From The East - 2010
James Franklin Smith, Jr., PM
Worshipful Master - 2010
From The East
Brethren,
The
February stated meeting was dedicated to the memory of Right Worshipful Charles
William “Chuck” Tompson, Sr., and prior to the meeting we unveiled a
portrait in his honor and memory. I would like to thank Brother C.W. Tompson,
Jr. and the entire Tompson family for their attendance and participation.
I
particularly offer special thanks to Right Worshipful Chuck’s grandson, Tripp
who assisted in the unveiling of the portrait during our ceremony. The new
portrait is beautiful and it will hang in a place of honor in the Lodge room for
all of us to enjoy. It is a wonderful reminder to each of us of what dedication
and hard work can accomplish, and it especially demonstrates the difference that
a single individual can make to Freemasonry and to his own Masonic Lodge. It is
also a very good feeling knowing that his memory will live on in each of us.
Are you interested in a very important date for your Masonic Lodge? If so, please mark your calendars to be with us on March 2nd for our March Stated Communication. Our speaker and honored guest for the evening will be Most Worshipful William Earle Rorer, Jr., Grand Master of Masons in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Please be with us as we receive Most Worshipful Rorer and offer him a very special welcome, “Henrico Union style”. It promises to be a historical evening for our Lodge, and it would be fantastic if we filled the Lodge room to capacity. Invite your Masonic friends and plan to be at this meeting!
It’s time for our annual sausage fund-raiser. Please do your part to support your Lodge fund-raisers so that we may be more enabled to help others. We will be pre-selling our delicious sausage in advance. The cost for each 2 pound bag is $6.00. Please contact our sausage fund-raiser committee chairman, Brother Keith Saunders at (804) 9326687 or (804) 731-5034 to place your order. We need your orders in by March 20th so that we can purchase sufficient materials in advance. We will be packaging and distributing the sausage on Saturday, March 27th. Thank you in advance for your help.
Come on
out on March 2nd at 6:30pm. Enjoy a delicious homemade dinner, and
then help us make history at Henrico Union Lodge. The friendship, fellowship and
fun will be in ample supply, and I am confident that you will enjoy yourself and
be very glad that you came.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
“Jamie”
James Franklin Smith, Jr. PM
Worshipful Master
From The East
Brethren,
I would like to offer my sincere appreciation to all who were present for our January stated meeting. Right Worshipful Ron Kieper made his official visit to our Lodge and brought us greetings from our Grand Master. As expected, he did an outstanding job. He informed us of the plans and programs Most Worshipful Rorer has scheduled for 2010. Once again we can all be proud of the fine Masonic leadership we have in Masonic District 15-B.
Please make a special effort to attend our February 2nd stated communication. Our program for the evening will be presented prior to the opening of our business meeting. The February meeting will be dedicated to the memory of Right Worshipful Charles William Tompson, Sr., whom we all knew and loved as Chuck. Some time ago, we as a Lodge voted to recognize and commemorate the many years of devotion and service that Chuck rendered to Freemasonry in general and to Henrico Union Lodge in particular. At that time, we contacted a local artist to create a portrait in honor of Right Worshipful Chuck. That portrait has now been completed and will be unveiled in the Lodge room during the dedication ceremony. As the ceremony will be prior to the opening of our Lodge meeting, all guests in attendance are invited to attend. Family members of Right Worshipful Chuck will be our special guests for the evening.
During our February stated meeting Henrico Union has the privilege and the honor of electing a District Deputy Grand Master designee to serve as the Grand Master's personal representative for Masonic District 15B. Our district is in the rotation system, and it will be our Lodge’s responsibility to nominate a candidate for the 2012 Masonic year. This is an honorary office, with significant duties and responsibilities, and I will be depending on each of you to wisely use your discretion to nominate a Past Master of Henrico Union for the position. We will be balloting on that nomination during our business meeting.
As we look forward to our March stated meeting, we are excited that we will be officially receiving Most Worshipful William "Bill" Earl Rorer Jr., Grand Master of Masons in Virginia. Most Worshipful Rorer is a charismatic Mason who is very dedicated to getting back to the basics within the Craft. As you may recall from the presentation given at our January meeting, his theme for the year is "Forget Not the Duties", and it can always be found printed at the top of this “From The East” page in your Trestleboard. Please use it as a reminder! Mark your calendars and plan to bring your Masonic friends to be with us on March 2nd for this historic event.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
“Jamie”
James Franklin Smith, Jr. PM
Worshipful Master
Brethren,
I would like to begin my first message to you by expressing my gratitude for electing me as your Worshipful Master for 2010. It is a great honor and I will do my very best to continue the traditions that have made Henrico Union Lodge so successful. We have a wonderful line of officers this year and I am sure we all will have a lot of fun together.
We gained two new members at our December meeting through affiliation. We are proud to welcome Right Worshipful Donald Ray Traser and Brother Charles (CC) Stone to Henrico Union. If you don’t already know these fine brothers, please introduce yourself to our new members when you see them. We also read and approved petitions for three new candidates to receive the degrees in Freemasonry at our December meeting. Please make every effort to be present for the degree work as these new candidates are initiated and advance in Freemasonry. Remember your obligations.
Congratulations are extended to each of you for helping Henrico Union Lodge win the “Outstanding Lodge of the Year Award in 2009. All of our planning and hard work continues to pay off. And we offer special thanks to our 2009 Worshipful Master, Right Worshipful Guy M. Blankinship, III who led us in such a successful year, and was awarded “Outstanding Worshipful Master of the Year Award”. We are proud of our accomplishments and we vow to keep up our efforts in improving ourselves, our Lodge and our communities. These are exciting times for our Lodge, and we continue to need your help as we grow.
Our first
meeting of the new calendar year will be on on Tuesday, January 5th when we will
be receiving our District Deputy Grand Master for Masonic District
15-B, Right
Worshipful Ronald E. Kieper, Sr. Right Worshipful Ron is a dedicated Mason who
served as Worshipful Master in Babcock Lodge No. 322 in 2000.
He also served as
Chairman of the Masonic Blood Bank Committee for our district in 2003. Please
mark your calendars to be with us in January as this fine and dedicated Mason
brings us greetings and a message from our new Grand Master.
Your officers and I are looking very forward to an exciting and fun year in 2010. I am counting on each and every one of you to help us as we continue to work together to move this great and gentle craft in the direction of peace, harmony and brotherly love.
Sincerely and
Fraternally,
“Jamie”
James Franklin Smith, Jr. PM
Worshipful
Master
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Links
for previous years Messages from The East:
2008 From The East Messages
2007 From The East Messages
This web site originated July 2006.