Trestleboard Oct 2020

Greetings Brothers,

September seems as if it flew by, and with all the happenings around Eola last month it is no wonder.

2 stated meetings one of which was the official DDGM visit, and EA and a Fellow Craft Degree as well as many practices, kept us extremely busy last month. Adding to that a couple of projects finishing up, and Masonic Education/Masonic leadership Training to fill the 5^th Tuesday the month it left little time for idle chatter.

Congratulations to Brothers Ream and Hartman on embarking on your journey, as well as Brothers Arroyo, Daley, Duprey and Vierra on the next steps of yours. Both degrees were a great success due to the diligence and participation of the degree teams involved, as well as the excellent lectures given by R.W. Don Goolsby, and R.W. Ryan Kilmartin. My sincere thanks for your willingness to participate in these proceedings and efforts put forth to make them successful.

September also afforded me personally an opportunity to meet with a brother of whom I’ve not met. In and of itself this may seem somewhat vanilla in nature but I assure you it’s not to me. It is always interesting to meet with members of Eola and somewhat of a mission this year to increase the number of members I’ve met with in person, however in this case this particular brother provided an extremely unique interaction. A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting with Br. Louis Shader at his home, again perhaps you say not uncommon to meet at a brothers home, true perhaps not so uncommon, however I submit how many of us have this opportunity to do so with a brother of 51 years as a Mason, who will turn 100 years old a few weeks later? This was truly an amazing experience and the best afternoon I’ve spent in some time. Brother Shader I am pleased to say is doing well, and we very much look forward to celebrating his 100^th birthday in early October. Congratulations My Brother on this epic achievement it is very few who can say they have achieved as much.

With October here we will again be busy At Eola, I’ve been informed some our allied bodies will once again be allowed to meet it will be great to see you all again.

Our Lodge property committee is hard at work grinding out the many items needing to be accomplished in or about the lodge and property much thanks to this all-star team for putting in the effort to restore Eola to a place we can all be proud of. Project wise there are many in the works so you can expect that there will be more new and exciting tasks accomplished improving the property.

October 3^rd we will be hosting Masters and Wardens at Eola come prepared for a great breakfast catered by our very own wolf pack from Crown Court # 33 Order of the Amaranth.

October 6^th we welcome R.W.’s Albright, King, and Sexton, who will be delivering some education and presentations regarding the Valley of Orlando Scottish Rite and The Bahia Shrine, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about these organizations from some of the best sources I personally know.

Our Fellow crafts have set a goal for their returns on the second meeting of the month October 20^th based on their prior performance I have no doubt they will succeed in this endeavor, and in November we should have a MM Degree.

We have decided at this point to cancel our Fall Fundraiser food event on Saturday October 24^th due to the current situation and participation as it seems highly improbable to a profitable endeavor. Additionally we will be issuing refunds for those who require them for the Fish Fry in April as that was cancelled due to the shutdown.

If you require a refund for tickets purchased please submit your ticket stubs with a note requesting the refund No later than October 15^th  via mail to our secretary The mailing address to be used is 3200 E. Grant Av. Orlando, FL 32806. Requests received after October 15^th 2020 will be considered a donation and those funds applied to the building sink fund to offset all of the work and improvements made to the lodge this year.

As not to waste a date we will be repurposing the 24^th as a Masonic education workshop day for Master Masons. From 9am-12am for those wishing/needing to Complete Master Mason 1, 2, 3 this would be an outstanding opportunity to do so (Please bring your own device to accomplish this online). Time permitting we will practice some ritual work as well. Additionally for our Eager Fellow craft and EA’s we have a special project for you to complete that day so please mark your calendar to attend, and plan to be involved (Please bring a small flat head screwdriver with you).

As an additional reminder regarding the upcoming GMOV please be mindful to mark your calendar For Saturday November 14^th. The Rosen Plaza Ballroom will be the venue for the evening, Business attire is appropriate for this event, registration is at 5pm, with supper served at 6pm. If you have not already signed up with me please RSVP to our R.W.D.D.G.M.  No later than October 14^th, 2020 by emailing him at rricks1@bellsouth.net

For those who have already signed up I’ve sent the signup sheet to him listing your names and number in your party who will be in attendance.

For all of the brothers who haven’t been to lodge in some time or are unable to attend due to current circumstances, know that we are here and would be glad to hear from you, please keep in touch via email until you can once again attend.

Please note that we will not have a Stated Communication on November 3^rd, 2020 due to the general election being held, and our 3^rd Adopt-A-Precinct fundraiser of the year. Again thank you to W;. Glover for spearheading this project, as well as the veterans and new comers who devote their time and energy on this most important community service.

Stay safe my Brothers, we will see you at lodge soon.

Fraternally,
Br. Paul Rhoads
Worshipful Master
Eola # 207 F.&A.M.