| Los Altos Lodge No. 712: | Last Updated on February 11, 2000 |
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Master - From The East
The 1999 installation of Officers went very well, and was extremely impressive!
My profound thanks to all who assisted and attended this event!
Our Installing Team consisted of:
Bill Malmstrom, PM, Host;
Bruce Pruitt, PM, Installing Officer;
Ford Osborn, P.M., Master of Ceremonies;
Gunnar Galsgaard, PM, Installing Chaplain;
Joseph von Geczy, PM, Asst. Grand Organist, Installing Pianist.
These officers provided us a splendid installation, and the new officers thank them very, very much!
Our thanks is also extended to the three members of the Heroes of 76 who presented the U.S. Flag, and to Brother Hampton Brady, Jr., Pipe Sergeant, whose Scottish bagpipes led the Lodge Officers into the Lodge Room.
We also thank the San Jose Chapter of the International Order of DeMolay and the Campbell - Los Gatos Assembly No. 162 of the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls in greeting our guests, passing out programs, and helping with the seating arrangements. I also would like to acknowledge the Rainbow San Jose Assembly No. 5 for planning to assist us, but due to illnesses, could not attend. In addition, our heartfelt special thanks and congratulations are also extended to the Ladies of Valley Star Chapter No. 250, Order of the Eastern Star, who provided the flowers, decorations, and food under the, tireless management of Lora Corner and Leslie Hayes, respectively.
I also thank Lynda Wing of Lynda Wing Catering for providing the hot food at the reception, and Richard Rosenberg, PM, for providing a superb photographic record of the event. Please review the outstanding picture book at Lodge!!!
About 130 people attended the installation, and we all had a wonderful time. Thank you all!
The Installation was a memorable event for me - and for all who attended: Bill Malmstrom provided a very funny and comical review of my life and interests, reading from an "X-Rated File from Roswell." Even though they were not in attendance, Mulder and Scully (from "The X Files") would have been very impressed!
It was also amazing for all to see how the few mistakes that we made were turned into light-hearted moments for all - even including when we finally remembered that the Charter was still in its container in front of the podium! Presentations included flowers to my mother, Jane Bailey, who was escorted to the East, and to Joyce Buschek.
In a Special Presentation I received a fine new gavel from my mother. I also made special presentations to Worshipfuls Bruce Pruitt, Dan McDaniel, and Bill Malmstrom.
In addition, to honor his continuing Emmy award-winning role as our Lodge "Sea Faring Man" in the 3rd degree, a large sailing ship was presented to Sterling Bailey, PM, with the engraved name plate: "Your Ship Yonder!"
We are planning our activities this year so that we will be able to achieve the Grand Masters Achievement Award. So far, we are right on schedule with all required plans, budgets, committees, and activities.
I will need your interest and assistance to carry out our plans for this year. If your are interested in assisting, please volunteer!
Our February Stated Meeting went very well, and we received a score of about 8.5 for opening and closing Lodge.
Our after dinner program speaker, Los Altos Police Officer Brent Butler, provided a very interesting and informative program on Drug Prevention to the Ladies and guests during Lodge. Several members would like to invite him back to hear what they had missed!
We also need your ideas about planning our visitation(s) this year. So far we are considering: Monterey/Carmel/Pacific Grove, Auburn, Nevada City, St. Helena, Sonoma, or a Masonic Home. Please let us know of your ideas and suggestions.
Visit our website! Brother Lou has done a super job in revising and updating the content in the website, and more links to various articles and quality information are planned! Keep this site bookmarked!
The Superbowl Party was also a very fun event! About 25 people attended, and we had way too much food and a great time. The excitement of the TV game was made even higher by some of the games that we played while watching the game!
The general consensus was:
1. The Bud commercial with the dogs was absolutely the best;
2. Congratulations to John and the Broncos;
3. It would have been better if the Dirty Birds had performed better, and
4. We need to do this more often...
March is "Youth Activities Month!" The Grand Lodge reminds us that we should enthusiastically support our Youth Orders, Job's Daughters, Rainbow for Girls, and DeMolay. They are our future, and it is now up to us to show that we mean what we say - "The best of times is now." Assist our Lodge in supporting our Masonic Youth Groups!
I have added a new activity in our Stated Meetings this year: "Receiving More Light". At each meeting, three members in attendance will be chosen at random and asked to read short (1 minute) Masonic articles that will be of great interest to all in the Lodge. I guarantee that the members who read these articles will receive: "More Light!"
Grand Lodge Reminder: April is "Public Schools Month!" We urge all members to reflect on the importance of education in everyone's life, and the unique role that our public schools play in providing the opportunity of education to all children.
Grand Lodge Reminder: The deadline for all resolutions to amend the California Masonic Code must be received at Grand Lodge no later than 4:45 PM, April 14, 1999.
The "After Dinner Program" for March 1 will be "Health, Healing, and Applications of Preventative [Continued from page 11 ] (From The East) Medicine," presented by Dr. Nancy Worthington. Dr. Worthington is a Naturopathic Doctor, a Member of the Board of Great Western University, President of E. W. Wellness, Inc., and a teacher of Tai Chi. I look forward to greeting you in Lodge!
Fraternally,
Patrick Bailey
Master
Senior Warden - The Westerly Wind
Dear Brethren and Friends:
Fun and Education, two important aspects of our fraternity, are so often relegated to low priority. I don know about you, but if something is FUN, I know I am a lot more likely to want to do it. Sure, there are lots of duties, which are sometimes a little enjoyable, but often just dreary, which we must each do. With a little imagination, putting a little fun into those mundane tasks makes them so much more interesting. This is how our ancestors got their barns built and made quilts. Today, we can drive our cars to our destinations, but by adding a little music on the radio, how much more fun it becomes!
Late in January, Worshipful Ford Osborn hosted a really enjoyable Masonic outing. He gets 100% of the credit for this, for not only did he conceive the idea, but brought it up at our stated meeting, arranged the date, took names, made phone calls, provided transportation, provided necessary equipment, and planned refreshments. It was our lodges first Skeet Shoot event.
It was totally enjoyed by the four of us who went, and those of you who didn't go missed a lot of fun. It was a cool, misty Sunday morning, when we had the shooting range virtually all to ourselves. Ford provided a couple of shotguns for those of us who didn't own one. He provided the clay "pigeons" and lots of helpful information. Besides Ford, Worshipful Greg Buschek, Christian Martin and I made up the intrepid sportsmen. We boldly ventured into the unknown world of skeet shooting, where none except Ford had gone before! Within a few minutes we had learned safety rules, and were blasting those clay pigeons out of the sky!! After convincing ourselves that we were the excellent sharpshooters which we intuitively had known we just had to be, we even moved up to the intermediate difficulty level, and did pretty well there, too. Worshipful Greg had brought a humungous pistol, so we stopped at the pistol range, and tried our skills at a target at 50 feet.
Seems simple when Clint Eastwood does it, but my first three shots not only didn't hit the bullseye, but missed the target by about 2 feet.
This quickly brought me down a peg, but with a little practice, I was able to actually get on the white part of the target.
Greg had brought some magnum loads, which made us all glad we were wearing suitable ear protection. For Christian and me, it was our first time shooting a pistol. I actually bruised the heel of my hand, and retired after six shots.
Afterward, we retired to a cozy little English pub, located by Ford, where we reminisced at length about our prowess.
One memorable quote, our newly raised Brother Christian, "This was the funnest!" (If "funnest" isn't part of your vocabulary, and I have to admit it isn't in mine, maybe now is the time to add it, along with "Lodge," as in "Funnest Lodge!")
Now about Education. (Don't stop reading yet.) Mixing fun with education makes it so much more palatable. As the Head Candidate's Coach for this year, I would like to see some interest among the brethren who are not officers to learn how to coach. This is not (repeat NOT) just memorizing ritual. It involves teaching a candidate about our lodge, our traditions, and our history. If you have no experience, I will teach you, so there is no reason to be reluctant.
Yes, it requires a little effort, but it is so rewarding, that many Masons regard coaching as the most unique part of our fraternity - one that often builds lifelong friendships among men who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance. Give it a try. You just might like it. I can say that I personally have found coaching to be extremely rewarding, and I always come away feeling that I am able to give back to our new brethren some Of the benefits I received from dedicated brothers when I first joined. For more information, see me, or give me a call at [snip].
Robert W. Martin, P.M.
Senior Warden
Secretary - From The Secretary's Desk
The new year has begun, and with it our obligations to support our fraternity are renewed. To the Secretary, this means to keep up the Lodge member-ship records, to collect Lodge monies, to record the minutes of tiled meetings, to transmit reports to the Grand Lodge as required, and to observe the will and pleasure of the Worshipful Master in matters relating to Lodge business. The Secretary transmits the monies he collects to the Treasurer, who has his own set of responsibilities to the Lodge.
So now we are collecting and receipting dues for 1999. We have received most of the members' dues and are processing them as quickly as possible.
Changes to Secretarial duties occur slowly, but some do occur. At present, we are making fuller use of computer record-keeping.
We are working to update our files and to continue to keep them in a businesslike manner.
I am grateful-very grateful-to Joyce and Worshipful Greg Buschek and others who contributed to record- Larry Fagan, Secretary keeping during the latter half of 1998, which included sending out the dues notices. Much appreciated.
I have received many expressions of encouragement in the job of keeping the Secretary's office and duties on course. Thank you, everyone.
Fraternally,
Larry Fagan
Secretary
"Stop, Brother, Just a Moment"
Stop, Brother, Just a Moment...
Author Unknown...
Before you enter this Holy of Holies, ask yourself in your innermost heart "Am I duly and truly prepared?" If you will listen you may hear a voice within, saying, "It is a Brother desiring admission."
Can you enter this sanctuary this night as, indeed, a Brother? Have you divested yourself of garments of hate, envy, jealousy, deceit, hypocrisy, and put on the robe of Brotherly Love? Can you stand before the Holy Alter, which recalled to your mind memories of by-gone days and, looking into the eyes of your Worshipful Master, extend a greeting to those about you, "Behold, a Brother?"
Can you enter the lodge tonight with a desire not only to receive, but to give?
Should you entertain a spirit of enmity in the slightest degree for a brother in this lodge, go in, take the hand of that brother of yours, talk it over with him in the Fraternal spirit you should, and watch the mists disappear and the sunlight of Masonic Brotherhood illuminate your heart and his. Just try, brother, you will not be disappointed. The noblest work of God is man, and the ancient landmarks of Freemasonry are His handiwork of man's highest nobility. Unless then you can claim to be a Mason, good and true, I beseech you to turn back, and do not enter. But, if your aims and ambitions are the highest calling of the Brotherhood of Man as taught throughout the ages by the Fraternity of Freemasonry, and sanctioned in nature and revelation by the approval of the Great Architect of the Universe, enter here, for within you will find that which you seek.
Author Unknown
(This charge to Masons is found at the door of Myrtle Beach Lodge No. 353/Seaside Lodge No. 419 for all Masons to read and heed. Its origin and age are unknown.)
Communicated to us by Bruce Pruitt, from a publication in the South Carolina Masonic Research Society, to put into our hearts - and into our next Trestleboard.
Thanks Brother Bruce!
On the way to our lodge installation on Sunday afternoon, I stopped by McDonalds to grab a small bite to eat. Wearing my tuxedo, I made an unusual site as I stood in line to order my Big Mac and soda.
The lady in front of me, a grandmother with her four year old grandson, had instructed him carefully about what they could afford, and it was obvious to me that they were on a tight budget, and would have to share one of french fries between them.
While they were waiting for their the clerk took my order, and informed me that I could get french fries added to my order for no extra cost by purchasing a Value meal. I responded that I really did not want any french fries, but asked the lady if she could use them.
She gratefully accepted and in casual conversation, asked me where was going. I explained that I was a Mason, sometimes called Freemason, and that I was attending our annual installation of offices for the Los Altos Masonic Lodge.
In our brief conversation, we talked a little about what Masons do, then her food came, along with the extra fries, and she thanked me profusely. I am sure she now has a favorable impression about Masonry. It cost me nothing. But then just a few seconds later, while I was waiting for my food to come, at the next register, a customer (a man in his mid-thirties), was purchasing food for three, but was short 28 cents. He started to tell the clerk to remove one item, when I simply said, "Here, allow me to take care of that." I went on to mention how that had once happened to me and how annoying I found it to be, being only a few cents short. As it turned out, I had only a few coins in my pocket, so I handed a dollar bill to the cashier. In providing the change, the cashier did not know who to give it to, and I said, "Give it to him. It sounds like he needs it more than I do." We both smiled, and then he inquired where I was going, and I again told about the Los Altos Masonic Lodge on Main Street in downtown Los Altos, a little on what Masons do, and information on how one might become a Mason.
I have no idea whether the seed I planted will ever sprout, but I certainly came to our installation feeling that for the price on one measly buck I had spread a little positive information about our Los Altos Lodge, and Freemasonry.
The above article comes to us from a Los Altos Lodge brother who remains anonymous in name, but expressive in "Charity and Good Will". Editor
True believers and skeptical infidels seem to have little in common in their perception of life and of the universe. However, the pious and the impertinent agree on some things: alcoholism, drug addiction, and psychopathy are evil, and superstition and astrology when considered as a science, are unfortunately mistaken, while health, wealth, happiness and truth are good things.
Let us consider only one thing here, in the interest of brevity: the meretricious pseudo-science of astrology. Horoscopes appear in our daily news-food, papers, often right there on the comics page. Professional astrologers make 6- figure incomes concocting vague "analyses" and "readings" whose accuracy is that of sheer fortuitous chance. They can't even predict which horses will win in the races this noon.
Try this: Let's say you are a Taurus. Pretend that you are a Gemini and follow the horoscopes for Gemini for a week. You will find that it will have about the same validity as your "real sign".
The zodiac (Greek zoa, "animals") in astrology is divided into 30 degree sections called "signs" and since there are 360 degrees in a circle, there are l2 signs. Each section bears the name of a constellation for which it was originally named, but with which it no longer coincides owing to the precession of the equinoxes. Hence the "signs" are not even in the correct or original places.
Consider also that the names originally given to the constellations by the ancient Babylonian star-gazers were purely arbitrary. Scorpio. Leo. Taurus. Virgo... These "figures" are not after-universally recognized. Other people in various parts of our planet see other things.
One easy example (not in the zodiac)is the so-called "Big Dipper." It is also called "Ursa Major"(the Big Bear), and in parts of Britain, is called "The Plow." Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and other people see other figures. The constellations are more like Rorschach blots than real images. And the constellations in the Southern Hemisphere (unknown to Babylonians) are entirely different.
Even if we assume that the images of the constellations of the zodiac have some sort of validity, they are much too far away to have any effect on the tiny organisms of the minuscule "Third World" of the solar system. Work out this problem: 186,000 X 60 (seconds) X 60 (minutes) X 24 (hours) X 365 (days) = the distance light travels in one year. This is a light year. 5 trillion, 865 billion, 960 million miles. Or 5865960 X 10**6 miles. Now that is just one light year. Consider that the nearest star to us, besides the sun, is 4.5 light years away. Many of the stars in our galaxy (Greek for "milk"), which are the only ones we can see, are thousands of light years away.
The Babylonians and subsequent astrologers had no idea of the immense distances between Earth and the metahelial stars. The light bulb in your room would have millions of times more influence (visible light, infra-red, heat, radiation, electro-magnetic force, etc. ) than all of the stars in the sky. They are just too far away. So what difference does it make what the arrangement of the stars is?
Furthermore, consider that the population of Terra (Earth) is about 6 X 10**9 people. If evenly distributed, there would be 500 million of us under each sign.
And finally, the argument from authority. None of the really first-rate scientists condone astrology. Perl, Reines, Shull, Steve Chu, Charpak, Hulse... none of them. Carl Sagan derided astrology. Stephen J. Gould despises such nonsense.
So if we are interested in studying the science of heavenly bodies, per-haps we should study astronomy. Our time in this life is all we really have. Astrology may very well fit a superstitious religious need, but as scientific fact it is without substance.
Fraternally,
Maurice Dunbar
Orator
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