Aaron Lodge #49

January 2011

January had been a busy month for the Lodge just as it should be! We had our stated meeting, and E.A practice, and an E.A. degree. Congratulations to Brother Terrance Hollister, our newest Entered Apprentice Mason! A Brother commented to me earlier this week, “There is nothing better than making a man a Mason.” How true and thank you Brother Jeff for that pearl of inspiration. We put in many hours learning ritual not for the sake of knowledge alone but so that we may also be proficient in our degree work to provide the best degree possible for the candidate(s). Great efforts have been made and are still being made to improve ourselves in Masonry. I congratulate everyone for their efforts. Let’s continue to move in that direction.

February 2011 

February was another great month for Masonry. We raised two brothers the degree of Master Mason! Congratulations to Brothers Garett Homes and Dr. James Gruel.

The Masonic Leadership conference took place on the 12th and was very well done. It was definitely worth a day of our time.

Further progress is being made in arranging fun fundraising events. The Aaron #49 F&AM 2011 Spring Masonic Fun Trap Shoot has been scheduled for April 2, 2011. Flyers are available on our website to get details and sign up early. All fees are collected the morning of the event and are not required for early registration.

We will be looking forward to getting some firm dates on some more events that will support our Lodge while having fun. The events that are being discussed right now are a spaghetti dinner with a showing of the Many Faces of Old Glory, a dinner/show at the Gaslight Theater, a chili cook-off, and an archery shoot. We would look for the cook-off to be a public event, perhaps at Reid Park to involve others within the community outside of the Fraternity. The archery event is being looked into to take place at the Tucson Mountain Park Archery Range. This would also be an open event. I would like to thank the Brothers who have been coming forward with ideas and volunteering their time to gather information necessary for implementation.
Your input is important to me!

March 2011 

March has been another great month for Masonry. We will have put on one Entered Apprentice Degree and one Fellowcraft Degree. Welcome Steven Miller as our newest EA and Terrance Hollister as a Fellowcraft. Congratulations to all!

The 1st degree for Steven was quite an event as his father-in-law, James Zeder P.M., was in town from California. We were able to set up so that WB James was able to give Steven the obligation. It is very pleasing to witness this type of interaction. 

April 2011

April will be another busy month. The 2nd will have brought around our first trap shooting event. The lodge will have a Fellow Craft degree practice and degree on the 20th and 27th respectively. We will have our special meetings by summons on the 13th. I am hoping that this special meeting will bring forth some ideas for social and fundraising events where everyone could have a little fun.

A show has been scheduled at the Gaslight Theater for June 3rd. Come join us for The Curse of the Pirates Gold. This should be a fun time. See Brother Roy Otterholt for tickets and thank him for getting this set up.

I would like to thank the Brothers who have been coming forward with ideas and volunteering their time to gather information necessary for implementation.

Have I mentioned that your input is important to me? 

May 2011

April 2^nd has brought around our first trap shooting event. The turnout was a touch on the light side. We have been informed by Tucson Trap and Skeet that they will do a better job of advertising if we try again. Congratulations to Brother Alfred H. Curtis III for taking first place medal in the Veteran’s Class and also first place trophy in Highest Overall Score. There were no other awards presented.

Our special meeting via Summons took place on the 13^th. I would like to thank the 41 Brothers who attended. We had some fellowship before and after the meeting that was a pleasure to see. The input from the Brothers was excellent. It becomes more and more apparent that our financial longevity will rely on our perpetual members stepping up either by involvement or financially. There were some great ideas for fellowship, family involvement, services to our Brothers/Lodge, fundraiser, general thoughts, and website suggestions.

Services to our Brothers or Lodge    

Website
                        •      Do you need a ride? Set up a spot where Brothers can list that they need a ride.


Do you need a ride? Set up a spot where Brothers can list that they need a ride.

Do you notice a recurring theme here? Getting our ladies and families involved was a central issue for many. I agree that this is very important. Many Brothers volunteered to help with different tasks. My hat is off to the Brothers that attended. I also thank the Brothers who responded via letter and email with their suggestions. I can’t thank you enough.

We are moving forward with putting together a call team, as this is also very important. This is intended to be just a casual hello and how are you doing call. Anything the Lodge can do to help out? There should not be any conversation questioning where you have been.

I feel encouraged after this meeting but at the same time I am disappointed. I ordered that there be a written response if you were not attending. I believe that the words were, “Written response is expected if you are not attending.” There should have been about 180 Brothers at this meeting if I subtract the number of letters/emails that arrived asking for release from the total number of members. This estimate also takes into account Brothers that reside outside of Tucson. Did you not have the time or courtesy to even drop a line? This was an official Summons.

The group of Brothers also recommended that the Worshipful Master of the Lodge send out another Summons for similar meeting in January. I would suggest that it would be wise to attend or respond to a future Summons.

Keep an eye on the website for upcoming events. We are having a 3^rd Degree practice on the 20^th with a Trustees meeting preceding the practice. The 27^th will the actual 3^rd Degree. We are making some great men Masons and you are missing out if you are not there.

I would like to thank the Brothers who have been coming forward with ideas and volunteering their time to gather information necessary for implementation.