Trestleboard

January 2016

Posted on January 19, 2016 by Adam Hanin

Dear Brethren, Sweethearts, and Friends,

It will be my honor and privilege to lead The Friendly Lodge for the ensuing year. Thank you for allowing me the honor by placing your trust in me. The last couple of months for me has been rewarding but somewhat overly busy as we planned Dave Shull’s memorial, Don Hoskin’s Hiram Award ceremony, and then the officers’ installation. If you’ve been a past master, then you know what I’m talking about. The support given to me has been tremendous and that’s what makes it all worthwhile.

I am excited about our lodge as we move into another year. This past year was successful in so many ways, and the lodge building itself is becoming more and more attractive over time. The major rework due to termite and wood rot damage is coming to a conclusion and we are glad of that. We have a very capable line of Officers and I am looking forward to working with them. We have had several potential members visit us over the last couple of months and look forward to the opportunities this may bring. Our already capable coaching team of Wor. Tom Riley and Wor. Michael Roberts has been enhanced by the addition of Wor. Gary Sparks.

Those of us who attended the Officers’ Installation ceremony on December 12 had a wonderful time. The Installing Team performed magnificently – the team consisted of Wor. Robert Whitfield, Installing Officer; Wor. Tony Yuson, Master of Ceremonies, Wor. Christopher Putnam, Installing Organist and Wor. Tom Riley, Installing Chaplain. Wor. Gary Sparks was also in the East as the outgoing Master. The event was attended by a little more than 90 members and guests with a nice dinner afterwards provided by A Tasteful Affair, located in Pleasanton. We were pleased to have the El Cerrito-Albany DeMolay present the flag at the ceremony and to have Bethel No. 247 Job’s Daughters serve at the dinner.

Our annual Acalanes Fellowship Lodge Crab Feed (the best crab feed of the year) is scheduled for the last Saturday in January. That is January 30 for this coming year. It will start at 5:30 with a social and dinner will begin at 6:30. Be sure to save the date — it will be a fun time.

Worshipful Marion P. Rogers

December, 2015

Posted on December 22, 2015December 22, 2015 by Adam Hanin

Dear Brethren, Sweethearts and Friends,

The Masonic year is coming to an end, and I find myself looking back at the nice variety of events and activities we have undertaken this year. As is often the case, we couldn’t do everything we wanted to do, and a certain band of termites didn’t help matters. But overall, we’ve had a very successful Masonic year.

Our crab feed last January, and the introduction of Bro. Marion Rogers’ clam chowder, kicked things off with a blast, and was followed by a lovely Sweethearts’ Valentine Luncheon. In the Spring, our Date Night and Dinner Theater was a tremendous success, and it was terrific to watch Bro. Dick Kellogg’s daughter perform in Moon over Buffalo and to meet some of the cast during our dinner. The Aloha spirit fell over all our Brethren and guests during the Summer Luau in the parking lot, with excellent Hawaiian food, beverages and fantastic entertainment. We once again hosted a charity golf tournament, and although the turnout was much lower than expected, we still had a great time and were able to raise money for Raising a Reader.

We welcomed guest speakers from both the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and the Masonic Outreach Services of Nor. California, and also members of the Masonic youth orders. We discussed the ancient Landmarks of Freemasonry, learned lessons in civility, and celebrated the 80th birthdays of Most Wor. Alvin Weis and Wor. Orren Rupert.

The Lodge also engaged in community outreach this year, participating for the first time in the Moraga Faire and the Lafayette Art and Wine Festival, passing out literature and discussing Masonry and the Lodge with those who stopped by to visit our booths. And, we raised two Brothers to the sublime degree of Master Mason this year.

But the year is not quite over yet. Please join us for the Annual Installation of Officers on December 12th as we welcome Bro. Marion Rogers to the Oriental Chair, and also on December 19th for our Sweethearts Holiday Luncheon as we show our appreciation for the ladies who help to make our work possible.

For my last time as Master, I extend an invitation to all those Masons who have been away from Lodge to return home to Acalanes Fellowship Lodge. No matter how long you have been away, I invite you to renew your relationship with the Fraternity. We are best able to seek Light when the past is united with the present, so that we may all look to the future.

It has been my privilege and my pleasure to serve the Lodge this year, and I thank you for your support and trust. I am certain the Lodge will be in excellent hands next year, and I look forward to what Bro. Rogers has planned for us.

Worshipful Gary D. Sparks

November, 2015

Posted on August 28, 2015November 16, 2015 by Adam Hanin

As we enter November and the coming holiday season, we have very much for which to be thankful. We have two new Master Masons in our Lodge, both of whom are making an immediate impact by volunteering their time in the Officers’ corps. We have our families, friends and each other in this incredible Masonic fraternity which extends far outside of our little Lodge to the four corners of the Earth.

I want to extend my warmest personal greetings to each of you and to those whom you love, and hope that you will, together with those who will surround you at your Thanksgiving table, pause, reflect, and give humble thanks to God for the many blessings he has bestowed upon us.

I am thankful for the opportunity to have served Acalanes Fellowship Lodge as Master in 2015, and have been humbled and awed by this year of service. I have learned much, including that I must continue to dedicate myself to the continued search for light in Masonry, and my own personal and professional life.

I am thankful to have known Wor. David Shull, who entered into rest on September 7th, and for the impact he had on me as well as on our Lodge. If you haven’t already done so, please remember to RSVP with Sr. Warden Marion Rogers for our Masonic Memorial Service for Worshipful David coming up on November 14th at the Orinda Masonic Lodge. I am also thankful to have known Wor. Jim Yribarren, who also just entered into rest on November 6th. I did not know Worshipful Jim as well as others in the Lodge, but I know that he made a profound impact on many of us. The Lodge is in a much better place with these two exceptional men having been a part of it.

Congratulations to Bro. Adam Hanin, who was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on October 31st, and a heartfelt thank you to Martinez Masonic Lodge #41 for allowing us to use your beautiful and historical facility to confer this degree. Together with the outstanding work done by our ritual team, it made for an exceptionally memorable day for Adam and for all of us.

We still have seats available for our upcoming Hiram Award presentation and festive board on November 24th as we present Bro. Don Hoskins with the Hiram Award for 2015. Please be sure to RSVP. Friends and family members are all invited as these will be public festivities.

November also brings a very special event to San Francisco: the World Conference of Regular Masonic Grand Lodges. This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet Masons and Grand Lodge officers from around the world, and to join them in education and fellowship. More information is available at the Grand Lodge of California website at www.freemason.org.

I would like to congratulate the newly elected and appointed officers of Acalanes Fellowship Lodge who will be serving the Lodge in 2016, particularly Bro. Marion Rogers who will serve as Master of the Lodge. I am eager and excited to see what this next year will bring. The Installation of Officers will commence at 4:30 pm on Saturday, December 12th, followed by dinner. There is no charge for the Installation dinner; however, your RSVP is required.

Please save the date of December 19th, as this will be our annual Sweethearts Holiday Luncheon at Acalanes Fellowship Lodge. More details to come, but your support is always welcomed to demonstrate to our Sweethearts just how important they are to the Lodge.

As always, if you are a Mason who has been away from Lodge for a while, I invite you to return home to Acalanes Fellowship. No matter how long you have been away, I invite you to renew your relationship with the Fraternity. We are best able to seek Light when the past is united with the present, so that we may all look to the future. I look forward to seeing you at our next Stated Meeting on December 1.