Greetings Brethren,

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We are now progressing full speed ahead into the new year and new decade.  The holidays are a time of refresh and renewal, not only of our personal selves but relationships such as family, friendships and fraternity. As we move into 2020 your Lodge officers will work hard to bring growth to our lodge through fraternal, social and community activities.

This holiday season we continued our support for It’s A Candy Coated Christmas, a group which helps provide holiday celebration for underprivileged children who might not otherwise be able to experience it.  Although our schedule did not allow us to help with their wrapping party this year we were able to raise funds to help support their efforts. 

We are also continuing our efforts to identify a charity to partner with and provide ongoing support.  It is my hope that this decision will be made in January so that we can plan some initial efforts to help with their cause.

Now that the holiday season is past we will restart our regular ritual study club on the Wednesdays before each stated meeting (typically the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesdays) at 7pm.  While this is an officer practice session it is open to all Master Masons who would like to join us and learn more about Masonic ritual. 

For the past four years your Lodge has been one of only a small number in the state to attain the Gold ritual award.  We again plan to pursue this goal in 2020.  The Bronze and Silver awards can be done mostly with our officers and regular attendees but the Gold award requires the support and participation of many brothers.  Please be on the lookout for more information and a request for assistance as we move toward that goal.  Attendance at our study clubs will help with that effort as well.

In the next couple months we will focus on completing degree work for a number of brothers.  At this time we have three Entered Apprentices and one Fellowcraft who are ready to advance. This is a great challenge to have, but lodge and candidate schedules have proven challenging recently.  We will work on getting all of these brothers raised to the degree of Master Mason in the coming months.  This may include a possible special meeting for third degrees.  We are scheduled to confer at least one, and possibly two second degrees on Thursday, January 16, 2020.

With the new lodge year we have also fully embraced the Grand Lodge mentoring program for all new candidates.  When a candidate is elected we will designate a more experienced brother Master Mason to meet with them between each degree, review the content of the Grand Lodge mentoring program, answer questions and build personal relationships.  We hope this helps new brothers better understand our fraternity and its values and traditions.

Due to some schedule conflicts I have had to miss the last two stated meetings.  One was due to my DDGL duties and the other a travel conflict.  I would like to thank Bro. Doug Jonesi, our Senior Warden, for capably stepping up to fill the role as lodge Master in my absence, as well as others for stepping in to fill resulting open spots.  This is not something that is easy to do, and I understand that Doug and the team performed admirably.  This is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of our lodge officers.

As a reminder we now have a family dinner before the second stated meeting each months (3^rd Thursday).  We skipped December due to the annual blood drive, but will be back in January.  Please come out and join us on the 3^rd Thursday at 6:30pm and bring the family.  The lodge provides the entrée and we ask those attending to bring sides and desserts.  The prior dinners have been well attended and proved to be very enjoyable events.

With the new year many of us make new resolutions and commitments.  If you have not attended lodge in a while we ask that you make a new years resolution to join us regularly in 2020.  Attendance is the lifeblood of the lodge and we need your support to survive and thrive.  We have changed up some things on lodge meeting nights which we believe provides a more entertaining and rewarding experience.  Plus it’s a great opportunity to visit with brothers, catch up and stay informed.  If it’s been a while since you attended don’t let that stop you.  We’d love to see our brothers and can help you with whatever you need to join us for meetings.  If driving is a challenge please contact me or WB Hank Bedsaul, our lodge secretary and we can help with transportation.

Raytown Lodge meets the 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays each month at 7:30pm.  Dinner is served at 6:30pm.  Please come join us.

Fraternally,

Rick Kingcade
Worshipful Master

Greetings Brethren,

Raytown Lodge #391 continues to be active as we progress into the new lodge year.  We have had strong attendance at each Lodge of Instruction session and currently lead the attendance competition by a fairly large margin.  I appreciate the time and effort invested by our officers and members to attend this important instructional activity.

Once Lodges of Instruction are finished we will again return to our regularly scheduled study clubs, on the 1^st and 3^rd Wednesdays at 7pm.  We need to begin working diligently to complete our Bronze, Silver and Gold ritual awards.  Along with the ritual awards we have two key ritual goals in mind.  We want each officer to not only be competent in their current role but also be able to execute the role above them.  Additionally we would like to have at least two individuals who can perform each part in the degree ritual.

Our Official Visit takes place this Thursday, November 21.  RWB David C. Witte, District Deputy Grand Master will visit the lodge, review our records and practices and deliver a message from the Grand Master.  Please join us for this event as we’d like a good turnout to welcome him.

We continue to work on the family dinner which takes place before the second meeting each month (3^rd Thursday).  We are developing our plans around how to make this happen and assure everyone has an enjoyable opportunity to socialize each month.  Please be sure to invite your spouses and family to join us for dinner before the second meeting each month, starting at 6:30pm.

Due to some scheduling challenges we have become a little backlogged with degree work.  We presently have one new candidate, two Entered Apprentices and one Fellowcraft awaiting degree work.  Given the holidays we will do our best to get these brothers scheduled to advance in their degrees as soon as we can.  Keep an eye out for the scheduling of these degrees.

At the last stated communication I appointed a special committee to review the various charitable organizations around the Raytown area and determine one or two that the lodge would like to partner with for ongoing charitable support.  Once the committee makes recommendations we will review as a group and decide.  This decision will be in addition to our ongoing support for “It’s a Candy Coated Christmas” which we will continue to support this year.

As always we welcome all lodge members and Master Masons to join us for our regular meetings.  If you haven’t been to lodge in a while we’d love to see you.  If you are a bit rusty with the necessary ritual elements we can help.  Please come join us soon!

Fraternally,

Rick Kingcade
Worshipful Master

Brethren,

I am pleased to provide you the latest update from Raytown Lodge #391.  We are actively progressing into the new lodge year.

The annual Lodges of Instruction have begun.  We have completed two sessions and so far Raytown Lodge has a significant lead in attendance over the other lodges of the 19^th district.  Just as a reminder, the 18^th and 19^th districts are hosting joint Lodges of Instruction this year.  Remaining sessions are scheduled at 7pm on Wednesdays, 10/30 hosted by Cecile Daylight Lodge #305 at Independence Masonic Temple, 11/6 hosted by Kansas City Lodge #220 at the Scottish Rite Temple, 11/20 hosted by Raytown Lodge #391 and 12/4 hosted by Temple Gate Lodge #299 at the Historic Kansas City Masonic Temple. 

It is also official visit season.  For those who aren’t familiar, each year the District Deputy Grand Master is directed by Grand Lodge by-laws to visit each lodge in his district in an official capacity to review the health of the lodge and deliver the Grand Master’s annual address.  Raytown Lodge’s official visit is scheduled for our stated communication on Thursday, November 21 at 7:30pm.  There is ceremony associated with the visit which we will review at the Lodge of Instruction on 11/6 and will also practice before the visit.

As mentioned in the last Trestleboard we are changing our dinner plans up a bit, and the second stated meeting of each month will now feature a ‘pot luck’ dinner where families are invited to join us.  We hosted our first such event on October 17^th.  We had a number of family members join us for dinner and great fellowship.  We need to organize ourselves a little better as to the ‘pot luck’ aspects of who brings what, but let’s do our best to make this a monthly social event where our families can enjoy one anothers company.

The lodge has an active pipeline of degree work, as we have one petition ready to ballot, two Entered Apprentices and one Fellowcraft for whom we need to schedule degrees.  We plan to focus the second stated meeting of each month on degree work unless scheduling or volume of work requires that we change the plan.

We are also implementing the Grand Lodge mentoring program and will be assigning an experienced Master Mason as mentor to each new member to help guide and educate him through the process.  If you are interested in serving as a mentor to new members please let me know.

Raytown Lodge is one of the larger and stronger lodges in the Kansas City area, but attendance at our recent meetings wouldn’t indicate that. We need our members and Past Masters to join us for stated meetings.  We are striving to deliver an entertaining and informative experience at each meeting and need your support.  If you haven’t attended in a while please join us.  We meet on the 1^st and 3^rd Thursdays of each month at 7:30pm.  If you haven’t attended in a while that is fine, as the Brothers will be happy to help refresh you on what you need to know.

Fraternally,

Rick Kingcade
Worshipful Master 2019-2020

Brethren,

As I write this we have just completed our annual Installation of Officers and Past Masters dinner.  It was a wonderful event and I’d like to thank everyone who joined us as we installed our lodge officers for the ensuing year and honored our Past Masters with a great dinner. We were honored to have Most Worshipful Brother Stanton T. Brown II, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Missouri join us for the event. Special thanks to Worshipful Brother Steven Holbrook for preparing the feast and to Service Assembly #9 of the International Order of Rainbow for Girls for their assistance setting up and serving.

I am honored to have been elected to serve as your Worshipful Master for the coming year.  My journey in Freemasonry began at Raytown Lodge in December of 1993.  This was unfortunately followed by a long period of inactivity as work and life intervened, but since I’ve become active again it’s been a tremendous experience to get to know all of the current brethren and I look forward to serving you in the East this year.  I have served as Master of a lodge previously, but the honor of serving my home lodge, where I began my Masonic journey, is special.

I would like to start by extending heartfelt thanks to Worshipful Brother Tom Ballieu for his leadership during the past lodge year.  Through his tireless efforts and leadership we accomplished a great deal.  During his year we completed three MOChip events, adopted a new charity, achieved the Bronze, Silver and Gold ritual awards, ran a successful barbecue contest and ran two fireworks tents.  Thank you Worshipful Brother Tom, your efforts are recognized and appreciated.

Keeping things fresh and interesting is always good.  Your officers have plans to change things up somewhat this year.  We have ideas for a number of interesting and innovative activities which we will share in the coming weeks.  We plan for Raytown Lodge to maintain our tradition of excellence in Masonic ritual, but we will also spend more time pursuing community and charitable activities.  Additionally we plan to put together a robust calendar of social and family events and activities. 

 One activity I am pleased to announce immediately is that we will be changing the concept of our meals.  We traditionally serve dinner before each lodge meeting.  On the 2^nd meeting of each month we will now have a pot luck dinner with families invited to join us.  The Lodge will provide the main entrée and others can bring side dishes, desserts and treats.  We will welcome spouses, children, grandchildren and families for the dinner each month.  We hope this will help us get to know one another as more than individuals and develop a bond among the Masonic families of Raytown Lodge.

For those who may not be aware, I have also been appointed to serve as District Deputy Grand Lecturer for the 19^th Masonic district this year.  I am very honored to have been asked to serve the Grand Lodge in this capacity and will do my best for the brethren of Raytown Lodge as well as the other lodges in the district.  This appointment will mean that I will need to miss a few meetings in the East this year as there is another lodge in the district who shares our meeting night.  My commitment to Raytown Lodge is that I will attend as many meetings as possible and will assure that our officers are positioned to continue to serve the brethren well in the event I am absent.

We will be placing new emphasis on communication with our members, both through social media as well as our website.  We will be posting regular updates on the website, with a Trestleboard update at least monthly and news items when appropriate.

Lastly, just a reminder that if you haven’t attended lodge in a while we would love to see you.  We’ve set a goal of having 30+ members and visitors at each meeting.  We still have good attendance but are a ways from hitting that goal.  Please come out and support your lodge!

Fraternally,

Rick Kingcade
Worshipful Master