Trestleboard, June 2017

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Trestleboard, June 2017 Mountain City Lodge No. 67 / Lexington, VA From the East Brethren,   Hello Brothers: I am sorry to have to start this month’s trestleboard with sad news of the passing of our Br. Paul Estabrook to that Grand Lodge in the sky. He was a good man, husband, father, friend, and mason. He will be missed greatly by many. Services and Masonic Rites will be held June 3rd Sat. 3:00 p.m. at Paul's farm (Virginia Gold Orchard Asian Pear Farm) in Natural Bridge.   Please try to attend to support Paul's final Masonic Rite. Please RSVP Br. Warren Schmid or Br. John Dester that we may have a head count.   We had a good May: we raised Br. Wilson to the sublime degree of MM and Br. Osbourne to FC degree. Scholarships were presented to a young woman and young man at Rockbridge High School for a $1000.00 each. RW Br. Joe Boatwright held a school of instruction at the Covington Lodge on May 20th and had a good turnout, and great instruction on the EA degree. Our Lodge also participated in Lexington's upstairs downstairs program; we had a lot of people come through our Lodge who were very impressed with our Lodge: W Jesse Lyons will give a report at our stated. Thank you W. Jesse, Brs. Jeff and Matt Jackson for being there to represent the Lodge.         In the month of June we will be hosting the biannual district blood drive at the Pivano Building in Lexington June 3rd 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. We ask anyone who can come and help if even for an hour or so as a walker, server, or set up and break down – it would be greatly appreciated. We will be working on raising Br. Osbourne to the MM degree on June 29th Thursday at 7:00 pm (cinformation of date and time will follow) please try to attend to show support for this brother being raised. For our program Michelle Jones from Rockbridge County Hospice will explain their program and what they do to help our people in the county. Also RW Br. Schmid will give a talk John the Baptist to commemorate St. John the Baptist Day. Our Lodge has had a lot to do this year so far and I TRULY appreciate all the brothers who stepped up to help – THANK YOU!                                   GOD BLESS! Fraternally,  John J. Mulligan WM    Rhetoric A Presentation by John J Dester III Dictionary.com offers a number of definitions for the word rhetoric, including one from classical oratory: “the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience“ which is the purpose of this presentation. In the Fellowcrafts Degree we are made aware of the seven Liberal Arts and Sciences and asked to educate ourselves in their meanings and importance to the craft and society in general. Rhetoric is described in some jurisdictions as “the art of speaking eloquently, of being persuasive and commanding; and not only of pleasing the fancy, but of appealing to both the understanding and the heart.” Today, most rhetorical questions begin with two words, “What if”. Using those two words, I am hoping to influence your thoughts and actions specifically relating to Masonry, what it means to you, and what first induced you to be a Mason.   Think about these: What if, your son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, niece, nephew etc. signed up for a baseball/soccer/softball team.  Would you support them by going to watch a game? Two? All? What if, the team needed a sponsor, would you open up your wallet, or help to seek out a sponsor, like a local business or even your Masonic Lodge? What if, they need an assistant coach, would you volunteer your time so that the child won’t be disheartened? What if, the head coach quits?  Would you step up or let the team fold? What if, the field needed to be cleaned up, spruced up and made ready for the season, would you be there?  Would you recruit help? What if, there was a fundraiser (bake sale, golf tournament, etc.) to get enough money to make the repairs and ready the field, would you support it by participating or donating what you could? What if, you, as the head coach of the team of 15 players, called a practice or a scrimmage game, and only 5 showed up, because they forgot, or they didn’t feel like coming, or thought that they didn’t need to be there because there are so many others? What if, that happened on a scheduled game night? What if, you invited the mayor or other dignitaries to come and watch your team play that night and there were only 5 players? What if, one of the players didn’t show up because they were missing or abducted?  Would you do everything that you could to help find them? What if, the team is having a great season, and your star player breaks their leg at the last game before the playoffs?  Would you visit them in the hospital?  Would you encourage the rest of the team to visit them also? What if, the injury was so severe, while at the hospital they needed blood?  Would you donate? What if, they died?  Would you be at the services/funeral?  Would you encourage the team/parents/coaches to be there as a show of support? What if, it was you who broke their leg?  Would you expect the team to visit you?  The other coaches? What if, you needed blood?  Do you think there will be enough donors from the group? What if, there were complications from your broken leg, and you needed to spend weeks/months in the rehabilitation center, would you want someone to visit with you every day?  How often would you want the team/coaches/parents/friends to stop by even just to say hello? What if, you died?  Would you expect your family/friends/team/coaches/parents to be at your memorial to show their support? What if, the team makes it to the championship game, and your relative was the star of the team and you run the team out of the locker room at the local college/pro stadium to play the game of their life, and there are only 11 people in the stands? What if, your best friend in life sees how you have handled all of these situations, and says that he wants to coach next year, but, he needs a recommendation, would you sign his application? Rhetorically each of these scenarios has a direct correlation to our journey as Freemasons. Starting with the end, where we were so impressed by a Freemason we know (or knew) exemplifying all of these qualities, that we wished to be part of that organization, and asked for them to sign our petitions. The Fraternity and the Lodge are only successful because of the participation of its members.  The allegories above reference Attendance at stated and called communications.For Mountain City, with minor exceptions, the monthly gathering is on the first Monday of the month, which would seem to be easy to remember and fit into a schedule well in advance.Extra effort should be made when we have special events planned or visitors attending. Acceptance of the position as an officer of the Lodge or participation on one of the committees required to keep things running smooth. Charity to support the Lodge and its programs (so far as your ability to give will admit). Supporting the various functions, fund raisers and community events with your attendance and participation. Child ID events and Blood Drives, are especially important, as we hope to never need what they provide, but all know it will happen to someone, sometime and just pray it is not us. Hospital and nursing home visitations can literally be just 5-10 minutes out of your day to bring a smile to the face of an ailing Brother or family member. Funerals are a time when the families of our departed Brethren get to actually see how great the Secret, Sacred and Fraternal bond that they have heard so much about for the last 10, 20, 50 or more years is, that there were so many Masons at the service, they were spilling out the door.When only a few show up... Degrees are like the championship game, what kind of impression or expectation is set when your best friend is kneeling at the Altar and upon being brought to light, he sees only 5 people in the stands? We all have strains on our time and our resources that prevent us from participating in every possible Masonic activity, but, “What if”, we each made a promise (an Oath perhaps) to making a few more meetings, degrees, events, visitations or funerals?  How far would that take us from being a good man to being a better man? John J Dester III Mountain City #67 GLoVA Sunrise #288 GLoNJ   Officers   Master - Wor. John J. Mulligan S.W. - Br. John William Morman J.W. - Br. Roger Arlyn Jarrell II S.D. - Br. Brent W. Fellows PT J.D. - Br. Ian Huyett Secretary - Rt. Wor. Warren Schmid Treasurer - Br. Bradley Hastings S.S. - Wor. Lyle Scott Cassell J.S. – Br. Tullis Beasley Marshall - Rt. Wor. Jackson Glisson Chaplain - Br. James Southers Tiler - Br. Thomas Duff Trustee - Rt. Wor. Warren Schmid Trustee - Rt. Wor. Frederick Vaughan Sr. Trustee - Rt. Wor. Baldwin Gerard Locher Jr.   Calendar of Events   Monday, June 5th: Dinner @ 6:30 PM, Stated at 7:30 PM. Wednesday, June 29: M.M. degree for Br. Osbourne @ 7 PM (confirmation to follow).   Submissions   If you have submissions for the Trestleboard, please email them to Br. Ian Huyett at Huyett.I@law.wlu.edu. Copyright © 2016, Mountain City Lodge, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 103 W Nelson St, Lexington, VA 24450 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

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