Greetings Brothers,
We’re quickly coming to the end of 2023,and I feel we’ve had a pretty good year. We had a very nice crowd for our Stated Meeting and - at the risk of being redundant - had another awesome meal.
We started our meeting in the usual manner, and Brother Secretary, Bill Bouknight, read the minutes of the previous month and they were approved. We didn’t have any new petitions and only voted on one Petition for Demit, which was approved.
Old Business
As we moved on to Old Business, Brother Senior Deacon, Casey McDermott, has been talking to people about replacing the star in the middle of our floor installing mosaic tile. He brought samples for the Brothers to see, and we are determining the size of the replacement.
In the past month, our Lodge has been active in several ways. First, some Brothers from our Lodge have constructed access ramps for WB Carlos Gibbons and RW Johnnie Morris. A group of Brothers went to the Nancy K. Perry Children’s Home and did some outside maintenance work, and unfortunately we had several funerals that requested Masonic Rites.
We, also, had our Awards/Ladies night and it was a great success. Brother Junior Warden, Steven Lourigan, served us another fabulous meal and we practically had a full house.
I want to take this moment to say how proud I am of the Brothers of this Lodge who take on these tasks and do a wonderful job. As far as I’m concerned, this is what Masonry is all about: Brothers working with other Brothers, to do good to assist others and ourselves. This is how you build relationships with each other.
I know I should mention this more often, but every month we have the Secretary’s Report and the Treasurer’s Report, and as always, their numbers match. Their reports are always available for the Brothers to see and ask questions. We are blessed to have them both.
New Business
This month we had our Election of Officers, and the Installation will take place at our Stated Meeting in December. The Officers to be installed can have family members come to the meeting and participate. When this is completed, a full list of the new Lodge Officers will be posted in the Trestleboard. Brother Junior Warden, Steven Lourigan, has assured me he is having a special meal for the meeting. This is his “last hurrah”, and I’m sure it will be great.
Work for the Month
We have no Degree Work for this month. What we do have is our Quarterly Adopt-a-Highway Litter pickup on Saturday Nov. 18th. We will have breakfast at 7:00am and commence at 7:30am. Friends and family are encouraged to participate. The more we have the less time it takes. With a good group we should be done in 1 ½ hrs.
That’s about all, this is the season to get together with your family and friends and appreciate the bounties that we have. Just look at the news and see that we are blessed.
Respectfully,
Jud B. Close, PM
Worshipful Master, 2023