December 2023 Trestleboard

From the East

By: Worshipful Steven A. Wolvek, PM

The clock is ticking.....

We have only a few reservations for our upcoming Table Lodge degree. Please take a moment and make your reservations!!

We have a clothing drive set for our December Stated Meeting to help those in need through the Midnight Night Mission. Please do what you can to help those during this holiday season who are less fortunate.

We have a Hiram Ceremony before our December Stated for Brother Robert Kelly. Please make every effort to attend.

Our Conejo Simi Valley Shrine Club gets officially launched 12-30-2023 at 10 a.m. Calling all Shriners Let's build this club up! We will be doing a books-on-tape event in December where we have our youth orders read children's books into a computer for the kids at our Shrine Hospital. You can also bring an unwrapped toy to our December Stated for the Shrine Toy drive if you desire.

Finally, we have our Masonic Holiday party. Please RSVP as soon as possible so we can make sure we have enough of everything for this event. We will be drawing names from a hat for a gift exchange and doing a white elephant gift event. Come join the fun as we close out 2023 together!~

From the South

By: William S. Aitchison

Why do Masons address each other as “Brother”?

The word “Brotherhood” is another word for fraternity.

We consider ourselves Brothers (or Brethren) because we have taken an obligations and endeavor to keep these obligations to become and remain members of this Brotherhood.

In his book, “Encyclopedia of Freemasonry”, Dr. Albert Mackey describes Brotherhood as “any association of men engaged in the same common object, governed by the same rules, and united by an identical interest.” This describes Masonry perfectly: we have the same goals, our actions are regulated in accordance with the same ancient teachings, and we are all interested in serving our individual communities or areas where we live and work.

As Freemasons, we take our fraternal bonds very seriously. When you become a Mason, you become part of a global family, or “Brotherhood” built on similar values.

Fraternally yours,
Brother Bill