Worshipful Eugene C. Vining 1911-1913

By the time Wor. Eugene Vining was preparing his journey to the east as the 13^th Worshipful Master of Thomas Talbot Lodge, he was 37 years old and had found considerable success in his profession as a teacher. Graduating magna cum laude from Bowdoin College, he attended Andover Theological Seminary, but ultimately decided that what he wanted most was to be a teacher. Finding positions at Pinkerton Academy and the Perkins School for the Blind, where the young educator assisted Helen Keller in passing her entrance exams for Harvard University’s Radcliffe College, Vining eventually settled in Billerica in 1901. He had received an assistantship at the Howe Highschool, and by the time of his installation as master of the lodge he was serving as the school’s principal. After his time as master he would serve as the a part of the lodge’s history committee in preparation for the celebration of their 50^th anniversary. A member of First Congregational Church in Billerica, he was also a deacon there. After his death, his long tenure as a Billerica educator were recognized with the establishment of the Eugene Vining Elementary School.