From the West

Happy New Year to the brethren and families of Natoma 64! I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season.

The New Year is a time for gratitude and reflection. As for gratitude, I am thankful for many things. First and foremost, my family, without whom I would be a lesser man. They are the inspiration and gift that keeps me going. My wife and children give me hope that I can help to change things and become a little bit better every day.

I am grateful for my masonic family that I have come to know and would like to thank you for the honor of serving as Senior Warden of our lodge. I am grateful for the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of my brother, our new Worshipful Master, Worshipful Joe Nielsen. Joe and I were initiated on the same evening, passed on the same evening, and I was raised one week after him. He has set a fine example for me to follow. Congratulations Worshipful Nielsen!

I am also grateful for our Junior Past Master, Worshipful Kevin Williams who put in extra time to serve his brethren in his capacity as Master and a new father. It would be remiss of me if I did not express my thanks to Nicole Williams for her patience, time, and understanding as a new mother to allow Worshipful Kevin to extend his time in the East. I have enjoyed my time in the South as Junior Warden and am grateful for the support the brethren provided during that time.

I would like to congratulate Brother Noel Lukas on his advancement to his first pillar office! I know that he is excited to serve you in his new position and looks forward to the events and refreshment he will provide for us. I hope that you will give him the same support that you have given me over the last two years.

Reflection allows us to learn from the past and reinforce the tenets we wish to preserve. We can all agree that we hope for a bright future for our lodge and brethren. As part of the duties as Senior Warden, it is my new responsibility to oversee our masonic education. I have had the pleasure of serving as the head Candidate's Coach. It is a very rewarding experience. We are very fortunate that we now have Worshipful Joe Freidson as our head Candidate's Coach. His wealth of knowledge and years of experience in the craft make him extremely suitable for his position.

As you know, no mason stands alone and that is also true for the candidate’s coach. Our new brethren need a coach. It is a unique way for us to further our fellowship and even increase our own masonic education. We have several candidates waiting for initiation and likely a few applications waiting to be balloted on. I would like to invite you to invest a small portion of your time to help our brethren and to improve yourself in masonry by being a Candidate's Coach. Currently, we hold coaching at the lodge on Thursday's from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., after which we have officers training 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Occasionally, some candidates have a difficult time making these sessions and may need your help at different times to learn the work and advance in their degrees.

In case you did not realize it, you are all welcome at all these sessions, even the officers training if it is a degree you have received. The lodge always needs brethren to fill in and most of the positions are simple and fun to participate in. We are more than happy to supply you with the tools you need to coach, all you need is the desire and a little time to serve your newest brothers.

I would like to congratulate my other brothers who have been installed for our next masonic year.

Brother Larry Godbout, our new secretary, mindful of our assets.

Worshipful Wes Minderman, our secretary, without whom we would not remember all things we have done. His duties are mostly conducted out of sight, but so important we cannot do without him unless Worshipful Brian Wegesser is available to sit in his place and keep our minutes.

Brother Pedro Sanchez who will be our Senior Warden and has the responsibility of conducting our candidates on their journey in the lodge. If any of you have had the good fortune to see his writing on Facebook, you know that we have a poet in our lodge. He is a man that expresses his heart quiet eloquently.

Brother Art Walasek, our new Junior Deacon brings us into the lodge, has his part in ceremony, a quest for masonic knowledge, and is a talented production artist who makes our events more animated.

Brother Jeff Joe, our marshal, presents the seriousness of our commitment to the craft and he has a depth of knowledge with his previous journey up the line.

Our Senior Steward, Brother Dale Jordan, Sr. not only prepares our candidates for admission into the lodge but also prepares your refreshments.

Brother Shawn Moncalieri, our Junior Steward, is the strong left arm of admissions, assistant preparation specialist, and clean up organizer. I am sure that both stewards would appreciate any help you are willing to provide to our worthy brothers as they keep you happily fed. After all, “if we meet, we eat”!

Perhaps you will join me the gratitude I feel towards those who have gone before me and follow me, as all have done that have gone this way before. May you reflect on the importance of our Masonic education and give back to those who we are relieved to truly love.

On the Level,



Stuart Stackhouse

Senior Warden

From the South

Brethren and Ladies, Happy New Year,



Having already had our official first stated meeting of the year, it was good to see everyone who could attend the dinner and the meeting. We celebrated Chinese New Year for our dinner this month, welcoming in the year of the Rabbit. The last few years have been difficult on many and we thought it was fitting to celebrate the year of the Rabbit because the sign of the Rabbit is a symbol of longevity, peace, prosperity and 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope.

We also had a very nice intro to the new year with our first lodge breakfast on the 7^th and looking forward to many more in 2023. So please keep those first Saturday's of the month open and come join us. Thank you to the brothers who come in so early and stay late to make these breakfasts happen.

I also hope that you can come in and be part of the annual Soup and Bingo night on Saturday, January 21^st at 5:00 p.m. It is an evening of fun and fellowship and the whole family is invited. There will be a white elephant gift exchange which just adds more enjoyment and humor to the night.

In February we will also have our Sweethearts Luncheon on the 11^th. Truly a lunch you do not want to miss. The menu has Roasted Leg of Lamb El Greco or Chicken Piccata, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Seasonal Vegetables. Dinner will be followed by Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake with French Vanilla Ice Cream, topped with a Grand Marnier Sauce and Whipped Cream. So, make sure you RSVP when the official invite comes out.

Until next month, fraternally and by the Plumb,

Noel Lukas

Junior Warden