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Newton Lodge #59 AF & AM "Chartered June 6, 1855" 208 1st Avenue West Newton, Iowa 50208-3722 641-792-5258 newtonmasons@iowatelecom.net Secretary --- Wade E. Sheeler, PM --- 641-792-0052 sheeler@pcpartner.net |
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Stated Meetings are on the third Thursday of each month.
We have several upcoming events for you to put on your calendar. On the evening of May 1st at 5:00 p.m. we will be cleaning South 13th Avenue East (from East 19th Street South on east). This is our contribution to the City of Newton’s “Adopt-a-Street” program. Ladies Appreciation Night will be held on the evening of May 14th. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. and the program will start at 7:30 p.m. The featured entertainment will be “The Grace Notes”. All brothers and their ladies are encouraged to attend. Please have your reservations turned into the office by the May 10th. The May stated meeting will be held on May 15th. Please remember that our dinners are at 6:00 p.m. Our program speaker is Bro. Kurt Hoffman of Gnemeth Lodge #577 in West Des Moines. Bro. Kurt is going to speak about the differences in the generations and how they impact Freemasonry. Come and hear all about “traditionalists”, “boomers”, “X’ers” and “Y’s”. We will also be honoring Bro. Alvin Stewart that evening on the occasion of his attaining 50 years of Masonic service. Congratulations Bro. Alvin! I would like to thank Bro. Wade Sheeler for starting a program this year to recognize our brethren and their Masonic service anniversaries. Each month we have been recognizing brothers on the occasion of the anniversary of their raising. It is enjoyable listening to their Masonic memories and hearing from some of our brothers who live away from Newton. Our outing to the Iowa Cubs will be on the evening of June 14th. The Cubs will be playing the Nashville Sounds. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Tickets are only $6.00 each. Reservations must be into office by June 1st. I would like to thank Bros. Alfred Jensen and Wade Sheeler for purchasing the sign for the front of our building. We have been in our present building well over 100 years and believe it or not, some people in Newton still don’t know where the Masonic Temple is. This will help in advertising our building in the Newton community. Take a look the next time you are in downtown Newton. The May Pancake Breakfast (May 10th) will be used as a fundraiser for the Newton High School Band. The band members are raising money to purchase new uniforms. We will be donating the proceeds from our May breakfast to help them out with this project. Congratulations to Bro. Wade Sheeler on his installation as Worshipful Master of Iowa Research Lodge #2. The fall meeting of IRL #2 will be held at our lodge on October 3rd. The speaker for that event will be M.W. Bro. Terry L. Tilton PGM from Minnesota. Best wishes to Bro. Pat Griffin and his wife as they move to Belgrade, Montana. Pat has purchased the Dale Carnegie franchise for Montana. We will miss you Pat. Best wishes in your new endeavors in Montana. On the back page of the newsletter are invitations to our upcoming Table Lodge and Oklahoma Masonic Indian Degree. These are really going to be great events for Newton Lodge #59. The Indian Degree will be a fundraiser for Hope Lodge in Iowa City. Grand Master Mosier has as his special project the raising of funds for the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. Hope Lodge is a lot like the Ronald McDonald houses…it is designed to provide a place for families to stay during their stay for cancer treatment. We will have expenses associated with brining our Oklahoma brethren to Newton Lodge #59, but we hope to have a nice check to present to the Grand Master that evening from this event. The degree will be conferred in native American costumes. It has been over 20 years since the Oklahoma brethren last performed in Iowa, so we are very much excited about having them come to Newton. You do not want to miss either of these events! Hope to see you soon in Newton Lodge #59! Fraternally, Ward A. Bailey, W.M. Happy Birthday: Paul Ryan, Al Stewart (5/1); Paul Peterson, Richard Temple (5/2); Gary Parsons (5/3); Norman Sneller (5/4); Jerry Wylie (5/10); Veryl Brass (5/11); Carroll Michmerhuizen (5/14); Dan Vance (5/16); Charlie Brown (5/17); Verle Kooistra, Maury Phillips (5/21); Bob Fisher (5/24); Carl McGee (5/25); Bob McVay (5/27); Chris Hanshaw (5/29); Gary Yoder (5/30) CALENDAR OF EVENTS IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES June 14 Iowa Cubs Outing 7:05 p.m.
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Brethren Volume On the evening of March 4th we had the privilege of initiating Bro. Robb Gammon. He currently lives in Baxter and is an assistant manager at the Country Kitchen here in Newton. Bro. Robb was passed on March 18th and will be receiving his 3rd degree on April 1st. Welcome Bro. Robb. The Easter Bunny visited Newton Lodge #59 on March 15th. Thanks to the clowns of the Jasper County Jokers and to Bros. Gary Pearson, Kerry Walker, and Mike Rush for helping with this event. We had 25 kids in attendance for the party and egg hunt. Polk/Jasper Study Club will be meeting at East Gate Lodge in Des Moines on March 25th. It is a joint meeting with Three Rivers Study Group; we will be working on the 2nd section of the 3rd Degree. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. and Ritual Practice begins at 7:30 p.m. We have some fun things coming up in the next couple of months. On May 14th we will have our Ladies Appreciation Night . Originally we had planned to go to the Time Piece Dinner Theater in Brooklyn, but unfortunately when we called to make the reservations they were already sold out, so we will be having dinner at the lodge. Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. and the program will be at 7:30 p.m. Our entertainment for the evening will be the “Grace Notes” a ladies sextet from here in Newton. Please make your reservations with the Secretary by May 10th. Our annual outing to the Iowa Cubs will be on June 14th. The Cubs will be playing the Nashville Sounds that evening at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $6.00 per person. Bring your friends, family, and neighbors. RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENT TO THE SECRETARY BY JUNE 1ST. Fraternally, Ward A. Bailey, W.M. Happy Birthday: Bernie Bergeson (4/2); Chuck Williams (4/5); Jack Myers (4/8); Chaz Allen (4/11); Paul Bergmann (4/14); Curt Thompson (4/16); Harold Wickliff (4/23); Kelly Walker (4/27); Kerry Walker (4/27); Eugene Bishop (4/30).
In March we lost in death one of our members, Sister Leona Daubenmire, who had served our Order in helping with many tasks. Her husband, Cliff, served as Worthy Patron in 1983, 1986 and 1993. Our love and sympathy go out to him. Our Chapter voted to have a team participate in the Cancer Relay for Life on June 6. We would be most happy to have many of you plan on being on our team. More information will be coming out in the next news article. Our Organist, Pat Evans, and our Esther, Mary Wright, will be honored, as well as all Past Organists and Past Esthers, at our April 7 Stated Meeting. If you have served in one of these offices, please come. The refreshment committee is Bob and Irene Howe and Jim and Norma Jean Warnock. It is our understanding that one of our 50-year members, Marlene Hutt, has moved to the Iowa City area, but we do not know the address. If anyone knows her address, please call Karen Meade at 641-792-5881. Thought for the Day: “We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too fast, so enjoy your precious moments.” IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES May 14 Ladies Appreciation Night 6:30 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. program
©Copyright 2007 -- 2008 ----- IowaMasons.com. All rights Reserved
Brethren On Friday evening, February 22nd we will be going out to eat at the Latin King restaurant in Des Moines and then attending an Iowa Stars hockey game at Wells Fargo arena. Our annual Friendship Night will be held on Thursday, February 28th. Dinner will be at 6:00 p.m. with a presentation to follow. Bro. David M. Dryer will be our guest speaker. He is an outstanding speaker on Freemasonry. If you have a prospective candidate, please invite him and his lady up to the lodge for this evening. The Polk-Jasper Study Club will meet at King David Lodge #407 in Altoona on Tuesday, February 26th. Dinner is a 6:30 p.m. with the ritual study to follow. I encourage some of our younger members to attend. We always have a good time with our fellow brethren. Our monthly pancake breakfast is on Saturday, March 8th. After our breakfast, the Cub Scouts of Pack #354 will be having their Pinewood Derby in the lodge room. We are expecting a lot of young Cub Scouts and their parents to be up for this. Racing starts at 9:30 a.m. After the races, the lodge will be serving our guests a lunch. Please come up and watch this fun event and we could use some help with the lunch. Another event that we have coming up in March is our Easter Party which will be held on Saturday, March 15th. The party starts at 10:00 a.m. and will be followed by an Easter Egg Hunt in the lodge room. The Easter Bunny promises that he will be there! Bring your kids and grandkids and come up and enjoy this fun event. We will be having corned beef, cabbage, and Irish Stew at our dinner on March 20th in honor of St. Pat’s Day. Happy Birthday: Dean James, Scott Creech (3/10); Al Anspach, Bill Hegwood (3/11); John Frimml (3/13); John Thomas IV (3/15); Charles Bruce (3/19); Lee Walker (3/22); Dean Olson (3/23); Clair Wilson (3/26); Jared Bazal (3/27); Les Gause (3/29); Bob Worth (3/30); Jack Wright (3/31). We held our February Stated Meeting despite the wintry weather. Attendance was down, but we carried on with the business. It was voted to use some of the memorial money in memory of Kenneth Robinson be used to purchase a new sheaf for Ruth’s station. Tami Veldhuizen, our Chaplain, told us about she and a friend writing a book entitled “What Dog Are You?” An interesting title, isn’t it? At our March 3 Stated Meeting, we will be honoring our current Associate Matron, Carol Bailey, and all those who have served in this office. We would like to have all of you ladies, who have served as an Associate Matron, come and be recognized for your service. Looking through my big notebook, I saw many familiar names that have held this office and then gone on to become Worthy Matron. You are the honored ones! The refreshment committee is JoAnn, Bernie, Dawn and Sara Bergeson and Tami Veldhuizen. The 2008 officers are preparing for our School of Instruction, which will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 29, at the Temple. We would be very pleased to have a lot of you come and participate in this afternoon of instruction. It is an informative day for the officers and sideliners. As a lot of you remember, each year we learn a new march, have new projects and hopefully, initiate new members. In the last issue of the Trestleboard, I asked you to save soup labels, Educational labels and pop tabs. These don’t cost you anything to save, and they do help the schools receive playground equipment. Please participate in this project. Watchwords of the Worthy Grand Matron and Worthy Grand Patron this year are: Accountability, Consideration, Kindness, Tolerance and Celebration. Past Matrons will be meeting at County Kitchen on March 6th at 6:00 p.m. CALENDAR OF EVENTS The Spring Reunion of the Des Moines Valley of the Scottish Rite will be in honor of our departed brother, Most Worshipful Bro. Harold D. “Pete” Paschal, PGM, 33°. The reunion dates are March 28-29 and April 11-12. If you are not a Scottish Rite Mason and would like to receive your degrees, please contact Bro. Wade Sheeler. The reunion banquet will be on the evening of April 12th. IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES May 14 Ladies Appreciation Night Time Piece Dinner Theater/Brooklyn
This year we are going to keep some of the old “traditions” and also try some new things. One new event that we are going to be trying is an outing to an Iowa Stars hockey game on February 22nd. The Stars will be playing the Chicago Wolves. Game time is 7:07 p.m. We are planning on leaving at 5:00 p.m. and eating at the Latin King restaurant in Des Moines and then going to the game. Please contact the Secretary by February 15th to get your reservation in. Another new event that we will be having is a table lodge which is scheduled for June 20th, so mark your calendars. We are also going to be having our annual outing to the Iowa Cubs plus we are going to take a trip to Cedar Rapids and visit the Grand Lodge Library and Museum. For those of you who have never been there, you are in for a treat. We have several new officers in Newton Lodge #59 this year. Three of our officers are brothers who received their degree work in 2007. I want to extend to them special thanks. I’m looking for your ideas on how we can make Newton Lodge #59 the type of lodge that will be appealing to young men of the future. We will be having ritual practices on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays. All brethren of the lodge are invited to attend. The Des Moines Scottish Rite Bodies are honoring Newton Lodge #59 and a brother of the lodge this spring. M.W. Bro. Harold D. (Pete) Paschal PGM, 33° will be the honoree for the spring reunion (March 28-29, April 11-12). Bro. Pete passed away in December of 2005. This is an honor that has been bestowed upon a brother of our lodge only once before. If you are interested in receiving the Scottish Rite degrees, contact our Secretary. Bro. Brian Pappadacus (KCCH), Master of Kadosh of the Des Moines Scottish Rite will be our speaker at our February 21st stated meeting. Our annual Friendship night will be held on February 28th. If you have a prospective member, please plan to bring him and his wife to this event. You may contact me at the above number for reservations. Let’s make 2008 a great year for Newton Lodge #59. Happy Birthday: Paul Myers (2/2); Ed Meade (2/3); Brad Thomas (2/7); Forrest Matherly (2/8); Marvin Davis, Alvin Rempp (2/9); John Thomas III (2/13); Dan Crook (2/15); Randy Wagner (2/16); David Vorhies (2/18); Bob Beiner (2/22); James Van Ekeren (2/26); Robert Faust (2/28) As in previous years, a Grand Chapter Project is collecting General Mills Box Tops for Education and labels from Campbell’s products and other eligible products, which is an easy way to support our schools. Do save these box tops and labels and give to any Chapter officer/member, and we will get them to the committee chairman. Pop tabs are still being collected to support the Youth this year also. Standing Committees for Newton Chapter are: Finance - Jack Wright, Sharon Jolley and Pam Ratliff; Relief - Ed Meade and Florence Vance; Education - Alfred Jensen, Jim Warnock and Tami Veldhuizen; Proficiency - Deloris Jensen (Chairman), Kathy Hackathorn and Ward Bailey. Please join us at the February 4th Stated Meeting as we start the business for the New Year. The Membership Scripture selected by the Worthy Grand Matron is: “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord, who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into His field.” Matthew 9:37-38 Karen Meade, Worthy Matron Ed Meade, Worthy Patron CALENDAR February 4 OES Stated Meeting 7:30 p.m.
Brethren I would like to extend the condolences of the brethren of Newton Lodge #59 to the family of Bro. Albert Wallace who passed to the Grand Lodge Above on November 23rd. Bro. Albert was a 60 year Mason. He took his degree work in Keystone Lodge #206 at Wyoming Iowa and affiliated with Newton Lodge #59 in 1964. He was a loyal and faithful member and will be greatly missed. Congratulations to Bro. Jim McVey who became a Master Mason on November 29th and welcome to Bros. Greg Van Vark and Gary Gustafson who have affiliated with Newton Lodge #59. I leave the reigns in the hands of our very able brother, Ward Bailey. With Ward as W.M, I am confident that the momentum that we have started this year will continue. I could have never done my job without the help, guidance, and inspiration that you all provided. Thank you for everything and may God bless you all. This past year has been a very good year. I want to keep building on what Worshipful Master Mike Balmer started this past year and add something new to try and work with the other Organizations.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Roger Gilbreaith (1/2); Ralph Norris (1/5); Fred Harrison (1/11); Owen Welling (1/12); John Schermerhorn (1/13); Ford Thompson (1/15); Tom Breckenridge (1/16); Don Onthank Jr., William Burger (1/19); Albert Masters, Keith Nielsen, Evan Harkin (1/20); Marcus Schild (1/21); Doug Hundling, Dan Allen (1/22); Lloyd Floyd (1/23); Keith Iske, Jeff McKibben (1/24); Dan Kelley, Robert Bailey (1/27). Kathy Hackathorn WM Sisters and Brothers, Newton’s School of Instruction is Saturday, March 29, and is not an Official Visit. More information on this will be forthcoming. CALENDAR * Tenatively our program on 1/17 will be presented by Bro. D. Patrick Griffin of Westgate-Adelphic Lodge who will make a presentation on our Masonic Presidents.
Grand Master Mosier also presented Bro. Mike Rush with the “Two to Grow” award. Bro. Rush has brought in two petitions since he was raised in June…congratulations Mike! I also had the pleasure of presenting Bro. Ward Bailey with the “Mason of the Year” award from Newton Lodge #59. Congratulations to you Bro. Ward on this honor…it is well deserved. We will be raising Bro. Jim McVey to the sublime degree of a Master Mason on November 29th. Dinner is at 6:00 p.m. with the degree to follow. Please plan on attending. Sincere condolences to the family of Bro. Marvin Simpson who passed to the Grand Lodge Above on November 10th. Bro. Marvin was a 51 year member of Newton Lodge #59. Masonic services were held on November 14th. We have also received word that Bro. William G. Murray passed to the Grand Lodge Above on July 2nd in California. Bro. Murray was our senior member, having over 71 years of service to Newton Lodge #59. He was raised in 1935. On Sunday November 25th, Newton Lodge #59 and Newton Chapter #100 OES will be having a joint memorial service for our members who have passed away this year. This will start at 2:00 p.m. with coffee and cookies to follow. Please plan to attend as we honor the memory of our departed sisters and brothers. Santa Claus will be coming to Newton Lodge #59 on Saturday, December 1st. We will be having a traditional Christmas dinner at 6:00 p.m. and the program will follow at 7:00 p.m. Please bring your family and friends up as we celebrate this special time of the year. The election of the 2008 officers was held at our November stated meeting. The following were elected: Ward Bailey (W.M.), Bernie Bergeson (S.W.), Mike Balmer (J.W.), Kerry Walker (Treasurer), and Wade Sheeler (Sec.). Bro. Howard Berkenbosch was reelected to a three year term on the Board of Custodians. Congratulations and best wishes to each of them for a successful 2008. We have several younger members in the “lower ranks” so we are looking for some good ideas for the growth of Newton Lodge in the future. At our November stated meeting we voted to donate $350 to the Newton Salvation Army for the Red Kettle campaign. This was raised through the breakfast that we had on November 10th. I would also like to thank the brothers who helped with ringing the bells on November 17th. Our monthly pancake breakfast will be held on December 8th from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. Please come up and enjoy a great breakfast. My year as Worshipful Master will soon be over. I would like to congratulate all of our new brothers that we have raised this year. I would also like to thank the officers and members for their support this year. Best wishes to each of you for a very happy holiday season. Fraternally, Happy Birthday: Kenny Davis (12/1), Bill Auten, Jim Plumb (12/4); Gary Wallace (12/7), William White, Dennis Hansen, Larry Appleby (12/9), Del Petersma (12/17), Leroy White (12/20), Albert & Arthur Wallace (12/22), Richard Weston (12/23), Steven Ratliff (12/29). OES NEWS Congratulations to our newly elected officers for 2008: Karen Meade (Worthy Matron), Ed Meade (Worthy Patron), Carol Bailey (Associate Matron), Ward Bailey (Associate Patron), Helen Ratliff (Secretary), Ford Thompson (Treasurer), JoAnn Bergeson (Conductress), and Janelle Ohmstede (Associate Conductress). Installation will be held following the January 7th stated meeting. Please plan to attend. Kathy Hackathorn, Worthy Matron Jim Warnock, Worthy Patron CALENDAR Masonic Quote: “If you are not getting as much from life as you want to, then examine the state of your enthusiasm” Merry Christmas & Happy New Year !
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