MAY A Publication of the Escalon Masonic Family 1500 Viking Street, Escalon, CA

Transcription

1 MAY IN THIS ISSUE: A Publication of the Escalon Masonic Family 1500 Viking Street, Escalon, CA TRESTLEBOARD CONTACTS MOURNING OUR BROTHER PAST MASTER & INSPECTOR CHARLIE POLSTON Doug Alcorn, Lodge Secretary EscalonMasonsSecretary@gmail.com Karen Harris, Chapter Secretary my3kdsmom@yahoo.com Tim DeCarie, Club Secretary TimDeCarie@gmail.com IN MEMORY OF WOR. CHARLIE POLSTON, PM & INSP. It is my unfortunate duty to inform the Escalon Masonic Family that Wor. Charlie Polston, PM and Inspector, passed away on April 21,. Our fraternity has lost a great man who devoted a great deal of his time and efforts to the advancement of the fraternity and who built into many of us he coached for both long and short periods of time. I feel this is a perfect time to remind all of us that we are what others have built into us. So many of us have that one brother or sister who truly gave of themselves to our progression in our respective organizations. Those of us who are truly lucky have a few of them. I know I have been very blessed with help, guidance, and mentoring from many over my years in both the fraternity and work, etc. We feel loss when we lose those we love for many reasons. But one of the largest reasons we feel loss is because of our own personal gauge of what that person was worth to us. This loss of Worshipful Charlie is profound, as we feel the great hallow he leaves behind for many of us as we come to terms with the value lost to us and the fraternity. Worshipful Charlie, being the Mason he was, would not have us feel any of this. He would be reminding us to finish the work he started, carry on in our efforts for the fraternity, and charge us to not let the order he put so much time and effort into fall into disrepair. Worshipful, we will miss you. Even though you had the art of being the bulldog down and at times we were deserving of a little bite here and there in our work, we will miss knowing that you were willing to be the one who held everyone to as high a standard as you yourself strove to be. You never bit in anger, but out of passion for the craft. And once we could understand the love of the bite, we too caught the passion and gave our best to what we hoped to achieve. Worshipful, we will not relent. We will continue to strive for excellence in our labors, and pursue a passion worthy of your legacy. Rest well, brother. -Macky Stuart, Trestleboard Editor 1

2 ENLIGHTENMENT FROM THE EAST WM Macky Stuart WORSHIPFUL MASTER MACKY STUART We had a wonderful time during the course of our Retreat weekend for Master and Wardens. Tahoe was beautiful place to hold the event and the different things we heard were well worth it. I truly feel the lodge got its money s worth. I have just had the pleasure of celebrating the 13th Anniversary of marrying my lovely bride, Erin. And it gave me pause, as I recalled some important things I think we can all benefit from. Masonry has been a big part of my still being married and making it to this point. As a younger man, my passions were anything but in due bounds. I had been raised well and given the lessons of character most men would be lucky to have received. But I disregarded a great deal of this and gave into many forms of trouble, dishonesty and poor judgement. Even when I became a Mason in 2008, it was more to the pleasure of myself than to the honor of the fraternity. MASTER MASON RAISING ANNIVERSARIES Daniel M. 20th Warren C. 24th Karl S. 26th Howell H. 27th But once I finally saw that I had practically thrown away everything I had that was of value for the selfishness of man we are all born with, I began to understand the need for change in my life finally. Now a great deal of what I am blessed with today is due to the grace and mercy of my wife. But that also did not come without the development of character within. I worked hard to become the person my father raised me to be. The person worthy of such honors as that of husband and father. And a person worthy of being taken by the hand as a brother. Character development is an ongoing and lifelong pursuit. Becoming a more perfect Ashlar takes time and multiple mistakes. But it will never get there without value being put into the task and its goal; and the often very hard work it takes to get there. But my family, I can assure you today, from an already long enough life to have been at opposite ends of the spectrum of morality, this cause and the effort it consumes is more worthwhile than anything we may ever be able to be so honored to take on. To date, more of my life can serve as a lesson in what not to do than in what to do. And time will also change that, so long as I continue working. But as Masons, we are to help each other and I am unabashed in sharing my mistakes. I would rather face the humbling from admitting I have fallen into the hole than see another brother so fall when I could have prevented it. -Macky 2

3 WISDOM FROM THE WEST SW Ray Dunne From Wor. E. Doyle Freeman s online article: The role of a leader in a volunteer organization is a special challenge. It requires thoughtful understanding of the group to be led. This is especially true in a Masonic organization, because the lodge in most instances is com-posed of some members who have proven capacities for leadership, and others who may have had no training or experience in any type of leadership role. Your role also requires an understanding of Masonry, its tenets, its teachings, its practices, its organization, and the authority and responsibility of the Worshipful Master and other officers of the lodge, both elected and appointed. When leadership is discussed regarding the Masonic lodge, it is extremely important to understand the authority and responsibility of the Worshipful Master. Because of the Worshipful Master' s sovereign authority and power within the lodge proceedings, a person with little or no leadership qualities or training, will be very ineffective in conducting the lodge affairs and accomplishing the many objectives and tasks that must be done during the year. However, a Worshipful Master who can organize his plans for the year, can envision the obstacles of manpower, monetary needs, time restraints, etc. and can enlist the help of other lodge members to work in a unified force toward achieving the goals, will have a very successful and enjoyable year as Worshipful Master, and the lodge will benefit. Outstanding leaders of volunteers are realistic people who can measure themselves and their goals for the lodge in relation to the facts around them: i.e., the resources and manpower they have to work with, chiefly their committee chairmen. Such leaders are able to keep their forces in balance and to work to increase their assets and diminish their liabilities. Old fashioned leaders have a "heroic" concept of their role. They must be everywhere at once and do everything themselves. This is unfortunate because it stifles their committee members' initiative. On the other hand, successful leaders in a volunteer organization are friendly and understanding; communicate frequently and openly with their committee members; pro-vide frequent encouragement and motivation; praise lodge members for a job well done; harmonize differences; attempt to enable team members to work to their full potential; take pleasure in developing the leadership talents of younger members in the lodge. -Ray SENIOR WARDEN RAYMOND DUNNE MASONIC WAGES Thank you to Charlie Polston, PM for his services throughout his life to Freemasonry! Thank you to the GL of CA, who put on an amazing Retreat and made us better Masons over the weekend! Thank you to those who helped with the Initiation of Bro. Mike Flores! Thank you to brothers from both 112 and 460, who helped us with out degree! Thank you to brothers throughout the lodge who work so hard for the greatest organization we can serve! 3

4 A Good Story by Author Unkown SENSE FROM THE SOUTH JW Matt Due JUNIOR WARDEN MATT DUE GOOD OF THE ORDER Oak Summit 112 will be having a Second Degree on May 1st at 7pm The 168th Anniversary of the Grand Lodge of California is on the 6th Mother s Day is on the 13th! Thank you to all our moms! Armed Forces Day is on the 18th. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ARE STILL SERVING OUR COUNTRY! Memorial Day will be observed on the 28th and occur on the 30th. WE HON- OR ALL WHO HAVE MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFCE FOR OUR FREEDOM! A young man passed a pawnbrokers shop. The money lender was standing in front of his shop, and the young man noted that he was wearing a large and beautiful Masonic emblem. After going on a whole block, apparently lost in thought, the young man turned back, stepped up to the pawnbroker, and addressed him: I see you re wearing a Masonic emblem. I m a Freemason too. It happens that I m desperately in need of $25 just now. I shall be able to repay it within ten days. You don t know me; but I wonder whether the fact that you are a Freemason and that I am a Freemason is sufficient to induce you to lend me the money on my personal note. Within a few days the young man repaid the loan as agreed and that ended the transaction. About four months later the young man was in a Lodge receiving the Entered Apprentice Degree; he had not really been a Mason when he borrowed the $25. The young man looked across the Lodge room and saw the pawnbroker from whom he had borrowed the $25. The pawnbroker had recognized the young man and, to the young mans astonishment, approached him and greeted him with a smile and outstretched hand. Well, I see you weren t a Freemason after all when you borrowed that $25., the pawnbroker commented. The blood rushed to the young mans face as he stammered, No, I wasn t, but let me explain. I had always heard that Freemasons were charitable and ready to aid a Brother in distress. When I passed your shop that day I didn t need that $25. I had plenty of money in my wallet, but when I saw the Masonic emblem you were wearing, I decided to find out whether the things I d heard about Freemasonry were true. You let me have the money on the strength of my being a Freemason, so I concluded that what I had heard about Masons was true, that they are charitable, that they do aid Brethren in distress. That made such a deep impression on me that I presented my petition to this Lodge and here I am. I trust that with this explanation you will forgive me for having lied to you. The pawnbroker responded, Don t let that worry you too much. I wasn t a Freemason when I let you have the money. I had no business wearing the Masonic emblem you saw. Another man had just borrowed some money on it, and it was so pretty that I put it on my lapel for a few minutes. I took it off the moment you left. I didn t want anyone else borrowing money on the strength of my being a Freemason. When you asked for that $25, I remembered what I had heard about Masons, that they were honest, upright, and cared for their obligations promptly. It seemed to me that $25 wouldn t be too much to lose to learn if what I d heard was really true, so I lent you the money and you repaid it exactly as you said you would. That convinced me that what Id heard about Masons was true so I presented my petition to this Lodge. I was the candidate just ahead of you. -Matt 4

5 OFFICERS COACH COMMENTS Michael Faircloth II, PM We did a good job on the last First Degree, but I did see some areas where we can improve. Additionally, we need to get our officers finished through their proficiencies, as we soon will have next year to worry about before you know it. Practices are important and you are actually required to either have the permission of the Master or myself to miss them. Please report when you will make it or not. Thanks Michael OFFICERS COACH MICHAEL FAIRCLOTH II, PM IMPORTANT EVENTS!!! ESCALON TEMPLE BOARD ASSOCIATION MEETING May 7,, 6:00PM Contact Macky Stuart for Details & to RSVP ESCALLONIA EASTERN STAR CHAPTER 447 STATED MEETING May 9,, 7:30PM Contact Karen Harris for Details & to RSVP AREME CLUB MEETING May 11,, 7:00PM Contact Robert Shannon for Details & to RSVP SOJOURN TO MOUNT OSO MASONIC LODGE 460 IN TRACY May 14,, 6:30PM Contact Macky Stuart for Details & to RSVP ESCALON MASONIC LODGE 591 STATED MEETING May 16,, 6:00PM Contact Macky Stuart for Details & to RSVP ESCALON MASONIC FAMILY LODGE CLEAN-UP DAY May 19,, 8:00AM Contact Macky Stuart for Details & to RSVP OFFICER WORK Practice 7th School Of Instruction 21st Practice 28th ESCALON SHRINE CLUB STATED MEETING May 21,, 6:00PM Contact Tim DeCarie for Details & to RSVP CEREMONIAL CHAIR RETIREMENT May 25,, 7:00PM Contact Macky Stuart for Details & to RSVP COMFORT STATION May 26,, 11:00AM Contact Karen Harris for Details & to RSVP 5

6 FROM THE SECRETARY S TABLE Secretary Doug Alcorn, PM SECRETARY DOUG ALCORN, PM Please ensure that your information is the most up to date. In order to receive this Trestleboard, correspondence regarding your membership and involvement in the craft and things surrounding it, etc; it is imperative that you have your most up to date information submitted to us! Please feel free to me at EscalonMasonsSecretary@gmail.com with your most up to date mailing address, and phone number! If you have not yet checked out our Facebook page, our website or the application for your smart phone, all you need to do to access it all is go to our website at where you will find links on the very first page to access any and all you seek! Pay attention to the mail, as I have been sending notices for different upcoming issues we are considering. -Doug CHAPLAIN S CHUCKLES Chaplain Bob Shannon, PM A man is walking through the recreation ground of his local park when he notices a huge fight going on in full fury on the football field he is passing. "What's going on?", he asks a spectator, watching from the side-lines. CHAPLAIN BOB SHANNON, PM The other replies "It's a match between the Masons and the Knights of Columbus." "What's the score?" asks the first man. "I don't know. It's a secret." A man was checking into a small hotel on the outskirts of town when he saw a sign on the wall which read, "HIRAM LODGE, Meetings every Wednesday at 7PM." The man said to the lady at the front desk, "I wonder what they do in there. Do you think they'd ever let me join?" "I don't think so." "Well why not?" "I don't know. That guy there," she said pointing at the Tiler sitting outside the door, "has been knocking on the door for weeks and they won't let him in." 6

7 Dear Brothers: It is my pleasure to announce with great gratitude and excitement that as of April 26 we have received seven Pace Setter lodge donations for the Let s Write the Future campaign! Please join me in recognizing the following lodges for their unprecedented display of Masonic charity: 1. Oceanside-San Dieguito No. 381 $100,000 Santa Monica-Palisades No. 307 $100, Mission Lodge No. 169 $100, California No. 1 $180, Beverly Hills No $150, Channel Islands No $100,000 GRAND LODGE OF CALIFORNIA Most Worshipful Grand Master Bruce R. Galloway, PM 5. Metropolitan No $100,000 The California Masonic Foundation launched our fraternity s three-year Let s Write the Future fundraising campaign this fall. It supports two areas of critical importance to our fraternity: The first is helping vulnerable children at California s lowest-performing schools gain crucial literacy skills through the award-winning Raising A Reader literacy and family engagement program. We have already brought this impactful program to 500 schools. Through our campaign, we will reach 1,000 bringing the opportunity for academic success to tens of thousands of families. The second is expanding advanced care at our Masonic Homes campuses so that our elderly brethren and widows will stay safe at their hour of greatest need. At our Masonic Homes campuses today, husbands and wives may be separated in order to receive critical care. Through this campaign, we will ensure that our members receive the care they need within their safe and supportive campus community. These historic Pace Setter lodge gifts are the first six-figure donations from individual lodges to our Masonic charities in our Grand Lodge s history. They are a tangible demonstration of these brothers leadership and dedication to our Masonic values, our brethren, and our communities. Please join me in congratulating them for their historic and impactful gifts. Thanks to each of you for all that you do to keep our fraternity strong and vibrant. Special Message for Lodge Officers If your lodge would like to make a Pace Setter gift by pledging to the Let's Write the Future campaign, please contact Bro. Greg Cherry (Southern California) or Bro. Candler Gibson (Northern California). 7

8 HALL ASSOCIATION NEWS Dave Brown, President This month, we will have a work day to get the lodge prepared for the Grand Master s visit in June. It will be May 19, beginning at 8am and hopefully done by 11am. The more helpers the merrier and quicker we finish. I will need help from the Masons, Eastern Star Members and Shrine Club Members if possible please. HALL ASSOCIATION Dave Brown President I have quotes for the fence between the alleyway and the lodge property. We should be deciding upon this soon and getting it done shortly thereafter. Please know that our next Hall Association meeting will be on the 7th at 6pm just before our practice. Dave COMMITTEE NEWS Planned Giving Members are needed! Fundraising Members are needed! Membership Members are needed! Lodge Support Members are needed! LODGE COMMITTEES STANDING Planned Giving Internal Audit Members are needed! Making progress. Grand Master Reception We have combined the efforts of our lodge for this with the Oak Summit Masonic Lodge 112. Fundraising Membership Lodge Support SPECIAL Internal Audit GM Reception 8

9 MASONIC TRIVIA At one time, Golden Lodge #5, Stanstead, Canada occupied a lodge room, which straddled the boundary between Canada and the United States. There were entrances on both sides of the border. Washington Chapter #3 of Portsmouth, NH announced its meetings via the town crier, who received from 6 to 25 cents for his work. In 1872 the Commissioner of Patents held that the Masonic emblem could not be used in a trademark or trade name for commercial purposes. MASONIC BOOK OF THE MONTH Revolutionary Brotherhood By Steven Bullock ISBN The letters of the English word GOD are the first three letters of Hebrew words for beauty, strength, and wisdom. G in Gomez, O in Oz, D in Dabar. TRAVELING FOR TRAVELERS We enjoyed last month s sojourns to Linden. Valley Lodge 135 makes amazing food every time they get together! And they were very welcoming and wonderful all of us. We are truly grateful for their hospitality and this time we got to pay them directly back for their kindness by allowing them to use the Lodge room on the 17th for a dual First Degree due to renovations at their building! We did not make the trip to Roseville due to the Master getting mandatory overtime at his job. This has been rescheduled for later in the year. We will be in Tracy next month, followed the month after by Modesto, the Lodi in July. Do not forget to mark your calendars for June 2nd, when we will make our way to the Masonic Home in Union City together for a grand tour of its facilities! LODGE ETIQUETTE Brethren sit in the East, even if all other seats are full. Why? The East is a place of honor and to take a chair there would be to perform what the parable in the Book of St. Luke speaks of, that of taking an honor not offered only to possibly have it embarrassingly revoked. 9

10 WORTHY MATRON S MUSINGS Mary Green, Worthy Matron WORTHY MATRON MARY GREEN FROM THE SECRETARY S TABLE Karen Harris, Secretary Please ensure that your information is the most up to date. In order to receive this Trestleboard, correspondence regarding your membership and involvement in the chapter and things surrounding it, etc; it is imperative that you have your most up to date information submitted to us! Please feel free to me at my3kdsmom@yahoo.com with your most up to date mailing address, and phone number! SECRETARY KAREN HARRIS If you have not yet checked out our Facebook page, our website or the application for your smart phone, all you need to do to access it all is go to our website at where you will find links on the very first page to access any and all you seek! Everything for the Chapter now works well together with the Escalon Masonic Family social media, website, etc. -Karen 10

11 Dear Sisters and Brothers: GRAND CHAPTER OF CALIFORNIA What an exciting April we had with the PortPal Palooza. It was thrilling to see on Facebook (see: CA Eastern Star PortPals page) the many members and youth groups working together in locations all over the state. A big SHOUT OUT to all who participated! Great news! The 2015 Grand Chapter Session Proceedings is now on the website under the Publications tab. If you wish to order a printed copy, order through your Chapter Secretary. The cost for the printed proceedings is $35.00 plus $4.00 for shipping, if you desire it to be mailed. We will be distributing copies electronically to each Chapter Secretary shortly. Also, the Constitution and Bylaws and Instruction Book updates have been mailed to your Chapter Secretary. GRAND CHAPTER OF CALIFORNIA GRAND WORTHY MATRON Alyson Grant GRAND WORTHY PATRON Fred Loeser Saturday, June 2nd is the SLC Jamboree. We hope you will attend and enjoy spending the day with us. The car show will be exciting, the Grand Officers will be sharing their specialty items at each of their booths, and most of all, enjoy taking a tour of our beautiful Senior Living Community. The Secretaries and Treasurers will be hosting a Two Nuts Juice Bar to earn funds for the SLC. Check out the flyer and send in your donations and/or contact the chairman to volunteer a little time to help in the booth. It s so much fun! Yes, we have been very busy! I am very excited to share with everyone that we have added a new feature to our website. Reservations and payment for the Northern SLC event can now be made online! It is our first event to try out online reservations with a PayPal option. Log in to the oescal.org website. On the member home page, click on Northern California SLC Fundraising Event. It will take you to the Northern SLC Event Page where you can purchase your tickets. Just think - no check writing, form printing, envelopehunting, or postage and mailing involved. Don t forget - May is J. Clifford Lee and Marguerite Rennie Memorial Cancer Funds month. Encourage your Chapter and members to honor and help our Sisters and Brothers and families who are suffering with Cancer. In May, we also honor Nurses (6th), Teachers (8th), Mothers (13th), Armed Forces (18th), and Memorial Day (28th), when we recognize those who served and gave their all for our country s freedoms. Fraternally, Tammy Kinzy Grand Secretary AREME CLUB AREME CLUB The AREME Club is a social and community service element of the Escallonia Eastern Star Chapter. It s name is derived from the five heroines of the Order of the Eastern Star: Adah, Ruth, Esther, Martha, and Electa. This month we will be meeting May 11, at 7PM at the Escalon Masonic Hall. Dinner will be food. Our service project will be announced then. 11

12 PRESIDENTIAL PREACHING Name, President Shriners, We will be holding our rummage sale in the parking lot of the Escalon Masonic Hall in October. PRESIDENT PAUL HENDERSON 2017 Stay tuned for more events. We are almost to the summer time and soon will have a lot more going on. See you at our meeting on the 21st! -Paul FROM THE SECRETARY S TABLE Name, Secretary Please ensure that your information is the most up to date. In order to receive this Trestleboard, correspondence regarding your membership and involvement in the chapter and things surrounding it, etc; it is imperative that you have your most up to date information submitted to us! Please feel free to me at TimDeCarie@gmail.com with your most up to date mailing address, and phone number! SECRETARY FIRST LAST If you have not yet checked out our Facebook page, our website or the application for your smart phone, all you need to do to access it all is go to our website at where you will find links on the very first page to access any and all you seek! Everything for the Chapter now works well together with the Escalon Masonic Family social media, website, etc. -Tim 12

13 SHRINERS INTERNATIONAL NEWS During his year as Imperial Potentate in , Freeland Kendrick visited every Shriners temple in the United States. At the Imperial Session of 1920, held in Portland, Ore., Kendrick proposed that the Shriners build a hospital for children. Conservative Shriners had their doubts, both about the two dollar yearly assessment from each Shriner, and what it would mean to assume this kind of responsibility. The prospects of the plan being approved were fading when Noble Forrest Adair (Yaarab Shriners, Atlanta) rose to speak. Looking out on the assembled nobles, Adair went on. While we have spent money for songs and spent money for bands, it is time for the Shriners to spend money for humanity. I want to see this thing started. Let us get rid of all the technical objections. And if there is a Shriner in North America who objects to having paid the two dollars after he has seen the first crippled child helped, I will give him a check back for it myself. SHRINERS INTERNATIONAL IMPERIAL POTENTATE GARY BERGENSKE (To Be Continued Next Month) BEN ALI TEMPLE NEWS Nobles & Ladies, Liz and I would like to thank everyone who attended the Potentate s visits in February and March. The large attendance at all the PVs was appreciated. The Islander PV at the Kings game, the Classic Auto, Oriental Band and Patrol PV at Cattlemens, the Motorcycle Club PV at The Barn, the Cibara PV at The Plate, the Bedouin PV at Heritage Park, the Central Valley Shrine Club/Hillbilly Pie PV in Meridian and the Gold Country/Legion of Honor PV at Natoma Lodge. The fellowship was great and the food was, well, belly busting. Note to self. Need to diet in 2019!!! The May Stated Meeting will have a Sports Night theme. Dress in your favorite sports team s attire and enjoy another fun filled night of fun, games and prizes. Also see what Ben Ali s Sportsman Club is doing. Liz and I would like to thank all the Nobles and Ladies attending this years Stated Meetings. Your attendance and support of Ben Ali Shrine is appreciated. BEN ALI TEMPLE POTENTATE DAVID BARNEKOFF May is the start of parade season. Our first command parade will be on May 5th, the Elk Grove Western Festival Parade. It is quickly followed by the Sutter Creek parade on June 3rd. Bring your Fez and walking shoes and ride, walk or drive with the Shrine in the parade. We always have extra seats for Nobles and Ladies. The almost annual Motorcycle Poker Run is scheduled for June 9th in the foothills of the gold country. Only a motorcyclist knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window. If you do or know someone who does contact Jack Campbell to sign up at jlcdad@comcast.net or (916) May I remind you again? The May 19th Hot Sands ceremonial is almost here. We have a full program planned for the candidates and their ladies. If you know a Mason who would like to join the Shrine please have them complete and send in their Petition of Initiation to the Temple office. Yours in the faith, David Barnekoff Potentate 13

14 ESCALON MASONIC FAMILY 1500 Viking Street Escalon, CA AFFIX STAMP HERE 14