Brethren, it is time for another update from Raytown Lodge #391. We continue to be very busy with lodge activities this winter.

Membership in our lodge continues to grow. We have added two members recently, one each by transfer and dual membership. We have another transfer in process. Currently we have one Entered Apprentice and one Fellow Craft who are working through the degrees, and two additional candidates in the process of investigation. This spring should be very busy for degree work!

The lodge continues to work toward achieving the Grand Lodge Silver and Gold awards for excellence in Masonic ritual. We have been regularly practicing every Saturday afternoon as well as at our regular Study Club meetings which take place on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, the day before our stated meetings at 7:00pm. All members and interested brethren are encouraged to join us. It has been many years since Raytown Lodge achieved the Gold ritual award, and in fact has been a while since any lodge on our side of the state achieved it, so this is a major goal for us.

Also regarding ritual, seven members of Raytown Lodge are currently active members of the East Gate Travelers Club, which to our knowledge is the only certified third degree traveling club remaining in the state of Missouri.

Several members of Raytown Lodge have traveled to other lodges to attend and to assist with degree work. We encourage all members to visit other lodges and expand our fraternal circles.

Sheffield Lodge #625 will present a member with a 75-year pin on Thursday, March 24th at 7:00pm. The presentation will be made by Most Worshipful Brother C. Brent Stewart, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. A number of our Raytown members plan to attend and this would be a great event for everyone to observe and support as 75-year members are not very common. Sheffield Lodge meets at the Kansas City Masonic Temple, 903 Harrison Street in Kansas City Missouri.

From the social calendar we recently held a Pot Luck social event with great turnout as almost 30 members and families attended.

Our webmaster as recently updated the website with many photos of lodge events from years back. Thanks to WB Hank Bedsaul, our Secretary, for providing these photos. If you haven’t already please check out the photo gallery section.

Our members are busy preparing for the lodge summer fundraising events including the fireworks tent and the barbecue competition. We will provide more information on those events in the near future. In addition, we are trying to organize a barbecue class for sometime this spring. It would be taught by noted chef and barbecue expert Paul Kirk. If we can put this together it will be a tremendous event for anyone interested in furthering their barbecue skills.

We have been blessed with excellent turnout for our meetings as well as our study club practices and other activities. It is my hope that we can continue to grow the active base of our membership and attendance. We are one of the most active lodges in the Kansas City area and would like for that to continue. I believe this is due to a combination of a dedicated membership base, a team of officers who are committed to excellence and great food and fellowship at each of our events. As a reminder, our stated communications are the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:30pm with dinner served by our Junior Warden and Stewards before the meeting. We encourage all Raytown Lodge members and any other interested brethren to join us. If you haven’t been to lodge in a while please don’t let that stop you; we are happy to help a brother get back into the swing of Freemasonry. We hope to see you all at our meetings.

Fraternally,
Steven Holbrook
Worshipful Master

Brethren, I am pleased to provide you an update of the happenings at Raytown Lodge #391. We have had a busy winter so far. Luckily the weather has been cooperative and we have been able to complete all of our scheduled activities.

On Saturday, January 9th Raytown Lodge hosted the Region C School of Instruction conducted by RWB Glenn Burrows, Regional Grand Lecturer. The school was well attended and all of the participants learned a great deal about Masonic ritual.

We held a special communication on Saturday, January 23rd to confer two first degrees. Both new brothers received their degrees in good form and we look forward to helping them continue their Masonic journeys.

Membership in our lodge is growing. In addition to our two newest Entered Apprentices we have two candidates in the process of investigation. We also have four brothers working to join Raytown Lodge either by transfer or dual membership.

As stated previously, the 2016 lodge officers are committed to achieving the Grand Lodge Silver and Gold awards for excellence in Masonic ritual. We have been practicing at our regular Study Club meetings which take place on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, the day before our stated meetings at 7:00pm. All members and interested brethren are encouraged to join us. It has been many years since Raytown Lodge achieved the Gold ritual award, and in fact has been a while since any lodge on our side of the state achieved it, so this is a major goal for us.

Along with our own degree work, several members of Raytown Lodge have traveled to other lodges to assist with degree work. We recently had teams visit Sheffield Lodge to assist with both a 2nd and 3rd degree.

Also on Saturday, January 23rd we held the winter Pot Luck dinner and social event at the lodge. Those in attendance had a nice time and enjoyed good fellowship.

At our last regular communication the membership voted to proceed with preparations for our annual fireworks fundraiser. This is a big activity and the largest annual fundraiser for the lodge. Brother Tony Mesa will be putting together a committee to coordinate execution of this event.

Included in the winter edition of the Trestleboard newsletter that was mailed to all members was an overview of the recent parking lot purchase and a completely voluntary request for donations to help the lodge offset the substantial cost of the purchase. I’m pleased to report that many members have generously provided contributions to help rebuild our coffers. Thank you to all who were able to make a contribution. We have a long way to go but every dollar helps.

Attendance at our lodge meetings has been very strong. We have also seen an increase in the number of new members and transfers. It seems that Freemasonry is experiencing a renaissance and Raytown Lodge is pleased to be a beneficiary of this trend.

As a reminder, our stated communications are the first and third Thursdays of each month at 7:30pm with dinner served by our Junior Warden and Stewards before the meeting. We encourage all Raytown Lodge members and any other interested brethren to join us for good food, fellowship and a great Masonic experience. Our officer line is committed to preserving the principles of Freemasonry and Masonic ritual and do a great job of conducting our meetings. If you haven’t been to lodge in a while please don’t let that stop you; we are happy to help a brother get back into the swing of Freemasonry. We hope to see you all at our meetings.

Fraternally,
Steven Holbrook
Worshipful Master