TUCSON LODGE #4, F. & A. M N Country Club Road Tucson, Arizona

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1 TUCSON LODGE #4, F. & A. M N Country Club Road Tucson, Arizona TL4SO@hotmail.com WILL WILKINSON Senior Warden will4az@gmail.com CRAIG GROSS, P.M., Lodge Secretary cgross12@cox.net JOHN PROKOP Website Editor jfprokop@comcast.net VOLUME 136 JUNE 2017 NUMBER 6 From The East NICK ANDRESS Worshipful Master nico7a@gmail.com B rethren, The Masonic Lodge is a place where men with a common connection come together to share fellowship and engage in aligned values that bind them to each other not merely by words, but also by deeds, practices, and customs that have travelled to our modern brothers from our ancient brethren over the centuries. Many of us look upon the fraternity as a social organization, but the ties that keep us connected run much deeper as we recollect the content of the rituals which we all underwent to become a part this ancient and honorable brotherhood which transcends borders, religion, economic status, the enmity of the battlefield, and even time itself. If you agree with these thoughts, then you must also agree that Masonry in its spirit and practice is not purely a social organization it is something far greater which provides more than any club could ever hope to offer. The lodge is a sanctuary from the imposing and often negative influences of the outside world. It is a place where we find refuge from the pressures of vocation, the agony of politics, the conflicts of religious separation, and many other forces which trouble even the wisest of men s minds. It is a place where we may let down our guard against many of the world s less-noble forces for HANNES MEYER Junior Warden hannes@hannesandjoyce.com June 1-3 June 1st June 3rd June 7th June 8th June 14th June 15th June 21st June 22nd June 24th June 28th June 29th June 2017 Calendar Grand Lodge Communication Fellowship Breakfast 7am Stated Meeting Dinner 6pm Stated Meeting 7pm Degree or Practice 7pm Degree or Practice 7pm Deadwood Breakfast Laverna s Coffee Shop Degree or Practice 7pm Please remember to register for the Stated Dinner by contacting the Secretary at or , or by TL4SO@hotmail.com within its walls there are brothers committed to a common purposes that include making good men better and relieving each other s minds and spirits from what troubles each other. It is a refuge where kind words, warm handshakes, and unity of experiences and Masonic goals abound. The lodge is a place to continue learning and maintaining an active (and therefore healthy) mind through engaging in degree work and delving into the countless tomes dedicated to the history, practices, and speculative theories related to Masonry. For anyone who has found themselves practicing a lecture in their car while someone in a vehicle next to them observes them mumbling incessantly with nary a passenger you are not alone in this noble endeavor. The same goes for all our brothers who share the experience of being caught talking to themselves by their spouse, or asked what they are mumbling about in their bathroom or backyard, you are among the legion who subject themselves to speculations of schizophrenia or senility for the good of your own mind and the body of Masonry. What is amazing is how each time we practice our work, we discover a new concept in those words that we mutter so incessantly. Those thoughts provide the foundation for the many thousands of books written on the subject of Masonic history, lore, concepts that reach beyond the realm of this world in which we currently reside. The lodge is a place to share your worldly talents and experiences and to learn from those of the brother beside you. As the topics of politics and religion are relegated to the outside world, petty gossip is shunned (allow me a joyous delusion), and men of nearly every age and economic circumstance must work side-by-side, the remaining topics of conversation involve vocational experience, life experiences, modern science, literary exposure, and a vast array of other topics which might otherwise be neglected. Each man finds his way to serve the lodge based upon his unique skill-set and the brothers of that lodge are exposed to his talents and abilities through the due application of them. Continued on page 2

2 From the East continued The lodge is many more things than I have briefly touched upon here. I have sought only to begin a conversation in this article. Over the months we are dark, I would invite each of you to expand upon my thoughts and determine what the lodge offers to you as a Mason. Is it a special community for you? Is it a precious honor? Is it an important historical institution? Is it a philosophy to live by? Is it a destination to come together with men who have been determined to be worthy of the honor of wearing the apron? The purpose of this article is to hear back from you, my brothers, what the lodge offers to you that makes you proud to say that you are a Mason. I would ask you to send me your responses before our September Stated Meeting so that I may share them with lodge and present your responses to the brethren who seek to expand our ranks that our future may continue to grow and shine brighter. Answer this question for yourself and share it with us so that we may carry these answers out to the many worthy and prospective brethren in the world to show them what Masonry can offer them. Thank you and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous summer! -Fraternally, Nick Andress,Worshipful Master Name Raised Death Jerry W. Fortson From The West Last month in May 2017 we presented bicycles to students in two Pima County separate school systems in two different schools. We have operated a Bikes for Books reading education incentive system from Tucson Lodge #4 for decades. Have you ever thought about why we do such a thing? On May 10 th we presented bicycles and ereaders to the 2 nd through 8 th graders at Sierra 2-8 School in the Sunnyside School District. On May 22 nd we gave out bicycles to the 2 nd graders at the Frances Owen Holaway Elementary School in the Amphi School District near Prince and Campbell Roads which is quite close to our lodge location. We have always felt this effort is important enough to expend some of our limited time and monetary resources to help the community. Encouragement of education for everyone who wants to have it and advocating, even fighting, for the right to access for education is one of the most basic, fundamental tenets of Freemasonry. Fortunately, our partner and DCI Desert Dialysis corporate sponsor fully funded our reading incentives and direct education at the two schools we served this year. Many different types of people in a variety of professional fields have wondered for a long time what is the strongest piece of information we can measure and learn about a young school age child, what researchers call a variable, that can help us predict whether or not a young child will be likely to succeed in a specific or some general way when they grow into an adult. In order to better answer this question, I located and read several important and now classical studies on this topic. If you are interested to know more details I will be more than happy to go over these extensive studies with you, but unfortunately I do not have sufficient space to list more particulars herein for you. Kern and Friedman (2008) analyzed data from the Terman Life Cycle Study (N=1.023) which looked at when children first started reading and began school. The study team then followed them for 80 years to assess the total long-term impact on their successes over a life span. Reading ability at an early age was determined to be the single most important early life variable to predict their lifetime achievement likelihood. Musen (2010) examined early reading proficiency in children for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and found that reading at grade level in the 3 rd grade was the strongest predictor of finishing high school, going to college and lifelong success. We focused most intensely on the 3 rd graders reading at Sierra and the 2 nd grade at Holaway this year for our reading programs. A report published by the Anne E. Casey Foundation (2013) wrote in their conclusion, This report underscores the urgency of ensuring that children develop proficient reading skills by the end of third grade, especially those living in poverty or in impoverished communities. A follow up to 2010's "Early Warning: Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters," this report supports the link between reading deficiencies and broader social consequences, including how living in poor households and high-poverty neighborhoods contribute to racial disparities in literacy skills in America and how low achievement in reading impacts an individual s future earning potential. The few bicycles we gave out to children who win them in a Continued on pg 3

3 From the West continued drawing they earn the right to be in by reading 20 minutes a day for 20 days does help motivate these school students to read more. This is the best effort and most impactful action we can possibly take to assist them to make and live a better life and to be more productive, happier members of the communities we live in together. I think we with our DCI sponsor are on the right track with what we are doing as Masons for those families and children around us who may need it the most. Thanks for your help and support! -William Wilkinson, Senior Warden A Table Lodge In Observance of St. John the Baptist Day & The 300 th Anniversary of Modern Masonry June 24, 2017 at 6:00 P.M. Tucson Lodge No N. Country Club Road All Masons Welcome - Open on the EA Degree Dress is Summer Lodge Uniform Seven Course Tri-tip Steak Dinner Cost: $35 per person Includes Masonic Cannon Reservations Required, Seating Limited to 40 Contact Craig L. Gross tl4so@hotmail.com Hannes Meyer hannes4you@gmail.com DEADWOOD LUNCH Past Masters and friends gather on the last Saturday of every month for fellowship at: LAVERNA S COFFEE SHOP, 11:30 A.M. From The South After a long evening with functions and activities I found myself being the last person in the Lodge. I knew that it was my duty to set the alarm and lock the building. Just to be sure I made my round and checked if everything is locked and all lights are turned off. While walking through the empty building I had this spontaneous thought: What if these walls could talk? What would they say? There would be probably talk about degrees that happened, good meetings of the various Masonic bodies, joyful things, but also sad moments of grieving, giving last rites to a passed brother. But strangely during this walk through these were mere echoes of activities that had happened. Nothing could be heard, nothing seen. All appeared rather lonely and abandoned. The Lodge usually refers to the building where we meet, have our degrees, dinners and all that masonic life. But this is not really how we as Masons define The Lodge. In one of the lectures is says: A Lodge is a certain number of brethren duly assembled. So it is not really about the building. It is about the people meeting there. Masonic life is not connected to a structure, but rather happens in interaction with others. We also learn that the Lodge really extends far beyond the building we are meeting in. It encompasses all the places where Masons meet and congregate. So it is true, the building is abandoned, but the Lodge continues to exist and is alive. The real Lodge is not there, it is our connection we have. At the end of my walk through, I set the alarm and exited the building knowing that it won t take long until The Lodge would return. Brothers would arrive and we would have another good and meaningful time. Let s meet again at The Lodge and continue our Masonic work. -Hannes Meyer, Junior Warden D-BACKS BASEBALL GAME!! Saturday August 12th 5:10PM To purchase tickets and/or reserve your seat on the D-backs Express, request the registration form from Jim Wadley: pgmut92@sisna.com Lower Level Baseline Tickets: $40 ea D-backs Express: $25 ea D-backs Express Kids Under 12: $20 ea See back page for details...

4 From Bethel No. 25 Bethel No. 25 has Installation of Officers June 3 at 3:00 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend. Please join us if you can. Bethel No. 25 will have the first meeting of their new term on June 17. All Masons are welcome and invited to attend. Nancy Bautzmann, O.P.A. Business owner for over 20 years (520) ART CLASSES Oil, Watercolor, and Drawing bautzcaopa@gmail.com NAME JUNE MASONIC BIRTHDAYS RAISED DAY YEARS TUCKER, BARRY MORRIS PERRYMAN, RICHARD BOOTH YOUNG, EUGENE PETER FAHS, THEODORE HARRISON ANDREWS SR, JACK CARSON STARR, EARL C SWANGO, JEFFERY DANIEL CLICK, RICHARD A HOSTETLER, JOHN WOOD MORGAN SR, HOWARD RAYMOND PRINK, CRAIG ALLEN LEUTENBERG, JAY LAURENCE SULLIVAN, RAMON MARK COPSON, WILLIAM HARRY MALTERRE, JEAN CLAUDE MURAD, JOHN ABDURHAMAN ROBBINS, RONALD HOWARD PEABODY III, ENOCH WOOD BAILEY, ALLEN RAY IVEY, ERIC ROGER LEWIS, EDWIN CHARLES JULY MASONIC BIRTHDAYS NAME RAISED DAY YEARS MATLOCK, MICHAEL HUGH GILREATH, RICHARD HAMILTON STOKES, JOHN WESLEY CURTIS, EUGENE ELLWOOD LYSELL, RONALD IRVINE JONES, TREVOR REESE GOEMANS, ROBERT FRANCIS STITH, JAMES RUSSELL VIRAMONTES, MARK ALLEN LARSEN, VIRGIL DEAN BELL, JAMES ROBERT GREER, SAMUEL CAMPBELL NAME AUGUST MASONIC BIRTHDAYS RAISED DAY YEARS FRENCH, AARON JEDEDIAH AKINS, STEVEN EVERETT ERDMAN, LESLIE CARL MUNOZ, JOAQUIN ACUNA TAYLOR, EDDIE MARREL PATRICK, STEPHEN JOHN THORNE, LUCAS KIRKWOOD CARR, ALBERT JAMES SIMPSON, PAUL ALAN GONIA, RICHARD JAMES SMITH, RICHARD ROBERT PHELPS, DONALD HUNTON FRANCIS, RALPH ROSCOE LAMB, OWEN BRICE ADDIS, WILLIAM EUGENE ROLLINS, JAMES PAYTON

5 TUCSON LODGE MASONIC FAMILY SCHEDULES Arizona Chapter #2, OES, First & Third Tuesdays... 7:30PM Saguaro Chapter #48 OES, Second & Fourth Mondays... 7:00PM Olana Temple #131, Daughters of the Nile, Third Mondays.... 7:00PM Oasis Court #75, Ladies Oriental Shrine, First Mondays... 7:00PM Bethel #25, Job s Daughters, First & Third Saturdays... 10:00AM Assembly #2, Rainbow Girls, Second & Fourth Tuesdays... 7:00PM For use of the Lodge Building call or send an to lgross100@cox.net

6 TUCSON LODGE NO. 4, F. & A. M N COUNTRY CLUB ROAD TUCSON, ARIZONA Ph: Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID TUCSON, ARIZONA PERMIT NO. 400 CURRENT RESIDENT OR