 Fuquay No. 258 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, one last newsletter before our Annual Communication (Officer Election for 2025). We had a short business meeting last night and the few of us in attendance discussed the upcoming election of Lodge Officers and several expressed their views on what direction the Lodge should take going forward. Most comments were positive and hoping the Charter would continue, and some expressed frustration and felt they had already given their best effort. Nonetheless, now is the time for the membership of Fuquay Lodge to step up and decide what the future will be. If you can support the Lodge in any function come to our next stated and let us know. We need participation, and we need a strong officer corps that will shine the light of Masonry in the Fuquay Varina community. June 2025 would mark the 100th anniversary of the awarding of the Fuquay #258 charter. This is your Lodge, please come out on our Annual Communication November 5th. (Coincidentally, that is also National Election day so the future of both Fuquay Lodge and the country are at stake.) FYI, I post the Minutes of each stated meeting on the Grandview (Grand Lodge) website. If you want to catch up on what has been happening for the last two years, log on the Grandview and check out the minutes. Some of you may not know this is available, but it is there for your benefit/knowledge. Also, if you are rusty on the ritual, don't let that stop you from attending. We will give you a quick refresher and bring up up to speed. Guess I have rambled on long enough. Hope to see you November 5th! Respectfully submitted, Arnold Hodge, Secretary. Phone: (903) 278-7025. Email: pdhodge49@gmail.com. |
Fuquay No. 258 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Greetings Brethren: We had a short stated meeting this week and discussed the events of the Grand Lodge Annual Communication. Apparently there was a good turnout for the Annual in spite of the inclement weather. Most Worshipful Brother Robert W. Rideout is our new Grand Master. Let's wish him a safe and prosperous year in Masonry. Business was cut short however and all the proposed Amendments were held over until next year. Speaking of which, a motion was made and seconded last night to give the evening's charity contribution to the Western North Carolina Hurricane relief. We raised $322 to that cause due to the generous efforts of the members present. Thanks to all who contributed. Again, Worshipful Brother Jay Hansel could not be with us due to health issues so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. After we adjourned, most of us reconvened in the fellowship hall to have an earnest discussion about the future of Fuquay Lodge #258. Participation and growth were the biggest concerns voiced by the attendees. The biggest issue going forward is the election of officers for 2025. The pool is shallow and we need the three prime elected Officers (Master and Wardens) and a Treasurer and Secretary committed to the offices in order to go forward as a Lodge. Our current Treasurer and Secretary have asked to step down due to personal reasons. This will be the most important election of Officers this Lodge has faced. (FYI: June of next year, 2025, Fuquay #258 will be 100-years old if it is still in existence) Per our By-Laws, elections will take place at the first stated meeting in November (November 5th). If we cannot achieve a viable slate of Officers, Fuquay #258 is in danger of closing its doors. That scenario can only end in two ways. First, the Grand Lodge can pull our Charter due to non- or low-participation and all assets and funds go to the Grand Lodge, whereby all the members become "non-affiliated Masons" looking for a new Lodge home. Second, we could consolidate with another Lodge (merge). There are a lot of steps involved with this route, namely finding another Lodge willing to accept our members and notifying our membership of the proposal to merge, and then the inevitable "vote". In this scenario, Lodge assets and membership would go to the gaining Lodge. It was informally decided at the Roundtable discussion to wait and see how the election of 2025 Officers unfolds. Our next (and only) stated meeting before elections is October 15th. Please come out and voice your thoughts, opinions, concerns and support of either continuing or eliminating this historic Lodge. Brethren, the future is in your hands. Respectfully submitted, Arnold Hodge, Secretary. (903 278-7025) or pdhodge49@gmail.com |
Fuquay No. 258 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, my name is Arnold Hodge and am currently the Secretary of Fuquay #258. My wife and I moved to this area two and a half years ago from Arkansas where I am a member of Texarkana #341 where I served a Secretary for eleven years. Fuquay #258 welcomed me to the area and I affiliated almost two years ago. The Secretary at that time had recently stepped down and I was asked to fill in. The members of Fuquay #258 have been warm and gracious and have made me feel at home here in North Carolina. However, due to my short time here I am not familiar with the majority of the Membership of this Lodge as our normal attendance usually consists of the same ten or so "regulars" and a few visitors here and there. This year has been particularly devastating to our Officer corps. WB Jay Hansel, our current Worshipful Master, has been beset with serious health issues relating to his diagnosis for cancer and his treatment journey. Please keep him in your prayers. Our Senior Warden, Major Sean Madden, was reassigned to an Army post in a different area of the country. "Old timers" filling in and our Junior Warden, Bro Alfredo Del Valle, stepping up have made our stated meetings continue to conform to the established Ritual. Kudos to all. At this stated meeting, much discussion was had about the future of Fuquay #258. While the Lodge is on fair financial footing, our presence as a viable asset to the Fuquay Varina community is at a low ebb. We still have a scholarship program, contribute to the food pantries, and donate to the school snack programs. But that is not enough to get our presence known to the general public. November and the election of 2025 Officers is upon us and looking around the room, quite frankly there is not a large cadre of "new blood" to pick from. The consensus of the past officers is that they are always willing to fill in where needed, most are not ready to be retreaded into the chairs. There has been discussion of closing the doors and merging with another Lodge. It was decided that at our next stated meeting, October 1st, we will have a short business meeting and reconvene in the Fellowship Hall to have a roundtable discussion on what the future of Fuquay #258 will be. It is vitally important that as many of our members attend to give inputs and ideas to form a strategic plan for going forward. No one wants the Lodge to fold, but we need everyone's support, ideas and participation to map out a future. Please be at our next stated if at all possible. Respectfully submitted, Arnold Hodge, Secretary #258 |
Fuquay No. 258 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, just a few notes from our stated meeting this week. Please keep WB Jay Hansel and Bro Abram in your thoughts and prayers. We had a good meeting, three visitors and mostly Past Masters manning the chairs. They did a great job!! The treasurer gave his report and it looks like the Lodge may still have a little operating funds by the end of the year. By the way, I attach all our meeting minutes to the Grandview data base under our Lodge so you can go in a see what we cover and who is helping in the chairs. We still need more Brothers to attend and enjoy the fellowship. I know some of us (me included) got out of the habit of regular attendance during the Covid lockdown, that plus family and work take a toll on our time. If you can, please come. If you need a ride let me know. WB Carl Vaughn and Bro Ken Stallings have volunteered to represent the Lodge at the Grand Lodge Annual session the 27-28 of this month. We read and discussed the proposed amendments and got a feel for the Lodge's thoughts. I listed them all in the minutes so please check them out. One of Note: we we in agreement not to support another increase in per capita from $35 to $40 as it was just raised this past year. We did however agree to support a tighter control over GL expenditures. The other proposal we were not in favor of was to require a minimum of two black cubes to reject a membership petition. This is in direct conflict of the Landmark that it only takes one black cube for rejection, which has been in effect since time immemorial (my opinion for sure). Our next stated will be September 17th. Come join us for pizza at 6:30 and meeting at 7:30. Respectfully and Fraternally, Arnold Hodge, Sec'y. #258. (903) 278-7025. |
Fuquay No. 258 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, greeting to all from Fuquay #258. We held our August 20th stated meeting last Tuesday evening. Had a great turnout including our DDGM, WB Eric Greene and WB Bobby Price, Worshipful Master of Holly Springs #115. Bro Alfredo once again filled the East as WB Jay Hansel is still struggling with his chemo treatment. It is very hard for him to maintain enough energy to complete a full day of activity. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Dues notices for those yet to pay their 2024 dues will be sent out next month (only seven still outstanding!). The annual communication of the NC Grand Lodge is coming up on the 27-28 of September. We should decide next stated who will be representing #258 this year, as our three primary officers are basically unable to attend. I am printing up the voting proxy forms now. It has been a tough year officer wise, with WB Jay's illness and Bro Sean Madden being reassigned to a new Army billet in Chicago. Bro Alfredo mentioned it would be a good time to start considering Officer Elections for 2025, which are coming up in November I believe. Sorry I was a week behind getting this out (internet issues at the house) but will be more prompt in September. AS ALWAYS MY BEST TO YOU ALL! HOPE TO SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER!!! Respectfully and Fraternally, Arnold Hodge |
Fuquay No. 258 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, we had our Aug 6th Stated Meeting last night and good turn out despite the weather. WM Pro Tem Alfredo Del Valle presided over the meeting and did a great job. He was assisted by WBs Eddie Rich and Carl Vaughn who served as Wardens Pro Tem. Thanks to WB Vaughn for a super meal. Also we had two young visiting Masons from Holly Springs #115 who helped us fill out our officer positions. They announced that Holly Springs will confer a 2nd Degree next Tuesday evening (Aug 13th) with a meal at 6:30. All are invited to attend. We also had two of our Past Masters, WBs Bryant Welch and Bill Alexander, back in attendance. Always love to see faces and shake hands with Brothers we haven't seen in a while. We had thank you notes from the Masonic Childrens' Home and the Masons and Eastern Star charities for our recent donations. Under Masonic Education, WB Rich gave a talk on the meaning of several words in the First Degree Charge that may need clarification to the new Entered Apprentice. He admonished members to look at the meaning behind some of our vocabulary that may be challenging for newcomers. WB Welch gave a talk on the symbolism of "water" in our Masonic teachings and its importance to all living beings. Please keep our Brothers with health issues in your thoughts and prayers, especially WB Jay Hansel, who is still not 100%. Please come and join us at our next stated on Aug 20th, WB Rich hinted there may be Pizza at 6:30. Come on out and enjoy the fellowship. One of my old mentors used to say, "Ain't it great to be a Mason!" Respectfully and Fraternally, Arnold (903) 278-7025 |
Fuquay No. 258 Grand Lodge Of North Carolina, A.F. & A.M. |
| Brethren, I would like to begin reaching out to our membership each month (or stated meeting) and provide some current events affecting Fuquay #258. Call it a newsletter if you will. We still meet on the first and third Tuesdays of each month, at 7:30 pm. If we have a meal, it will usually be at 6:30. The Lodge needs participation and fellowship to keep the Masonic bond strong within our members. I have only been a member here for two years, having moved to the area from Arkansas where I am still a member. Our regular attendees are a great bunch of Masons and I would love to get to know each and every one of our members. Please come to stated meetings if you can. If you are local and need transportation, let me know. Right now we have a little over 60 members, only a few of which live out of the immediate area. It is easy to get in the habit of missing a meeting here and there, but habits can quickly become the norm and soon we find ourselves distanced from the Fraternity and may even lose sight of the reasons we became Masons in the first place. Please do your best to get back in the habit of regular attendance. Now for a few updates! Our AC unit just got replaced for the Lodge hall is a much cooler place now! We had a great meeting last Tuesday. Our DDGM, WB Eric Greene was in attendance as were visitors from Holly Springs #115 and Neil S. Stewart #556. Most of the talk focused on becoming more involved in community activities as well as visiting our area Lodges as well as supporting them in Degree work. We also discussed the "Rusty Nail" degree, where members who haven't been in awhile may have forgotten some of the work and need a little refresher before the meeting to make them more comfortable attending. The fellowship during the meal is a great place to do this. We are also going to focus more heavily on Masonic Education at our meetings. The Treasurer reported we had donated $293 to the Masonic Home for Children,$263 to Masonic and Eastern Star Foundation, and $566 into the Fuquay Lodge Scholarship Fund. On a sad note, we lost a 50-year member, Bro Gary Levesque, on May 29th. He was a Military Veteran and received his 50-year Masonic Service award in 2022. Bro Levesque was 83. Also keep our Worshipful Master, Bro Jay Hansel in your prayers and thoughts as he under goes chemo and radiation treatments. As well as Bro James Abrams who has been in Hospital. Respectfully and Fraternally, Arnold Hodge, Secretary (903) 278-2025 |
Brethren... Dress code for the DDGM visit will be sports coat only... Best Regards,WM Jay Hansel
Brethren, Just a reminder that Fuquay Lodge 258 will host the DDGM's Official Visit at our Stated Meeting on this Tuesday, March 19th. Meal at 6:30, Lodge opens at 7:30. Additionally, we would like to invite everyone who is available to attend the not only the Stated Meeting, but we will also have a short practice tonight at 7:00 to prepare receiving official visitors as well as opening/closing for our newer officers. We will be sort a few elected officers this meeting due to business and health concerns, so please come out and give us a hand. We would like to make a positive showing for the Grand Line Visitor. Respectfully, Arnold Hodge, Sec'y
Brothers,
I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. The year is winding down and my time in the East is nearing its end. Our new officers will be installed at the first stated in January. But we do have some activities to wrap up the year. Thursday November 30th when the town is doing its tree lighting we will once again be passing out hot chocolate. Come on down and help the Brothers out if you are able. The event starts at 6pm but there will be some Brothers there early setting up.
We are still trying to get details on the parade December 3rd, there was some miscommunication and we missed the time to secure a spot but hopefully we can still get one. I will share another post with details if we are able to get in and march again with the Brothers from Golden Star #150.
We decided to take up a special donation at the next meeting to buy presents for the girls at Eller Cottege. So if you are going to make the next meeting please bring along a little extra or if you are not you can mail in a check or while paying your dues online you can add a little extra and comment that it is for Chirstmas Gifts.
Thats right, I said dues. I appreciate the 4 Brothers who already paid their dues online! You can do so by going to https://nc.grandview.systems and logging in. or you can mail them in or bring to the next meeting. I will not be at the next meeting but our Worshipful Master Elect Jay Hansel will be sitting in the East. I will return for the 2nd stated in December. If I don't see you before then I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate.
Sincerely & Fraternally,
C. Brett Meadors
Master
Fuquay #258
Brothers,
Our annual meeting is coming up on Tuesday. I cannot encourage everyone enough to get out and come that night. We will be electing officers for the 2024 year. Attendance has been up and down over the year. It would be great to have a bunch of Brothers out for the Annual Meeting. We will talk about activties to wrap up the current year with the Parade, Eller Cottage Christmas and likely a Fellowcraft Degree.
Hope to see many faces on Tuesday.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Brett
Brothers,
Brothers,
Next Tuesday (8/15) we will be having our first EA degree in more than 2 years. Our lodge has continued to grow the last couple years through the affiliation of a number of Brothers from other Lodges, including 2 currently in process. And while I think these affiliations speak volumes about the work and fellowship at our lodge there is something special about making new Masons!
I am hoping we can have a lot of faces out to welcome our new Brother to Fuquay #258 and into Freemasonry. We will be having dinner in our recently finished basement. If you haven't been there to see the work that was done, what better time to see it than while enjoying a meal before a degree night.
I would like the officers to wear suit and tie for the evening and others to dress a little nicer for the occasion but would rather have you dressed as you are comfortable than not there at all.
If you plan to join us for dinner please comment below or send me an email so that we can ensure we will have enough food.
I look forward to a wonderful evening.
Sincerely & Fraternally,
C. Brett Meadors
Master
Fuquay #258
859-445-8644
Brothers,
At our last meeting we elected Mr Lapczynski to receive the degrees. This will be our first new candidate in a couple years. We will confer his first degree at our 2nd stated in August on August 15. If you are insteresting in helping please reach out.
The town is having a free ice cream social at the park across the street from the lodge on Sunday July 16th from 4pm - 6pm. I will be out of town but if a few Brothers are available it might be a good idea to have the doors open to show off the completed work in the basement, let folks use the restroom if needed, pass out free waters. We could maybe make up some signs say that the place is available to rent. We would have to decide on prices and would need someone to take point on the rental coordination work as well. I have a phone number that I created for the Lodge, (919) 275-0427. Right now it just forwards to me, but we could setup to forward to others as well.
If you are interested in doing something during the ice cream social or heading up lodge rental coordination please reach out and let me know. Just a reminder we will not have our meeting this week on July 4th. Our next meeting will be July 18th, agian I will be out of town but show up and support Bro Tony as he sits in the East and the other Brothers as they step up.
I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July.
Sincerely & Fraternally,
C Brett Meadors
Master
Forgot to include on the original email. we will also be having our next installment of Movies for Masons on Mondays tonight. Come on out for popcorn and soda while we watch a program and then discuss. It will be a good time
Brothers,
The basement is ready to entertain again! The floor work has been done and bathrooms are reconnected with the new toilets and vanities and just in time. We will be hosting our scholarship winner and his family for dinner tomorrow at 630pm before our meeting. Come on out and congratulate this young man and wish him luck as he continues on his educational journey. See the results of the work done by the hard working members of the lodge. Hopefully we can get this as a kickoff to restart having a good crowd show up for dinners.
WB Carl will be making a homemade meal of spiral ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, potato rolls, salad and sweet tea with pound cake for dessert!
I hope to see a nice crowd for the dinner and hopefully for the meeting as well.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Brett
Brothers,
Some of you may have been wondering where meeting minutes have been... Did you know you can see the minutes in Grand View? When you log into your grandview account you can view the meeting minutes on that site or in the mobile app if you add that to your phone.
We have some fun at the last meeting playing Jeopardy for education. At the meeting coming up Bro. Tony has education and I will share some pictures of some historical artifacts I saw at the Masonic Center in Cincinnati on a recent trip with those interested.
We have our stated coming up next week. In addtion there are some other items to keep in mind the next month.
May 1st I am traveling with Past Master Barham to Widows Son #4 in Raleigh if anyone wants to join us
May 2nd is our 1st stated of May, please join us. I will bring a small dinner, please let me know if you are planning to join so I can bring enough
May 15th is will be the next meeting for Monday Movies for Masons, join us as we what a show about or depicting Freemasonry and then we discuss
May 16th will be our 2nd stated of the month and when we invite our scholarship winner to join us for dinner before the meeting
May 20th is the Pig Jig at the NC state fairgrounds. Come out and get some good bbq or visit with the Brothers cooking all night before for some fellowship
June 3rd will be our 5 hour lecture service. Please join us and let me know if you have any ideas for topics to cover
June 6th we voted to go dark and will not have our 1st stated in June.
I am sure there are things I am missing but as you can see there are no shortage of things to do,
Sincerely & Fraternally,
C. Brett Meadors