Dear Brethren,
It has already been a good year for St. Louis Missouri Lodge Number One. I want to start by inviting you all to our meetings, held on the First and Third Thursdays of each month. The only meeting I currently foresee canceling this year is January 1, 2009, as this is a National Holiday.
I want to thank WB Gary Kwawer for his service over the past few years. When you look back over his time as Master, you will see a period of growth and stability that was carried forward. Our lodge won the 5% Growth Award this year, along with our 20th consecutive Lodge Achievement Award. WB Kwawer systematically carried out the mission he set before the lodge of expanding our numbers and gaining greater participation from within our current membership. He was also asked to publish an article in the Missouri Freemason that I hope each of you were able to read. It tells about his philosophy and strategy through the past few years, and how we all contributed to the success our lodge has seen.
This I am striving to continue the journey of our lodge. It is important that we increase our numbers as before, but I want to now enrich those members who have chosen to be a part of Number One, as well as our long-standing membership. One may ask the question, “How do we accomplish that?”, and I would answer, with education and sharing the experience of our brethren from near and far.
This year we will be hosting Masonic Programs that will serve to advance our lodges knowledge of Freemasonry. Some of these programs will be from within the lodge by our members; others will be from the brethren of lodges in our area.
The first program will be about the New Masonic Temple at 3681 Lindell Boulevard. This building has always fascinated me since I came to visit my parents when they moved here in 1996. My family attends the Third Baptist Church at Grand and Washington, and after we attended the service, we drove down Lindell to view the incredible architecture that is showcased along the thoroughfare. The New Masonic Temple at
3681 Lindell Boulevard. This building has always fascinated me since I came to visit my parents when they moved here in 1996. My family attends the Third Baptist Church at Grand and Washington, and after we attended the service, we drove down Lindell to view the incredible architecture that is showcased along the thoroughfare. The New Masonic Temple immediately caught my eye, and I have marveled at it ever since. In 2004 I had the opportunity to attend a Chance-to-Advance class there, and it is as grand on the inside as on the outside. Bro. John W. Ratcliff, who is the Jr. Warden at Naphtali Lodge Number Twenty Five, will be joining us on December 4th to give us an enlightening historical perspective of this Masonic treasure. I owe many thanks to Bro. Ty Treutelaar for opening me eyes to this possibility.
I will also be calling on WB Robert Wheeler to tell the tale of his recent trip to the Holy Land and the Middle East. Bob has mentioned this to me before, and I am pleased to be getting him on our schedule in the near future. Many of you may already know that Bob is a very well traveled man, not only from his days in the military, but also his personal journeys across the globe. We as a lodge are fortunate to have such a truly wonderful resource to call upon. I thank Bob for all he has done for our lodge.
While I am speaking of WB Wheeler, I will also mention that he is in the process of mentoring our next Webmaster, Bro. Tanner Hobin. WB Wheeler has long maintained our website and kept it up-to-date with pictures, current even, etc. Bro. Hobin brings a wealth of IT experience to the table as a full-time Internet Marketing Specialist and Web Designer. With the combination of both or their experiences at hand, I have no doubt that our website will become even more robust as they begin this venture.
So education being the first part of our mission, reaching out to our existing brethren is the second and equally important part. I was startled to hear from our Most Worshipful Grand Master Rocky Weaver that over 800 Masonic brethren were suspended this past year due to Non Payment of Dues.
- 300 of those suspended were over the age of 60 years.
- 70 of those suspended were over the age of 70 years.
- 30 of those were over the age of 80 years.
Much like the sentiments of our MWGM, I too am sorrowed by these numbers. My first question is, “How did the lodges and their Welfare Committees let this happen?” Truth be told, we don’t really know what steps other lodges have taken to mitigate this activity, but I can speak for our lodge. You Jr. Warden this year, Bro. Kevin Fuller did an outstanding job of contacting, searching, and searching again for members of St. Louis Missouri Lodge Number One as your Secretary last year. He did a phenomenal job! I congratulated him in lodge, and I want to do the same within the pages of this Trestleboard. Bro. Fuller went well beyond the call of his office, and leveraged other brethren such as 50 yr member Bro. Al DeSimone to call our members numerous times, and make sure we made proper contact. If a Brother Master Mason was having difficulties with the dues, whether it was a matter of health or wealth, our Welfare Committee made sure that our brethren were taken care of immediately.
How are we able to help our brethren? Through your charitable giving to the Lodge. I realize that in this country today as I write this that we all are facing tough economic times. And we have to be careful in managing our funds. Jim Rohn is a man who writes books and speaks on personal and professional growth. I quote him often, “It takes each of us to make all of us successful!” I find this to be so true. So I am asking that each of you consider the gifts that you have today, and decide if you too can help out the brethren of our lodge. Whether you are able to gift $5 or $500 when you remit your dues this year, this type of giving is what allows us to sustain one another in times of trouble and need. Also, consider a gift of $4.00 to the Grand Lodge this year as well.
The Grand Secretary even cut his own Salary by $2,000.00 this year to make sure his staff received simple cost of living raises!
I also wanted to mention that Freemasonry is still one of the best investments in your future that you can possibly make. Our MWGM mentioned that in 1908 the average wage was $268 and some change. Joining a Masonic Lodge at that time cost around $40-50. That is 15-19% of a man’s total income for the year! The average income today is $26,000 per year. Our current dues are less than .5% of that!!!
It is an exciting year for our lodge. I want to encourage you all to be a part of that, and if you need assistance getting to Lodge on Thursday nights, please be sure to give myself or your Wardens a call, and we will arrange for your transportation.
Best regards to you all,
André P. McDaniel, Worshipful Master