From the Worshipful Master:       David Baker

Greetings from the East

As I write this Christmas is upon us. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. I want to thank everyone who came to the Installation of Officers; we had a great turnout and a wonderful time. I also want to thank all of the people who continue to support the blood drives.  As I said at the installation, I believe that we can reach a goal of 150 units during 2010. Reaching that goal could potentially help 450 people needing blood products.  So if you could please help out with this worthwhile project.  Another project that I would like to support is the local food pantries.  As we all know the economy is not great right now and many people need help in our communities.  I would like members to start bringing a non-perishable food item to each meeting to be donated to a local food pantry.  We are lucky at Arcadia Lodge to have plenty of degree work coming up. Brother Ben Ruther will have his 3rd degree on January 21st and we will have 2, 1sts on January 28th.  We will complete Brother Paul Cooper’s Degree work after the boards and committees meeting on February 11th with more degree work on the following Thursdays.  If you are on a committee, please make plans to attend the first boards and committees meeting on January 14th.  This will be an important planning meeting and I would like to see everyone at that meeting. After the meeting we will have a practice with the proficiency committee officiating.  Even though you are not on a committee you can still come out and learn a new part or brush up on a part that you have been doing.  I am very excited about the up coming year and I am looking forward to working with all of the brothers this year and to the many activities that we have planned. I hope to see all of you at some point this year.

May Peace and Harmony Prevail

David Baker

MASONRY
~ 2.1 - THE JOURNEY CONTINUES… ~

January 2010 Calendar

1/5       Eastern Star 7 pm
1/6       HyVee Coffee 9 am  
1/7       Arcadia Dinner 6:30 pm
1/7       Arcadia Stated 7:30 pm
1/8       Amaranth 7 pm
1/13     HyVee Coffee 9 am
1/14     Arcadia Committee Meetings
1/14     Degree Practice following CM
1/19     White Shrine 7 pm
1/20     HyVee Coffee 9 am
1/20     Arcadia After Hours 5 pm
1/21     Arcadia Lodge 7pm 3rd Degree Ben Ruther
1/27     HyVee Coffee 9 am
1/27     York Rite 7 pm
1/28     Arcadia 7 pm 1st Degrees

Quote of the Month
“One of the serious obstacles to the improvement to our race is indiscriminate charity”

January 2010 HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Arcadia !
1/1       Greg Seaton
1/4      Larry Wirth
1/10    Andrew Christensen
1/11     Robert Shearer
1/20    Bob Harvey
1/21    Charles Hammerberg
1/21    Dean Flummerfelt
1/24    Austin Woodin
1/25    Jeremy Davis
1/26    Michael Loftin
1/27    Mathew Hargrafen
1/29    Robert Van Dorn
1/31    Mitchell Caltrider      

A frequent Masonic question is "What is the legend of the Golden Fleece and what is its relation to the lambskin apron and Roman Eagle?"
The legend of the Golden Fleece has been handed down from time immemorial. Mythology tells us that the Golden Fleece was supposed by the Greeks to be hidden in a remote land far across the trackless sea. This precious fleece grew upon the back of a ram, the gift of one of their gods. The ram was constantly guarded by bulls that breathed fire and by a dragon that never slept. The promise to the Greeks was (so the fable went) that if they could find and recover the Golden Fleece and bring it to Greece, wealth and prosperity would abound in that country. The hope of redeeming that promise led to the formation of an order which embraced in its membership many of the most illustrious men of that period, who were called Argonauts from the name of the ship, Argo, on which they sailed. Tradition is replete with the daring deeds and suffering of those men in the cause in which they enlisted. The badge of the order was the symbol of a Golden Fleece.
At a later, though still ancient, period, there was formed among the Romans an order that embraced only those renowned in war. Its symbol was the Roman Eagle. Of these two orders, the object of one was worldly wealth; the object of the other was military glory. Both orders have faded from the face of the earth, as surely will perish all orders founded on sordid or vain desires.
But allegedly more ancient than the order of the Golden Fleece or that of the Roman Eagle is the order whose badge is a lambskin or white leather apron, whose aim is innocence and purity of life, and whose object is charity. That this order, Freemasonry, has survived, while all others have perished, teaches us that if we live in accordance with its tenets, we, too, shall persevere.
There is a much more practical explanation of the legend of the Golden Fleece. From the earliest days, it was known that a sheepskin placed in the bed of a stream where there was alluvial gold would catch and entangle the fine particles of gold and small nuggets as they rolled down the streambed. The fleece was then carefully removed from the stream, dried, and the gold dust shaken out into a suitable container.

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BROTHERLY LOVE, RELIEF AND TRUTH / ASK AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU!

Fredrick Killian

"Be honorable yourself if you wish to associate with honorable people"   - Irish Proverb