SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Freemasons made merry at the Black Knight on Saturday evening, sharing tunes on the bagpipes with fellow pub patrons at the end of Jim Taylor's weekly maritime kitchen party performance.

Bagpiper Angus Campbell, a Freemason from Fort McMurray, Alta., leads a procession out of the Black Knight on Saturday evening. About 30 Freemasons and spouses visited from Alberta on the weekend to take part in the annual celebration held by Yellowknife's Masonic Lodge. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

The Freemasons and their spouses stopped by the bar after their annual banquet a block away at the officer's mess in the Department of National Defense. The event was open to non-member guests. Big Ethyl provided the live entertainment. The fraternity installed seven new officers over the weekend, including John Himmelman, who became a Freemason a decade ago in Ontario. He joined the Yellowknife lodge after moving North five years ago.

“You have a pre-set up network,” he said, referring to the benefits of moving to a new community with a lodge. “It's a great group so you automatically have an affiliation with people.”

Known as Masonic Lodge number 162 on the Grand Registry of the Grand Lodge of Alberta, the Yellowknife fraternity began in 1946 and is part of a district that includes Alberta.

A few Alberta brethren and their spouses visit from Alberta to attend the installation banquet each year, Himmelman said.

“They had such a good time last year that word spread and they wanted to take part in the event this year, meet some of the other brethren and get a tour around Yellowknife,” he said.

The Freemasons and their families went dog sledding with guides from Beck's Kennels, visited the museum and photographed wildlife, such as the ptarmigan at Sissons Court. They filled Bullock's Bistro for a meal on Friday night. On Sunday they ended their tour with a visit to the ice road.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Ken Glazenbrook, a Freemason who visited from Edmonton. “It was a whole weekend worth of events.”