From the East
Hello Brethren,
May has been an extremely busy month for our lodge. We had many activities and they were all very well attended!
Our Napa Wine Train was sold out; we had all 56 seats on the Vista Dome Car filled with 43 members and family from our lodge and 13 from other lodges in our area, including several current Masters from Golden Rule, Morgan Hill, Mt. Moriah lodges and Mt. View De Anza. Half of our group spent the night and returned home on Sunday afternoon. Brother Vassil and his wife Maria provided us with some beautiful music while on the Wine Train.
The SaberCats (Indoor arena football) game was also very successful. We had all 40 tickets sold and only a couple were not able to make it. We invited the Campbell Chapter of DeMolay to join us and we had six take us up on our offer to be our guest!
Ritual Competition
Friendship Lodge competed in this year's Ritual Competition for the First Degree. Our officers did an outstanding job. We scored very high, taking first place in our district, and we received very favorable comments from our three District Inspectors who were the judges. Unfortunately we are not able to continue to compete, our Senior Warden is not available for our Division level competition which would decide what lodges continue on to compete for the State title. The Master, Senior Warden, Junior Warden and Senior Deacon must be the current installed officers and must compete to have a qualifying team. All other positions can have substitutes.
First Degree Proficiency: Our lodge officers passed their First Degree Proficiency with flying colors! Brother Kirk Wells did an outstanding job in the East. We then followed our proficiency by a First Degree Conferral for [ADLC] and [JC] on the following Thursday.
Community Service
Our Community Service project for May was Pats Run or Walk on May 3rd. Friendship Lodge registered a team; T.E.A.M. Friendship (Together Everyone Accomplishes More). The proceeds benefited the Pat Tillman Foundation, which supports a youth leadership program in our community. We walked through the Almaden Valley neighborhood wearing a T-Shirt with a Masonic Logo and our Team name on the back of the shirt. We had over 20 from Friendship Lodge wearing our Team T-shirts! Several other lodge members participated but were part of the Posse Team. The Posse was the largest group with over 130 team members. Next year I hope T.E.A.M. FREINDSHIP will have the largest group!
On May 16th, we participated in the annual carnival fund raiser at Chandler Tripp School where we worked a cookie and juice booth. While there, we presented Chandler Tripp School with a check for $1,000. The funds will be used to purchase a Therapy Tricycle and a special Chair. We also donated a dozen gift baskets for the raffle fundraiser.
On June 14th we will have a work party to install a white fence around their garden area, replace two gates and also repaint some worn out yellow lined areas on the playground.
Masonic Giving Fund Raising Drive: please remember to make a donation of any amount. Each Mason should give according to his own ability. You can direct your donation to the Masonic Homes and or the MSAP (Masonic Student Assistant Program) Program at any percentage you would like. Please go on the Grand Lodge Masonic Website or mail a check to Grand Lodge today!
Scholarship Program: Every year Friendship Lodge provides a scholarship of $500 to children and Grandchildren of our members. Please fully complete the scholarship form (attached in this Trestleboard) by July 19th. Our scholarship committee will make the selections and announce at our August Stated Meeting and a formal presentation to the recipients will be made at our September Stated Meeting on September 4th
Please mark your calendars and try to attend our annual lodge picnic on June 21st at Vasona Park. See our Junior Warden's article and flyer for more details.
We will also be providing a candidate for a very special outdoor degree from the Posse for brother [MB] on June 28th. A BBQ will follow, please get your reservations into our Junior Warden ASAP!
Please come and support our lodge, try to attend our stated lodge dinners, stated meetings, degree conferrals and our lodge activities and enjoy the brotherly love and great fellowship!
Fraternally,
Kendall Mills
Master