From The East August 2023

I am so glad we decided to go “dark” for the summer to allow us all time to travel, spend time with family, and attend all the Grand Lodge events that have been held this summer! As we prepare to return to labor on August 24th, we are counting down the very few meetings left between now and the end of the year. However, those few meetings are penned in between a lot of other very great activities we have planned to wrap up 2023!

In August, we have several ritual club meetings to get us freshened up and ready for work, so for all those officers who need a refresher, or people looking to sit in a chair next year, please attend these meetings to help learn your parts. There’s a county wide picnic being organized by Brother Breck and Silver Spring Lodge to be held 8/19 in Wheaton Park. And we will convert our 5th Thursday in August into a family-friendly picnic for the lodge, so please plan to join us and bring everyone.

This Saturday August 5th I ask you to come to the lodge work party 8-noon. The T&L has some things they will share with us, but the lodge could use some cleaning, some organizing, and some love. If you have a particular skill set, the building could probably use it done, so mark it in your calendar. You’ll work up a sweat and you’ll have time to nap in the afternoon before our Taco Bamba masonic supper club that evening. Bring the wife for date-night and have some great tacos with your brothers and their wives.

In lodge, we have been blessed to have new EA’s who are working diligently to prepare for their catechism already. We have a few new FC’s from this spring that I encourage to return their work as well so they can move on to their 3º conferrals. We have men in our lodge volunteering to run activities, asking to serve, and learning ritual needed for their next seat and not just their current ones. This is all so great to see and speaks volumes for our lodge. Thank you all for this.

Finally, please mark your calendars for Saturday October 21st when we will hold our 130th Anniversary dinner which we will do as an Oktoberfest celebration (we are in Germantown, right?!) from 5pm-10pm. This is a family friendly, casual event with music, beer, bratwurst, sauerkraut, and the like. We will sell tickets to this event starting at the beginning of September. If you have ideas to support this event, I welcome them. If you have lederhosen, knock yourselves out! I think this will be a great event for the lodge!

I look forward to seeing you all at the next stated meeting, August 24th. Dinner is at 6:30 and the meeting at 7:30, in case you forgot through all these long weeks away!

Brian Viehland
Worshipful Master
Pentalpha Lodge No. 194