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
July 2002
News From the East
Brethren:
Well, summer has finally arrived with a bang. Speaking of bangs, the Fourth of July is around the corner and with that comes the Medina County Fair and the Donut Hut. Just a heads up, we will be power washing the inside and out of the Donut Hut, thanks to Roger Thomas, sometime between July 18th and the 20th. We have food arriving on July 20. Please contact Fred Justice, 330-722-6005; myself, 330-225-5883 or Bob Askew, 330-225-8444, if you can help either with clean-up or making the donuts. We will begin making donuts on July 28. We need everyone’s help to make this a successful year. If you sign-up to work, please make sure you get a ticket to get in from anyone of the people mentioned above.
I would like to personally thank everyone who helped make Ladies' Night such a success. The food and fellowship were outstanding, thank you.
I hope everyone who attended St. John’s Day at Brunswick First Christian Church on June 23 had an enjoyable time considering I pulled a Lloydie. OOOPSS....... I forgot to pick up the aprons and I also forgot to turn on the coffeepot. I hope the cookies weren’t too dry.
On Saturday, June 22, 2002, there was a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the new Western Reserve Masonic Home located in Medina. There were a few Medina Lodge members present. District Deputy Grand Master, David W. Calland, did the ribbon cutting.
I hope everyone has a safe summer and I hope to -
See you at the Fair,
Lloyd.
News from the Southeast Corner
Temple Building Smoke Free!
At the June 13, 2002 Stated Meeting, Medina Lodge voted to declare the Medina Masonic Temple a smoke free environment. The Temple Company was then directed to implement the policy effective as of September 1, 2002 by posting notices at appropriate locations throughout the building and by notifying each Masonic body occupying the building of the new policy.
Annual Dues to Increase?
At the June 13, 2002 Stated Meeting a motion to increase Annual Dues, Affiliation Fees, and Restoration Fees from $45.00 each to $50.00 each was duly made and seconded. The motion was tabled, by WM Egbert, for voting at the September 12th Stated Meeting.
Ladies' Night
Thirty-six members and guests were present for the June 20th, 2002 Special Meeting. A gourmet meal prepared by EMRA was served by Blue Lodge members who also bussed the tables, washed the dishes, and tidied up the dining room and kitchen. In the Lodge Room, after dinner, Dwayne Gordon (currently playing Friday & Saturday evenings at the Pompeii Room in Brunswick) entertained the gathering with an eclectic selection of tunes and songs adapted for the accordion.
Temple to Host Red Cross Blood Drive
From 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Saturday, July 27, 2002 the Medina County Chapter of the American Red Cross will hold a blood drive in the dining room area of the Medina Masonic Temple. It is rumored that one or two of the Cleveland Browns players will be present throughout the event but your editor could not verify this.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
STATED MEETINGS
Thursday, September 12th, 7:30 p.m..
Thursday, September 26th, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 10th, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, October 24th, 7:30 p.m.
SPECIAL MEETINGS
Entered Apprentice Degree - Thursday, September 5th, 7:00 p.m
Fellow Craft Degree - Thursday, September 19th, 7:00 p.m
SPECIAL EVENTS
SATURDAY MORNING BREAKFASTS
Saturday, September 28th, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m
Medina Masonic Temple Dining Hall
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
Past Master Tenure
From time to time we hear remarks about the current tendency of Lodges having Past Masters serving as Masters, some for the second time, possibly even the third or more times. The remarks are not always kind, intimating a lack of talent in the particular Lodge. But if we look back to the Masonic Big Four, we have splendid stories of dedication to purpose that make today's so-called trials dim by contrast.
William Adams was born in England in1831, coming to this country by way of Canada, settling in Hornitos about 1860. In 1867 he was made a Mason in Hornitos Lodge No. 98, first called Quartzburg No. 98, and in 1868 became its Junior Warden, holding that office two years. The years 1870 and 1871 found him as Senior Warden. Then from 1872 to 1901, inclusive, he served as Master of his Lodge – thirty consecutive years! But that was not all. He was elected Secretary in 1902, and continued in that office till his death June 21,1921.
William John Schultz was made a Master Mason December 16,1893. Forbestown Lodge No. 50, having their Stated Meeting with election of officers, that same evening elected Schultz as Junior Warden!
During hard times, about 1910 to 1918, Will Schultz, with his brother Mason, Charlie Adams, made sure the Lodge would never give up their charter. By working together, Schultz served, as Master for twenty-nine years and four months, the two walking together the same ten miles to Lodge for the required two meetings per year.
How did they do it? They would proceed to open Lodge as well as could be done under the circumstances, with Adams shuffling from station to station, responding to the questions of one officer and giving the response of another. When it was time for the Secretary to read the minutes, Adams would do it. He also would report on petitions, if any, and mention visitors as per the Tiler's register - which was alright provided nobody got inquisitive over the penmanship of the signatures in the register. Maybe he would report that a certain widow was in need of another cord of wood and would make a motion that a warrant be drawn on the Treasury for the necessary amount to pay for it. Or perhaps suggest that the Lodge remit the dues of a brother who had been sick and out of work for some time. Then, when the last item of business had been taken care of, he and Schultz would close Lodge just as they had opened it. And for all the Grand Secretary ever knew, Forbestown was a venerable little mountain Lodge, regular in its reports and carrying on in an efficient businesslike manner.
William Bull Meek, a stagecoach driver in his early years, 56 years a Master Mason, filled every office in the Lodge over a period of more than 50 years, serving as Master twenty-eight years, many times keeping the lodge alive with funds from his own pockets.
John Adolphus Fisher, PM, 1849-1937, a member of Hiram Lodge No. 43 for 67 years, an officer for 66 years, 23 years as Master. He had filled every other office regularly or pro tem, over long periods, and was serving as Tiler when death relieved him of his duties. He was the last survivor of the "Gallant Seventeen," members of the Lodge who employed an Assistant Grand Lecturer to instruct the seventeen in the work. Twelve hours a day for three weeks he instructed them at a cost of $10 per day plus expenses. When he was finished every one of the seventeen could fill every station in the Lodge.
The Mysteries of Freemasonry
Even as late as the 18th century, crafts, trades, and other working methods were called "mysteries" and regarded as trade secrets. Before the industrial revolutions and the dissemination of scientific knowledge during the 19th and 20th centuries, many rather simple processes requiring skill and dexterity were regarded with some awe and mystification. Those skills which were carried on in the home, such as spinning, weaving, knitting, soap making and a score of others, were too familiar to be regarded as mysteries, though they were just as intricate as the art of the blacksmith, tinsmith, plumber, or mason. The "mystery" lay more in the ignorance of the public than in the intricacy of the process. The term, mystery, is also used to mean "secret" and in that sense is applied to symbolic or speculative Masonry. Such secrets remain mysteries to the outsider, but it must not be overlooked that there are many mysteries in Freemasonry for the initiated, even those who have taken all the degrees and read all the books that have been written on the subject. Those mysteries are both historical and esoteric events and facts about Freemasonry, the old records of which are obscure or entirely lacking. That is why many Freemasons are still engaged in research and some occasionally develop a fact which throws light on the past. Source: Coil's Masonic Encyclopedia.
The Plumb
The Plumb is a symbol so simple that it needs no exposition. As the Level teaches unity in diversity and equality in difference, so the Plumb is a symbol of rectitude of conduct, integrity of life, and that uprightness of moral character which makes a good and just man. In the art of building, accuracy is integrity, and if a wall be not exactly perpendicular, as tested by the Plumb-line, it is weak and may fall, or else endanger the strength and stability of the whole. Just so, though we meet upon a Level, we must each build an upright character, by the test of the Plumb, or we weaken the Fraternity we seek to serve and imperil its strength and standing in the community.
As a workman dare not deviate by the breadth of a hair to the right or to the left if his wall is to be strong and his arch stable, so Masons must walk erect and live upright lives. What is meant by an upright life each of us knows, but it has never been better described than in the 15th Psalm, which may be called the religion of a gentleman and the design upon the Trestleboard of every Mason:
"Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is condemned; but he honoreth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved."
What is true of a man is equally true of a nation. The strength of a nation is its integrity, and no nation is stronger than the moral quality of the men who are its citizens. Always it comes back at last to the individual, who is a living stone in the wall of society and the state, making it strong or weak. By every act of injustice, by every lack of integrity, we weaken society and imperil the security and sanctity of the common life. By every noble act we make all sacred things more sacred and secure for ourselves and for those who come after us. The prophet Amos has a thrilling passage in which he lets us see how God tested the people which were of old by the Plumb-line; and by the same test we are tried: "Thus He showed me: and, behold the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in His hand. And the Lord said unto me, 'Amos, what seest thou? ' And I said, 'A plumb-line.' Then said the Lord, 'Behold, I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people of Israel: I will not again pass them by any more." Source: THE SHORT TALK BULLETIN, The Masonic Service Association of the United States, VOL. 2, JUNE 1924, NO. 6.
