All- For those who have not heard, Brother Bill Shipman passed away yesterday. I don’t have any more details and I have not heard about memorial services yet. Brother Shipman was a big part of the Eastgate Travelers Club, Eastgate Monday morning study club and a huge supporter of anyone who wanted to improve his Masonic ritual. It was Brother Bill who helped to show me that I could learn ritual and still have fun with it. I will always remember that when he took the step in degree work, he was able to turn his feet in completely opposite directions. His toes would be next to his heels, feet side by side. When I struggled with my ritual Bill would do something and bring a smile to my face when I needed it and let me get refocused. I am being selfish when I say that I will miss my friend. I hope and pray that I can bring as much to Masonry as Bill brought to me. Please keep Brother Bill and his family in your thoughts and prayers! I will pass on information as I get it. Tom

Brethren- A couple f reminders for everyone: Our Sweetheart Potluck dinner has changed to a Sweetheart Potluck Brunch/lunch this year. We will still have it at our Lodge. It will be Sunday 02-15-15 at 1:00 PM in the afternoon. Brother Bryan Cutler has asked that couples with last names starting A-M bring a main dish and couples with last names starting with N-Z bring a side dish/salad or dessert. It will be a potluck buffet so bring your appetites and conversations Secondly: Brother Steve Holbrook has lined up a third degree in our lodge for our next communication. It will be held on Thursday 02-19-15. Lodge will start early, at 7:00 PM. We will need to get started so that we can confer the third degree and raise our Brother. Please pass the work to all Brothers so that they can attend. It would be nice to have a lodge full of Brothers to welcome our newest Master Mason into the Craft. Finally, please pass on the website for our lodge to any other masons and friends. Let’s work together to get the word out and have people check the website frequently. This is a great way to keep communication going and still be good stewards with the lodge money and considerate of all our brothers time and commitments. Stay well and I hope to see you all Sunday and again Thursday! W.M. Tom Saccardi

Brothers- I just wanted to share more good news from Raytown #391. We have continued to grow. At our last regular communication (01-15-15) we passed two Brothers. They are Brother Doug Jonesi and Brother Joseph Swalina. What made the night even better, was that both Brothers had people who were VERY special to them there. Brother Jonesi had a long time friend, and member of our lodge; Brother Rick Kingcade. Brother Swalina had his father, Brother Paul Swalina, there and his father is also a member of our lodge.

We continue to refer to each other as “Brother”, and this shows a strong family bond between men. I think that in this case we not only strengthened the bond between Brothers but we strengthened the bond in two families. When you see these new Fellow Crafts, be sure to congratulate them. They have earned the recognition. I am looking forward to seeing them both raised, and even more to their growth and involvement in the fraternity. Tom Saccardi

Brethren- I hope that 2015 starts with everyone being healthy. The holiday season is always busy visiting with friends and family. Sometimes we have to travel, sometimes we get to sit still and people travel to see us. However it works out, it is nice to see our friends and family but it is also nice to settle down back into our old routines. We will have our regular communication this Thursday (01-15-15). It will start at 7:30 PM and food/dinner will be provided before. Please come out and visit and share all about how well the family and children are doing after the holiday season. We will hopefully be performing at least one 2nddegree. This is still being ironed out. If your schedule permits, please come out and help with the degree work. The more brothers at any degree make it that much better for the brother receiving the degree. We will also start talking about a new possible fund raising idea. I think that this will be a good thing for our lodge and has the potential to get Raytown Lodge #391 more visible in our community. I would like for as many brothers as possible to hear about this idea and possible help out. The more help we have for any event, the less work any one person has to do. More to the point, the more help we get on an event, the more fun we all have with the event!!! I look forward to seeing everyone soon. Take care and stay well. Please pass this web page and information along to other brothers who may not know that we have a web page up and running again. W.M Tom Saccardi