Post Office Box 821413, Fort Worth, Texas 76182 USA
August, 1998
Dear Brethren,
I hope this newsletter finds everyone well. I am busy as usual with work and home, not to mention the added effort it is taking this summer to stay cool! It's almost as if the heat found its way here via our brethren from Arizona! Hopefully on their next visit, we can request some cooler weather or at least a little rain.
I am still very touched by the love shown to me and our lodge during our installation. Our lodge was full of guests and brethren who were very supportive. I was surprised at the number of guests who were completely unfamiliar with Masonry, yet attended the installation to offer their support. This is evidence that lives can be touched daily purely by our existence and examples as Masons. I hope those guests who attended were able to learn at least a small fraction of how wonderful our fraternity really is. Perhaps this will increase the number of people who can express to others the benefits of Masonry. Thanks again to everyone who attended the installation of officers! Thanks also to those who made our night with the Masonic Service Bureau a success! We were able to develop some great contacts, and I felt like we made Smithfield Lodge a little bigger on the map!
Congratulations to Billy Campbell who was elected President of the Masonic Service Bureau! Additionally, we truly appreciate those who made desserts for the event. They were delicious! I would like to invite everyone to attend our upcoming Stated Meeting. We are getting ready for our first big fund raiser and would love to have all the support we can! We would love to see you and your families at the Masonic Retirement Center on Saturday, August 29. As usual, our goal is to work together for the good of our communities and have fun doing it!
Daryle Hester
Brethren,
Last month, I left Brother Mendenhall, our Chaplain, out of the announcements of the officers for this Masonic Year. My sincere apologies, Brother Jim.
During the Stated Meeting, we enjoyed a visit from Brother Ralph McCarroll of Riverside Lodge and Brother Pierre Semnami MD who is moving into the area from Houston to establish his practice as a Family Practice Physician. Thanks to the Building and Grounds Committee and Brother Myers for the concrete bumper strips in the parking lot. Thanks to Brother Fred Stewart of "Smithfield West" for contributing to the Trestle Board. Thanks to Brothers Dick Coates and Jim Allen, who became members of the Lodge Endowment Fund. The Lodge also received several memorial donations to the Endowment Fund. The sprinkler system is installed and operational. We're still short of fully funding the system with special contributions. If you'd care to help pay for the sprinkler system, please call Brother Campbell.
The members approved a petition for re-affiliation from Brother Kermit White. Welcome Back, Brother White! We also received two petitions for the mysteries and recently conferred a Fellowcraft Degree. So, we'll be spending some time practicing the EA and MM degrees over the next few weeks.
The Motorola company wants to place a 400-foot communications tower close to the Lodge. This will require several deviations from city ordinances. After some discussion the Lodge voted to voice its disagreement with the proposal at the next Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on July 9. Brother Haygood presented another great "Haygood Moment" which discussed alternate interpretations of the Earth's chronology centered around the Sphinx.
I had my first opportunity to open Lodge "for real" last month. The tension was high for a while but I survived quite well, thank you! Also, by the time you read this, we will also have hosted the Masonic Service Bureau meeting. The DDGM will visit next month. Next month is also the Masonic Family Reunion out at the Retirement Center. Smithfield Lodge will be setting up the Hester's Chuck Wagon and roasting ears of corn to sell. We could use some help!
David Terrell
Dear Brethren,
We had a great turn-out for our installation of the officers. I would like to thank the Hester family for preparing the food. It was great! Thanks also to the Senior and Junior Stewards for their participation in serving the guests. I also want to thank the Brothers from Arizona for their support.
Rickey Levings
Brethren,
Well, another Masonic year has begun and begun well. What a crew! If you were at the last stated meeting, you know what I am talking about. They handled our business with confidence. There were several unfortunate issues that were brought up before the Lodge that I felt should have been brought up different. However, what is done is done and the Officers handled it well.
On another note, Harold has brought up an interesting topic I want to discuss. As you all probably know, the Grand Lodge of Texas has an Endowed Membership Program. The program enables you, as a dues paying member, to buy an endowed membership for $500, thus becoming exempt from future Lodge dues for as long as you live and remain in good standing. The Lodge benefits by receiving the interest (less the Grand Lodge dues of $10 per member and a minor administration fee) from that money in August of each year. The Grand Lodge of Texas has money up front to use as working capital, and you save money. What a great deal! Similarly, but independent of Grand Lodge Endowment, Smithfield Lodge has a program entitled “The Smithfield Endowment Fund” that allows for Lodge members to make contributions in any amount for the sole purpose of supplementing the income of the Lodge, remitting the dues of indigent Brethren and practicing Charity and Benevolence at a level we can all be proud of. Unlike the Grand Lodge Endowed Membership Fund, the Smithfield Endowment Fund benefits the local community, the Lodge, and you. This fund, since its inception, has allowed us to make useful contributions to several forms of charity and scholarships. Both are important in their own rights and I encourage each of you to take a good look at them both and consider their financial benefits for you, your community and your Lodge. We should all be reminded, regularly, that a big reason we are part of this great fraternity is for the tremendous affect it has had on society by its charitable and scholastic efforts.
Be proud of your Masonry and hold your head high as you walk in the path of those who have walked this way before you. It is because of them that this wonderful opportunity exists for you.
David W. Myers, Treasurer
Brethren,
Another Masonic year has started out with a bang. The new master now has one of his meetings under his belt. He established his position very nicely. We are blessed with youth in the officer's stations. We need to be at the meetings to lend our support.
The DDGM, Right Worshipful Joe Brown, will be at our next meeting. he will challenge us to put the Grand Master's programs into operation. I, as the District Education Officer, have had the privilege of being in several of his meetings. He holds our attention very nicely. meet with us at the August stated meeting, and enjoy this program.
I want to thank the Lodge, and several brethren, who worked so hard to make the Masonic Service Bureau meeting such a success. It was so nice to be elected President of this important body for the ensuing year. I feel that it is a complement to the Lodge to have been elected.
I cannot tell you how proud I was to have been in Lodge when Brothers Jack Jeter and Butch Hester installed Daryle and the other officers. The brethren from "Smithfield West" did their usual at besting "Paradise Valley East" (Have I shown you my wrist watch?). In case you don't remember, Brother Daryle was the candidate in the exemplification of the Master Mason's Degree that Paradise Valley put on when they were here. The Brethren from Arizona continue to wow us with their dedication to Masonry.
I am a dual member with Sunrise Daylight Lodge #1433 and have the privilege of serving as the Worshipful Master this year. We meet on the second Thursday of the month. Breakfast is served from 8:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. and the meeting follows at 9:30 a.m. I would consider it an honor for those who can make a meeting to do so. We meet at South Hills Lodge, just off Macart at Loop 820.
Finally, we are having several candidates come into the Lodge. We need you to come out to the Degrees. Invest some time with the future of Smithfield Lodge.
B.R. Campbell, Secretary
The following brethren will observe their Masonic Birthdays in August. They were raised to the sublime Degree of Master Mason during this month.
K.L. Anger 08-18-92 R.G. Askey 08-29-95 P.S. Cass 08-24-96 J.W. Dreager 08-29-95 R.W. Dudley 08-20-64 R.D. Dupree 08-13-94 F.J. Fitch 08-23-62 L.L. Gardner 08-06-65 A.F. Graham 08-19-76 J.D. Harrison 08-21-86 D.W. Hestilow 08-14-80 T.T. Isham 08-13-85 J.T. Mendenhall 08-20-87 W.C. Osman 08-28-79 C.J. Pace, Jr. 08-22-68 J.D. Pack, Jr. 08-17-67 B.J. Poland 08-23-62 B.D. Ramsey 08-11-57 L.C. Riley 08-26-76 J.L. Rumfield 08-27-48 G.R. Sadler 08-14-90 O.K. White 08-25-80
Congratulations Brethren!
One of my favorite poems begins with this line, "Good men build the road of Masonry." I believe that most of the challenges we face in Freemasonry today are directly attributable to the fact that some thirty years ago we stopped building that road! We seem to be worse off than the World War II kamikaze pilot who flew 47 missions. In his case, no one questioned his involvement, but some doubted his commitment.
In our case both are in serious doubt. For far too long, we have gone to Lodge and told one another how proud we are to be Freemasons and what a profound affect our Fraternity has had on our lives. We have bragged about how this nation was founded by Freemasons. We revel in the brilliance cast by famous Masons. But we have not just rested on our laurels; we have completely collapsed on them! The problem is that we had failed to earn any laurels ourselves. I do not see how anyone can question that our failure to be involved in our communities and our lack of commitment to inform good men of our gentle Craft are the principal reasons for our decline in membership.
We must become actively involved in our communities. Only by becoming a recognizable part of the community can we regain the status we once held. We must make an organized effort to seek out good men and let them know who we are and what Freemasonry is all about. They need to know we are interested in them as men and would welcome them if they ask. We must give serious consideration to the merit of alternatives to memory work and long delays between Degrees. Many of the good men we want as members opt not to join with us because of the time involved in becoming a Master Mason. We must understand that getting new members has little value if we do not keep them involved. All kinds of surveys show that men become active in a fraternal order principally because it allows them to be involved in service to the community. Anything less will almost certainly produce a NPD or a member who pays his dues but does nothing else.
Freemasonry has suffered from lethargy for so long that we are like the man whose legs have been in a cast for six months. During that time of inactivity, his muscles will have begun to shrink and weaken. Too often we have been inactive during the last thirty years; so it is only natural that we have become weakened and have shrunk in size. We are in desperate need of rehabilitation, and anyone who thinks we can improve by continuing to do what we have done in the past is sadly, terribly mistaken.
Let us begin the journey to renew our beloved Fraternity. Working together we can take Freemasonry into the 21st century with sleeves rolled up, muscles bulging, and best of all, growing. What a grand adventure it will be!
Edited from an article by Vern S. Wertz, 32°, Grand Master, Grand Lodge of Oregon
Send your questions or comments to: David G. Terrell (smithfield455@fwst.net)