NATCHEZ — Friday will mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of Mississippi in Natchez, and Masons will celebrate this weekend with a banquet, a reenactment and a massive fireworks display on the Mississippi River.

Tyler Blalock, master of Harmony Lodge No. 1, said the Grand Lodge of Mississippi was originally forged July 27, 1818, from separate lodges of Kentucky and Tennessee that are united today.

“I want to make sure the people of the Miss-Lou get the opportunity to celebrate this 200-year-old history,” Blalock said. “I think everyone has some kind of Masonic heritage that they can relate to, whether they know it or not.”

The first Masonic Lodge in Mississippi was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, also called Harmony Lodge No. 7, at Natchez on Oct. 16, 1801 — when America was still young and mostly untouched and Natchez was already starting to thrive.

The Grand Lodge of Tennessee started the Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 15 in Natchez on Oct. 8, 1816, and the Washington Lodge No. 17 at Port Gibson the following year.

The Masons’ archives indicate the three lodges which had more than 100 members combined. Blalock said members of the Mississippi Lodge of Research — created in 2009 for the purpose of the Masonic study and historical preservation — will reenact the events of July 27, 1818, when the Grand Lodge of Mississippi was created, based on the recorded history of the day starting at 1 p.m. in the Natchez Convention Center. The reenactment is free and open to the public.

At 6 p.m. the following evening, a time capsule estimated to be at least 100 years old will be opened following a celebratory banquet. Banquet tickets are $50 per plate, and seating is limited to 300 people.

Keynote speakers at the banquet include Grand Master Thomas L. Cumberland and Trent Lott, former U.S. Sen., and Mason. Friday’s celebration ends with a bang, as a firework display — that promises to be larger than the Fourth of July show — lights up the sky, starting between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m., Blalock said.

The Grand Lodge, he said, operates with a moral backbone by giving generously and secretly.

“Each of the (29 districts) of the Grand Lodge has a $1,000 scholarship they give out annually, … called the Murphy Martin Endowment fund,” he said. “We also contribute to the Shriners hospitals and orphanages throughout the state. In our local areas, we try to be as unseen as we can to help important organizations succeed. Our goal is to be a good member of the community … without necessarily receiving any glory from it.”

Ferrell Kingsafer, the Master of Andrew Jackson Lodge No. 2, said he hopes the festivities and fireworks show will ignite the community’s interest in the Lodge.

“We’re trying to spark interest in the community, about how Masonry can make a good man a better man. … That’s the beauty of Masonry. It’s not about what I can do to make myself look good. It’s about what I can do to help somebody else,” Kingsafer said.

“My main reason for becoming a Mason is because it is a link to my past. … (Masonry) has made me a better father and a Christian. … We don’t do anything for recognition. It’s about doing the right thing because it’s the right thing.”

The fireworks show should be viewable from either the Vidalia Riverfront or the Natchez bluff, Kingsafer said.