Brethren, I am excited at the decision made to once again reach out and to communicate to our members the on-going events and plans of our Fraternity. As many of you may know, we have had a lot of events this year and our Lodge as a whole is flourishing! Amongst the events recently had, we had the pleasure of having the Grand Master of the State of California, the Most Worshipful (MW) Larry Adamson, visit our Lodge and he [WM Adamson] conferred a First Degree ceremony on April 28, 2009. This evening was one of the most beautiful ceremonies that I can recall with participation by the Assistant Grand Lecturer, Worshipful Dandridge as our Senior Warden. Furthermore, we also had the participation of the Inspector of the 757th Masonic District as well as member of Grand Lodge, Worshipful Manjarian, who took the Junior Wardens chair in the South. Our Officers were impeccable, solemn and for this I pay our Officers and our Officer's Coach [Worshipful Hatcherian] many accolades for their hard work and dedication to our Lodge!
The history of Masonry, I have found, reaches our to many unsuspecting people who had no idea that there were in their background a great and honorable ancestor. I speak of Dr. John Warren who was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1753 and who was brother to General Joseph Warren who was Grand Master from 1769- 1775 and who died at the Battle of Bunker hill on April 4, 1775 Dr. John Warren came to be known as the "Beloved Physician" who was also a soldier and teacher of medicine, admired and respected by the many members of his medical profession. He was an accomplished speaker who was called upon to address large audiences of the day. To add to his already great accomplishments, in 1771 he founded the Harvard Medical School and was elected Hersey professor of Anatomy and Surgery at Harvard in 1782. In that same year he was elected Grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts and served two separate terms, 1783-1784 and 1787-1788.
Brethren, We call upon you to stand with us. There is a motion on the floor of our Lodge to amend our bylaws. This amendment will bring critical necessary financial strength to our Lodge in the time of financial turbulence. The motion amends the bylaws to raise our annual dues from $16 to $177. That's right my brothers $16 per year is our current Lodge dues. Why raise it to $177? As you remember from my letter in last December's Informant, this Lode spent $42.27 per member on rent for our Masonic Hall, and another $15.03 per member on the Informant publications and mailings. Add another $30.83 per member on meals served at the stated meetings and degrees. This brings us up to $88.13 per member. We have the community service expenses to support our Police, Firefighters & Teachers, and social functions and relief for our distressed worthy brothers. All of this costs the Lodge money.
.