Greetings from the East, West and South

Greetings from the East

My Brothers,

Happy Independence Day!

The summer months are upon us and our Stated Meetings and Degrees during the summer will be coats optional. Last month we had the pleasure of Raising Brother’s John Weitzel and Nestor Alverez to the sublime degree of Master Mason. This month we have two Initiations coming up. Please check the calendar and come on out to support these new brothers. July being one of the more patriotic months, take this time to remember the contributions of Masons in the early hours of our Country. Be proud of where we came from, and lead the way into the future by setting the example worthy of all Masons.

Be safe in your festivities this month, and we look forward to seeing you in lodge.

Fraternally,

Justin Peck, Master

Greetings from the West

Brethren,

It is hard to believe we are already more than half-way through the year! We have done so much in the last six months or so - from a great Annual BBQ, to a slew of degrees, it has been an incredibly active period. There is still so much to come, too! Soon though, the attention of many will begin to shift, in earnest, to planning next year’s activities and it is in that spirit that I write this article. You see, the success or failure of our Lodge programs is determined to a large extent by YOU. Your help in planning, executing, and then participating in our programs is what refreshes the soul of the Lodge each year. Below is a preliminary list of open Lodge committees for the 2020 Masonic year (with some assumptions made as to election of pedestal officers, including myself). Please take a look at the list, the description of the committee, and reach out to me

Josh Le Vesque, Senior Warden

Greetings from the South

Over the centuries, much has been written regarding the involvement of Masonry in the American Revolution. It is perhaps best to temper such claims by the light of historical research (Consider the text “Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers” by Ronald E. Heaton published by the Masonic Service Association).

Masonry followed the Masonic tradition of taking no official stance and remained neutral regarding the conflict. Masonic Brothers, however, served and sacrificed on both sides of the conflict.

Although the Masonic Fraternity apparently played no part in the Revolutionary War, it can be shown that in many ways, Masonry’s revolutionary ideals of equality, freedom and democracy were espoused long before the American colonies began to complain about the injustices of British taxation. The revolutionary ideals expressed in the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and the writings of Thomas Paine were ideals that came to fruition over a century before in the early Speculative lodges of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where men sat as equals, governing themselves and electing their own leaders from their midst. Viewed in that context, the self-governing Masonic lodge had been a form of learning laboratory for the concept of self-government!

We owe a debt of gratitude to those who came before, as we remain free to dream, to explore, and to invent. We remain free to work, to achieve, to accumulate. We are still free to venture, and if we fail, toventure again and again.

Please take a moment, and ponder our blessings, including the freedom of self-determination and independence. Good men put themselves on the line, and many paid the ultimate price to secure those freedoms which we continue to enjoy.

Many thanks to Brother Robert A. Pruett for his thoughts in “The Short Talk Bulletin”.

Larry Hoatson, JW