| Los Altos Lodge No. 712: | Last Updated on August 14, 2005 |
Return to the Los Altos Lodge Trestleboard TOC Page
Return to the Los Altos Lodge Papers Page
Well here we are in the sixth month of the year and to date this year we have four Entered Apprentices, one Fellowcraft, and the officers have gone to advanced stations.
As planned we held a Public Schools and Youth Futures Night on Wednesday May 11. As in past years the event was planned as a Tri-Lodge event including Mountain View De Anza Lodge, No. 194, Palo Alto Roller Lodge, No. 346, and Los Altos Lodge, No. 712. This year the event was held and hosted at Los Altos.
Dinner began around 6:30 PM and the menu included Prim Rib of Beef, Chicken, and Ham. There were 100 people in attendance and everyone agreed that the food was very good.
After dinner we retired upstairs to the Lodge Room where Brother David Kimball, Los Altos Lodge Public Schools Committee Chairman acted as opening host and introduced the three Worshipful Masters. This year a new touch was added when each Master upon being introduced by the chairman was then individually escorted from the Tiler's room to the East by members of the Mountain View Jobs Daughters Bethel, No. 103, Redwood City Rainbow Assembly, No. 16, and the Peninsula DeMolay Chapter.
This was something new and the youth members expressed much enjoyment in having been invited to participate in such a new and formal way.
Next they also escorted the Flag into the lodge.
As you already know I feel very strongly that as a lodge we need to do more for our youth groups. The Masters of each of the other lodges agreed with this, and we each proceeded to call the leaders of the three youth groups up to the east, where they each gave a short, but very educational talk on the mission of their youth group.
After each youth leader completed his or her talk, the Masters of each Lodge made a generous contribution to the group. Be sure to view the pictures on pages 10 and 11 herein.
Following this, it was time to make the presentations to the Teacher of the year, and to this year's Student Scholarship Recipient. Pictures of this event can also be seen on pages 1, 10, and 11.
The evening was a great success and was very much enjoyed by all. Of course none of this could happen without the wonderful support I received from so very many people. Thanks to Golden Harvest Restaurant for catering such a very fine dinner. Thanks to Worshipful Ernie Castillo for overseeing the dinner event, and being sure the bills were paid, food was up to par, and securing the dinning room after the event.
Many thanks to Brother David Kimball for serving as the 2005 Los Altos Lodge Public Schools Chairman, and seeing to it that everyone was contacted and in attendance that night.
Many thanks are also extended to Brother Ed Clark for his outstanding service as the 2005 Los Altos Lodge Masonic Youth Orders Chairman. His job of making contact with, and confirming the attendance of the youth groups included arranging their duties that night.
Thanks also to Mrs. Carol Baker who provided piano music for us. Your music really made everything come together very well.
To Worshipful Richard Rosenberg, I seem to forever be in your debt. Where would our lodge be without you? Your pictures, as always, were great, and will give us wonderful memories of a fine evening together for many years to come. Thank you ever so very much!
Last but not least, a big thank you to each member of each youth group who came, and with open hearts, really made the night a big success. We at Los Altos Lodge, No. 712 are proud of each and every one of you. You are fine young people and we look forward to many more such events with your groups.
May 16th also found the officers of Los Altos Lodge conferring a double 1st Degree. The candidates were John Milton and Brian Kilgore. Congratulations Brothers John & Brian.
June is here already and our stated meeting will be held on Monday June 6th. My wife Jeanna and her cousin will be preparing a Filipino dinner with all the trimmings, so you will want to be sure to get in your reservations with our Junior Warden.
On Monday June 13, we will be presenting a Hiram Award, and our Grand Lodge has asked us to also make a presentation of their Annual $10,000.00 Scholarship award. Our own Worshipful Dan McDaniel will be making the presentation that night.
We will have a Prime Rib Dinner, which will be catered by Golden Harvest Restaurants, and all attendees will be dinner guests of the Lodge. This is a great time to gather those good neighbors and non-Masonic friends, and invite them to come and be our guests for dinner.
The scholarship presentation and the Hiram Award presentation are both events open to the public, and an excellent opportunity to introduce non-Masons to our fraternity.
Be sure to make reservation as early as you can however, because if the attendance of May 11th, is any hint of how many people will be there, we will have a full house. As I mentioned before our Public Schools and Youth Orders Night on May 11th saw 100 people attending, and remember we will be serving the same dinner and the lodge will also be hosting the dinner costs for the upcoming Hiram Award night on June 13.
Our Santa Clara Officers Association Meeting will be held on Thursday June 23rd, & attendance is obligatory for all officers.
Finally, I want to remind everyone that our July Stated meeting will be held on the second Monday of the month (July 11th) because the first Monday will fall on July 4th, and the lodge will be dark in celebration of Independence Day.
Fraternally,
Luis Oroczo
Master
As we rapidly approach the halfway point of the year, the senior officers continue to seek for a brother who desires to step into a leadership role as a Warden. Thus far, none of the brethren have expressed an interest, so once again I ask if any of you would care to step into the officer line, please let the Worshipful master or me know.
On a different and truly exciting note, this year is beginning to shape up as a banner year for degrees. We just held a double first degree and the last time I recall our lodge doing this was when I was the candidate! Anyway, four-second degrees are now imminent meaning we have a high probability of putting on a double second degree. And by the end of the year, we will have conducted at least four third degrees!
The quantity of degrees to be performed also gives rise to an opportunity for those who would like to secure a role in the first stages of developing degree teams. Again, if you are interested in a specific role on a degree team, now is the time to let the Worshipful Master know of your desire to participate.
Even if you are not interested in being a degree team member, if you are available on Monday nights, we could use your help during the degree practices. This is a great way to learn ritual and help the lodge at the same time. Please consider donating a Monday evening in addition to the stated meeting night to help keep our lodge strong and our ritual exemplary!
Since the Hiram award recipient is about to be announced, I thought a bit of trivia about the award is in order:
The gavel of the Master is also called a Hiram, because, like that architect, it governs the Craft and keeps order in the Lodge, as he did in the Temple.
Fraternally,
Hal Bain
Senior Warden
In my many years as a Mason, one of the most common questions I have been asked by both initiates and non-Masons is to the effect, "How did Masonry get started?" I have paid close attention at meetings and discussions among Masons on how the craft formed its foundation. There have been many theories put forth on how the craft of speculative Masonry originated, but I have found they all raise more questions than what they answer. I find that most probably a combination of these is the truth. Until recently I had not given much thought as to the cause and effect for the creation of Freemasonry.
Like in most murder mysteries, the detective always adheres to the theory, "... find the motive and you will find the killer." Well in a recent history book I read, the author's theory on the creation of the craft is; "...understand the ancient mysteries of masonry and one will find the seeds that created the speculative Masonic craft."
During our initiation into Freemasonry we are told that we are to keep the mysteries of the craft as secrets. These are first presented as signs, tokens and words. But these are only the symbols used in making you a member of the modern craft. Though we achieve the status of Master Mason, most of us know nothing of the ancient mysteries of architecture, navigation, astronomy, geography, etc. The author claims that knowledge of these ancient mysteries is the threads that wove the modern craft into existence.
In ancient times men from all walks of life, who understood the mysteries found in architecture and ancient ruins, formed a bond. From these select groups, may have been formed the nucleus for the foundation of Freemasonry. A thousand years ago, knowing and understanding these mysteries could be hazardous, so to protect themselves from the church and others that might brand them as sinister, they developed modes of recognition. This identified them as someone you could trust in open discussion about these mysteries.
The knowledge they exchanged can be compared to Feng Shui, the Chinese philosophy that governs spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to patterns of ying and yang and the flow of energy. This is a simple example of the types of mysteries that ancient builders used when working on projects. From the Pyramids, Stonehenge, medieval castles and cathedrals to modern building, (some Masonic) were and are, arranged in keeping with many mysteries of what we refer to as 'Our Ancient Mysteries'.
Today in urban and suburban homes, very few of us pay attention as to the orientation of the house. Homes are built on lots to suit the builder and arrangement of the public thoroughfares. Not so long ago in this county (and in many places around the world), homes were (and are) built to take advantage of sunrise and sunset, and how it best warms and cools the home during the year. This a simple example of basic architecture and also what was considered 'mysteries in ancient times'. We Freemasons should pay more attention to our ancient craft. It is filled with mystery, history, and knowledge, and we are some of the select few who are privy to be able to learn about it. It will not come to us on a platter; we must work and pay our dues with honest study and research.
After reading this book I now feel I have a better understanding of how our craft originated and I'm invigorated to do more research into our past.
For those interested the book is "The Lost Colony of the Templars" by Steven Sora.
Fraternally,
Ernie Castillo,
Junior Warden
Go to the Last Trestleboard Issue
Go to the Next Trestleboard Issue
Return to the Los Altos Lodge Trestleboard TOC Page
Return to the Los Altos Lodge Papers Page