2024 Grand Warden Candidates Announced
At the Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication held in Boston on September 13th, M.W. George F. Hamilton, Grand Master, announced the following candidates for Senior Grand Warden and Junior Grand Warden in 2024. These are two highest elected Grand Lodge positions, after Grand Master.
Senior Grand Warden
R.W. John C. Toto (Joseph Warren-Soley Lodge, Lincoln)
Brother Toto was made a Master Mason on June 22, 2010. He served as the Worshipful Master, or presiding officer, of Joseph-Warren Soley Lodge in 2017 and 2018. In 2019 and 2020 he was District Deputy Grand Master of the 14th Masonic District. In 2019 he joined the Grand Lodge Membership Committee. Brother Toto has been a member of the Education & Training Committee since 2021; he is Chair of the Lodge of Instruction subcommittee and a member of the District Deputy Resource Team subcommittee.
R.W. William E. Yanakakis (John T. Heard Lodge, Ipswich)
Brother Yanakakis was raised to the degree of Master Mason on September 3, 2003. He served as John T. Heard Lodge’s Worshipful Master in 2010. He was also Master of Budleigh Lodge (Beverly) in 2014 and 2016. He was appointed District Deputy Grand Master of the 10th Masonic District for 2012-2013. In 2014, he was elected to the Grand Lodge Board of Directors to fill the remainder of a vacated three-year term. Brother Yanakakis was elected to serve a full term on the Board of Directors between 2017 and 2019, and re-elected for a second term for 2020-2022. He has belonged to the Grand Lodge Membership Committee since 2008, serving as Chair between 2014 and 2022. He also served on the Grand Lodge Receivership Committee from 2012-2018. Brother Yanakakis received the Joseph Warren Medal for Distinguished Service in 2011.
Junior Grand Warden
R.W. Robert E. Briggs (Berkshire Lodge, Adams)
Brother Briggs was raised on November 5, 1990. He was a member of the Masonic Leadership Institute M.W. Arthur E. Johnson Class in 2005. Brother Briggs was Worshipful Master of Berkshire Lodge in 2007. In 2018 and 2019 he served as District Deputy Grand Master of the 30th Masonic District. He has been an Advisor to Massachusetts DeMolay, Tekoa Chapter, Westfield, and Petherbridge Chapter, Pittsfield MA.
R.W. Christopher A. Tonini (Wisdom Lodge, West Stockbridge)
Brother Tonini was made a Mason on May 11, 1995. He served as Master of Wisdom Lodge in 2001, 2010-2011, and 2016. M.W. Donald G. Hicks Jr, Grand Master, appointed him Grand Steward in 2004, his first Grand Lodge position. He served as District Deputy Grand Master of the 31st Masonic District from 2017 through 2019. He has belonged to the Membership Committee since 2019, serving as Chair of the Golden Gavel Committee in 2022, and the current Chair of the Affinity Club subcommittee. Bro. Tonini is in the second year of a three-year term as Memorial Ambassador for the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, VA. He was presented the Joseph Warren Medal for Distinguished Service in 2020.
The election for Wardens will take place at the December 13 Quarterly Communication. We wish all four candidates the best of luck and safe travels during their “non-campaign-campaign” this fall!
