JULY 4th HOLIDAY NOTICE: Per our bylaws, in honor of the July 4th holiday, the July Stated Meeting and Dinner will be postponed one week to Thursday, July 11. There will be NO stated meeting and dinner on July 4th. Please mark your calendars and join us on Thursday, July 11. Thank you. | |
From the East
Greetings from the East,
I would like to thank the Brothers for an excellent month of May. Our breakfast was well attended and we had an outstanding exemplification of a traditional French First degree by our Brethren from La Parfaite Union No. 17. I would like to thank Worshipful Bill Miklos for initiating and facilitating their visit.
Our fishing trip was a success; though I think everyone caught a fish but me! I still had a wonderful time especially because of the company of our Brothers and their families. The trip wouldn’t have happened without the time and effort of Brother Doug Roberts and Brother Dale Jordan, Sr.
Topping the month off was the well-attended 2nd Annual Luau organized by Brothers Noel, Joe, Rob, and Arthur. I can hardly wait for next year! Be sure to check out all the pictures from May events in the photo gallery below.
June is going to be a busy month as well. June 1st we will hold an outdoor degree celebrating Natoma Lodge’s 170th birthday. The gold rush brought Freemasonry to California. Lodges were formed. Degrees were held outdoors on occasion, and we are going to hold an outdoor degree passing our Brother Lucas Morales to the degree of Fellowcraft. We are honored to have our Grand Master; the Most Worshipful Sean Metroka taking part in the degree and appreciate the attendance of other members of the Grand Lodge joining us.
The highest honor a lodge can bestow on one of our Brothers is the Hiram Award. This year’s award ceremony will be on Saturday, June 15th at 10 AM honoring our Brother Dale Jordan Sr. He asked that we celebrate with a brunch followed by the ceremony. Please join us to celebrate Brother Dale receiving this well-deserved honor. Your attendance will demonstrate the appreciation we feel for all his efforts supporting our lodge.
Then, at the end of this month, on June 29, is the annual Historic Folsom Hometown parade. We are participating again with our float to promote the lodge, let our neighbors know we are here, and hopefully, attract potential candidates. We would love to have you participate with us and ride in the float. As we are the oldest continuously operating organization in Folsom and in our 170th year, we need a float design to reflect our place in the community. What ideas do you have for your float in the parade? Please let us know.
Natoma Lodge 64 has again joined the Folsom Chamber of Commerce. As a business member, that means every brother is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and is encouraged to represent the lodge at their events. Please visit ChooseFolsom to see what events are happening and participate as a member of Natoma Lodge 64. Ribbon cuttings and the monthly Power Lunch are great events to participate in to demonstrate our partnership and visibly represent the lodge in our community. This month's Power Lunch is at Dave and Busters on June 14th at 11:30 am. Register here if you would like to attend as a Natoma Lodge 64 representative. Volunteers are also needed to help with the Folsom Rodeo. More information can be found at ChooseFolsom.com.
One of the most generous benefits we can receive as a member of the Grand Lodge of California is being able to access the Masonic Homes, especially now that they have been expanded to include our in-laws and Entered Apprentice and Fellowcrafts and their applicable family members. We are planning a trip to Union City in August. Depending on the level of interest, we may even arrange transportation. Please reach out to let me know if you will be joining us for the day.
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Parting Upon the Square,
Stuart J. Stackhouse
Worshipful Master
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Natoma Lodge # 64 is proud to present the
2024 Hiram Award
for service Above and Beyond to
Brother Dale Jordan, Sr.
Please join us on Saturday, June 15 at 10 AM
for brunch followed by the award presentation.
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From the West
May was a very busy month, and we had a lot going on. I would particularly like to thank Brothers Jeff Joe and Rob Smith for working with me on putting on a great Luau. I would also like to thank Brother Arthur Walasek for helping with the décor and sound system, as well as Worshipful Kevin Williams for making those delicious coconut macadamia nut bars. The whole event turned out great and we had a number of visitors from other lodges come by making it a more memorable experience.
Events like this, and others like the fishing trip and the lodge monthly breakfast, all lend to the Grand Lodge's 2025 Strategic plan of building peace and understanding through friendship, service and self-improvement.
“In 2020, the Masons of California set out to imagine the future of the fraternity. Based on feedback from hundreds of members at every level of the organization, as well as survey data from members, prospects, and the general public, an ambitious new vision for the bicentennial of the fraternity was crafted. The world in harmony. The 2025 Strategic Plan is the first step in bringing about that world. The plan is centered around three key themes that emerged as priorities during our research: True friendship, diversity and harmony, and positive awareness.
Within each of those themes, the plan identifies goals for specific initiatives at the Grand Lodge level, in local lodges, and among our membership. The plan also includes key performance indicators related to each theme to promote accountability and ensure meaningful progress. Baseline data will be gathered and be the measure against which we work over the next five years. The aim of this work is, as always, to deepen our friendships, serve our communities, and improve ourselves through the universal values and ideals of Freemasonry.”
Details of this plan can be reviewed in imember2.0. Highlighting the first theme, “True Friendship” there are 3 goals laid out.
- Goal 1: Masons understand and value true friendship.
- Goal 2: Masons build true friendship through excellent membership experiences.
- Goal 3: Masons are known for true friendship. Even though our events help build strong bonds there is always more we can do, to strengthen those bonds and help, not only our Brothers, but our families and our communities.
Little measures go a long way, helping our youth orders, supporting community services, reaching out to a Brother you haven’t seen in awhile to say hi, taking a prospect out for coffee to get to know them, are all things that can be done do build and strengthen friendships. As we move closer to 2025, and beyond, we will want to continue to cultivate these great aims. If you have ideas you would like to share on ways to get involved, within the lodge, the community, the youth orders or other organizations you are encouraged to share them and let’s do our part to create true friendships in the world. Talk to your Executive Committee members and let’s help lead this initiative and be a shining light to others around.
Having a world in harmony is an ambitious goal, and yet not unattainable. Our taking steps to aide in that goal do not go unrecognized by others around. You never know what kid, young adult or any member of the community might see us in action and ask themselves how they can do what we do and get involved.
Fraternally and On the Level,
Noel Lukas
Senior Warden
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From the South
Dear brethren,
Words cannot begin to thank you enough for your support, involvement and participation in our Natoma 64 lodge activities last month. It was definitely jam-packed with events including the Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting, breakfast, Stated Meeting & dinner, the French degree, the fishing trip and the luau! So much fun!
We have another eventful month in June beginning on Saturday, June 1st. We won’t have our breakfast as usual because we will be at a private ranch in Placerville to perform an outdoor second degree ceremony for Brother Lucas Morales with special guest California Grand Master, the Most Worshipful Sean Metroka participating and some grand lodge officers in attendance.
On Saturday June 15, we will be presenting the Hiram Award to Dale Jordan, Sr. We’ll start with a brunch buffet at 10 AM followed by the public ceremony. Please join us in presenting this honor to him.
And to end this month with flourish, on Saturday, June 29th, beginning at 7:30 AM, we will have a float to participate in the Annual Historic Folsom Hometown Parade. We will need brothers to ride on the trailer/float and wave to the crowds. Please join us for this short, but fun, parade down Sutter Street in historic Folsom. Let's let folks know about Natoma Lodge!
But first, on Friday, June 28 @ 6 PM, we will need a few brothers to help us prep the truck and trailer for the parade. Our continued participation in this parade helps people become more aware of our lodge and promotes our long-standing history as a member of the Folsom community.
As we travel in our journeys toward the East in search of the light and in our pilgrimage of life, we are taught that as creations of one God and living in the same planet, our duties are to aid, support and protect each other. We learn through allegories, during the lectures in our degree ceremonies about moral and social virtues, brotherly love, relief and truth, love, hope and the most important virtue of all charity.
During the ceremony of the fellow craft degree, we heard our Chaplain Rob Smith recite Corinthians 13:3-4, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.”
We are all involved in a mission to help our brothers through the practice of Charity, which means caring for others by dedicating time and not just money. Each Brother in his own capacity should help the sick, elderly and needy brothers, and participate with our time in all the activities prepared in our lodge, because this is your home, these are your brothers, this is our family, and we need your support and help.
On behalf of the entire officer team, I'd like to extend our heartfelt thanks for your valuable contribution and efforts to make sure our activities go above and beyond expectations. I hope to see all of you at our events. Please contact me if you can help at any of our activities this month (310) 291-6399 (text preferred).
By the Plumb,
Pedro Sanchez
Junior Warden
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Join us for June Stated Meeting Dinner on June 6 RSVP by June 2 | |
From Order of the Eastern Star, New Hope #117
Hello Brothers of Natoma #64,
We would like to invite you to The Dog Days of Summer on Saturday, June 8, @ 1 PM where we will be hosting our Worthy Grand Matron and Patron. We will have lunch and then watch dog demonstrations from a local Canine Companions for Independence group and a law enforcement K-9 unit. It promises to be a fun and exciting afternoon. Please RSVP to join us!
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Congratulations, Brethren! | |
The Natoma Lodge calendar is also available to view on the home page of the Natoma Lodge website. On the lodge calendar you have the ability to save events to your personal calendar so you won't miss a beat! Another convenient feature is that you can also scroll ahead to view future months to see what's planned throughout the year. Check it out! | |
Mark your calendars for these upcoming events | |
Open House - Saturday, July 6. 8 AM - 12 PM
Invite friends, family, and potential candidates. They can enjoy the best breakfast west of Reno while they're there!
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Save the Date for the Annual Lodge Picnic on Saturday, Sept 14. Keep an eye out for details, registration and potluck sign ups to follow. | |
On April 30, we had the pleasure of hosting a ribbon cutting with the Folsom Chamber of Commerce. Although we've been around for 170 years, we were finally able cut the ribbon, officially welcoming Natoma 64 as a new business member of the Chamber. We were joined by members of the Chamber, with remarks by representatives from Congressman Kevin Kiley, Assemblyman Josh Hoover, Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost, and Folsom Mayor Mike Kozlowski.
This was also an opportunity to give the group a tour of the lodge facilities and promote it's availability for party and meeting rentals. We developed the flyer below to help support the hall. Please pick up a flyer from the lodge and share it friends, family and other businesses/employers who may be in need of meeting space. We are open for business!
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La Parfaite Union No. 17 degree team. | Attendees of the French Degree exemplification. | |
It was a packed house for the 66th annual Scholarship Awards night! Brother Noel Lukas and the scholarship committee selected 15 graduating students to receive $1,000 scholarships this year. Students were selected based financial need, community and work involvement, and their essays. | |
2024 Natoma Lodge No. 64 Officers | |
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