Sesquicentennial Anniversary

I want to give a big extra-special "Thank you!" to everyone who helped put together our sesquicentennial Anniversary celebration. Among those of whom I thank, Darrel Gifford deserves the most. He really came through for me once again. Thanks Darrel! And I want to give a special congratulations to all our award recipients. H.D. Gifford received the Pillars of Solomon Award. Ed Cleaves received his 50 year pin. Roy Oden got his certificate for turning in his Master's proficiency. Dub Hodges was given a certificate of appreciation for all the fine work he's done for our fraternity. And Charles Finlay received the Mason of the Year award (plaque pending). Congratulations to all of you!
Well, my year is almost over and I think we've had a pretty good one. No major catastrophes and I haven't been usurped . . . yet. In a couple months I'll be saying my goodbyes to the East. It'll be a bittersweet departure. I wish I could have done more; been more involved. But with the stresses of owning a business, being active in church, and being the spiritual and administrative leader of my family, I really couldn't do as much as I would have liked. Hopefully I'll be stepping down from this position with people thinking that this has been a good year. I believe it has.
In closing I want to, again, say thank you. Thank you to Gary, Richard, Earl, Roy, Darrel, Wayne, and everyone else who have made this year easy for me. I certainly couldn't have done it with out each and everyone of you.

Bbq & Freedom

I'm sitting here in my air conditioned house, with a full belly, watching television and perusing the Internet. Oh, what a wonderful country we live in! I am sure that I don't need to remind anyone of how lucky we truly are to live in a country were we have knowledge at the click of a button, food at the drop of a hat, and freedom abound. This freedom we enjoy, however, is not free. Our Constitution and Declaration of Independence is signed in the blood of thousands of martyrs who have died so that we may enjoy the freedoms that we possess. I am so thankful to all of you who have served our country. Words cannot adequately express my gratitude. And to those who have lost loved ones in service to this country; know that your loss was not in vain. Your loved ones paid the ultimate price for our liberty, and they will never be forgotten. God bless you all! Happy Fourth of July!

20th Annual Pancake Breakfast

Well, we have another Pancake Breakfast under our belt, and it was a successful one. The final figures are not in yet, but we do know that we made more at the door than we ever have! First off, I want to thank everyone who helped. There was a bunch of you, and you know who you are. I appreciate you. Secondly, I want to make an apology for the coffee situation. I couldn't, for the life of me, keep the coffee going. I promise, I worked my tail off trying to keep coffee out there, but I just couldn't do it with what I had to work with. Hopefully, at the next Breakfast, in November, I can work out a better strategy. I'm glad that we were successful, but I'm equally glad to have it over with. We've had a lot going on these past couple of months, and now our calendar is about to open up some and allow us a little bit of rest. We just need to get some of these Entered Apprentices through so we can have some catfish!

Family Night

How good and how pleasant it is for brethren and their families to engorge themselves on pan after pan of lasagna! Tonight we had another family night, and it went very well. Thanks to all of you who came. I believe that family night is a very important tradition that our lodge has observed. It offers us an opportunity to come together in fellowship; to simply enjoy each others company. It's as simple as that. I love it. I wish we could have more, but if we stick to the tradition, every 5th Thursday, we only have a couple left. I want to give an extra-special thanks to a couple of folks. To Herbert Ogles, for bringing an excellent pan of lasagna, rolls, and salad, to Lisa Gifford for some wonderful green beans (even Ava ate some, and she hates veggies), and to Garrett Barnes, our youngest EA, for supplying some ice cream and cheese. Thanks, also, to all the ladies who helped clean up the massive mess I made. Remember, this Saturday, is our Pancake Breakfast. Come out and eat some pancakes! Love you guys and God bless you!

Spring Time

Spring has arrived! Hallelujah! My favorite time of the year. The aroma of newly bloomed flowers will soon stimulate our olfactory receptors and the vivid colors of new life will grace our eyes. The wet grasses of spring mornings will dampen our shoes and the winds of season's change will charge the air with the pollen that will continue the harmonious dance of nature, bringing to life those things that have, since winter, died. Once more, I will begin my yearly battle with allergies and mosquitoes will begin to feast on my life blood. I love it.
This year has gotten off to a great start. No major calamities to speak of and everyone seems to be getting along well. I haven't had anyone threaten to fire, kill, or cut me yet. That's good.
This spring will not only bring with it flowers, grass, and mosquitoes. It will also bring with it, plenty of things to do. You need only to look at April's calendar to see that things are about to pick up. And that's not counting any degrees we may be lucky enough to confer. We have a Widow's night coming up and on that same night we will honor a brother with the Pillar's of Solomon award. I'm looking forward to it, and hope that there will be a good attendance. I'm hoping to have the OES cook us up some of their wonderful food on that night, as well.
I would like to close out with a beautiful little passage, by King Solomon, from the Holy Bible concerning Spring:

For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!

~ Song of Solomon 2:11-13 (NASB)

Lots o' Beans, Lots o' Potatoes, Lots o' Lessons Learned

First, let me thank all of you who helped make our first event this year a successful one. I'm not going to start naming people off for fear that I'd leave someone out, but you know who you are, and I can't thank you enough! I must say, I've learned some valuable lessons from this gig. For example, I've learned that two weeks in not nearly enough time to organize an event. Even though I made mistakes, and even though I could have planned it better, you guys pulled through for me and the lodge, as always. We have a great lodge. Not because we have a beautiful building, which we do, and not because we have a fairly large membership, which we do, and not because we are proficient in the ritual program, which we are, but because we have consistently reliable brothers who know how make things happen. I am a fortunate man. I have been called into a leadership position with members, who themselves, are outstanding leaders. I truly do not feel worthy to be leading such a wonderful lodge, and such a great group of men. I'm honestly touched by the effort you guys put forth because of some cockamamie idea that I had. And then, on top of that, you made it work. Give yourselves a pat on the back. You did a great job. I would be a fool, however, if I neglected to thank our Heavenly Father. I spent a great deal of time in prayer before our event, and to say we did it all ourselves would be foolish. He does answer prayers.
Again, thank you all for your help and unselfishly devoting your time to this project. God bless you.

Grand Lodge, Grand Time, and Grand Food

Another Grand Lodge year has come and gone. I must say, this years session was not nearly as eventful as last years, but it was fun none the less. I always enjoy seeing the procedures and enjoying the time we get to spend together as brothers and masons.
This year, Brother Ronnie Hedge, is our new Grand Master. I've known Brother Ronnie since I joined masonry and I have no doubt that he's gonna be a wonderful Grand Master. As many of you may know, Jonesboro Lodge will be hosting one of Brother Ronnie's Grand Master Meetings on June 13. I'm pretty sure we'll be having some of our famous catfish that day... So be there!
In a couple of weeks we will have our Country Lunch. For $5.00, you can have all-you-can-eat beans and ham, stewed potatoes, and cornbread. All the proceeds will benefit Special Olympics.
Special Olympics is a great cause. I have participated in several charities throughout my life, but SO is my favorite by far. Please come out and help us, or at the very least donate some of that hard earned money you have stuffed under your mattress. Remember, one of the first lessons you learn as a mason is that of charity!