Sublime Benicia Lodge No5, F. & A.M.

Messages

The first one and a half months of 2008 have witnessed in our beloved Lodge worthwhile activities that were spurred by vibrancy and enthusiasm among the brethren, families and friends. I thank all of you for making this happen.

 We now have new members and this boosts our confidence that we are doing the right thing. Brothers Erwin Arceo and Noel Santos received the first degree in January, while Brothers Pepito Flamenco and Ben Wilson passed the second degree in February. Congratulations, to all of you my Brothers, and welcome to our sublime Fraternity!

 Inspired by the sincere support and direction from WB Art Porter and Ed Lopez, our new brethren express commitment and dedication to our institution. This is most heart-warming and I am sure each of you shares with me the same emotion. With this remark I urge everyone to lead them by your examples, aid and assist them when needed and “so far as you can do so without harm to yourself or your family”.

 On a sad note, in behalf of SBL #5 membership, I extend my deep sympathy to Brother Noel Santos and his family. Our prayers are with you as you mourn the death of your Dad. May the thought that he is with the Great Architect in the celestial lodge above console your sorrows.

 The February Stated Meeting was equally exciting as the January’s. In spite of the cold breeze of a seemingly never-ending winter, the brethren and Ladies involved themselves as wholeheartedly as usual and enjoyed the great friendship and love, a lot of good laughs and good spirit. I also learned that the Ladies had discussion on community services that they can work on. The two ideas that were considered are visiting the elders and assisting the students at some school projects. WB Art Porter supported these ideas and would be finding ways on how these could be done. Thank you, Worshipful!

 If I would not acknowledge the presence of the “revitalized” members, I would be remiss. “Brothers June Maranan, Phil Torres and Mel Santos, we greatly appreciate your joining us again in our function. We welcome you with open arms and thank you with all our hearts. We hope to see you again and again. May your good gesture serve as an inspiration and motivation for the rest of our inactive members to make some efforts to come and support our Lodge.”

 The Valentine’s Dinner/Dance had also a positive outcome. Thank you to Rene Quiambao, Senior Warden, for planning a successful affair. Special “Thank you” goes to Bro. Banjo Gabriel for being the official photographer, and Ime Paman, sister-in-law of Senior Deacon, Fred Tabas, for her enchanting songs. You are quite a performer and we appreciate very much your participation in the night’s entertainment. Thank you, too to all who supported that function.

 Along with the celebration of the President’s Day and the hope for the warmth of the coming spring, we had a Daylight Degree on February 18th, which was held at Naval Lodge. Congratulations to the officers for a job well done. Here’s the comment from WB. Art Porter: “Our Lodge Degree efforts were really great yesterday at the Washington Daylight Degree.   Our Lodge definitely put on the best display of good ritual within the District”.

 Many thanks to the following for their contributions to our beloved Lodge:

·         My corps of officers and members who worked really hard to support our endeavors

·         Brother Mel Santos and Sister Barbara – for their generous monetary donation for the Lodge funds and many bottles of wine for the Valentine’s raffle

·         Brother Mario Pimentel & his lovely wife Evelyn – for their time & patience in giving dance lessons to our Ladies (no offense to our very dear Ladies)

·         Sisters Ate Nita Almanzor, Nancy Ancheta, Monnette Campos, Chit Dalangin, Grace Gatdula,  Connie Perez, Barbara Santos, Alma Tabas, and my wife Aurora for joining us during our February Stated Meeting Dinner

·         Past Masters, Officers and Member – for the ballroom decoration

·         Sister Alma Tabas and family (Mama, Jojo, Jen and May) – for the center pieces (and Sister Alma single-handedly provided the finishing touches in the ballroom).

·         All brethren and sisters who donated gifts for the Valentine’s raffle.

·         Sisters Fe Abaya (former First Lady), Shirley Ancheta, Connie Perez, Alma Tabas, Mina Quiambao, and my loving wife Aurora for selling raffle tickets.

·         All families and friends, who came to the Valentine’s Dinner/Dance, thank you for your support and we will furnish you bigger dance floor next time.

I am working very hard on the activation of our web site, which was initiated by WB Romy Poblete during his term of office. For those officers who have not submitted their Bio data will please do so as soon as possible. I need your cooperation to have the web site up and running by the time the streams swell with spring rains.

In preparation of our hearts for the coming Passover and Easter, I have a few words to all of you. “Let us become like our ancient brethren put all discord away when we enter our Lodge. Let us work together to have a lodge that glows in peace and harmony”.

I wish you and your family a Glorious Easter! God bless!!!

 Fraternally,

Dean S. Dagdagan

WM

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The Senior Warden Speaks………….. 

Although the cold air was still blowing around the bay, many of us were present during the Valentine’s Dinner/Dance on the 9^th of February, where festivities were specially dedicated to the Ladies. For those of you who missed the party, you really missed a great time. We had a delicious dinner (chicken, roast beef and asparagus) and even given the fact that there was not enough room for the dancers, there was a lot of fun squeezing one another on the dance floor. Our Ladies had wonderful moments following the steps of our very own DIs, the fascinating couple, Brother Mario and Sister Evelyn Pimentel. Our guests, I imagined, were equally pleased and felt that same emotional resonance deep within us. There were more than 30 gifts donated by the membership, which brought additional excitement to all. (Fearing to miss someone, we intentionally did not mention the name of the individual donors). 

Thank you to the officers and members who rendered me their helping hands and to our guests for supporting us once again.

 In a few short weeks, Easter would be here. This is a time for reflection. Remember all our brethren and their families who are in need. Let us reach out to help them and tend to their spiritual and other needs. We should not forget that this is part of our obligation and principle.  

Easter is also a time for fun, a time for our annual Easter picnic. As always, it will take all of us working side by side to make this event successful. Bring your families and friends. Our Junior Warden had laid out his plans for egg-hunting and games for our children. Come all, an incredible time full of fellowship and good food lies ahead!

 There are many more activities for the month. Please read the Trestleboard for the upcoming events. Get involved and be a part of the many who labor for the good of our fraternity. 

A Happy Easter to all!

 Rene Quiambao

Senior Warden

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From the South

 Brethren,

 My observation tells me that we are slowly but surely going back to our traditional way of conducting our Lodge business.  I noticed lately that more brothers come to our Stated Meeting to participate in discussing issues which will benefit our Lodge in the future.  This is a good and encouraging sign. We wish and hope that others may follow this trend, and find the path to our Lodge. To those brothers and sisters who brought food in our meeting, thank you again. Your generosity is very much appreciated. We are also delighted to know that our sisters were having so much fun while we attend to our duties in the Lodge room. 

 By the way, our Valentines Dinner and Dance was a success. The attendance went beyond what we expected, and everyone had a lovely and wonderful night. The support from our membership and our guest was remarkable. This is a result of hard work and diligence of our brethren and our sisters who put this event together. We sincerely thank them from the bottom of our heart, and we will always be grateful for their continued involvement to our commitments.

 To Bro. Pepito Plamenco and Bro. Ben Wilson, who passed the Fellow Craft Degree, I once again congratulate them, and wish them a safe and enjoyable journey to the sublime degree of Master Mason. I also want to acknowledge the magnificent performance of our Lodge officers at the George Washington third degree daylight conferral, which was held at the Naval Lodge. They really know their stuff, so I take my hat off to them. “Bravo”.

 Our next Lodge event is the Annual Easter Picnic, which will be held on Sunday, March 23, 2008, at Blue Rocks Spring Park in Vallejo.  This is an all day affair starting at 10 AM. As usual we will have lots of good food prepared by the Lodge, but we encourage the brethren to bring their favorite dish to share with everyone. And for the kids, we have set-up exciting games to keep them busy all day.  Preceding our customary egg hunting, is the apple eating contest (adults could join in on this one), sack race, piñata, and whatever we could think of thereafter. To the lucky contestant who wins any of these games, we have good prizes for you.

 So save this date on your calendar, and prepare yourself and your kids for a whole day of fun.  We’ll see you there. 

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and may we aid, support, and protect each other.

 Fraternally,

 Dan Perez

Junior Warden