Greetings from the East.
Spring has been a bit fickle thus far; some days near 70° one day and snowflakes the next. I didn’t have mowing the lawn in the snow on my 2024 Bingo Card, but , here we are.
On March 29th, several of us took in a great comedy show at One Night Stans in Waterford, MI. It was a great show and all who attended enjoyed laughs and fellowship that was certainly worth the price of admission.
A good number of Brothers and their families enjoyed a nice meal and fellowship at our April Master’s Table event on 4/14 at The HUB in Auburn Hills. Several of us were hoping to do a bit of Axe Throwing, but there were no available lanes during our visit, so we’ll have to make lane reservations and try that another time.
I was joined by WBs Roger Petersen, Don Hester, and Bro. Greg Ouellette on April 18th for the presentation of our donation to OU Cares, the autism services program at Oakland University. We were enthusiastically greeted by some of the staff as well as several folks who are directly benefitting from donations such as ours. There were many questions about Freemasonry and our Lodge and we were glad for the opportunity to answer them. I hope we will make this an ongoing partnership over the coming years as the programs being offered by OU Cares are vital to helping improve the quality of life for individuals impacted by Autism Spectrum Disorders as well as their families.
Congratulations to WB Kevin Brown of Roosevelt Lodge No.510 on being elected as our DDI for the next 3 years. Looking forward to working with him as I was re-elected as BGP as well.
Thank you to all Brothers who have already paid their 2024 dues! Please check to make sure you have your Dues Card, or reach out to the Secretary to see if you still owe. Remember that, if you are experiencing financial difficulties and find your dues unmanageable, your Lodge can and will help! We have an obligation to assist Brothers in need and one of the ways we can to that is to remit your dues in times of financial difficulty. It is important that you send your dues in to the Secretary in a timely fashion OR ensure that you communicate any concerns to him in regards to dues. Our dues is how we fund most of our operations and paying in a timely manner is very important as some of our largest expenses occur early in the year, so we need to ensure that we have the funds to pay for our expenses so we can avoid having to sell investments to cover our day to day operations.
I took a little road trip to Toronto and visited our sister Lodge there. The brethren of Kilwinning No. 565 were gracious hosts, as always, and I had the opportunity to witness two Brothers being passed to the 2nd degree on Friday, April 19th and on that same night, they balloted on 4 new members and 1 affiliation. Looks like they will have plenty of upcoming work and I’m looking forward to the next official visit in October of 2025 when they will host our Lodge again.
This month, the meal at our Regular Communication will be provided by the members of Pontiac Chapter No. 228, OES. The will also present a brief program. Please join us on that night to show our appreciation for their efforts!!
On the 19th of May, we will host our Sweetheart Luncheon at Alfoccino Ristorante on Opdyke Rd, just north of the Lodge at 3:30PM. I encourage all to attend. Contact SW Bruce Burt at (248) 752-4809 to RSVP so we can give the restaurant a head count in advance. We will order from the menu and each will be responsible for their own bill.
We were sorry to hear of the passing of Bro. Charles Furlong on January 5th, WB Tom Cox on March 25th, and WB Bill TenEyck on April 17th. Please keep these Brothers’ families in your prayers in this time of sorrow.
Reach out to your Brothers! Let them know how important they are in your life! We seldom realize the importance of those small kindnesses, but we can each appreciate how they lift our own spirits when we give or receive them.
We’d love to see each and every one of you down at the Lodge when you have an opportunity!
Fraternally yours,
Matthew R. Shelton, WM
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