1 The values of Freemasonry are based on integrity, kindness, honesty, and fairness. Freemasons are taught to practice charity and to care, not only for their own, but also for the community as a whole both by charitable giving, and by voluntary efforts and works as individuals. From its earliest days, Freemasonry has been concerned with the care of orphans, the sick, and the aged. During this holiday season I urge all brothers to not forget one of our main beliefs: Charity. Charity can come in many forms both large and small, and should be practiced daily. In this issue: Master s Message Brother Presley Feast of St. Johns Toy Drive Calendar The Masonic system represents a stupendous and beautiful fabric, founded on universal purity, to rule and direct our passions, to have faith and love in God, and charity toward man. -William Howard The Friendly Flyer Some Friendly Reminders Our Toy Drive will be collected on December 17th and we will need volunteers to drop off the toys and take pictures. We will be putting together the happy teeth packs every meeting until we have them all put together. We will then be taking the kits to the selected schools in January. We will also need volunteers for dropping those off as well. will be Dark on 12/2, 12/23 and 12/30. FC degree on 12/9 and EA degree on 12/16 George B. Dealey December 2015
2 MASTERS MESSAGE Brethren, last month was an eventful time. Some good and some sad. First the sad news: The sad news of course was the passing of Past Master and Brother Bill Presley. Brother Presley went to the Great Celestial on November 13, 2015 after a long fight with diabetes. Brother Presley will be dearly missed. I held my first office under his term of WM and always enjoyed talking with him. It made for a great day when he was able to come to this year s officer installation and I felt so honored that he was there. For those that did not know Bill, he was, well let s just say he needed to know where every penny the lodge spent was going. Some laugh about it including himself, but in all he was just looking out for the lodge. Let s all please keep Rosie and the rest of the family in our prayers. Now for some better news. Last month we had a Pink Apron Degree that was put on by Ferris Chapter of OES. This was a joint venture between George B. Dealey and Mike h. Thomas lodges and it was open to all and everyone had a great time. I laughed so hard I hurt for an hour after it was over. Even better though, we passed a hat to contribute to the Ferris OES scholarship fund and was able to collect $400.00 for them. On Wednesday, November 18, George B. Dealey had our Thanksgiving dinner at the lodge. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend, but I understand there was great food and a good time was had by all. Thank you to Brother Joseph, and Sarah for putting this together, and thank you for all that came and brought side dishes. By the time this goes to print, Thanksgiving will have come and gone, so I hope everyone had a safe and joyous Thanksgiving, hope your team won whoever you rooted for that day, and hope you got your specials on Black Friday without getting trampled. December is going to be a busy month. Stated Meeting will be on the 1 st, we have a FC Degree on the 9 th and an EA Degree on the 16 th. Then we will be dark from December 23 rd to January 4 th with Stated Meeting on January 5 th being our first day back. This will allow those going elsewhere for Christmas and/ or New Years to travel. Remember that dues are due starting in December. My plea for all Life and Endowed members to make a contribution of dues this year still stands. This would ensure that we would not have to dip into our building fund. There have already been a few that have contributed. I want to make my final statement of this edition to wish everyone a very safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please be safe in your travels, remember the reason for the season, and pray for those less fortunate.
3 Passing of Past Master Bill Presley On November 13, 2015 our brother and Past Master Bill Presley was called to the celestial lodge in the sky. Chief Billy Wayne Presley served in law enforcement in the cities of Carrolton, Dallas, and Cockrell Hill. He retired from the Cockrell Hill Police Department, where he was Chief of Police. He served as Worshipful Master for both Mike H. Thomas Masonic lodge and George B. Dealey Masonic lodge. Bill led out lodges through some hard times and through some really fun times. Please keep his wife and family in your prayers.
4 The Feast of St. Johns Freemasons historically celebrate two feasts of Saint John. The feast of John the Baptist falls on 24 June, and that of John the Evangelist on 27 December, roughly marking mid-summer and mid-winter. During the Eighteenth Century, the Premier Grand of England and the Grand of Ireland favored the day of John the Baptist, while the Grand of Scotland, the Ancient Grand of England and the Grand of All England at York installed their Grand Masters on the feast day of John the Evangelist. The United Grand of England was formed on 27 December 1813. The feast day of Saint John in the Roman Catholic Church, which calls him "Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist", and in the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Calendars, which call him "John, Apostle and Evangelist", is on 27 December. In the Tridentine Calendar he was commemorated also on each of the following days up to and including 3 January, the Octave of the 27 December feast. This Octave was abolished by Pope Pius XII in 1955. The traditional liturgical color is white.
5 The Feast of St. Johns The first Grand was formed on 24 June the feast day of John the Baptist in 1717. [1] This may arise from a very old tradition, since the Baptist appears to have been regarded as the patron of stonemasons in continental Europe during the Middle Ages. The guild of masons and carpenters attached to Cologne Cathedral was known as the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist. The earliest surviving record of Grand of Ireland installing a Grand Master is dated to 24 June 1725. As records of individual lodges appear in Ireland and in the Ancients'' in England, it seems many of them met to install a new master twice a year, on the feast days of both the Baptist and the Evangelist. The Evangelist is particularly associated with Scottish lodges. The of Edinburgh was associated with the aisle of St. John the Evangelist in St. Giles Cathedral from the 15th century. The Grand of All England, and its predecessor, the Ancient Society of Freemasons in the City of York, elected and installed their President, then from 172 their Grand Master on the day of the Evangelist, [5] and in London the Ancient Grand of England elected their new Grand Masters on the same day. When the Ancients and the Moderns (the Premier Grand ) eventually came together in the United Grand of England, it was on the Feast of the Evangelist in 1813.
6 Toy Drive Benefiting the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children The values of Freemasonry are based on integrity, kindness, honesty and fairness. Freemasons are taught to practice charity and to care, not only for their own, but also for the community as a whole both by charitable giving, and by voluntary efforts and works as individuals. This is the last month we are collecting toys to give to the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Please bring all toys unwrapped and drop them in the toy box in the lodge dinning room. Toys that are needed are baby dolls, arts and craft kits, board games, card games and many other items. You can visit Amazon and view the wish list for the children by clicking HERE. You can also view the needs list HERE. Please make it a point to bring as many toys as possible so we can really make a difference in someone's life. For questions please email Bovie at BovieJ@Gmail.com or email the lodge at Dealeylodge@Yahoo.com
7 December 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Stated Meeting 6 7 8 9 2 3 FC Degree Mike Kinney s B-day 4 Grand 5 10 11 12 Grand 13 14 15 16 EA Degree 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Christmas Christmas Dark Eve Day 27 St.Johns Day 28 29 30 Dark 31