Home - Archive Index - September Trestleboard September 2002 Experience St. John's 142nd Anniversary On August 9, 1860, seven Master Masons joined in signing a petition to the Grand Master of Masons of the Washington Territory, James Biles, for a dispensation to form a Lodge of Masons in Seattle, under the name of St. John's Lodge. Within 48 hours the petition was presented to Steilacoom Lodge No. 2 for approval of that Lodge as required by Grand Lodge law. Three days later, the approved petition with the recommendation was presented to the Grand Master, and filed with the Grand Secretary at Olympia. On the afternoon of September 4, The Grand Lodge, meeting in annual session, granted the Charter of the young Lodge, numbering it as No. 9 in the Territorial jurisdiction. The History of Seattle and days of vaudeville will be our theme as we celebrate our 142nd Anniversary on Saturday, September 14. Members from District 5, as well as our sponsored Lodges, are also invited to this major event, which will be held at the Seattle Design Center. Reservations are mandatory and are limited to two tickets per member. Mark your calendar for our big event of the year, when we host our 142nd Anniversary dinner at the Seattle Design Center, Saturday, September 14. In keeping with the "fun" theme for this year, comedian Mario Lorenz and a small entourage of musicians will entertain in the spirit of Vaudeville. Mario, the "Laff Master," has a long list of credits and has performed as a stand up comedian and as a vaudevillian character (Groucho, Chaplin, and others) throughout the country and internationally. Mario will also do material that involves and encourages audience participation. The long-awaited Volume II of St. John's history will be distributed to all members of the Lodge attending the evening's festivities. This 287 page bound volume looks at the history of our Lodge from 1950 to the present. It will become one of your most treasured books! All members of St. John's and their wives are invited to join the celebration. Also, members and wives of our sponsored Lodges are invited and will be hosted by St. John's. Reservations are a must, and may be made by calling the secretary at 206 623-0261 or by email at stjohns9@msn.com. Please indicate your preference for grilled cherry wood-smoked salmon or prime rib. A vegetarian plate is also available. When: Saturday, September 14 Where: Seattle Design Center Time: 6 p.m., social hour; 7 p.m. dinner DON'T DELAY! MAKE YOUR RESERVATION EARLY! Directions to Design Center (Anniversary Dinner) Traveling North or South on I-5, take the Michigan Corson Exit #162, travel down ramp, right on Michigan, right on 6th Ave. So., the Seattle Design Center is located ¼ mile down on left at 5701 6th Ave. So., front door garage parking and handicap access available From the East At our September Stated meeting, the focus will again be on charity. In addition to the City of Hope presentation covered elsewhere in this issue, we are pleased to introduce Liz Rossman from the Aquatics Program at the North Shore School District here in Seattle. She will speak to us over dessert in the dining room concerning a program for disabled kids working in city swimming pools. They may be looking for our support next year and this is an opportunity for us all to see what they do. Soon after our September Stated meeting we have our Anniversary Dinner at the Seattle Design Center. It is my hope that all of our members will leave that night with a copy of the St. John's History Update in hand. This will be a handy reference for our History Night open meeting on October 2nd when the Grand Master makes his official visit to St. John's. We are planning to precede the October Stated meeting with a special bus tour of historic Masonic Seattle. This Magical Mystery History Tour will be hosted by Alexandra Rust, our illustrious history writer and wife of our esteemed JW. The tour will leave the Scottish Rite at 3:30pm on October 2nd and return in time for dinner and the meeting. A sign-up list for members will be circulated at the September meeting, so please be sure to come to the meeting to sign up. A separate list for spouses and guests will circulate to fill out the 57 seats in the bus should they be available. The bus will have a lavatory, and we plan to make one stop midway through. The rough itinerary includes stops in Downtown, Lakeview Cemetery, and at the University of Washington. We also plan at our September Stated meeting to give away 20 tickets to the Bacon Bowl, which is to be played Saturday September 24th at the new Seahawks Stadium. Come root for the Seattle Police over the Tacoma Police! We will make every effort to be fair in this giveaway. September is going to be a busy month! Skip Albertson, Master Lodge Opens September On Running Feet! Coming off an exciting and fun-filled summer, which included Mozart's The Magic Flute on Herb's Night and a family picnic at the Nile, the action never stops as our September Stated will feature two speakers, a drawing for Bacon Bowl tickets and preparations for our 142nd Anniversary Dinner. One petition for the degrees will be voted upon, and others will be read for future action. And not far behind will be October action when our Grand Master MWBro. James Reid will attend our October meeting following a bus tour of Masonic history in Greater Seattle. Also in October, we will host our annual oyster feed at the Masonic Retirement Center. The following resolution will also be considered at the September 4th meeting: Whereas the mid-year review of our 2002 budget has been completed, and Whereas the funding in several specific areas needs to be increased to meet projected expenses, and Whereas the Trustees have reviewed and support these amendments Therefore be it resolved that the 2002 Annual Budget be increased for the following line items; $8000 for the publication of our history update. The book was recently expanded 25% to include bibliographies on early brethren not included in Volume I. The book has increased in length from 200 to 256 pages. This additional money will cover the increased costs. $3000 for Stated dinners. We have had great turnouts this year to our meetings (meetings, Herb's Night and Scholarship Night to name a few) and we anticipate the higher than average attendance at our future meetings, including a visit by our Grand Master, October 2.. $300 for postage. To cover additional mailings and the increase in postage fees. $350 for a special history tour of Seattle prior to our October Stated meeting. $1000 for Lodge Expense Reserves. Bacon Bowl At the June Stated Communication, it was agreed to join other Lodges in plans for Masonic co-sponsorship of the annual "Bacon Bowl" to be held at the new Seahawks stadium this year. The Bacon Bowl is a football game between members of the Seattle and Tacoma police departments to raise money for children's charities. As the result of our participation, we have been allotted twenty tickets for the game, scheduled for Saturday, September 28. The Master announced that the tickets will be drawn among those who indicate a desire to attend the game at our next Stated Communication, September 4. He announced that interested parties "must be present to win." Sad Notes Since our last communication, we have received news of the death of the wife of VWBro. Richard Oslund and the wife of WBro. Orrin Niles and the mother of VWBro. Larry Loughnan. Our sympathies and best wishes go out to these esteemed members of the Lodge. City of Hope City of Hope had the most humble of beginnings in 1913 when volunteers raised two tents on 10 acres of land in the Southern California desert offering a haven for those stricken with tuberculosis. Today, the medical and research center, which stands on a 114-acre campus, is an internationally recognized institution that touches the lives of millions of people everywhere. City of Hope is recognized as a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center. The physicians at City of Hope have created treatment programs for many forms of cancer affecting people, including leukemia, breast and prostate cancer, as well as diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses, The research efforts continue to work toward unlocking the secrets of cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and many generic disorders. From the development of synthetic human insulin for treatment of diabetes to the discovery of a hormone that reverses gene activity to prevent disease, City of Hope pioneered many of the procedures used in medical centers throughout the world today. In 2001, City of Hope celebrated the 25th anniversary of its bone marrow transplantation program one of the Largest and most successful in the world. The mission of compassionate patient care is reflected in City of Hope's credo, "There is no profit in curing the body if in the process we destroy the soul."' At the September 4th meeting, Michelle Price Nash, a pediatric cancer survivor, will talk about her experience at City of Hope. Scholarship Checks "In The Mail" Checks totaling $20,000 will be going out shortly to our scholarship recipients, most directly to their colleges and universities. Chairman WBro. Ken Lane, Jr. expresses appreciation to members of the committee for their diligence and hard work in selecting the scholarship recipients. Scholarship winners and their parents attended our recent awards dinner, where they were acknowledged and each told a little about themselves and their collegiate plans. Memorial Fund A Larry Brungard Memorial Fund will be established for special charity projects. Our late Bro. Brungard left a sizable gift to the Lodge, which will be managed as a fund for future gifts and charities. Coming Attraction: "History of the Lodge Part II" WBro. David Moffat announced that printed copies of Volume II of our Lodge history should be available at our 142nd Anniversary dinner, September 14 and at our October 2nd Stated Communication. He expressed appreciation to members of the committee who have made this a labor of love, and to the fine work done by Ms Alexandra Rust, the principle editor and writer of this 287 page document. Other members of the committee were Bro. Terry Grove, WBros. Ken Lane, Sr. and Ken Lane, Jr., and VWBros. Charles Brockway and Jim Russell. Also special thanks go to Dorothy Moffat and Darlene Lane for their advice and proofing throughout the three-year project. To further this focus on our grand Masonic history, our Grand Master, MWBro. James Reid, will be at our October Stated, where a special emphasis on Seattle and Lodge history will be addressed. Ladies and guests will be invited to this open meeting. A bus tour of local sites of Masonic interest will be led by Alexandra Rust, author of our history and wife of our Junior Warden, Bro. Michael Rust. Petitions For Membership A petition for the degrees was received from Mr. John Newman Mayer. Mr. Mayer resides in Seattle. He is of Australian birth, born May 20, 1965. He is single and a pharmacist by trade. He is sponsored by WBro. Allan Pinch, VWBro. Jim Russell, and Bro. Jim Wold. Any member who wishes a petition to offer a friend or relative may receive one by calling the Secretary at (206) 623-0261 or by email at stjohns9@msn.com. Parties interested in further information about our Lodge, and Masonry in general, should be referred to our excellent web page www.seattlemasons.org as it is continuously updated by our fine webmaster, WBro. Charles Tupper. Dates of Interest September 4 (6pm) 7:30pm: St. John's 9 (dinner) Stated September 14: St. John's 142nd Anniversary Dinner (Seattle Design Center) September 18 (7pm): Officers Practice September 21 (8:30am): Degree October 2: (3:30pm) History Tour of Masonic Seattle October 2 (6:30pm) 7:30pm: St. John's 9 (dinner) Stated Grand Master Visit October 9 (5pm): Masonic Retirement Center annual Oyster Dinner October 16 (4pm): St. John's Lodge No. 9 Trustees Meeting November 6 (6pm) 7:30pm: St. John's 9 (dinner) Stated Past Masters & Elections November 13 (5pm): Officer Appreciation Dinner November 20 (7pm): Officers Practice November 23 (8:30am): Degree November 30: Secrets of the Chair December 4 (6pm) 7:30pm: St. John's 9 (dinner) Stated Officer Step-Up Night December 7: Installation of Officers Thoughts Some things you keep. Like good teeth. Warm coats. Bald husbands. They're good for you, reliable and practical and so sublime that to throw them away would make the garbage man a thief. These are my thoughts, they make me sound old, old and tame, and dull at a time when everybody else is risky and racy and flashing all that's new and improved in their lives. New careers, new thighs, new lips, new cars. The world is dizzy with trade-ins. I could keep track, but I don't think I want to. I grew up in the fifties with practical parents -- a mother, God bless her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it - and a father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. They weren't poor, my parents, they were just satisfied. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. They stayed together through thick and thin. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers and tee shirt and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one's hand, dishtowel in the other's. It was a time for fixing things -- a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things you keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing. I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant there'd always be more. But then my father died... and on that clear April day I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any 'more.' Sometimes what you care about most gets all used up and goes away, never to return. So, while you have it, it's best to love it and care for it and fix it when it's broken and heal it when it's sick. That's true for marriage and old cars and children with bad report cards and dogs with bad hips and aging parents. You keep them because they're worth it, because you're worth it. Some things you keep. Like a best friend who moved away or a classmate you grew up with, there's just some things that make life important....people you know are special....and you KEEP them close! -Author Unknown On line and ready for the twenty-first century www.seattlemasons.org home Website ©2002 - St. John's Lodge No. 9 F&AM of Washington - All Rights Reserved