MEXICO — As construction of the new Mountain Valley Community School goes on, a local Masonic lodge was there last week to dedicate a cornerstone ahead of the building’s expected January opening.

More than 50 Masons from around the state performed the ceremony Saturday, Oct. 11, a symbolic ritual historically rooted in Masonic traditions, where the first stone of a new building is laid to mark its beginning and consecrate it as a foundation for the community.

The $92 million school at 60 Highland Terrace will house an estimated 1,000 students from prekindergarten to eighth grade from Rumford Elementary School, and Meroby Elementary and Mountain Valley Middle schools, both in Mexico. Regional School Unit 10 held a groundbreaking ceremony in November 2023 at the site of the middle school at 58 Highland Terrace and Meroby Elementary at 21 Cross St.

“It’s been a true honor to have been able to have a chance to help organize this cornerstone dedication,” said Thomas ‘TJ’ Williams, district deputy grand master of the 20th Masonic District and member of the King Hiram Lodge 57 in Mexico.

Williams noted that Masons only conduct these ceremonies when asked.

“When the school was being built, I specifically asked the school if we could do this because it is a special ceremony,” Williams said, “and I wanted to be able to have the Grand Lodge to dedicate the cornerstone for the school district.”

The ceremony includes testing the stone for soundness with Masonic tools and consecrating it with corn, wine and oil, symbolizing nourishment, refreshment and joy.

A cornerstone, or foundation stone or setting stone, is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to it, thus determining the position of the entire structure. The rite of laying a cornerstone is an important cultural component of eastern architecture and metaphorically in sacred architecture generally, according to information from the Masons.

Donald W. Pratt, grand master of Masons in Maine, conducted the ceremony.

“The first duty of Masons in any undertaking is to invoke the blessings of the great architect upon their work,” Pratt said.

At the end of the 15-minute ceremony, Pratt said, “May the all bountiness author of nature, the supreme and ever-living God bless the inhabitants of the Mountain Valley Community School with all the comforts and conveniences of life, assist in the erection and completion of this building, protect the workers from every accident and long preserve from decay the structure which will here arise. And may he grant to us a needful supply the corn of nourishment, the wine of refreshment and the oil of joy.”

The grand marshal then made the official proclamation. “I proclaim that the cornerstone of the Mountain Valley Community School, on this date, has been found square, level and plum, true and trusty, and symbolically laid, according to the old customs by the Grand Master of Masons.”