Post Office Box 821413, Fort Worth, Texas 76182
USA
Lodge telephone number: 817.656.2311
Best time to contact the Lodge: Tuesday and Thursday evenings between
6 PM and 9 PM
April, 2001
In Sacred Memory of
Brother Jack Lyons
“He was a true and faithful Brother among us.”
Brethren,
The March Stated Meeting went well with a good dinner and a fairly good turnout. The Fish Fry was a success, and I would like to thank all the Brethren who helped out in preparing and serving the food during this special event. This is an event held every year on the first Thursday in March. This is how we kick off the Texas Public Schools Week. So if you did not get to make it this year, mark it down on your calendar for next year.
Speaking of calendars, the Lodge still has plenty of our 125th Year Anniversary Calendars for sale. The inserts are replaceable so that they can be used again. They are only $6.00 and make fine gifts. Pick yours up the next time you are at Lodge.
Brethren, we are accepting donations for the Memorial Endowment Fund for Brother John “Jack” Lyons. He was a good Brother and will be missed greatly. He will be in our hearts. Please keep Mrs. Lyons in your prayers.
Keep in mind the Grand Master’s Official Visit will be held on March 28th at 6:00PM at the Fort Worth Masonic Temple. And wives are welcome to attend.
Ricky Levings, Worshipful Master
Brethren,
The month of March is marching along. The Annual Fish Fry was a success. Brother Al Hestilow Jr. was the “Chief Fryer”. A thank you from the West to all the Brethren that helped put on the Fish Fry.
As many of you know, Brother John “Jack” Lyons passed on to the Celestial Lodge above.
We had two Brethren pass their respective proficiencies, one Fellow Craft and one Master Mason. We have a Master Mason Degree scheduled for Thursday March 22. Refreshments will be served at 6:30PM.
From The Ohio Mason:
“The Try Square”
Masonry is not simply a ritual; it is a way of living. It offer us a plan, a method, a faith by which we made build our days and years into a character so strong and true that nothing, not even death, can destroy it. Each of us has in his heart a little Try Square called conscience, by which to test each thought and deed and word, whether it be true or false. By as much as man honestly applies that test in his own heart, and in his relations with his fellows, by so much will his life be happy, stable and true.
Courtesy is a mark of good breeding. It commands respect. It is polish that welcomes the customer, cheers the fellow worker, and makes the day easier for everyone.
Jim Allen, Senior Warden
Brethren,
I was reminded of a couple of things that need to be brought to your attention. First, if you wish to have Masonic Services at a burial, you nee to inform some member of the family as to how to get in touch with the Lodge. We have a phone at the Lodge, however, we are not always at the Lodge when the call comes in. Elsewhere in this newsletter, there is a list of the Lodge Officers, just call one of these men, and it will be taken care of. Secondly, we need to know if the Lodge is to provide Pall Bearers. It is our responsibility to take care of this, but we must know as soon as possible of the need. Thirdly, there is an organization in our fraternity that has a lot of medical supplies, beds, wheel chairs, walkers, crutches, etc., if you have need for any of theses items, once again, get in touch with an Officer of the Lodge, and it will be taken care of. Finally, there are those who have not taken care of dues, please take care of this as soon as possible.
Fraternally Yours, Billy R. Campbell, Secretary
March 22 Master Mason Degree Smithfield Lodge 6:30PM
March 24 Breakfast & Cleanup of Lodge Smithfield Lodge 8:00AM
March 28 Grand Master’s Official Visit Fort Worth Masonic Temple 6:00PM
May 05 Moslah Temple Hospital Fund Drive See Your Lodge Secretary Varies
May 26 Grand Master’s Conference Fort Worth Masonic Temple 10:00AM
August 10-12 2001 Warden’s Retreat & Leadership Trng Dallas N/A
The following brethren will observe their Masonic Birthdays. They were raised to the sublime Degree of Master Mason during this month.
R.D. Bates 04-14-1988
J.W. Beach 04-27-1992
L.W. Egger PM 04-16-1964
A.C. Evans 04-29-1976
S.I. Hayes 04-12-1994
T.L. Hester PM 04-20-1974
K.M. Jordan 04-27-1993
R.T. Koonce PM 04-20-1974
R.B. Lester PM 04-11-1957
H.E. McMurtrey 04-14-1949
J.A. Minshew 04-28-1969
D.O. Morris 04-10-1979
Walter Nelson 04-20-1953
S.D. Newell 04-30-1991
H.L. Patterson 04-16-1970
G.W. Powell 04-16-1992
W.W. Wilbur 04-06-1968
F.P. Sakert 04-22-1948
R.L. Sanders 04-10-1986
W.A. Schopper 04-10-1986
T.L. Taylor 04-12-1988
W.C. Wagner 04-01-1986
R.W. Wright 04-11-1950
Congratulations Brethren!
THE UNKNOWN BUILDERS
Will there ever be a great epic in honor of the anonymous and hidden fidelity of our race? Never upon this earth; absorbed in the present, striving for the future, the past and those who with it depart fades too quickly out of mind, out of memory. But somewhere, in the archives of God, a Book is kept in which all high human worth is recorded and appraised, and in that Book is the secret of our human advance. For, that things are as well with us as they are is due, not to our own efforts, but to the faithfulness of innumerable lives gone before us, whose fleeting days melted in to the stream of influence, law and faith by which the race is hallowed and guided.
In the Church, by the poetry of its faith, a day is set apart in honor of All Saints, in memory of every brave and beautiful spirit who has ascended in victory from the moral battlefields of time. It is a festival in thanksgiving for every noble soul, every love-anointed act, inspired by the Grace of God since ever time began — however lowly and obscure the soul, however unknown and unsung the act — awaiting that anthem which in the future it will be ordained shall be unsung in gratitude and praise. Also, a day is dedicated to All Souls, of every race and land, who have walked lightly or sadly, striding in joy and hope or stumbling in sorrow and sin, along the old-worn human road — that as little as possible may be lost of the precious treasure of mankind.
In the Lodge, too, we need a Day of Celebration and Dedication, in tribute to the multitudes of Unknown Builders, forgotten of fame, unrecorded by history, unsung by poetry, who by their love and loyalty built their lives into the Temple, and left only their “marks” upon it. Their names are lost — like autumn leaves blown by winter winds — save in the memory of God, who does not forget; they sleep in the indistinguishable dust, with no hope of record by man, content to live in the work they wrought and the good they did, vanishing as if they had never been. They are the real Builders of the Temple, as it stands stately in the sunlight, or touched by the mysticism of the moonlight — it is as once their monument and their memorial. Into their labors the Craft enters, and because of their faithfulness we have a finer, firmer faith with which to face the morrow.
How swiftly Time passes, sweeping all its sons away in a flood of years; how few are remembered for a decade, and fewer still adown the ages. Even the most famous name is soon emptied by oblivion, and becomes a vacancy that is vacated by the passing of the age in which it shone. Man, pursued by Time, overtaken by Death, seems as frail as a mist; yet something in his dreaming soul defies Death and refuses to let it have the last word. If a Roman poet could call our mortal life “the dream of a shadow,” in it and through it, as we learn in the Lodge, if we work and watch, if we pray and trust in God, the Eternal, we shall find in our own hearts an Eternity that will never pass away, in which no true thought fades, no faithful deed is forgotten, and “love can never lose its own.” So mote it be!
In petitioning for the Three Degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry, your presumed desire was to become a member of the order that you might enjoy the fraternal fellowship of the Brethren and that you might be of service to your fellow men. It will be helpful to you to have some conception in advance of what Lodge membership implies. This subject may as yet be only partially explained, although there is much that you can and should understand at the start of your journey.
You will become a member by receiving the three degrees. You will become entitled to all the rights and privileges of membership by proving your proficiency in each degree. By taking the obligations of the degrees, you enter into a contractual relationship with the Lodge, wherein you bind yourself to perform certain duties, and the Lodge binds itself to protect you in certain rights and privileges.
One of your first duties will be loyalty to the Fraternity and to your superior officers, and obedience to the laws. This is a fundamental requirement.
It will be your duty to pay regularly and promptly such dues as your Lodge may establish. No option is given; to do such is a necessary condition of membership. And it will be your duty, as your conscience shall guide and your means permit, to do your share in maintaining the charities of the Lodge and to stand ready to lend a helping hand to a Brother Mason in distress.
If you are present at a communication of the Lodge when a ballot is taken on a petition for initiation, advancement, affiliation, or reinstatement, you must vote. This is only another way of saying that the responsibility for deciding Masonic membership rests on each and every member. To cast a vote is not merely a right or privilege to be exercised by choice, but a duty.
It will be your duty to attend the communications of your Lodge, to join in its deliberations and decisions and to assist in discharging it responsibilities. You are not required nor even expected to attend if by doing it works an unnecessary hardship on yourself or your family, but otherwise your attendance is expected.
If the Master, acting according to the provisions of the Grand Lodge Laws, issues a summons to you to attend a communication of the Lodge for some special purpose, or to discharge some duty required of you as a Mason, it will be your duty to obey the summons, unless the circumstances render obedience impossible.
Such duties inhere membership in a Lodge; others will be made clear to you as you progress in Masonry. In many fundamental respects, a Lodge differs from any other organization; membership is not a mere gesture of honor, nor an idle privilege, with duties and obligations to be laid down or taken up at pleasure. A member should not stand outside in idleness until he has opportunity to secure something from it for his own selfish advantage, nor evade his responsibilities by shifting his duties to more willing shoulders. The Mystic Tie by which he is bound to his fellows has in it a strand of steel.
Certain rights and privileges accompany these duties and are equally maintained and made secure by the Fraternity.
As a member of a Lodge you will be eligible to any office in it, except no member can become Worshipful Master, unless he has previously served as an installed Warden.
You will have the right to join in our public processions, a privilege carefully guarded and protected by our laws, since to join in such is to identify oneself with the Fraternity.
As a Master Mason in good standing, you will be entitled to additional rights and privileges which, in due time, will be explained to you.
As a Master Mason, you will be entitled to Masonic burial, a privilege to be valued over and above its public recognition of your standing.
In all communications of the Lodge, you will have a voice in its discussions and a vote on questions decided by the Lodge. Neither in Lodge nor in Grand Lodge is there taxation without representation, nor is any Masonic officer permitted to exercise arbitrary or unreasonable authority.
The Lodge and Grand Lodge give many services and extend many opportunities for entertainment, good fellowship and educational advantages; as a Mason you will have the privileges of enjoying these equally with all others of your fellow members.
When among strangers you will possess certain modes of recognition by which to prove yourself to another Mason and to exact similar proof from him, thereby enabling you to establish Fraternal relations with men who otherwise “must have remained at a perpetual distance.” To know that wherever you may go you will find brothers ready to extend the hand of fellowship, men whom you have never met but who already stand bound to you by the Mystic Tie, is one of the greatest of all privileges of membership.
These duties, rights, and privileges of Masonic membership are not exhaustive. We have just touched the fringe of a great theme, but it is our hope that, with such light as has been given you, you will go forward with a livelier, keener understanding of Masonry can mean to you and also of what you may mean of it.
I must apologize for the lateness of the Trestle Board for this month. I tried to place pictures of the Annual Fish Fry in it, I took it to the printers and we could not get the pictures to copy clearly, so I had to obtain articles to fill the news letter. My sincere apology to Bro. Haygood as well. Gary Spraggins, Editor
Brethren,
We will have a Breakfast and Cleanup of the Lodge Building on March 24th at 08:00 AM. We will be cleaning the entire inside of the building and would like your support and help in this endeavor. This is a team event, please come on down, enjoy the breakfast, and help us out. We are now accepting donations for our Summer Garage Sale. We ask that you donate only saleable items only. We will accept items on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. If you need someone to pick up you donations, please contact the Lodge, R.T. (Bunk) Koonce, Al (Bo) Hestilow, or Gary Spraggins.
I would also like to remind everyone about our 125th Anniversary of Smithfield Lodge coming up in June. We are planning a big event for this celebration and should be getting more information to you in the next issue of the Trestle Board. So keep your calendars open and plan on attending. Also in the month of June, we will have our Installation of Officers for the 2001-2002 Masonic year. This is a family event with a fine dinner before the ceremony.
Gary L. Spraggins, Senior Deacon
Send your questions or comments to: Gary Spraggins (ggllss@msn.com)