From the East

Greetings from the East,

One of our focuses this year is to engage with our community. Coming off the recent period when the lodge was closed and community events were put on hold or discontinued, it is important that we make sure we are participating in community events that we have historically been involved with, in addition to looking for new opportunities to support.

In April, brethren and spouses of Natoma Lodge and our Rainbow girls were able to return to volunteering at the Folsom egg stuffing event (stuffing plastic eggs with goodies) in preparation for the return of the Folsom Parks and Recreation’s Annual Festival of Eggs which had been on hold since the pandemic. Several brothers set up a Natoma Lodge booth providing games and prizes for the children and offering information on masonry and our lodge to the public. I've included a few photos in the photo gallery later in this newsletter.

Another big focus is presenting our lodge to the community. We have been in the area for many years, yet there is a portion of our community that does not know that Natoma Lodge exists, where we are located, what we do, or what we have to offer. I am pleased to share that our next event is our Open House on Wednesday, May 3^rd , from 5:00 -7:00 p.m. and the community is welcome. Hopefully, you have seen the event notice on our Natoma Lodge Facebook page and other local online sites. I encourage you to share the Facebook post with your friends and followers on your social media, attend the event and bring friends and family to mingle with community members.

At our May 4^th stated dinner, we will present scholarships to the winners of the Natoma Lodge 65^th Annual Scholarship program. Please attend and celebrate this occasion with the lodge and the high school seniors who have put in the hard work and will receive their scholarships.

We did not have any degrees in April, but we are looking forward to possibly two 1^st degrees in May.

Don’t forget the lodge breakfast on Saturday, May 6^th from 7:30 - 10:00 a.m. We will be missing some of our kitchen chefs for the breakfast due to their attendance at the Masters and Wardens Retreat. If you can help out with breakfast, we would greatly appreciate it. Please let me know if you can help.

And finally, it is with heavy heart that I share the sad news that two of our beloved brothers are no longer with us. Brother Everett Edward Thorne, PM, passed away on April 20. Brother Thorne was the Worshipful Master of our Lodge in 1973 and achieved 50 years of Masonry in 2017. A Celebration of Life will be held for him on May 13, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. at Ben Ali Shrine, 3262 Marysville Blvd., Sacramento. Brother Herman Dwight Graham passed on April 24. Brother Graham earned the Golden Veteran Award in 2009 and the prestigious Hiram Award in 2013.

Please have a great May. Feel free to contact me, 916-990-1469.

From the West

May is a month that we regard as the Celebration of Public Schools. How did it come to be? Why is it important, what does Natoma Lodge 64 do to support it, and what is our history of support?

Freemasons have a long tradition of supporting education and it is part of our core values. Throughout history, we have supported our communities with the goal of enriching, encouraging and rewarding students’ public education. As far back as 1749, Grand Master Benjamin Franklin started the Publick Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the early 1900's, Brother John A. Sewett of Phoenix Lodge 144 in San Francisco and superintendent of public schools in California helped create uniform textbooks and is considered the father of California public instruction. Most recently, the Grand Lodge of California partnered with national nonprofit Raising a Reader, whose focus is encouraging families with children in K - 2nd grades to read as a family and provides books for them to read.

In September of 1920, Grand Master Charles A. Adams declared every California Lodge would have a discussion regarding the “question of public schools." Our fraternity’s involvement created a wave of similar interest from Masonic jurisdictions across the country and many community groups as well. Public Schools Week became common among Masonic jurisdictions across the nation. It became so popular that many communities adopted it even without masonic involvement. With the growth of Parent-Teacher organizations and other community groups driving Public Schools Week, the Grand Lodge shifted the responsibility to the California Masonic Foundation. The Foundation has been administering scholarships and the Masonic Financial Assistance program was created in the 1990s to provide financial aid to students. The next shift was the creation of the Student Assistance Program in partnership with Raising a Reader in 2011 which has been highly successful and continues today.

Natoma Lodge 64 is celebrating our 65^th annual observance of the Celebration of Public Schools with our scholarship program. Since 1958, under the initial guidance of Worshipful Ed Munger, PM, and Brother Paul Tibbens, we continue to recognize students from our local high schools with scholarships to graduating seniors attending two to four year post-secondary schools. This year, with Grand Master Randy Brill’s recognition of the necessity to encourage technical and trade education, we made a point of adding vocational schools on the application. As brothers of Natoma lodge, we can be proud of the 65 years of support we have provided to students graduating from our local high schools, supporting the Raising a Reader program in our local primary schools and with the continued dedication of our lodge to the education of our local students.

If you would like to be involved in the 2024 Scholarship program, please contact me.

Fraternally and on the Level,

Stuart Stackhouse

Senior Warden

From the South

Welcome to May! The heat is on, but don’t let that stop you from joining us for events throughout the month. We are starting off the month with our Annual Open House on the 3^rd from 5:00 -7:00 p.m. Please invite anyone who may be interested in checking out the lodge, has questions about masonry, or may be in need of renting the lodge dining areas for a special event. If there are any brothers interested in helping at the Open House, please let Brother Stackhouse know. We will have light refreshments and drinks provided.

On the 4^th we have our monthly Stated dinner and meeting along with our Scholarship night. Make sure you come out and celebrate with us and the winners of this year’s scholarships. We have a number of legacy recipients as well, so let’s show them our support and enjoy a nice dinner from Sutter Street Taqueria.

Saturday, May 6^th we'll have our monthly breakfast from 7:30 - 10:00 a.m. At the same time, that weekend there is the Masters and Wardens retreat which overlaps with our monthly breakfast. If you are willing to help with the breakfast to fill some vacancies while we are out that would be amazing. Either way though, you should still show up for the best breakfast this side of Reno, all for a small $5 donation. Come and get the bacon!!!

During the month, we may be setting up a degree or two, so stay tuned for that and if you can be a supportive sideliner in helping welcome new brothers, it sure makes for a memorable experience.

Last and certainly not least, on Saturday May 20^th from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m., we will be having a Hawaiian Luau pig roast, so join us in your Hawaiian best and sunblock! Brother Jeff Joe and myself will be roasting a pig for everyone’s enjoyment, along with some other goodies. This will be open to the 404^th Masonic District and it will also give us a chance to mingle with some brothers and their families from other lodges as well. This will most certainly be a lot of fun. Watch your emails for the RSVP!

Until next month, fraternally and By the Plumb,

Noel Lukas

Junior Warden

From the Northeast Corner

Greetings Brethren,

Did you know that for every application for degree that a Lodge receives, the Master selects a committee of three Master Masons to investigate the candidate personally? None of the committee members are aware of who else has been selected to review the candidate and and each are charged with independently determining if the candidate is worthy of membership. This is the most important task in Masonry. For if the right questions are not asked or if the answers are not truthful, then the Lodge is not voting properly and, if elected, the candidate will prove to be unsatisfactory. The Grand Lodge provides a guide which covers many areas. This is a good start.

However, the first question that should be asked is, "Is this prospect interested in Masonry or does he really want to be a Mason?" Having an interest in Masonry is about curiosity and wanting to find out just what our fraternity is all about. Wanting to be a Mason is about involvement in the Lodge and a willingness to learn and work. This means he will need to know that there is a requirement for him to memorize ritual necessary for advancement.  There is the need to find what expectations the prospect has, but more important is the need to let him know that the Lodge also has the expectation that he is ready, willing, and able to take on the duties and responsibilities as well as the rights and benefits.

If the prospect is looking for business contacts and networking, I would suggest the Rotary Club. They are dedicated to bringing together business professionals to serve their communities. If he is looking for community service and charity fund raising, I would suggest the Lions Club.  If he is looking for a Social Club where everyone is a pal, then I would suggest the Elks Lodge.  But, if the prospect is looking for dedication, ritual, education, community, and self-discipline with the world's oldest Fraternity, then being a Mason is going to be the right choice.

Finally, it is absolutely necessary that the significant other and family understand and agree that being a Mason requires time away from the family. Without their agreement, the future of this prospect will be difficult.

Just remember that the prospect has “asked” to be a Mason. It’s up to you to find out if he is someone you can call Brother.

Fraternally Yours,

Joe Freidson P.M.

Head Candidates Coach

From Natoma Rainbow Assembly #90

Hello from Rainbow!

Natoma Rainbow is springing into action in April and May! 

On April 16^th , the Assembly held a membership event at Top Golf with Rainbow Dad Cecil Jaquess hosting. The event was a hole in one with two new applications for membership. If you know a young girl that might be interested in Rainbow please have them contact the Mother Advisor Rhiannon Dunn at r.kulhavy214@gmail.com.

On May 1^st , we celebrated our new Grand Faith Emma Warney at Homecoming night. Pictures will be included in next month’s edition.

May 4^th is the Annual Celebration of Public Schools Hosted by Natoma Lodge No. 64. Scholarships will be presented by Worshipful Joe Nielson at the celebration banquet that evening. Rainbow will be in service to help with dinner and clean up.

Mark your calendars and join us at the following two events in May! 

Please RSVP to the Mother's Day Brunch:

natoma90caiorg@gmail.com or (916) 214-3990