Richardson Masonic Lodge #1214
Upcoming Events
07/30/2013 7:00 PM 5th Tuesday Fellowship (details coming)
08/06/2013 6:30 PM Stated Meeting w/ Guest Speaker
08/10/2013 8:30 AM Master Mason Degree (see details below)
08/17/2013 12:00 Noon Lodge Picnic (see details below)
August Stated Meeting
We will have a Guest Speaker at our August Stated Meeting. This will be an Open portion, just before we open Lodge. You will not want to miss this Community Leader’s message.
Master Mason Degree
Our upcoming Master Mason Degree will be a special one. The candidate is a young man who comes from a family of Masons. His father and two brothers will be traveling in from out of town and will be taking parts in the degree. This is why we are holding the degree on a Saturday, to accommodate their travel plans. We will have breakfast at 8:30AM, and start the degree at 9:30AM. Please contact JW Donnye Winship at 469-879-3192 if you wish to participate in the degree work. If you do not care to work in the degree, please make every effort to be there to support our new Master Mason and greet his family.
Lodge Picnic
On Saturday, August 17, we will have a Lodge picnic at Cottonwood Park. This will be a great time to bring the whole family, as there is a swimming pool near the pavilion, and lots of space for family fun. This is also a great chance to bring prospective members to meet our Brethren and get a chance to get to know us, as we do them. We are doing a School Supply drive in conjunction with this event. We will have a list of items of need available at the August Stated Meeting. Please help us make a big impact for students and teachers in need of our assistance.
Master’s Message
Brethren,
First, let me take a minute to thank you for your confidence in electing me as Worshipful Master for this Masonic Year. I am pleased to say that our Lodge is strong, growing and thriving. We have had several years in a row of effective leadership, and I hope to continue that run. Last year was our most active in a while, having the opportunity to perform a number of degrees, and I don’t see that trend stopping.
We have several opportunities for fund-raising this year. I am excited about the opportunity to reach out to the community in this effort, as well. For too long, we as Masons – our Lodge not being an exception – have done a lot of ‘money trading’ between us. Too many times, our fund raising efforts are simply aimed at our members and other Masons. If we continue down this road, we will continue to see our efforts hamstrung by going to the same well too often.
Our Junior Past Master, Chris Livingston, started a new tradition that I plan to continue. Last year, through a giving campaign, we were able to raise over $3000 to purchase an Endowed Membership for PM J. J. Pearce, with the excess going directly to our Richardson Masonic Lodge Scholarship Fund. I will be announcing the name of this year’s Candidate soon, and I hope that I can count on you all to contribute to this worthy cause again. This not only benefits the Lodge, but also our community. The benefit to the Lodge is that we receive the Endowment return from the Grand Lodge for our deceased members into perpetuity, but we do not have to pay the per capita assessment on those deceased members. The benefit to the community is that we will soon be able to increase the amount of our Lamar Award Scholarships, while still maintaining the principal in the fund so that it is self-sustaining. We all remember, I am sure, that valuable lesson of charity we were taught so early in our Masonic careers, and this is a great example of that virtue.
I am truly excited about serving this year. With the help of the other officers in the line, we are off to a great start, and I expect great things for our Lodge. We have several speakers scheduled for our Stated Meetings, and I am looking forward to great Community involvement.
Thank you all!
Fraternally,
Jeff Smith, WM