officers were Senior Warden William A. Oslin (1976), Junior Warden Jackie M. Calloway (1977), Senior Deacon Jimmie E. Trowbridge (1982), Junior Deacon Samuel C. Plott, Jr. (1985), Senior Steward Edwin W. Lard (1986), and Junior Steward Jack T. Merkle (1988). Past Master Anderson gave a talk on the early years of the lodge, Past Master Calloway read the minutes from the first stated communication under dispensation, and Bro. David L. Thomas talked about the building of Collington's Masonic Temple.
Collington's membership continued growing and reach a peak of 171 on December 31, 1979. The current membership on December 31, 2000 was 325 with the additions of York Lodge No. 225 and West Gate Lodge No. 220. York Lodge of Cheverly with 137 members was merged into Collington Lodge on October 23, 1996. West Gate Lodge of Mt. Rainier with 105 members was merged into Collington on January 18, 2000.
The lodge received the Grand Master's Award in 1993 under Worshipful Master Richard E. Fisher, in 1997 under Worshipful Master Ronald A. Block, in 1998 and 1999 under Worshipful Master Glen B. Clary, and in 2000 under Worshipful Master Harold A. Whipp. The lodge took third place in the first ritual competition held in 2000.
The lodge is very proud of its support of the Grand Lodge by appointments to the Grand Line, to Grand Inspectors, to Deputy Grand Lecturers, and to committee members. Bro. William M. Clark, Jr., elected Grand Master in 1993 and 1994, is now a member.
Collington Lodge has been very active in the community. Beginning in 1993, the lodge began participating in the annual Bowiefest, a community activity where families can enjoy a day of fun. At this annual event the lodge sells cotton candy and sodas. The net proceeds, which have been over $9000 to date, have been donated to the C. Elizabeth Rieg School in Bowie, a public school for the physically and mentally challenged. The lodge has donated time to the Salvation Army to ring the bells at Christmas. On Veterans and Memorial Days, the lodge has honored the veterans by participating with the community in laying wreaths at the Veteran's Memorial in Bowie.
The biggest challenge the lodge has undertaken was the assistance provided to Megan Hunter and her family. Megan was a little girl in Scotland who was born without any fingers on her right hand. Dr. Norman Cowen, a world renown Bowie doctor on hand reconstruction, agreed to construct her right hand in 1996 when Megan was only one and one-half years old. Past Master S. Jack Hill, Jr. coordinated the Masonic family effort to assist Megan and her other on their trips to the United States. The Hunter family came from a Masonic background. The Masonic family took care of the family's logistical needs from the time they arrived at Dulles Airport until they left. Megan and her mother made 11 trips and spent over 16 weeks in Bowie during a period of two years. The Masonic family donated room and board, transportation, and incidental expenses, as well as over $6700 to Dr. Cowen.
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