Master’s Letter | March 2010
Things continue to clip along at lodge. On January 27 we initiated 4 new brothers into Masonry. Though these were the first degrees of the year and we did not have a chance to practice, everything went smoothly. Thanks to all who assisted. January 29 was the Freemasons’ Haiti Relief Party which we put on jointly with the Grotto. It was a memorable night. We enjoyed great fellowship and fun with brothers from around Washtenaw County and beyond. There was also a great cover band. The event raised more than $1,000 which will be forwarded to the Masonic Service Association, N.A., for Haiti Relief.
On February 10, we held our regular monthly meeting. We covered a lot of ground. The lodge is looking to establish a new building fund and reformatting of our investment portfolio. Bro. Chuck Nagy expressed interest and will move forward with establishing a chapter of the Widow’s Sons Masonic motorcycle club at the lodge. Bro. Luis, who will be leaving us in May for a post doctoral position in Mathematics at the Universite du Quebec in Montreal (congratulations Bro. Luis!), had to postpone his talk on the Grand Lodge of Columbia until next month. Instead, we had a discussion regarding the symbol of “Jacob’s Ladder” in antiquity and as it came to be adopted in Masonry.
At the time of this letter, AAF 262 looks forward to its Awards/Past Master Night on Feb. 19 and to initiating another four brothers on February 24. You might think we are catching up on our E.A. backlog. Far from it; we’ve got several more new petitioners in the pipeline. It is going to be a record year for degree work. After this month, we have 14 Fellowcraft degrees we need to confer. These with either begin next month or we may reserve a room in the Detroit Temple for some special Saturday work. Keep an eye on the trestle board and your email for updates.
Our regular meeting night will change to the 1st Wednesday starting March (degree work will typically be performed on the 3rd Wednesday). W.Bro. Seymour Greenstone will also be leading a new, quarterly Masonic study club at Hathaway’s Hideaway on March 24. As Albert Mackey once noted:
“The brother who…supposes that the only requisite of a skillful Mason consists in repeating with fluency the ordinary lectures, or correctly opening and closing the lodge, or in giving with sufficient accuracy the modes of recognition… has scarcely advanced beyond the rudiments of our science. There is a far nobler series of doctrines with which Freemasonry is connected, and which no student ever began to investigate who did not find himself insensibly led on, from step to step in his researches, love and admiration of the order… It is this which constitutes the science of Freemasonry, and it is this alone which will return the scholar who devotes himself to the task a sevenfold reward for his labor.”
Please give due consideration to this important education opportunity and join W.Bro. Seymour in exploring the deeper layers of Masonry.
Below are some other upcoming events. As always brothers, I hope to see you in lodge.
S & F
Robert Blackburn, WM
UPCOMING EVENTS
- March 13, 2010
Roller Derby Night at the Detroit Masonic Temple
[RSVP and payment due on March 6th!] - March 24, 2010
Study Club: “Masonry and its Place in the World” and - April 23, 2010
Ladies Night at the Huron River Hunting & Fishing Club - May 21, 2010
Official lodge visitation and Master Mason degree presentation, Windsor Lodge No. 403, G.L. of Canada in the Province of Ontario.
