Sacramento York Rite News Published by Sacramento York Rite, Sacramento, California October 2012 OCTOber CALENDAR Tuesday, October 2, 2012 Commandery Officers Practice.. 7:30 pm Saturday, October 6, 2012 East Bay Cryptic Degree Festival Alameda Masonic Temple Saturday, October 6, 2012 SSYRA 3-Way Grand Officer Reception Dinner... 6:30 pm Reception... 7:30 pm Auburn Masonic Temple Saturday, October 13, 2012 Commandery Stated Conclave... 9:00 am Saturday, October 20, 2012 East Bay Knights Templar Festival Alameda Masonic Temple October 21 thru 23, 2012 Colorado River Fall Festival Laughlin, Nevada Info at www.crff.org. Looking ahead Monday, November 5, 2012 Commandery Officers Practice.. 7:30 pm Saturday, November 10, 2012 Stated Convocation (elections).. 9:00 am Stated Assembly (elections)... 10:00 am Lunch... 11:30 am Monday, December 3, 2012 Commandery Officers Practice.. 7:30 pm Saturday, December 8, 2012 Stated Conclave (elections)... 9:00 am Stated Meetings - Second Saturday Commandery Conclave Saturday, October 13th October is one of the six months of the year that Sacramento Commandery No. 2 holds its Stated Conclave, and it is vital that we have enough members present to have a quorum for a meeting. Your officers have been practicing their work, and the level of ritual proficiency has increased noticeably. But it also takes sideliners for a successful meeting; can we count on YOU? Don t assume there will be enough somebody elses present without you. The Conclave starts at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 13th, and shouldn t last much over an hour. Mark Master Degree October 29 in Auburn Delta Chapter #27 will confer the Mark Master Degree on Monday, October 29th, in the Masonic Temple in Auburn. The Degree will start at 7:00 p.m., and all York Rite Masons are invited to attend. Sitting in the East will be Excellent Companion John L. Cooper III, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of California. The Mark Master Degree is open to all Master Masons simply by their filling out a membership application; there is no fee. If you have friends or prospects who have an interest in York Rite Masonry, this is the event in which they can participate and see what we do. If they then decide to advance, they can pay the normal fee and receive the remaining Royal Arch degrees.
Page 2 October 2012 Greetings, Companions: Last September 14th, the Sacramento General Douglas MacArthur (SacGDMac) Chapter Order of DeMolay participated in the Constitutional Observance Event sponsored by the Downtown Sacramento Masonic Bodies. The DeMolays recited from memory the Preamble to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (the Constitution s first ten Amendments). They were one of five youth groups that took part in the program. As Chapter Advisor of SacGDMac, I would like to thank the Sacramento Masonic Temple Association, of which our Royal Arch Chapter is a valuable member, for their support of our youth. Further, I am proud to be able to say that one of our Companions, Bill Dillon, Professor of Constitutional Law at California State University Sacramento, was a featured Guest Speaker. This is to remind the Companions that on Saturday, October 6th, the Auburn York Rite Bodies will hold a reception honoring Most Excellent Companion Robert Wright, Jr. (Grand High Priest), Most Illustrious Raymond Godeke (Most Illustrious Grand Master) and Sir Knight Howard Bud Ramsey, Jr. (Right Eminent Grand Commander). Our next Stated Convocation will be in November, with our annual election of officers. Members in good standing are enjoined to attend this meeting and participate in this important event. Till next issue, Companions. May we never fail to do our best. Lito Viray, High Priest jsviray32@yahoo.com From the dias Royal and Select Masters: October 6th is just around the corner, and we look forward to joining other neighboring York Rites bodies in Auburn at 6:30 p.m. for our Department s Grand Presiding Officers reception. Please make sure you don t miss it. Thanks to the many who attended our coming back Stated Assembly last month after the traditional dark period. It was great to see you back. We really had good time. For those who couldn t make it, please make plans to join the fun when we meet again on November 10th. The Nominating Committee has been appointed. That committee, comprised of companions Phil Hardiman, Jon Humphreys, and Rich Wilson, will be making nonbinding recommendations to the Council at the November election of officers on the slate of Officers to lead us in the coming cryptic year. So, if you are still interested in becoming or advancing as an Officer, please contact the above committee members to express your interest. Joseph Dongo, Illustrious Master alacabo@gmail.com Colorado River Fall Festival The multi-state York Rite Festival will be held this year on October 21, 22 and 23, at the Riverside Hotel in Laughlin, Nevada, on the bank of the Colorado River. Registration starts Sunday afternoon. The Royal Arch and Cryptic Mason Degrees will be conferred on Monday and the Knight Templar Orders on Tuesday. This is always a fun event. Information is posted at www.crff.org.
October 2012 Page 3 From the dias Greetings, Sir Knights: The new issue of The Encompasser has an interesting article about the origins of our Order. Masonic tradition informs us that we are descended from the medieval Order of the Temple that originated during the Crusades. However, there is no verified historic link between the two organizations. We do know that after King Philip IV of France destroyed the Templar Order in 1307, scattered remnants found their way to Scotland, where they apparently disappeared into the local populace and did not continue as an identifiable group. (Our present DeMolay ritual depicts the events of 1307.) The first evidence of a Masonic Knight Templar ritual does not appear for another 450 years, culminating with the formation in 1791 of the first Grand Encampment in England and Wales. By then Templar Masonry had also been introduced in America (by British military lodges), and the U. S. Grand Encampment was formed in 1805. The October Encompasser can be accessed on-line thru the Grand York Rite website. The link is here on page 6. I am serving on the 2013 Nominating Committee. I urge all Sir Knights to give serious thought to how you might serve your Commandery. If you would like to serve on the floor as an officer, please talk to me there are several openings for next year. I hope to see you all at our next Stated Conclave on October 13th. Richard Wilson, Commander D246rich@surewest.net The Mark Master Degree It s place in Freemasonry By The Most Excellent Edgar W. Fentum, Past Grand High Priest (The following, from a longer paper on the Mark Master Degree, explains the various ways in which the Mark Master Degree is related to Royal Arch Masonry in jurisdictions outside the U.S.A. Ed.) In England and Wales, the governing body is The Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales and its Districts and Lodges Overseas, which also controls the Royal Ark Mariner Degree, conferred in separate warranted Royal Ark Mariner Lodges. In Ireland, the degree of Mark Master Mason is required to join a Royal Arch Chapter. A Royal Arch Chapter meets as a Mark Lodge, confers the Mark Degree on a candidate, making him eligible to become a Royal Arch Mason at a subsequent meeting. A Mark Lodge and a Royal Arch Chapter share the same Warrant within the Irish system. In Scotland, the Mark Degree is conferred in a Craft Lodge and is seen as completion of the Fellowcraft Degree. The degree may alternatively, and exceptionally, be conferred in a Holy Royal Arch Chapter as a prerequisite for exaltation to the Holy Royal Arch. In California a Mark Master Mason from another jurisdiction may not attend a Convocation of a Royal Arch Chapter unless he is a Royal Arch Mason. That is not always the case. To attend a Royal Arch Chapter he may have to be healed by receiving the Past Master (Virtual) and the Most Excellent Master Degrees. Deadline for submissions for the November Trestleboard is Friday, October 26th.
Page 4 October 2012 Sacramento York Rite Officers Royal Arch Chapter High Priest... Josilito Lito Viray... (916) 509-9467 King... Joseph Dongo Scribe... Juan Faranda Treasurer... Philip Hardiman, KYGCH Recorder... Ricky Lawler, KYCH Chaplain... William Dillon Captain of the Host... Harvey Holcomb, Jr. Principal Sojourner... Gary Hubbert Royal Arch Captain... Marcus Bole Master of the 1st Veil... Richard Schaffer Masater of the 2nd Veil... Michael Brown Master of the 3rd Veil... vacant Sentinel... William Long, Jr. Inspector, Dist. 11... Richard Wilson, PHP Cryptic Council Illustrious Master... Joseph Dongo... (916) 776-6440 Deputy Master... Michael Evans, IPM Principal Cond. of the Work... Marcus Bole Treasurer... Philip Hardiman, KYGCH Recorder... Ricky Lawler, KYCH Chaplain... William Dillon Captain of the Guard... Richard Ewing Conductor of the Council... Michael Brown Steward... Harvey Holcomb, Jr. Sentinel... William Long, Jr. Inspector, Arch 7... Richard Wilson, IPM Commandery Knights Templar Commander... Richard Wilson... (916) 456-6014 Generalissimo... Jon Humphreys, KYCH Captain General... Timothy Harper Senior Warden... Josilito Lito Viray Junior Warden... Gregory Voetsch, Jr., KYCH Treasurer... Philip Hardiman, KYGCH Recorder... Ricky Lawler, KYCH Prelate... vacant Standard Bearer... Juan Faranda Sword Bearer... Joseph Dongo Warder... Prezell Harris Sentinel... William Long, Jr., PC Inspector, Department V, Division C... Gordon G. Bud Warder, PC Elections Approaching Officer elections in the Chapter and the Council will be November 10th and in the Commandery December 8th. To facilitate the process, these three component bodies of Sacramento York Rite use a combined Nominating Committee to work out who will occupy which offices each year. The committee has one representative appointed by each of the current presiding officers. This committee of three meets before elections and develops a list of proposed officers for the coming year. The committee is charged to do three specific things: Recommend a slate of elective officers for each organization for the coming year. The officers are elected individually by the members, and additional nominations may be made from the floor at the time of elections. Suggest a list of appointive officers for each organization for the coming year, to assist the newly-elected presiding officers in making their appointments. Ensure that no Companion or Sir Knight is overlooked for service who wishes to serve, or is overburdened with more than he feels comfortable undertaking. The committee contacts each Companion and/or Sir Knight in advance to obtain his agreement to serve, should he be elected or appointed to the office(s) proposed for him. If any Companion or Sir Knight is interested in serving in any particular office for 2013, or in serving in general, he is encouraged to contact any member of the Nominating Committee. Serving on the Committee this year are Companions Jon Humphreys (209-745-9193) and Richard Wilson (916-456-6014) and Sir Knight Phil Hardiman, (916-712-4814).
October 2012 Page 5 Most Excellent Companion Robert V. Wright Jr. Grand High Priest Most Illustrious Companion Raymond D. Godeke KTCH, KYGCH Most Illustrious Grand Master Sir Knight Howard W. "Bud" Ramsey Jr., KYGCH Right Eminent Grand Commander Social Time at 6:30 PM, Dinner at 7 PM, Reception to follow John H. Robinson Memorial Masonic Temple 956 ½ Lincoln Way, Auburn Cost for Dinner is $15 per person Please make your guaranteed reservation by September 28 th to voicemail: (916) 877-5335 or email AuburnYorkRite@gmail.com
Page 6 October 2012 Sacramento York Rite Masonry 1123 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Secretary/Recorder, all three bodies: Ricky Lawler... 1-209-251-7067 (home) rlawlerx5@softcom.net The Clothes Line You have seen members wearing York Rite jackets red for Chapter, purple for Council and blue for Commandery. These Jackets continue to be available from MP ENTERPRISES. The price for red and blue is great -- $75.00 for sizes 34 to 49 in short, regular and tall, and $87.00 for sizes 50 to 60, also in short, regular, and tall. Purple jackets are little more expensive at $95.00 for the smaller and $107.00 for the larger. Also available are men s and ladies vests, tuxedos and shirts, plus pins, patches, flags, and OES T-shirts. Contact Max Luy at (510) 527-5728, or cell (510) 502-3224; or e-mail at maxluy@hotmail.com. The October issue of the California Encompasser, official publication of the Grand York Rite Bodies in California, is now available on the website at: www.yorkriteofcalifornia.org. Members Needed The Sacramento York Rite Bodies have experienced significant growth the last three years. But, that growth must continue if we are to be a vibrant and relevant organization. New members are always welcome, particularly if they are interested in sharing in the work. Please find the time now to contact that Master Mason whose petition you would like to sign, and invite him to join us. Petitions may be obtained from our Secretary/Recorder or downloaded from the Grand York Rite website: www.yorkriteofcalifornia.org. Auburn Mark Master Degree As noted on page one, Delta Chapter in Auburn is conferring the Mark Master Degree on October 29th. They will accept candidates from other Chapters. So, if you have a candidate for Sacramento Chapter, get his petition in right away, as we will need to call a special meeting to ballot on his application. For more information about York Rite Masonry, visit the excellent website maintained by the Golden State Research Chapter: www.goldenstatechapter.org.