Sword & Trowel November 2019 Volume 7 No. 06 Page 1€¦ · Grand Council of Cryptic Masons of...

Sword & Trowel November 2019 Volume 7 No. 06


Table of Contents ..... 2 Vision Statement ..... 3 Vietnam Veterans ..... 4

Thanksgiving Message ............................. 5 Scholarships ..... 5 Editor’s Thoughts ..... 6

Copied Comment from Auburn Newsletter 6 Note: Grand Chapter Grand Lecturer ...... 6 Note: Southwest Conference .................... 6

Secretary/Recorder Essentials ..... 7 Contacts ..... 8

Illustrious Grand Master Cryptic Masons: 8 Grand Secretary/Recorder: ..................... 8 Assistant Secretary/Recorder: ................. 8 Website: ........ ......................................... 8 Officers: Grand Council Cryptic Masons California 9

Happenings in our State & Beyond ..... 10 Grand Sessions ....................................... 10 Grand York Rite Sessions Reservation Form 11 San Diego ...... ......................................... 13 Sacramento York Rite Reception in Pictures 15 Stockton York Rite Reception in Pictures 23

Table of Contents


Vision Statement


Grand Council of Cryptic Masons of California Eduardo Estrada, Grand Master of Cryptic Masons-California

Dear Companions All,

The month of November was action packed with fellowship and celebration as expected. The following Councils hosted Grand Receptions: Redwood Empire #46, Sacramento #1, Sierra Nevada #13, and Marysville #3. Natasha and I appreciate the outpouring of support and camaraderie, and we will always cherish these visits. However, I am saddened about having missed Redwood Empire’s reception. At 2:00 a.m., on the day we were to travel to Sebastopol, I was abruptly awakened by an excruciating pain in my right foot. I was not able to apply any pressure that day, and the pain lingered for about a week. That morning I visited the Urgent Care facility at our local Kaiser Hospital, and the diagnosis was tentatively a case of “Gout.” I protested that I did not fit the dietary template for gout, so the doctor revised his diagnosis to “Pseudo-Gout,” and he suggested that I include more avocadoes in my diet.

Being a Vietnam Era veteran, I was planning on giving a shout-out in this article to all of our veterans and to include a little background on the founding of this special holiday. Coincidentally, while reading the latest issue of the Knight Templar magazine, I came across an article written by our very own Grand Commander, William “Bill” McBroome. Here is an excerpt from his article:

“World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. However, the fighting ended about seven months before that when the Allies and Germany put into effect an armistice on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, was largely considered the end of “the war to end all wars” and was dubbed Armistice Day. In 1926, Congress officially recognized it as the end of the war, and in 1938, it became an official holiday, primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I. But then World War II and the Korean War happened, so on June 1, 1954, at the urging of veterans service organizations, Congress amended the commemoration yet again by changing the word

“armistice” to “veterans” so the day would honor American veterans of all wars.”

Veterans contribute to American society in many ways and not just during their time in active duty. Throughout our history, military service members have put on their uniforms to protect the values and liberties that this nation was built on. But that doesn’t stop once the uniform comes off and their time in active duty has ended. Veterans take the lessons they have learned and the experiences they have gained and continue their service to our nation by strengthening our communities. They become our nation’s leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, and Masons. Veterans are the most active volunteers working to improve communities across our country. Service goes beyond the uniform. This Veteran’s Day, we honor the men and women who have worn their uniform and those who continue to serve our country. Also, keep in mind that our Vietnam Veterans did not come home to a ticker tape parade. Please reach out to them in particular and thank them for their service.

Lastly, Natasha and I wish you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving. Wishing you the gift of faith, the blessing of hope, and the expression of charity! Although the Thanksgiving holiday only comes once a year, we should always be thankful for what we have, for the family we love, the friends we cherish, and for the blessings that will come. Happy Thanksgiving!

And, don’t forget my three Ps: Participation, Purposefulness, and Passion, and that masonic families that play together, stay together.

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Eduardo Estrada Grand Master Cryptic Masons of California [email protected]

Vietnam Veterans


Thanksgiving Message

Thanksgiving message from Eduardo Estrada-MIGMCA

When we say Thanksgiving, what comes to mind? Festive foods, football games and fun with

family and friends? All those things are spot on—and are always the fan favorites. But, Thanksgiving is also a good time to consider what we are grateful for in our lives. In fact, it’s just

the push we need to make gratitude a more regular practice.

Why gratitude, you ask? Practicing gratitude has many benefits that can positively impact your emotions, social life, personality, career and health.

Numerous studies reveal that emotionally, a regular practice of gratitude can improve happiness and mental well-being and increase self-esteem. Social benefits can include improving one’s relationships and increasing social support. Gratitude can boost optimism, generosity and

spirituality. For our careers, gratitude can support us in helping to find our sense of purpose, become better managers and reduce work-related stress. Lastly, our health can see benefits

such as improved sleep, reduced blood pressure and improvement of overall physical well-being.

I believe that the key to happiness is to practice gratitude on a daily basis. At this moment Natasha and I are thinking of all of you and how grateful we feel that you all are part of our life.

We wish you a happy Thanksgiving filled with warmth, gratitude, and happiness.

Companions, your children, grandchildren, & for some, great-grandchildren may receive financial help for

attending school. After opening up Scholarship Center website, have them go to bottom of page & find the

Scholarship Manual in (PDF format – 450KB) to download.

There they will find instructions for filling out the forms.

This is the link which will take you to the public Grand Lodge web page on scholarships. All the information

you need should be right there. This is a complete manual that you can download that talk about all of the

scholarships available from the California Masonic Foundation as well as the Scottish Rite, York Rite,

Eastern Star, High Twelve, DeMolay, Job’s Daughters, & Rainbow for Girls.

Scholarships

http://www.freemason.org/scholarshipCenter/index.htm


This month is Veteran’s Day, 11th Month, 11th Day, 11th hour and everyone has a story. Let’s hear your’ s & we will publish in December.

Those unfortunate Souls to have been associated with my bloodline, have fought in almost every War the United States have been involved, including Vietnam and our recent Endless Wars.

I am a Vietnam Veteran but usually do not talk about it since I never set foot in Vietnam but some of my brothers did fight in Vietnam.

Brother John came home with a Bronze Star; James was in Cambodia when President Nixon stated we do not have Troops in Cambodia and Robert decided to have his name engraved on the Vietnam Memorial Wall at the age of 19.

My Father fought in World War II up through Sicily, I believe, he never talked about the War.

Yes, I am an immigrant, not over the border but on a ship. Zachary Wade, settled on Kent Island, Maryland on the Chesapeake near the Eastern shore as a member of William Claiborne’s Party, sometime prior to April, 1647.

My Grandfather, William Jody Wade Draft Card for World War I World War 1 Draft Registration Card:

Publication Number M1509.

I know this is short, especially for me, but let’s hear from you, what about your experiences, your family experiences, even those unfortunate Souls related to you.

Let’s make December Issue of Sword and Trowel a book.

Copied Comment from Auburn Newsletter Your newly combined Royal Arch chapter is making big plans for 2020. We will continue our tradition of conferring the Mark Master, Past Master, and Most Excellent Master degrees ourselves, and begin the planning process for being able to also confer the Royal Arch Degree in our chapter. There was a time, in the not too distant past, when our chapter routinely conferred all four of the degrees on our candidates. Of course, we often had help from neighboring chapters to cover for some officers who could not be present, and we often had a “visiting companion” confer the impressive, but lengthy part of the Principal Sojourner. But we conferred all of the degrees in our own chapter room, and the commitment to do so was a part of being a Royal Arch Mason not all that long ago.

Our chapter continues to support and participate in our York Rite festivals, and we will continue that tradition as well. But we also want to be able to confer the degrees in our own “home” at Auburn. If you have an interest in participating in this project, or would like to learn one of the parts in any of our degrees, please see one of the officers of your chapter, or make it known at one of our meetings. Royal Arch Masonry has a long and proud history, and we want to continue that tradition as we also continue to grow in strength. A good place to start is to make a commitment to yourself to come out to our chapter meetings. We meet the Second Monday of each month, and you will be most welcome to attend!

Note: Grand Chapter Grand Lecturer As we enter the election and qualification season, I congratulate the new and returning Officers on their election! The qualification questions will be available at the end of this week for your

education and to help prepare you for next year! The six-man opening is done and is available

from your ritual staff for your use as needed! We are still finishing up the changes for the reprint of the ritual book and that will be available a bit later this month from the Grand

Secretary’s Office. There is also a lot of work going on to review and upgrade the Manual of Ceremonies as well! It’s Great to be involved in these exciting times for our Craft! Keep pushing

for the Greater Good of our Craft and the advancement of more Light in Masonry!! All the Best

Your Most Humble Grand Lecturer – Steve

Note: Southwest Conference I (Leland Routt, GHP) just finished the Southwest Department Conference in Las Vegas along with

our Companions from the Council and the officers from our Grand Commandery. It was an

opportunity to trade ideas and information with our counterparts from the other states in our department in one location. Our Grand Secretary, Grand Scribe and Grand Lecturer and two

PGHPs were there with me and I believe we had a successful conference

Editor’s Thoughts


Forms and Documents you will need are located at the Grand York Rite website: www.yorkriteofcalifornia.org.

Scroll down and click on "York Rite Forms and Documents. “Then click on the appropriate logo. A window opens

where you enter the userid, which is "cagyr" and the password, which is "brio"

Scroll down to Officers Manual, which has information for the Secretary, and print that out. Many concepts in the

Grand Chapter manual are relevant to the Councils and Commanderies. Priorities are as follows:

1. Dues Collection: You should send out dues notices no later than October, with payments from members due by

December 31st.

2. Membership control: Especially important is the very last item, “Royal Arch Monthly Report.” This is relevant to

you as a Secretary/Recorder if you do not yet have a userid for access to MMS – Masonic Membership Solutions. If

you fill the paper report out each month, whenever you encounter changes to the membership, you will find it much

easier at the end of the year to produce the year-end report, which is used to compute the amount of per capita the

Chapter needs to pay. That payment is due by Jan 15th each year. Important changes to your membership include

new members, demits, remits and deaths. Maintain e-mail addresses for members and you can easily then forward

the monthly newsletter, The WORKMAN & Sword and Trowel, to them.

3. Do not cavalierly suspend members for non-payment of dues. There is a Constitutional process that should be

followed rigorously in order that members, who may have moved and not received your dues notice, are treated

fairly. See the following sections of the relevant Constitution in order to learn about this process:

Chapter: Section 201 in the Constitution at

http://www.yorkriteusa.org/cagyr/forms/Chapter/ROYAL%20ARCH%20Constitution%202018%20Rev1.pdf

Council: See Section 30-10 in the Constitution at

http://www.yorkriteusa.org/cagyr/forms/Council/Grand%20Council%20Constitution%202018%20Rev1.pdf

Commandery: See Section 347 in the Constitution at

http://www.yorkriteusa.org/cagyr/forms/Commandery/GRAND%20COMMANDERY%20Constitution%202018%20

Rev1.pdf

4. Per Capita: Per Capita payment, due each Jan 15th, does not require action by the Chapter to be paid. You will

need good, up-to-date membership data in order to compute the end-of-year number of active members that is

crucial to computing your per capita payment. Without good data you will most likely overpay your per capita

requirement. It is sensible to begin your process near the end of the CY, as soon as possible. It is also sensible, if

you have access to the Grand Lodge database, to check each member to see if they are still alive. But most

important is getting a userid to utilize MMS.

5. Insurance: Insurance payment, due each July 15th, does not require action by the Chapter, Council or

Commandery to be paid. You will be billed for the payment by the Grand Secretary-Recorder.

6. Lodge Book of Marks: Maintain this up-to-date, or perhaps arrange for a PHP to take on the responsibility of

maintaining.

7. Minutes: Take good minutes, but don’t over-do it by trying to capture everything that is said. Focus on having a clear representation of motions made and the vote count by which they passed or failed. In addition to keeping

petitions in a separate file, it is good practice to replicate the basic petitioner information in the minutes. It is also a

good practice to keep the names of attendees at each meeting in the minutes. If conferring a degree, keep a copy of

the cast members and the candidate(s).

8. Grand Sessions: Before April meeting, remind Dais officers they are responsible to attend, and arrange a stipend

if your Chapter, Council or Commandery can afford it. Remind members who expect to attend to be sure to take their dues cards. If Dais Officers of Chapter and Council cannot attend, they may issue a proxy, or they may elect a

representative. This is true also for Commanderies, whose members cannot issue proxies. Appropriate forms can be

obtained on Grand York Rite website: Scroll to "Elected Representative and Proxy Credentials."

9. Order of High Priesthood – Be sure the current HP and PHPs know they are eligible to receive this Order. In fact,

it is a Constitutional requirement! Share the petition with them and send to the Grand Secretary. This requirement does not appear to be true for the Thrice Illustrious Master Degree or the Past Commander’s Association. Petitions

for all three bodies are available at the secure website.

Secretary/Recorder Essentials


Illustrious Grand Master Cryptic Masons: Most Illustrious Companion, Eduardo Estrada, KYGCH & Natasha Grand Master Grand Council Cryptic Masons Omega Council No. 11

Grand Secretary/Recorder: Philip Hardiman, OSV, KYGCH, PGHP Grand Secretary Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons California, Grand Recorder, Grand Council Cryptic Masons California, & Grand Recorder, Grand Commandery Knights Templar California 1123 J Street Sacramento, CA 95814 E-mail: [email protected]

Assistant Secretary/Recorder: Thomas Krummell, KCT, KYCH 1123 J Street Sacramento, CA 95814 e-mail: [email protected]

Website:

Grand York Rite of California

Note: Hyperlinks or links to other pages or web sites are prevalent throughout the document.

Contacts

mailto:[email protected]


http://www.yorkriteofcalifornia.org/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Grand.York.Rite.of.California/


Officers: Grand Council Cryptic Masons California

Most Illustrious Companion

Eduardo Estrada, KYGCH & Natasha

Grand Master Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Omega Council No. 11

Right Illustrious Companion Robert A. Morrison, KYCH, & Lady Pauline

Deputy Grand Master Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Butte Council No. 50

Right Illustrious Companion Peter G. Champion, KYCH, & Lady Janice Grand Principle Conductor of the Work Grand Council Cryptic Masons San Luis Obispo Council No. 38

Most Illustrious Companion Robert Whitfield, KCT, KYGCH, MIPGM, Columbian Medal & Lady Genie

Grand Treasurer Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Oakland Council No. 12

Right Illustrious Companion Philip Hardiman, KYGCH, PGHP, & Lady Nancy Grand Recorder Grand Council Cryptic Masons Sacramento Council No. 1

Right Illustrious Companion K. Mark Harris, KYCH

Grand Director of Ritual Grand Council Cryptic Masons


Right Illustrious Companion Thomas A. Krummell KCT, KYCH, & Lady Marcia Assistant Grand Recorder Grand Council Cryptic Masons Gateway Council No. 13

Right Illustrious Companion Jonathan H. Prestage KYCH & Lady Hanna K

Grand Chaplain (North) Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Sword and Trowel Council No. 65

Right Illustrious Companion Eric Bertolli Grand Chaplain (South) Grand Council Cryptic Masons Omega Council No. 11

Right Illustrious Companion Guy M. Chalmers, KYCH, & Lady Jeanne

Grand Captain of the Guard Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Redwood Empire Council No. 46

Right Illustrious Companion Michael T. Sherman, KYCH Grand Conductor of the Council Grand Council Cryptic Masons Helix Council No. 58

Right Illustrious Companion Jeffrey A. White, KYCH & Lady Lisa

Grand Steward Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Pacific Council No. 37

Right Illustrious Companion Andrew B. Pippin, KYCH, & Lady Juli Grand Sentinel Grand Council Cryptic Masons Pacific Council No. 37

Right Illustrious Companion James M. Sunseri, KYCH

Grand Orator Grand Council Cryptic Masons Orange County Council No. 14

Right Illustrious Companion William J. Miklos III, KYCH & Lady Angelica

Grand Marshal (North) Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Amador Council No. 31

Right Illustrious Companion Michael Miller, & Lady Martha Grand Marshal (South) Grand Council Cryptic Masons Alpha Council No. 39

Right Illustrious Companion K. Mark Harris, KYCH

Grand Soloist Grand Council Cryptic Masons


Right Illustrious Companion Ron Presser, & Lady Kathleen T (Kate) Grand Bible Bearer Grand Council Cryptic Masons Omega Council No. 11

Right Illustrious Companion Bruce Ewald, KYCH, & Lady Ruth

Grand Standard Bearer Grand Council Cryptic Masons

Omega Council No. 11

Right Illustrious Companion Merrick R. Hamer Grand Organist Grand Council Cryptic Masons Alpha Council No. 39





mailto:sec-rec@yorkriteof%20california.org


mailto:assistant-sec-rec@yorkriteof%20california.org















Grand Sessions

GRAND SESSIONS 2020

Dates for the 2020 California Grand York Rite

Monday, May 4, 2020 – Grand Commandery

Tuesday, May 5, 2020 – Grand Chapter

Wednesday, May 6, 2020 – Grand Council

Happenings in our State & Beyond


Grand York Rite Sessions Reservation Form


San Diego

HORNBLOWER CRUISE

Having attended in the past, I wanted to personally invite you to our 7th Annual Holiday Dinner Cruise. The cruise will be on November 16th this year.

Your meal choices are Whiskey Braised Short Ribs, Oven Roasted Scottish Salmon, or Elmer's Best Roasted Vegetable Timpano. Attached is the flier which lists pricing for this year and further details.

When you RSVP, please include your name, how many are in your party, and what each person would like to eat in your party. Please remember that your check is your reservation. All checks need to be received by 30 October.

Companion and Sir Knight Austin Swank

Recorder, San Diego Commandery #25


Sacramento York Rite Reception in Pictures


Stockton York Rite Reception in Pictures

Sword & Trowel November 2019 Volume 7 No. 06 Page 1€¦ · Grand Council of Cryptic Masons of...

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