Noah Lodge #357 Trestleboard

Greetings Brothers,

I hope you are all well and happy. We have had a good start to year and looking forward to the exciting things we are planning for the near future. The Past Masters Night featured a great meal prepared by one of our M.M. candidates, and three brothers who received 25 year, 50 year, and 60 year awards. Boy what night, I hope you didn't miss it.

We have a booth at the Lee County Fair an encourage you to stop by and say "howdy". And on March 21 we will have a "Called" meeting for the purpose of conferring the Master Mason degree on four (4) Fellow crafts. Although most of all the speaking parts have been taken, we could use some brothers in the NON speaking parts, so please call one of the officers to let us know. We really want to do as many of the parts of the degree as we can within our own lodge. Can you remember when you were raised? How enjoyable it was? We will be having practices for the degree on March 1, 8, 14. So if you can and will participate, we would enjoy having you and your experiences.

Our first BBQ of the year will be on March 12. Donation will be $7.00, but the fellowship and enjoyment will again be FREE. I'll be looking forward to seeing you.

Remember we can only increase our numbers and survive by bringing in new members. You may know someone who would make a good Mason, who would only need to know to become one.

I pray that you all have a good day and stay well till we meet again.

Larry Newton,
Worshipful Master

My Brothers,

February is almost gone and March now approaches us rapidly. We have four Brothers who are going through the 3rd degree of a Master Mason. You well know if you have been around long enough that it takes quite a few Brothers to put on this degree. I am calling out to you to come and join your Brothers in putting on this degree. We have most of the speaking parts taken care of. We are still in need of SS, JS, JD , 9 more Fellowcrafts and a Lecturer for the 3rd degree. We are hoping to confer the degree on or before March 21,2011 (tentative date). Please contact the Master of the Lodge, Larry Newton or one of the other officer if you would like to assist in the degree work, come and fumble through it with us and support your new soon to be raised Brothers.

February is SW Florida Fair time and Noah 357 is putting together a booth at the Fair. The fair will be from Feb 25, 2011 through March 6, 2011. To be a part of the booth is easy, all you have to do is 1) show up 2) find the booth in the main Civic center 3) sit down 4) answer any questions on Masonry you may be asked. Easy as pie. Just think of the Brothers you might get to see just sitting there promoting Masonry.

March 12, 2011, is our first Bar-B-Que of the year. Lots of tickets out for sale now, if you have none or looking for some to sell get hold of John Dully or one of the Officers to purchase some or get some to sell. We will also have a Spaghetti dinner coming up on March 26, 2011. One of our soon to be raised Brothers, Bro Sabo will be heading up the spaghetti dinner tickets soon to come. These dinners not only support our Lodge but help us to support our community in the future also.

The Worshipful Master Larry Newton also has a special dinner planned for February 28, 2011 inviting all Past Masters, this will be nice. Show up and support your Past Masters as they have supported you in the past.

Thats all folks.

Fraternally yours

WB Lawrence Tomlinson,
Senior Warden

Brethren,

To See One Ask One?

�To Be One Ask One� is a fabulous description of the process of becoming a mason and quite a catchy phrase to boot. While there are many of us out there ready to help quench the thirst for knowledge of the uninitiated, we need to increase our visibility so that those with interest can recognize our availability.

We can do this in many ways but I believe chiefly among them is to start talking about the lodge in our daily interactions. We also need to start talking to each other about masonry. I occasionally come across a Brother that I have not seen in awhile, eventually one or the other of us will ask "have you been to lodge recently?"

In my case for a long time the answer was no, followed by some reason why I hadn't made it there, usually followed by the same response from the other brother, then we would change the subject.

Maybe we need another slogan to accompany the aforementioned as it relates to brothers whom we have not seen in lodge for awhile.

Perhaps we should make an effort to call on a few old friends and lodge brothers personally and ask them to come to lodge with us, and in the end "to see one ask one" may be the way we increase attendance and get people excited about coming back regularly again.

Fraternally yours

Br. James Hamilton,
Junior Warden

Brothers,

There are still several Brothers who have not paid their Dues.

If unable to pay, please call the Lodge (239-995-1657) or better yet, COME TO THE MEETING & see how we can help. The new Master has set some good goals to reach this year - come out and help.

Fraternally,
Jerry Keeton,
Secretary

My Brothers,

This is the time of year when some churches and communities have a trash and treasure sale. When something one person thinks is good for nothing becomes a treasure for someone else. Do you sometimes feel you are not of value any more? Let me assure you, you are a treasure and a great value to God and will always be so.

Do you feel you are not a value to freemasonry and Noah Lodge? Yes you are. We value you as a brother and if you come to Lodge on the second and fourth Mondays we will have the opportunity to show you how important you are to us.

Noah Lodge has a new spirit and will soon welcome four New Brothers into the Lodge, come and help us welcome them and enjoy the fellowship with us.

May God Bless you every day and in every way.

John McKinney
Chaplain
May God Bless you every day and in every way.