From The East July 2024

Happy Summer Brethren!

I wish you all a happy Fourth of July and safe travels during your upcoming vacations. If you are doing stay-cations or just plugging along, take a little time to get out into the sun and fresh air and enjoy the longer days for the next few months!

Although the lodge is dark, we are not inert. We held our third pancake breakfast where we were able to distribute $2,000 in scholarship money to two worthy young ladies and meet their families. Bro Hank and his wife Promise threw a fantastic Tex-Mex dinner for the lodge (under the guise of a birthday party, but we all know Hank just wanted an excuse to serve Tex-Mex!). At the end of the month, I saw brothers come together to put in hours of labor acquiring, disassembling, transporting, and reassembling a beautiful oak set of drawers that will hold our aprons and jewels in a manner befitting them. Many photos of our fine brothers and families are in this issue of the trestle board taken during those events.

July is no slouch either – We have another blood drive this month as well as an outing to a German restaurant in Hagerstown. As a lodge, we will go to Hagerstown and dine at Schmankerl Stube (58 S Potomac St) and afterwards all FC and MM will attend the School of Instruction at Hagerstown Lodge 217. Dinner is not limited to masons, but transportation may need to be coordinated to get people home who are not attending the school of instruction after dinner. Wives, girlfriends, and potential candidates are all welcome to fellowship with us and enjoy some authentic German cuisine.

Finally, we have an EA ready for a 2nd degree and an FC ready for catechism and a 3rd degree, so we will begin ritual club again on August 15th to get started with that work. Please put it on your calendar. If you are not part of the degree team, come anyway – we have lots of parts to play and your help is needed in passing on the legacy of our lodge. Those who are interested in taking on the role of an officer next year should try to be in attendance to begin learning next year’s work.

Brian Viehland, PM
Worshipful Master
Pentalpha Lodge No. 194