The Tall Cedars of Lebanon of North America is one of the various appendant bodies of Freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

, open only to Master Masons in good standing in a regular Masonic Lodge

Masonic Lodge

This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

. Unlike the York Rite

York Rite

The York Rite or American Rite is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic organizations or bodies, each of which operates under the control of its own central authority...

 or Scottish Rite

Scottish Rite

The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry...

, which confer Masonic degrees which extend or expound upon basic craft Masonry, Tall Cedarism is more a social body, like the Shriners

Shriners

The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870, is an appendant body to Freemasonry, based in the United States...

. Its motto, "Fun, Frolic, & Fellowship," is indicative of this social bent. Its members are distinguished by the pyramid-shaped hats they wear at their functions.

Organization

Cedars meet in groups called "Forests," each headed by a Grand Tall Cedar. These forests most often meet at the local Masonic hall. The Tall Cedars claim 15,000 members, mostly in the eastern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The group was incorporated in 1902, but has antecedents in American Masonry from the 1840s. Its center of activity was, and is the states of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 and Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

; the Tall Cedars' national governing body, The Supreme Forest, is headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...

. The current Supreme Tall Cedar — the TCL's highest-ranking officer — is John E. Shoop of Milton, Pennsylvania

Milton, Pennsylvania

Milton is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River, north of Harrisburg. Settled in 1770, it was incorporated in 1817, and is governed by a charter that was revised in 1890...

.

The Tall Cedar Foundation exists as the body's charitable arm, supporting research into Muscular Dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...

 and other neuromuscular disease

Neuromuscular disease

Neuromuscular disease is a very broad term that encompasses many diseases and ailments that either directly, via intrinsic muscle pathology, or indirectly, via nerve pathology, impair the functioning of the muscles....

s. In 1951, it became the first organization to join permanently with the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Muscular Dystrophy Association

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is an American organization which combats muscular dystrophy and diseases of the nervous system and muscular system in general by funding research, providing medical and community services, and educating health professionals and the general public...

 in sponsorship. Tall Cedars often provide the site and volunteers for local telephone banks for the annual Jerry Lewis Telethon.