SPRING-04
NEWSLETTER
"Tidings from the
East"
In the next three months our lodge has several events planned. First is
coming up on the first Saturday in March, and is a triple 50 year award
ceremony. This is a public event and we will be honoring Bros. Louis
Timmons, James Gear, and James Hampton with the festivities
scheduled to start at 7:30 pm. If you know of any friends of these
brothers that might like to share this joyous occasion, feel free to
invite them.
The second event is our annual fund-raising chicken dinner. This year
it will be held on April 3rd, and enclosed with this newsletter are
some tickets. As in past years any help in selling tickets, preparing
the lodge, and running this undertaking is appreciated. Without your
yearly support of this event our lodge could not function.
Before I discuss the other events planned, I would like to point out
that our lodge will be facing some tough financial times in the next
few years. The lodge trustees have already identified several areas on
building upkeep that will require attention. To answer these needs the
lodge will require new sources of revenue be they new members,
volunteer labor, or financial donations. Our lodge is also attempting
to support existing scholarship programs as well as re-invigorating our
support of masonic charity in and around Otterbein. Unlike decades in
the past, considerations such as insurance take much larger portions of
our annual budget so ANY help offered will be gladly accepted.
You can also help out by doing three things immediately. First, please
see that we have your current phone number so that we can reach you for
the telephone survey our lodge officers will be conducting in the
coming months. This survey WILL surprise you, and we WILL value each
and every brother's input. Second, make plans to attend our
upcoming Chicken Dinner and our special 50 year award ceremony in
the next two months. Third, make plans to attend and support some of
our upcoming visitations to shut-ins. More information on these will be
forthcoming in either our newsletter or the lodge's website at
mastermason.org/otterbein561 . If you forget the address, just drive by
the lodge, you can't miss it.
Finally one meeting you should make plans to attend will be our "Rusty
Nail" meeting. tentatively scheduled for May or June. This meeting will
help you remember all of the secrets, and will be quite unlike ANY
masonic meeting you likely have attended. (It *will* be a hoot.) This
along with our annual Grand Lodge inspection in March or April will
help re-introduce the venerable ceremonies and procedures of the craft.
Parting on the Square,
Bob Finch, W.M.