Dispensation Granted Monday, January 31, 1820
Chartered Tuesday, December 12, 1820
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MEDINA LODGE NO. 58, F. & A. M.
Dispensation Granted Monday, January 31, 1820
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ELECTED OFFICERS Master Lloyd G. Egbert (330) 225-5883 Sr. Warden William Carl Thompson (330) 723-7310 Jr. Warden Roger A. Thomas (330) 722-7169 Treasurer Dennis L. Lawson (330) 225-2868 Secretary Vaughn H. Cover (419) 853-0048 Sr. Deacon Theodore E. Thomas (330) 225-6643 Jr. Deacon Fred H. Justice 330-722-6005 Tyler Bob J. Askew (330) 225-8444 Trustees Edgar L. Harris David S. Kurtz Larry B. Donovan
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TRESTLEBOARD
June 2002
News From the East
Brethren:
You sure wouldn’t know it by the calendar. Today is May 20, and believe it or not it was snowing this morning while I was out golfing. I certainly hope it warms up soon.
On Friday, May 10, 2002, quite a few of our members and their wives traveled to Mansfield for the Grand Master’s Reception. While there Medina Lodge received a plaque and the Traveling Gavel. The two youths that Medina Lodge nominated for the scholarships were chosen.
I know it is hard to believe but July is around the corner and the time has come to begin thinking about the Donut Hut and the annual picnic. As usual, we will need plenty of help the last week of July for the Donut Hut. Please contact Fred Justice or Bob Askew. As for the picnic, it is August 25 at Plum Creek Park.
Brethren, we have many reminders. Please remember that there is no breakfast in May; there is a special meeting on Thursday, May 30 for our newly raised members, please remember to bring your aprons and bibles with you so they can be properly filled out; a Ladies Night on Thursday, June 20 with entertainment to follow; the District Golf Outing on June 8 at Riceland Golf Course; and St. John’s Day on Sunday, June 23 at First Christian Church on Center Road in Brunswick. We will be having a Saturday Morning breakfast on, June 22.
It has been a very busy winter and spring and I want to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication to Medina Lodge. As you can see, it really pays off! We should all be proud of the work we do.
As a side note, Father’s Day is June 16 and I hope everyone is able to enjoy that special day with their families.
See you in lodge,
Lloyd.
News from the Southeast Corner
May 25 Saturday Morning Breakfast Cancelled
Due to an erroneous date published in the May Trestleboard and the fact that our Chef and Chief Cook will be out of town that week end, the breakfast has been cancelled. The next Saturday Morning Breakfast will be held June 22nd.
Temple Building to be Smoke Free?
At the April 25, 2002 Stated Meeting, a motion to declare the Medina Masonic Temple a smoke free zone was duly made and seconded. The motion was tabled, by WM Egbert, for voting at the June 13th Stated Meeting.
Past Master's Night
Eighteen Past Masters (including sixteen of thirty-one living Past Masters of Medina Lodge): Harold L. Vaughn, Lloyd A. Vaughn, Roland G. Seaburn, Howard C. Edwards (WM pro tem & Apron presentation), Orie L. Isenhart, William A. Burd (Chaplain pro tem), Vaughn H. Cover (Sec.), Robert L. Brooks (JW pro tem), Dennis L. Lawson (SW pro tem), Roger L. Edgington (Treas. pro tem & Lecture), Kenneth D. Crouse (Charge), Darrell R. Garris (SD pro tem), James R. Gilbert (Organist), Edgar L. Harris (LEO), David S. Kurtz (JD pro tem), Larry B. Donovan (SS pro tem), Donald E. Schmidt (PM Strongsville Lodge 728), and Doy Cutlip (PM Strongsville Lodge 728 & JS pro tem).
Fifteen officers and brethren: Lloyd G. Egbert (WM), William C. Thompson (SW), Roger A. Thomas (JW), Ted E. Thomas (SD), Fred H. Justice (JD), Earl L. Woodhull (JS), Timothy J. Kneisel (Candidate pro tem), Curtis Hagerty, Helmut Simonis, Robert M. Mack, Robert E. Mackin, Terry D. Schuster, Timothy R. Forte, Donald G. Moll, and one signature the Secretary could not read.
Following dinner prepared by the Stars, the Past Masters conferred the Entered Apprentice Degree (not withstanding the Fellow Craft Degree having been previously announced). The dinner (beef tips & noodles) was tasty and the degree was conferred in a manner that can be best described as "square work". It was apparent that each member of the degree team takes pride in working to set the highest standards.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
STATED MEETINGS
Thursday, June 13th, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 17th, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, September 12th, 7:30 p.m..
Thursday, September 26th, 7:30 p.m.
SPECIAL MEETINGS
Reception for Our Twenty-two "Youngest" Master Masons
Thursday, May 30th, 2002, 7:30 p.m..
LADIES' NIGHT
Thursday, June 20th, 2002
Dinner at 6:30 p.m. - Entertainment at 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY MORNING BREAKFASTS
Saturday, June 22nd, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m
Saturday, September 28th, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m
Medina Masonic Temple Dining Hall
SAINTS JOHN'S DAY OBSERVANCE
Sunday, June 23rd, 11:00 A.M.
First Christian Church, The Rev. Michael Cassady, Pastor
3611 Center Road (SR 303), Brunswick
STARS/BLUE LODGE PICNIC
Sunday, August 25th, 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Plum Creek Park (between Sleepy Hollow & Hamilton Roads).
Bring a Side Dish, Salad, or Desert.
Hot Dogs, Hamburgers, Soft Drinks, Fun, and Games will be furnish
The First Freemasons
The First Freemasons: Scotland's Early Lodges and Their Members, by David Stevenson. Second edition, Edinburgh: Grand Lodge of Scotland, 2001. Pp. xviii, 222, 16 illustrations; soft cover. Copies may be ordered from Freemasons' Hall, 96 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 3DH, Scotland, U.K.
The origin of Freemasonry is a question that has been popular for years, and perhaps more so recently. Are we descended from the Knights Templar of the Crusades? Or did we evolve from the Enlightenment? Or from the Senes? [See Editor's Note, below] Or from the ancient Egyptians?
Those of us who have a hang-up on documentary evidence, like your reviewer, are not very enthusiastic about any of these notions. For years the plausible explanation (promoted, among others, by the late Harry Carr) has been that Freemasonry evolved in England, in the years after 1350. The main evidence for this has been the "Old Manuscript Constitutions," which are clearly the precursors of the modern Books of Constitution. There are 119 of them, going all the way back to 1390; and all the oldest ones are from England.
But the problem is that evidence for the existence of formal lodges and non-operative Masons in England is late. There is much earlier documentation in Scotland. And the earliest concrete documents of ritual, the Early Masonic Catechisms, are Scottish. And now, a very impressive study by David Stevenson, emeritus professor of Scottish History at the University of St. Andrews, goes through the evidence for early Scottish lodges. The first edition of this book was published in 1988, by Aberdeen University Press. The author says that the new edition incorporates "minor alterations in wording and a few corrections," as well as two new appendixes: two poems on Freemasonry dating from 1690 and 1721, the latter one addressed to the notable English Mason Desaguliers.
Professor Stevenson has consulted, as far as possible, the records of all of the early Scottish lodges. Presumably because he is not himself a member of the Craft, he was denied access to the records of the Lodge of Aberdeen. But he establishes that there were at least 25 lodges in existence in Scotland before 1710, and no doubt others which have left no records; six of them actually go back before 1600. They stretch from the English border to the edge of the Highlands. Twenty-one of them were eventually listed on the register of the Grand Lodge of Scotland (which was founded in 1736).
He notes that a non-operative was present at a lodge meeting in Edinburgh in 1600, and that Lord Alexander and two other members of the gentry were made Masons in 1635. (The earliest English initiation of a non-operative is still Elias Ashmole in 1646.) Clearly Stevenson has collected vast amounts of evidence to show that non-operative Masonry was current in Scotland long before it was in England. He argues that the English Old Manuscript Constitutions were designed for the administration of operative Masons.
And he reminds us of an interesting detail of American history. The earliest accepted Mason to appear on this side of the Atlantic, John Skene, was a member of the Lodge at Aberdeen in 1670, and came to New Jersey in 1682.
This is a very important book, and it is good to have it available once again. The reviewer is grateful to Robert L. D. Cooper, Librarian and Curator of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, for providing a review-copy.
(Source: Royal Arch Mason Magazine, Vol. 20 – No. 9, Spring 2002)
Editor's Note: Senes is a collective Latin term designating those elderly men, whose age and knowledge of traditions were highly valued in preliterate societies. The English word "senate" is thought to be derived from the Latin "senes".
THE MASTER'S APRON
Ther's mony a badge that's unco braw;
The honest craftsman's apron,
For wealth and honor, pride and power
Then, brithers, let a halesome sang
Glossary: Unco braw: Uncommonly handsome. Fa's: falls. Stanes: stones. Suld: should. Ilka: each. Halesome: wholesome. Bairnies: children
The Square
In a moral sense, the square is a symbol of morality, truth, justice, and righteousness. Man should refrain from doing to others what he would not have others do to him. This is called the principle of 'acting on the square' and has been a rule for the guidance of man since long before the time of Christ. The earliest publication of this principle can be found in The Analects by Confucius (written circa 500 B.C.), where it is phrased "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others".
Every person has a square of his own. It is called conscience. We use this to measure our thoughts, words, and deeds as to whether they are true or false. The extent to which this test is applied to himself in regard to his relations with his fellows measures the extent to which each man's life will be stable, honest, true, and happy.
