From The East - February 2023

Brethren - I am honored to have been elected and installed as the Worshipful Master of Pentalpha Lodge #194 for the 2023 Masonic term. Thank you for your trust in me and your support to get here!

Pentalpha is a strong lodge with dedicated members doing great work. We are working together to learn ritual, to strengthen bonds between brothers, and to share light with one another in ways that promote individual growth - these are the ways we make good men better. Thank you to all who participated in the Installation of Officers. It was a very successful event and well attended.

This year, our lodge celebrates its 130th anniversary and I have some plans around celebrating that milestone later this year and hope I can solicit your assistance in that endeavor. I would like the lodge to host a banquet in celebration of our 130 years of masonry. At that event I would like us to issue awards to committed members of the Montgomery County community, who are deserving of our respect; men who are not yet Masons, but exemplify the qualities we like to see in candidates to our fraternity.

I ask each of you to help with identifying potential awardees, such as teachers, firemen, police, and community advocates that we can honor at our banquet. By taking this approach, we will show the Montgomery County that our lodge is a strong supporter of the community; we might impress upon our awardees a good image of our fraternity; we can increase participation in our fundraiser by inviting friends and families of the awardees to the event; and we will send a plaque or award into the workplaces of those recipients that could spark continued conversations about Pentalpha Lodge #194 outside of the lodge.

In addition, there are a lot of events and opportunities for fraternal fellowship, of which I hope at least one piques your interest and will get you involved with the lodge. We are starting a First Friday Social - a Supper Club and Masonic Book Club. We will be hosting a chili cook-off in March. There are four 5th Thursday open houses this year – two in the summer! And during the summer, we are planning some family-oriented outings like a baseball game, a trip to an amusement park, and a tour of one of the museums in D.C.

Brian Viehland
Worshipful Master