Master’s Letter | December 2010
Well, to quote Porky Pig, “Tha Tha Tha That’s all Folks!” My year in the East has come to an end. Being installed as Master was once considered something of a “4th” degree. Having passed through it, I now know why. There have been real pleasures, challenges, and, yes, occasional aggravations. I have learned and experienced a lot. “Thank you,” brothers, by honoring me with your trust and support. We have accomplished many great things and grown as a lodge – numerically and fraternally – this year. I have no doubt that your new officers, lead by WM-elect Brian Cors, will continue this work. We are indeed a blessed lodge.
November saw our last meeting at Hathaway’s Hideaway. During it, we passed two more brothers to the Fellowcraft degree. I must say that Hathaway’s served us well over the past two years and I will cherish many memories of our work there. From now on, however, we will be meeting at the Grange. Brothers Bob Hospadaruk and WM-elect Brian Cors also pulled off another successful fundraiser for Food Gatherers in November at the Ann Arbor Brewing Co. in downtown Ann Arbor. Quite a crowd gathered and besides a barrel of food, they helped AAF 262 raise approximately $2,200 with another $1,500 on the way from the Michigan Masonic Charitable Foundation - all to help feed our hungry neighbors. Congratulations Bob and Brian!
November was also a particularly sorrowful month for AAF 262. W.Bro. Seymour Greenstone, a more then 60 year member and our Secretary, passed. Seymour’s funeral, including the Masonic service, was beautiful. He was indeed a pillar of our lodge and will be sorely missed.
December 1 was our annual meeting. We reviewed and discussed our lodge finances. There is a intender/ mentoring leadership session for Dec. 8 at Hathaway’s Hideway. If you are or would like to be an intender, please do try and attend. Installation of 2011 officers will take place at the Zal Gaz Grotto Club on West Stadium on Dec. 18 at 6:30 p.m. This event is open to the public. There will be heavy appetizers following. The following morning, we meet again at the Grotto for breakfast prior to our yearly rounds of poinsettia delivery to the lodge widows. Lastly, the December Master’s Table, which will also 
be honoring the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, will take place on Dec. 29 - details to follow.
Thus my sun sets in the West. With the year I’ve enjoyed, it feels kind of hard to set down my gavel. But I’m ready to retire to the sidelines too. I plan to continue my ritual study and lend a hand when and where asked. Becoming a past master, for me, doesn’t mean I won’t be a familiar face at lodge.
Lastly, I want to wish you all a very Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Robert Blackburn, WM
UPCOMING EVENTS from Our Trestleboard
- December 8, 2010
Intender Training - Hathaway’s Hideaway - December 18, 2010
Installation of 2011 Officers - Zal Gaz Grotto Club - December 19, 2010
Poinsettia Delivery to Widows - Zal Gaz Grotto Club - December 29, 2010
Master’s Table / St. John the Evangelist Evening - TBA
Master’s Letter | November 2010
For those of you not living in Michigan, October had some truly magnificent days. Not to rub it in, but we had a proper “Indian 
summer” - gorgeous colors, cool clear mornings and warm afternoons. I even managed to get my canoe out on the Huron River a couple of times to just soak it all in. Our regular passed uneventfully, other than a visit from our BGP Jack Woodyard and our new DDI Bill Krebaum. At the time of writing, we are looking forward to initiating three new brothers on October 27 at Hathaway’s Hideway (we cleared up our backlog of 14 candidates initiated, passed, and raised this year only to have 14 or more new candidates seeking admission!).
November is a significant month for Masons – not like the feast of St. John in June and December – but including events and historic occasions nevertheless important to the Craft. November 9 is the Feast Day of the Quatuor Coronati, or “Four Crowned Martyrs.” According to Catholic and Masonic tradition, the four men were
Christian stonemasons who were executed in 305 C.E. for refusing to carve a pagan statue. As a result, they were revered by early operative masons. Borrowing their name, on November 28, 1884, the first Masonic research lodge, Quatuor Coronati No. 2076, G.L. of England, received its warrant. November was also the month, in 1752, that a 22-year old George Washington took his first step in Masonry, being initiated an Entered Apprentice at Fredericksburg Lodge (now Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4, G.L. of Virginia, A.F. & A.M.).
At AAF 262, November is my last full month as Master. Our regular will take place at the Pittsfield Grange on the 3rd. We will be holding a Fellowcraft degree at Hathoway’s Hideaway on the 10th. Saturady, November 13, we will be hosting our second annual “Freemason Party for Food Gatherers” benefit party at the Ann Arbor Brewing Co. in Ann Arbor. On November 17 we will be moving our storage lockers and other items from Hathaway’s Hideaway to the Grange and conducting our annual Lodge of Sorrow. I will be renting a U Haul truck and need as many hands as I can get to meet me at 5:15 to 5:30 p.m. to make this happen. Dress for the evening will be casual and a meal will follow. I hope also to get poinsettias divvied up for delivery to our widows (if they are available that early; if not, we’ll have to get this done early December). It will be a busy night of work, ritual, and fellowship. Please come and be a part of it. Lastly, our monthly Masters’ Table will take place on November 24. Check our online Trestle Board for details.
I hope that you all have a Happy Thanksgiving and that if you are traveling that you and those with you stay safe. See you in lodge!
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Robert Blackburn, WM
UPCOMING EVENTS from Our Trestleboard
- November 3, 2010
Annual Meeting - Pittsfield Grange, Election of 2011 Officers! - November 10, 2010
FC Degree - Hathaway’s Hideaway - November 13, 2010
Freemason Party for Food Gatherers! - Arbor Brewing Company - November 17, 2010
Lodge of Sorrow - Pittsfield Grange - Novemeber 24, 2010
Master’s Table - Location TBA - December 1, 2010
Regular Meeting - Pittsfield Grange - December 8, 2010
Study Club - Hathaway’s Hideaway - December 18, 2010
Installation of 2011 Officers - Zal Gaz Grotto Club - December 29, 2010
Master’s Table / St. John the Evangelist Evening - Pittsfield Grange
Master’s Letter | October 2010
September was a particularly busy month for AAF 262. On Sept. 1 we had our first regular meeting at the Pittsfield Grange Hall, located at 3337 Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. in Ann Arbor. This is now the new meeting place for AAF 262. We also completed our Master Mason degree work. We held two degree days this past month - one at the Grange and one at Stony Creek No. 5 in Rochester Hills. This brings the total of new Master Masons raised this year to 14! The Stony Creek outing was a marvelous event, incorporating degree work, Masonic education, and fellowship in one setting. Stony Creek has the distinction of being the only lodge in Michigan NOT to have gone dark during the dissolution of the first Grand Lodge of Michigan. Its SW Christopher Peace shared with us some of the lodge’s history and artifacts and then took us on a local tour to visit other Masonic sites of interest. You can view some of the things you may have missed at Stony Creek’s website. September also saw our quarterly study club – which met to discuss “Music in Masonry” - and we even had a ladies’ night out at Knight’s Steak House.
By contrast, October is going to be a little bit of a breather. We have a large number of new candidates seeking admission into Masonry. Our degree work has returned full circle. Please take NOTE – because of scheduling conflicts, our Master’s Table this month will take place on the Oct. 20 and we will be hold an 
E.A. degree at HATHAWAY’S HIDEAWAY, rather than the Grange, on Oct. 27. Please be sure to attend this degree ceremony. There will be three candidates, one of whom is a “Lewis.” I would therefore request that you help us make this a most memorable night for both our special initiate and his proud father.
Lastly, I would like to remind you of a social evening of traditional banjo and fiddle music I’ve arranged at the Grotto Club on October 28 at 7:30 p.m. Dr. Alan Jabbour is a scholar and fine old-time fiddler, formerly with the Library of Congress, who is steeped in the repertoire he helped collect and document. Ken Perlman is known as one of the nation’s finest claw-hammer banjo players. Together they bring to life the driving dance tunes and haunting melodies of the Upper South. $10 suggested donation; bring a desert to share; beverages and other food available for purchase from the Grotto Club. This event is open to the public. The Grotto Club is located at 2070 W. Stadium Blvd. in Ann Arbor. Come out, have fun, support the Grotto and the arts, and maybe invite some friends along and introduce them to Masonry. Hope to see you in lodge!
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Robert Blackburn, WM
UPCOMING EVENTS from Our Trestleboard
- October 6, 2010
Regular Meeting - Pittsfield Grange
- October 20, 2010
Masters Table Dinner - Location TBA - October 27, 2010
EA Degree - Hathaway’s Hideaway - October 28, 2010
Concert - Zal Gaz Grotto Club - November 3, 2010
Regular Meeting - Pittsfield Grange - November 10, 2010
FC Degree - Pittsfield Grange
- November 13, 2010
Freemason Party for Food Gatherers! - Arbor Brewing Company - November 17, 2010
Lodge of Sorrow - Location TBA
Master’s Letter | September 2010
Well, summer is behind us. I hope you all had the opportunity to have a vacation break away and enjoy a little time with family and friends. I had a nice couple days up in Leland, visiting nearby Sleeping Bear Dune, and even had the pleasure of running into Bro. Mike Shehan and his family at an ice cream shop. I had a further Masonic surprise when I walked into the Glen Haven General Store, dating to the late 1800s, which is now preserved by the National Park Service. Its original owner, D.H. Day, was a Mason and a Knight Templar. Carved into an archway in the store are a golden square and compasses, an eye, and a cross! Glen Haven at the time was sparsely populated and was unlikely able to support a lodge. Still, it is interesting to see how important Bro. Day’s Masonry was to him in that, at the time, far-flung corner of Michigan.
The first annual Tri-lodge Picnic, being AAF 262, Golden Rule 159, and St. Mary’s No. 4, Prince Hall, took place in Gallup Park on August 8. It was a marvelous time and special “thanks” are due to our JW Clinton Bartholomew and JW Jim Lakin of 159. Attendees, who also included Masons and their families from Jackson, Belleville, Milan, Saline, Manchester and Prince Hall brothers from Romulus, enjoyed barbecued pork and chicken and potluck side dishes. The many children particularly enjoyed the two “tug of wars” that were held. PM Ray Holcomb of Golden Rule crafted special triangular sounding board for the occasion. On each side is small brass plaque with one of the lodge’s names. It was agreed that it will serve as a trophy, much a like a traveling gavel, for AAF 262, Golden Rule 159 (where it is presently housed), and St. Mary’s No. 4. W.Bro. Holcomb put a lot of thought into its symbolism; if you see him, you should ask about it. I stayed to the end to help with clean up and was really excited to hear how everyone looked forward to next year’s Tri-Lodge picnic.
September will be a very busy month for AAF 262. First, the September 1 regular meeting will NOT be taking place at Hathaway’s Hideaway NOR will there be a pre-lodge meal (there are many nearby restaurants and perhaps we can adjourn to one following our meeting). Instead, we will be holding it at the Pittsfield Grange, located at 3337 Ann Arbor – Saline Road, just a mile or so south of I-94. If the brethren like the space, we will make final arrangements with Grand Lodge to shift to this new location which will provide us with some much needed elbow room. It is my hope to wrap up our MMs for the year this month. We will have MM degrees on Sept. 15 and, it is hoped, on Saturday Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. in the Detroit Masonic Temple. The Study Club, lead by PM Seymour Greenstone, will meet at Hathaway’s at 7 p.m. on Sept. 22 to discuss “Music and Masonry.” Lastly, Masters Table this month, on Sept. 29, will be at Knight’s Steakhouse, at 6:30 p.m. This is an annual bring your wife and/or lady event (just kidding, please do not bring both!). Please RSVP with PM Justin Krasnoff at 734-665-2236
We have a lot on our plate brothers. We will have raised 14 new masons by the end of this month and STILL have a backlog of work to do! Key to our continued growth and success is everyone’s active participation. We want to hear from you and, if you are able to make it, SEE you. I remain hopeful that we can put together a proper Master Mason degree team, with understudies so we can mix things up, and perhaps flesh out some standing committees. So even if you are not in the line, or don’t want to be, there are meaningful and fulfilling ways you can participate in lodge. Of course, we are also happy just to share a meal with you and have you on the sidelines. Lodge should be an oasis from the headaches and responsibilities of everyday life. Make the most of it.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Robert Blackburn, WM
UPCOMING EVENTS from Our Trestleboard
- September 1, 2010
Regular Communication - No dinner before, meeting 7:00pm
LOCATION CHANGE: Pittsfield Grange, located at 3337 Ann Arbor-Saline Road See Trestleboard for details - September 15, 2010
MM Degree
Pittsfield Grange - September 22, 2010
Quarterly Study Club: Music and Masonry
Hathaway’s Hideaway
Masons of all degrees are encouraged to attend this event. - September 25, 2010
MM Degree
Special Location: Stony Creek Lodge No. 5, Rochester MI - September 29, 2010
Masters Table Dinner
Knights Steakhouse
All masons, and men interested in masonry, should attend. Ladies too!
