October is here and with it comes Fall. The year really is flying by.
When we are young it seems that time moves like molasses in Winter, very slow. The older we become it moves like a thief in the night, fast and silent. Perhaps this is because of how we set our sights. When I was young I had long term goals and did not focus on the short term. As I aged, I had increasingly more short term goals or maybe even deadlines to meet. I may have missed some things in my youth as I was not focusing on what was happening in the now.
Time stops for no man. Be aware of the present and take it in. Whether the moment is good or bad I think it important to understand what is happening, embrace it and use it as a lesson learned for the future. As of yet, we cannot get past moments back. Let us learn from our mistakes and our successes. Then if the opportunity presents itself, pass your knowledge down for someone else to benefit.
Speaking of time not stopping…next month it will be time for the Election of Officers for the 2023 Masonic Year. Acalanes Fellowship Lodge #480 has several new faces to fill the line. Some have been around for a while and some new.
Are you interested in joining the line and taking part in guiding our Lodge into the future? Would you like to see something done differently? If so, reach out and schedule some time to speak with current officers to see what it’s all about. Being Master of AFL #480 has been one of my most cherished experiences.
Our Degree Team has transitioned into Third Degree mode. We already have two brothers ready to be raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason! I know there will be more coming soon and look forward to conferring as many Third Degrees as possible this year. From time to time there are holes to fill in the Degree Team and we are always looking for new people to deliver the Charge. Please reach out if interested.
It’s been an interesting and different couple of years for us all. I quote Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
I look forward to seeing and speaking with you soon.
Master Masons as well as our new Entered Apprentice and Fellowcraft Masons should be aware that one part of the Tilers duties is to monitor access into our Stated Meetings, our various degree ceremonies and Masonic functions, and our less-formal Masonic activities in general. I have enjoyed this job immensely because it has provided me the opportunity to not only get to know you better individually, but to also help you prepare and set your minds at ease prior to your various initiation ceremonies.
We are first and foremost a fraternal organization. However, you newer Masons may not be aware of a longstanding tradition in our Lodge (as well as others) in getting our wives or significant others involved in some of our activities. Many of us feel this has enhanced our Masonic experience as it has taken away some of the “Masonic widow” feelings (and perhaps some resentment) some spouses and significant others experience.
For example, pre-pandemic we had a significant number of the women in our lives attend the dinners prior to our Stated Meetings. It was not unusual to see anywhere from eight to twelve wives, girlfriends, widows of members and even the occasion Mom or daughter attend. Some went home after the meal while others remained and socialized, waiting for their Mason to return from our upstairs monthly meeting.
We have had socials events where the ladies and family members in our lives (and even friends) are invited. Events such as: Sweetheart lunches, luaus, and our annual Crab Feed. We decorate our lodge during the holiday season and put forth an even greater effort to get the ladies out to our monthly meal. These women get some idea of what an awesome experience Masonry is when they attend our annual December installation and installation dinner.
COVID obviously had an impact on that attendance. However, a lot of those ladies were “attached to” an older generation of Masons (I’m one of those!). Some stopped attending for their own health reasons or because “their” Mason no longer attends due to his health concerns, or because he passed away.
In the next few months, the officers of Acalanes Fellowship Lodge #480 will be looking into resurrecting some of our past social activities, both fraternal only, as well as those involving loved ones in our lives. We have reached out to other lodges to see what plans and efforts they have put into these outreach efforts and are encouraged by what we hear.
An important thing to point out: All Masons — solo or accompanied — are invited to attend these activities. We not only benefit from your presence, but you benefit as well, getting to know the brethren in less formal but intimate ways.
We need all your support to make our lodge as dynamic and friendly as it has been in the past.
The Masonic Trestleboard is a time-honored tradition in our fraternity. Since at least the second half of the 20th century, Trestleboards have been produced as newsletters sent out to the brethren with updates about events and goings-on in the lodge, as well as commentary on issues of interest to the Craft. It’s an important lodge communications tool, but one that most lodges have struggled to keep in step with the digital age of the 21st century. To that end, I’m pleased to share that our Trestleboard is now a blog!
What does Trestleboard-as-blog mean to you? Well, it means more timely updates from the Master and officers, and an easy place to keep up with the latests posts.
Will you still get an email to check out the latest from the Trestleboard? Yes, you will! We will continue to send a monthly email blast to all our mailing list, highlighting the latest content from our Trestleboard blog. The experience will be very similar to what you’ve become accustomed to, but instead of producing and mailing out a PDF file, we’ll email you links to the latest interesting articles and events.
We’ll keep the back catalog of historical Trestleboards available here on the website, as well. So, happy reading, and we’ll see you on the internet and in lodge!
I am grateful and humbled by the call to serve as Master of Acalanes Fellowship Lodge #480 as we enter into our 99th year of Brotherhood under our charter. Looking ahead to the coming year and what I hope will be many centuries beyond, I see a vast expanse of opportunity before us, and I’m emboldened by the possibilities our future may bring.
Freemasonry in general, and Acalanes Fellowship in particular, is built upon a legacy of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and we are taught in our Masonic travels that the greatest of these is Charity. These are more than mere words, and in 2019, we will focus together on ensuring that these profound principles are solidified in our lodge to secure our legacy for future generations. With that in mind, I am pleased to declare our theme for 2019: Legacy & Service.
The legacy of Acalanes Fellowship is multifaceted and runs deep through the course of our long history. We are known as The Friendly Lodge, and while we might all feel that friendliness is not an anachronistic characteristic among Masons, I have come to feel through my own travels that the culture of our lodge earns its moniker, and not a single one of us should ever have to put a dollar in the box for saying so (though we all ought to pitch our money in for more noble reasons). Friendly as we are, there is more to our legacy.
2019: Legacy & Service
Acalanes Fellowship Lodge #480, and the constituent lodges that have consolidated into our fold over the decades, has a substantial and honorable heritage of initiating, passing, and raising Masons for nearly a century, and those brothers have gone out into the world to perform great works in our society. We have strived for—and generally achieved—the goal of making these good men better. From among our ranks, men have risen to positions of prominence in our communities, to positions of political power, and even a couple of Grand Masters of Masons have called Acalanes Fellowship their home lodge.
Preserving this legacy of Acalanes Fellowship requires honor for our past, an eye to the future, and a diligent care for the concerns of the present. It also requires money. Our aging Masonic Hall has many issues, and will require substantial repairs and improvements over the coming years. Before long, we will need a new roof, as the current one already leaks, new pavement for the parking lot, new kitchen appliances, and electrical improvements. We have a committee assigned to the ongoing task of evaluating options for the renovation or relocation of our Hall. There are no options that do not require substantially more financial resources than we currently have at our disposal.
And then there is the greatest of our virtues: Charity. For all the charitable giving and service work our brethren do, both together and separately, Acalanes Fellowship can do a great deal more to make a meaningful, lasting, and visible impact on our community. All it takes is a bit more focus on high-impact programs and the will of the brethren to give of their time and treasure according to their ability. This year, I resolve to direct that focus appropriately, that Acalanes Fellowship might elevate its mission in our community and better fulfill its Masonic charitable aims.
In the service of these goals, we will hold four seasonal fundraising events in 2019: In addition to our annual Crab Feed, we will host social events in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. At these events, we will have programs to promote and secure our legacy and raise funds and volunteerism in service to our community.
I look forward to working with all our brethren in the coming months to realize this vision. The results will be rewarding to our community, our pride in our lodge, and future generations of Masons.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow Brethren for giving me the honor and privilege of serving once again as Master of Acalanes Fellowship Lodge #480 in 2018.
The theme of my year as Master was “Why we Gather”. I choose this theme because I believe it is very important that my fellow brethren, friends and their loved ones will better understand why it is so important that we as men devote so much time and energy to our gentle craft.
We as Masons share a common bond in the experience we received in our initiation into the Fraternity. During our first degree, we are taught about the three great lights of Masonry which are the holy bible, the compass and the square. These tools are constant daily reminders to all Masons.
The holy bible is given to us by God as the rule and guide of our faith. The square and compass are Masonic tools that remind us to keep our actions and behaviors in check toward all mankind.
Each Mason is then presented with a lamb skin apron which is an emblem of innocence and the badge of a Mason. More ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle and more honorable than the star or garter or anything of value or distinction we ever will receive in life.
We then receive instruction on the importance of time management using a twenty-four- inch gauge as a guide. You see Masonry teaches us the importance of keeping a healthy life balance. Whereby we must divide our time into three parts. One part for service to God and a distressed worthy brother, a part for work and a part for family and rest and family.
The next teaching is about the importance of the Common Gavel. Society views the Common Gavel as a symbol of authority. But we as Masons are taught that the Common Gavel is used for breaking apart our old ways and continually building a new and better self internally.
Masons gather together not to be seen by the outside world as a secret society whose only mission is to gain wealth and political power. Nothing could be more further from the truth!
We gather together to focus on the internal development of a brother’s heart and soul. To take good men and make them better through a series of three ritual degrees and ongoing mentoring and fellowship.
We gather together because our Masonic Community gives us the armor we need as we travel through life’s times of joy and times of sorrow. With the end goal that someday we will join God and our loved ones in his celestial lodge above (forever).
We are a support network of friends and brothers who strive to live out the three principal tenets of Masonry which are Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. To share words of encouragement and council whether we want to hear it or not. Whether it is a phone call or hospital room visit to a brother, spouse, widow or orphan in need, the Brethren of Acalanes Fellowship Lodge are always there when you need them.
Knowledge of temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice are key elements of our teachings. The reason this is so important is that what we do as Masons in our daily lives at work, at home and at play are a reflection on our lodge and our Fraternity so we must always strive to continually improve ourselves.
I ask again, so why do we gather? Masons gather because we as human beings have an internal need for community. The bond we share in Masonry makes us not only friends but Fraternal brothers.
Have you not seen or witnessed two complete strangers meet and find that they share the Masonic bond and become instant friends?
A man he can trust to be on the level and share common values and ethics. I have personally experienced this on many occasions and it’s a wonderful thing to know that no matter where I go I will ALWAYS have a friend and brother who will be there for me when I need him.
Another reason why we gather is that God who is all seeing and all- knowing desires it to be so. I have been placed in this lodge for a reason and have been called to do so.
While Masonry is not a religion, and should never be seen as one, we as Masons are implored to supplement the teachings of the holy bible with the Masonic Ritual we teach our candidates and implement the lessons through life.
I cannot tell you how many times I have been sitting in a church and heard a non-Mason Pastor present a sermon on portions of our Masonic ritual and had that aha moment! So that’s where that came from. It is a beautiful thing when a Mason receives new light supported by biblical scripture written well over 2,000 years ago.
Finally, why we gather is because Masonry is as relevant to us today as it was to our three founding Grand Masters Solomon, King of Israel, Hiram, King of Tyre and Hiram Abiff, a Widows son from the tribe of Naphtali.
I am very excited about the incoming officer corps for the upcoming Masonic year, which will be under the leadership of our incoming Master, Bob Strohmeyer. I wish you all very happy and prosperous 2019!
Brethren and friends, it simply amazes me how fast 2018 has flown by! It has been both an honor and a privilege to serve you again as Master of Acalanes Fellowship Lodge #480. At our Stated Meeting on November 6th, the Brethren elected the Officers who will lead the lodge in the ensuing 2019 Masonic Year and beyond. We are truly blessed to have such an excellent corps of dedicated Officers who love our gentle craft and the lodge members and extended families they serve.
In November Acalanes Fellowship Lodge conducted two 3rd Degrees. Congratulations to Brothers Reynold Dandan, and Andre Sternang! I was extremely pleased with the work our excellent ritualists performed.
At our Stated Meeting on Tuesday December 4th, we will again have a United States Marine representing the Contra Costa Country Toys for Tots Program in attendance. He will be in dress blues to meet with you and accept any new unwrapped toys or cash donations we bring. The toys and cash donations will benefit children in need in Contra Costa County who might otherwise not have any toys during the holidays. Any new (unwrapped) toy from infant to teenager would be greatly appreciated. Please plan on attending our upcoming December Stated Meeting Dinner and donate generously to this very important cause.
Our annual installation of officers is scheduled for Saturday December 8th at 5 PM with dinner following at 7 PM catered by Zimm’s Catering. Please be sure to RSVP so we can plan accordingly.
The 2018 Masonic year will conclude with our annual end-of-year Sweethearts luncheon scheduled for Saturday December 15th at Acalanes Fellowship lodge with a reception starting at 11:30 AM and lunch served at noon.
Greetings from the East Brethren!
