At our regular communication on Thursday, June 6, we elected the following officers to serve the lodge for the 2019-2020 lodge year:
Installation of officers is scheduled for Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 3pm, with our annual Past Masters Dinner after.
Please join us in congratulating these brothers!
Based on input from members and discussion at various meetings, the By-Laws committee of Raytown Lodge #391 has submitted the following five motions for consideration by the Lodge:
Motion #1 – Creates the definition of “Grand Lodge” for reference in other sections of the By-Laws. This is a clerical/housekeeping amendment.
Motion #2 – Creates an expense stipend of $75 per month to be paid to the Secretary. This was lodge practice for some time (at different rates) but has not been routinely paid for a while and was not reflected in the By-Laws.
Motion #3 – Identifies the officers who are designated as Lodge representatives at Grand Lodge, and provides for a flat stipend of $200 per office to cover their expenses (mileage/gas, meals, rooms, etc.) should they choose to attend. We have had varying practices on this in the past but the By-Laws did not address the matter.
Motion #4 – Updates the lodge dues from $37.50 to $45.00 per year to cover increasing operating expenses. Also aligns the By-Laws to cover past lodge practice of not charging Past Masters of our lodge the lodge portion of the dues, by the creation of separate dues “classes”.
Motion #5 – Separates the duties of “Custodian” to two separate roles; “Custodian” to handle inside cleaning and maintenance and “Groundskeeper” to handle outside work, and splits the stipend paid between the two. Increases the total cost from $75/month to $90/month ($45/month for each).
The By-Laws committee takes no position on any of these matters, and only served to review the various topics, assure they were in proper form and prepared the motions.
The proposed Amendments will lie over until the next Stated communication on April 18, 2019 to be considered, discussed and voted on. Passage requires 2/3 majority of all members present. Amendments may also be offered and discussed at that time.
We encourage all interested members to joins us for this meeting as we consider these changes.
Brethren,
We have had a very busy month. We had a very good showing at the second lodge of Instruction for the 19th Masonic district held at Mount Washington. Thank you to RWB Brad Fowler for his dedication and work to provide an excellent program.
We are saddened by the passing of RWB Tom Truman. He was a friend to many at Raytown Lodge and will truly be missed by our fraternity. Please keep his family in your prayers.
Raytown Lodge #391 had the honor of helping four families this Christmas season. WB Cutler brought forward the opportunity to pass the hat for this worthy cause. The lodge voted to match the amount collected from the donations of the brothers, this netted nearly $600.00 which took care of all their requests.
On December 21, 2017, Ivanhoe lodge #446 conferred a 3rd degree with the assistance of the East Gate Travelers Club, in full ceremonial costume. Raytown has many members in the Travelers Club and it was a pleasure for many of us to travel to the meeting and participate in the raising of a new Master Mason.
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January will bring a new year and a renewed drive towards the Silver and Gold ritual awards. WB Kingcade and WB Tatham will be working to get us ready for the testing. Thank you to ritual committee for the tireless work in helping us hone our skills.
I wish you all the best this holiday season.
Fraternally,
Tony Mesa
Worshipful Master
Hello Brethren,
The new Masonic year is here. On September 30th Raytown Lodge #391 held its installation of officers and past master’s dinner. The installation was well attended as was the dinner afterwards. This year should be a great one and I hope to carry on the work we have been doing. I want the lodge to go for the gold ritual award again this year to make it three in a row. We have started our way down the path of the gold ritual award by testing and receiving the bronze ritual award on October 4th.
The regular communication held October 5, 2017 (my first meeting in the East) also happened to be our official visit from the DDGM of the 19th Masonic district of Missouri, no pressure.
There are several appointments to be made in the next couple of meetings and we will be holding a planning session for the annual events calendar so be sure to attend the meetings of you can. I am very blessed to be given this opportunity to lead such a dedicated lodge for the ensuing year, Thank you.
Officers installed were:
Worshipful Master – Tony Mesa
Senior Warden – Tom Ballieu
Junior Warden – WB Rick Kingcade
Secretary – WB Hank Bedsaul
Treasurer – RWB Jim Thayne
Senior Deacon – Doug Jonesi
Junior Deacon – Mike Gatschet
Senior Steward – Alex Keyworth
Junior Steward – Brandon Burkitt
Marshal – Grant Arnold
Chaplain – WB Bob Kennicut
Tiler – Richard Wisely
Grand Lodge:
Thank you to all the brothers who attended the 196th annual communication of the Grand Lodge of the State of Missouri, we had 9 in attendance. I am proud to announce that one of our own, RWB James T. Thayne (our Treasurer) was appointed District Deputy Grand Master of the 19th Masonic district of Missouri. Congratulations Right Worshipful Brother Thayne.
Raytown Lodge #391 was recognized during the awards banquet for many accomplishments that clearly show the level of dedication the members of this lodge have for our lodge and the fraternity. We received the Gold ritual award, MOChip award and the Honor Lodge with distinction. I would like to note that there were only four Gold Ritual Lodges in the entire state of Missouri, now that in and of itself is amazing but when you consider Raytown 391 was the only lodge outside of the 43rd Masonic district that makes it even more special.
The legislation below was considered and voted upon at Grand Lodge:
The officers of your lodge look forward to an active and successful lodge year. We already have a fair amount of upcoming degree work along with Lodges of Instruction and our social activities. Come join us for a meeting and enjoy the fellowship of your lodge brothers!
Fraternally,
Tony Mesa
Worshipful Master
Brethren,
It has been some time since I have posted a trestleboard and for that I apologize. Many things have happened in Raytown #391 and in Missouri Masonry since we have last communicated. We lost a great brother mason this month. WB Chriss L. Green Jr. passed away. The lodge had a great showing to send WB Green on his way to “that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”.
The lodge has been active so far this month. On June 2nd, we had our third trip to Frontier Justice. As always, it was a good time and great comradery. On June 3rd, several Raytown brothers and I assisted Lee’s Summit Lodge with their MOCHIP program during Lee’s Summit Downtown Days. MOCHIP events are always a good time and I can think of no better use of my Saturday then to help prevent a child abduction. My thanks to the brothers and their families that gave of their weekend to assist with this endeavor. Don’t forget that on June 17th, we will be having our classic car and bike show at the lodge. Please bring out all of your toys to show off to the masses. Lastly in the way of “fun” June events, should anyone find themselves in Lee’s Summit on the evening of June 23rd, and you happen to see a tall, thin, bearded guy in a cape running around Unity Village, please wave. It’s your friendly neighborhood WM, trying to put another smile on a little girl’s face.
The fireworks tent goes up at the end of this month. Brothers, do not forget that this is the single largest fundraiser we have for the year. It is a long 8-10 days, but it is the mainstay of what keeps our lodge solvent. I implore you to assist and sign up, if even for a few hours. Remember, the less spots we fill the less money we have to refill our coffers.
The lodge continues to make a name for itself again. My thanks to WB Holbrook. While he may not have started us down the path to ritual excellence, he certainly helped to stoke the fires in the lodge again to get the gold award in his year. I am very proud to reiterate to any brothers who have not attended lodge lately that we have achieved the gold award again! This is due to all of the brethren giving of their time and putting forth much effort to practice and hone our craft. Well done brothers!
The gold award achievement brings me to my next topic. Brethren, we have again become a ritual lodge. Our lodge members are constantly being pulled to other lodges to help them with degree work and you should be proud of this. I have noticed this before, but after all the traveling during my time in the East, it is evident that our lodge has become a shining example of what study and hard work can accomplish. Taking this a step further, it has been brought up that our regalia is not an accurate reflection of the lodge we have become. Our jewels are in need of service or replacement and our aprons have lost their luster. A few RWBs have informed me that our aprons are upwards of 30 years old! They have served their time with distinction, and should be retired as such. It does not escape me that replacing all of our aprons and jewels would be a costly endeavor. Nor am I suggesting that the lodge take funds out of its accounts to do a mass replacement. We are investigating ideas as to the best course of action. Whether we buy a few jewels at a time over a period of years, or do some spot purchases, this will eventually need to be done. It may not be in my year in the East but the problem will not rectify itself. From my time in federal service, I have learned many things. One is that talk is cheap (or words are wind, depending on who makes the statement) and you should always lead from the front. So, here are my thoughts on that: I will be donating $50.00 to the lodge to put towards the purchase (when we decide the best way to do it) or replacement of our tired jewels and aprons. In addition, I will also be donating any money put into the “donations jar” (or Master’s fund) through the end of my tenure in the East to add to my original $50.00. It may only be enough to buy one jewel or one apron but a start is a start. Please feel free to make contributions to this cause yourselves as you see fit. I may also do a pass the hat on our last meeting before the next line of officers is installed.
With that, a congratulations to our newly elected officers. The lodge will be in good hands with Worshipful-Elect Tony Mesa. Also, as a reminder we will be going dark for July and August. However, we still have some members out there that need additional degree work. So, plan for at least one or two specials during the time we are dark. I hope to see you all at some of these events.
Have a safe and happy summer.
Fraternally,
WB Bryan