"The Surveyor": March/April 2007

Drums, gongs & cymbals provide music for the lion dance.Lions share the “greens.”

Lions fight for “greens.”

Little Buddha “Mark Byaliy” rides the fighting lion.

THE SURVEYORGeorge Washington 1776 Lodge #337 F&AM Trestle Board March/April 2007

Chinese New YearChinese New YearChinese New YearChinese New Year

at McKinley Lodge!at McKinley Lodge!at McKinley Lodge!at McKinley Lodge!--Story Page 5

George Washington 1776 Lodge #337 F&AM Trestle Board March/April 20072

MESSAGE FROM THE EASTOur Many Points of Fellowship

There are countless electronic"communities" springing up on the Internetwhich are based on everything from a commoninterest in collecting coins to those who areguessing what Harry Potter will do in the nextbook. These groups create loose ties and atemporary fellowship, but they have no lastingdepth. They are like a fog that forms for a timeand then dissipates into nothing.

But a lodge of brothers is not like that. Of course, we share the common interest ofbettering ourselves, but we form lasting bondsthrough meeting together and through many waysand points of fellowship. When we celebrate in abrother's triumph or sorrow, we act more like afamily would than a mere fellow hobbyist.

Masonry symbolizes the many forms offellowship by parts of a human body such as foot,knee, breast, back, and mouth to ear.

We may greet one another on foot, cometo their assistance, and serve them. If thedistance is longer than a walk, we may take a busor drive a car; nevertheless, we still practice aform of fellowship on foot.

The knee symbolizes prayer. Our prayersare for our family, neighbors, and our Country. Prayer can be viewed as a form of fellowship.We are laboring to support our brothers andothers in prayer. Our petitions to the GrandArchitect for our brother's welfare demonstratetrue brotherly love and fellowship.

The breast has historically been seen asthe repository of important information, muchlike we would think of the mind today.Scriptures tells of Mary holding all these things,"in her heart." Likewise, whatever we share withour brothers in confidence, we know that it isguarded from improper use, whether it is a secretjoy, a secret ambition, or even a secret of whichwe may be ashamed. A faithful breast willdemonstrate fellowship to a brother.

The back symbolizes giving aid to ourbrothers, helping them if they struggle. Thosewho trip and fall can well use our assistance toget them back on their feet, lifting them off ofthe ground by supporting their back. We aredemonstrating that they are not alone as we offerour strength in their recovery.

Mouth to ear represents giving goodcounsel to our friend and brother. Truefellowship offers words of encouragement - an,"Atta-boy you did great!" - as well as words ofcounsel to avoid swaying from the plumb line ofright actions.

We have many opportunities to explorethe symbols of fellowship in March and April. Come to the District 12 meeting in the morningof March 3, attend an FC degree on March 6, orwork through the section in MM degree onMarch 20 at the School of Instruction - all takingplace in our lodge. Come and join in the manypoints of fellowship this spring.

George Washington 1776 Lodge #337 F&AM Trestle Board March/April 2007 3

Dinner Club in April

The next Dinner Clubwill be March 30th at the Elks Club,55th and Good Hope. The next oneafter that is April 27th at theBavarian Inn. Drinks at 6pmfollowed by dinner and livelyconversation.

All are welcome at Dinner Clubincluding ladies, friends and family. Please RSVP by the Thursday beforeeach Dinner Club meeting. DickParadowski at 262-782-8835.

From the Secretary’s Desk

Brethren,

Update on Dues: Dues are comingin at a good rate. Thank you to allwho have sent them in. We have agood percentage of members who have paid. If youhave not, please send them in now! Our Per CapitaTax was due to the Grand Lodge in February.

I am your secretary. If there is anything I can do foryou, from reporting sickness and distress to providinginformation about the lodge, please call or write.

Fraternally,David Haase, PMSecretary

Kenwood Council #34,

R&SM

Companions:

We had a good turn out for our joint Installation of Officerswith Kenwood/North Shore Chapter #90, RAM on January11, 2007. Thanks again to Companions David Haase andRobert Horton for their hard work in organizing the event.It is quite possible we will repeat it next year.

As we suffer through the cold winter months, keep in mindthat spring is around the corner. Warmer days areapproaching and with them the new life nature brings to theworld. We will be a part of that new life as we plan thefuture of Kenwood Council.

Our Stated Assembly in April will take place on Thursdaythe 12th at 7:30 p.m. We will continue our discussions onhow to increase our membership and what is necessary toincrease the participation of the existing membership. Yourinput is very important. Please mark your calendars andparticipate in the decisions that will affect the future of yourCouncil.

Remember, there is no Stated Assembly in March.

Zealously yours,Brian J. Hudy, PMIGMThrice Illustrious Master(414) 481-7823

Kenwood North Shore Chapter #90 R.A.M.Kenwood North Shore Chapter #90 R.A.M.Kenwood North Shore Chapter #90 R.A.M.Kenwood North Shore Chapter #90 R.A.M.

Companions,

Thank you to all the Brotherswho supported our JointInstallation on January 11,2007. The fellowship was great. Our next meetingswill be March 8th and May 10th. Please mark yourcalendars. We start at 7:30 pm. Come and Join us. If I can be any help to you please call.

David Haase, H.P.414-964-4080


Chris Bell flanked by his Grandfather Br Walt Smith and WM Dick Marcus

Noteworthy NewsNoteworthy NewsNoteworthy NewsNoteworthy News

� On Tuesday, January 16,Chris Bell was initiated as anEntered Apprentice at GW 1776Lodge. Also present were guestsMike Clinnin of Lake Lodge andJoshua Armstrong of ExcelsiorLodge.

� Bill Huegel was honored atthe Annual George WashingtonDinner as Man of the Year,Tuesday, February 20. Friendsand Glendale City Officials sanghis praise as they enjoyed adelicious dinner prepared by theLodge.

� Brs. Frank Nuernberger and Andy Paradowskiwere honored as Senior Demolay at theBurlington Lodge, Sir Galahad Chapter, January27th.

� February’s Friends Night brought in old andnew friends alike! Attending, among others, wasDan Chaudoir and his son, Dan, Jr. who hasexpressed an interest in going through hisdegrees again.

�

Ladies of the Table Presents: Ladies of the Table Presents: Ladies of the Table Presents: Ladies of the Table Presents:

Woman of the YearWoman of the YearWoman of the YearWoman of the Year Join us on Tuesday, May 1st as we honorLaurie Winters, Curator of Earlier EuropeanArt of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Receptionbegins at 5:30, followed by the Award Programand Dinner.

Ladies of GW1776 & Aurora Lodges arewelcome as guests of the Lodge. Feel free toinvite friends and family for this elegant andspecial event.

Ladies of the Table Presents: Woman of the Year Dinner Reservation Form

Name_________________________________________________________________________

Address_____________________________________City/State/Zip________________________

Phone Number___________________________________email____________________________

Number attending @ $10.00 = Total Amount Enclosed $ (Ladies of GW1776 & Aurora N/C)

Please return reservation ASAP to: David Haase, PM · 5168 N. Hollywood · Whitefish Bay, WI 53217 Or Call Dave at 414-964-4080.


Pig

Family

Masons Celebrate Chinese New

Year of the Gold Pig

Brookfield, WI

On February 8, 2007, the walls of McKinley Lodgeno. 307 reverberated with the sound of drums,gongs and cymbals, as the brethren, their familiesand friends thrilled to the exotic dance of ChineseLions! It was all part of a series of multi-culturalevents that the lodge is hosting this year tocelebrate diversity. The event began with asumptuous Chinese dinner followed by a liondance and kung fu demonstration performed by theWhitefish Bay Kung Fu Club.

The Chinese calendar is based onthe lunar cycle and so the ChineseNew Year falls on a different dateeach year according to our solarcalendar. This year it began onFebruary 18th. Unlike our western

New Year; the Chinese New Year celebration lastsfor 15 days! Each year is named for a particularanimal of the Chinese Zodiac which repeats every12 years. This year is the year of the Pig.Traditionally, the pig has always representedfamily. In the old days, every family had a pig.The pig was the family garbagedisposal, made fertilizer for thefamily garden, was often a familypet, and of course eventually fedthe family. In fact, the Chinesecharacter for family is a pig undera roof!

More than 90 people signed up to attend theBrookfield event though cold weather kept someaway. Among those who attended was GrandMaster, Rodney Paulsen.

After their Lion Dance performance, the WhitefishBay Kung Fu Club returned the $350 check toRyan Mayrand, Worshipful Master of McKinleyNo. 307 as a donation to the Masonic Fund.

St.St.St.St. Patrick’s Patrick’s Patrick’s Patrick’s

Day DinnerDay DinnerDay DinnerDay Dinner

Tuesday March 20th

6:30 PMFollowed by Schoolof Instruction

Call ahead to let us know you will be coming sowe can make sure we have plenty of food to goaround!

Call Frank Nuernberger at 414-357-8141, or DaveHaase at 414-964-4080.

Marthas will Meet in April

The Marthas will meet Tuesday, April 3rd to electofficers and fill Easter Eggs. Dinner with theLodge Brethren at 6:30, meeting afterwards.RSVP or for more information: Marilyn Mattias262-242-9118

Lodge Phone: 414-332-8460

Visit our Web Site: WWW.GW1776.ORG


Why I Became A MasonBy Stewart M. L. Pollard

"Why I Became A Mason" Prior to his initiation, a candidate is asked pertinentquestions relative to his motivation in seeking the privilegesof Masonry and is asked to give assurances that his decisionwas not influenced by mercenary motives, However, he isnot asked to be specific as to what actually influenced himto become a Mason. It is not until we listen to the ritualisticexchange between the Worshipful Master and the SeniorWarden that we hear the question "What induced you tobecome a Master Mason?" The ritual answer to thatquestion is familiar to all of us.

The Master of a Virginia Lodge a few years ago receivedword just as he was about to open his lodge that his guestspeaker for the evening had been rushed to the hospitalmoments before. Undaunted, he opened the lodge,conducted the necessary business, and then announced thealternative program for the evening. "What induced YOU tobecome a Mason?" he asked. After allowing the brethren tothink about it for a few minutes, he called upon severalbrethren to give their answers. It seems that each of us havevivid memories of when, where and why we made thedecision to apply for membership in the world's largest andoldest fraternal organization.

This paper was inspired by the answers given on that night.Since then, all over the country, that question has beenposed to many brethren. The responses have beenfascinating inspiring and interesting. Basically, theresponses fall into several general categories:

• Examples set by family and friends • Urging of wives, mothers or sweethearts • Demolay activities • Impressive Masonic funerals • Masonic Charities • Curiosity

Surprisingly, the number who indicated that they joined justso they could get into one of the appendant bodies, or whoacknowledged that they were ASKED to join, were so fewthat it appears not to be a major factor.

One Grand Master confided that when he proposed to hiswife, one of the stipulations she made before she wouldagree to marry him was that he would have to petition aMasonic Lodge. (She was active in Job's Daughters.)

R. W. Brother "Jack" Kelly, Pasta Grand Master of Texas,recalls that when he was a small boy in Indiana he was

recuperating from pneumonia at the time that hisgrandfather died. He remembers being wide-eyed when thehouse seemed to be filled with men wearing funny hats withwhite feathers on them and carrying swords. He was toldthat they were Knights Templar and were there to conductGrandpa's funeral. He also has fond memories of thekindnesses and concern the men had for him. When it wasexplained that his grandfather had been the Commander ofthe Knights Templar and the men were there because oftheir love of his grandfather it made a great and lastingimpression upon him. One of his most cherishedpossessions is the engraved Templar sword which had beenhis grandfather's. He claims that that early exposure toMasonic brotherhood was a great influence on his desire tobecome a Mason.

A surprising number of brethren informed me that theywere Masons as a result of the urging of their children, whowere anxious to join one of the youth groups, and many ofthem expressed how surprised they were when they learnedthat other close family members or business associates weresitting on the sidelines when they were raised. Had theyknown that these family members or friends were membersof the fraternity they would have petitioned sooner. Thispoints up the fact that we tend to carry Masonic "Secrecy"too far when we fail to talk about our Masonic activities toour friends and family.

A young Junior Warden of a Wyoming Lodge, approachedme at a Grand Lodge of Wyoming Annual Communicationand announced that he was a Master Mason as a result of anM.S.A. Short Talk Bulletin. When asked to explain, he saidthat he had come home from work one day and his fatherpassed him a copy of a Short Talk Bulletin, suggesting thathe read it. That evening he did read the bulletin and thefollowing morning asked his father for a petition. As amatter of curiosity, I asked him if he recalled the title of thatShort Talk Bulletin. It turned out that it was a bulletin I hadwritten several years before, entitled, "Dear Son." I hope hisfather knows how proud I am to have assisted in being aninfluence.

A District Inspector in the Grand Lodge of Maryland isquick to explain that he was influenced to become a Masonby the example set by Past Grand Master William Jacobs ofthe District of Columbia, who many years before had beenthe Dad Advisor of his DeMolay Chapter. "I wanted to bejust like Dad Jacobs, who so willingly gave of himself toevery boy in the Chapter. If Dad Jacobs was a Mason, thenI wanted to be one! What an example he was to us!"

Ed Rose, former Director of the Veterans AdministrationVoluntary Services Division, tells this fascinating storyrelated by his Grandmother when he was growing up. Itseems that she and his grandfather had gone to Arkansas


from their home in Virginia for a vacation. While there, hisgrandfather became gravely ill and passed away. Hisgrandmother was at wits end. She wanted to take the bodyback to Virginia for burial in the family plot, but she had nofunds until she could get back. Fortunately, the Coronerlearned that her husband was a Mason, and contacted thelocal Arkansas lodge. Almost immediately, members of thelodge were there to comfort and console her and to offerassistance. Within a few hours, they had made arrangementsfor the body to be shipped to Virginia by train and she wasprovided with a train ticket to accompany the body.Members of that lodge also travelled with her until theywere met by members of her husband's lodge. She quicklywent to the bank and withdrew funds so she could repaythem, but those who had accompanied her could not belocated. She told that story over and over again to hergrandchildren, emphasizing that that was the kind of menthey should try to be. Ed likes to tell that he made thedecision to be a Mason when he was eight years old. Isn't itgreat to know that there are men of that stature in ourgovernment!

Ill. Brother Joseph R. ("Jose") Gilbert, 33, a PennsylvaniaMason living in New Jersey gave this reply when askedwhat had induced him to become a Mason. "Without thebuilt-in advantage of having my Dad or brother as membersof the Craft, I made my decision to petition a lodge formembership only after much thought and some years ofdecision. I did my best to find things I did not like aboutFreemasonry and found that I was wasting my time; therewas no such thing! Every man I saw with that pin on, everyman I called a dear friend who wore the Square andcompasses, every man I met in Business, at church,socially...all were of a purpose, a principle, a way oflife...that I felt a kinship with. I felt quite sure, even before Isubmitted my petition, that the men I assumed to be Masonsas I went through life, were an accurate representation ofwhat I would find if I were fortunate enough to be accepted.That was over forty years ago and I have no reason to thinkotherwise since that night I was raised. I thank God forthat!"

In the January 1989 issue of the Virginia Masonic Herald,there was an open letter from a newly raised brother (Bro.Michael Stairs of Willis V. Fentress Lodge #296, VirginiaBeach, Va.). As his letter so graphically explains hismotivations in joining the fraternity, generous extracts fromhis letter follow:

"Several years ago I met and married a young woman whowould turn my life around in ways neither she nor Iexpected. You see, she is the daughter of a Master Mason. Iknew very little about Freemasonry then, but the more Ibecame acquainted with her father the better my perceptionof Freemasonry became. My respect for this man has grown

to immense proportions. He is a good man, an honest man, aman of virtue and integrity, a spiritual man; a man that willgo out of his way to do what he feels in his heart is right; aman that can't be swayed by the evils of the world and aman of immeasurable character and pride. The more I got toknow this man the more I began to think to myself that theremust be something to Freemasonry.

Several years after I married, I approached my father-in-lawand asked him how I could become a Mason, He said, "Allyou have to do is ask." I did and soon thereafter, I wasinitiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry. This was thefirst step towards what have been some of the richest,greatest, and most profound experiences of my life."

To avoid him any embarrassment, we won't identify thebrother who confided that his original motivation to join theCraft was because he thought it would be "good forbusiness." He had noticed that a number of men who werein the same line of work were Masons, and that maybe hecould gain some advantage if he were to become one. As heprogressed through the degrees he realized how wrong hehad been. One of his business competitors served as hismentor as he learned his catechisms and became one of hisclosest friends. On the night that he was raised he wasamazed to find his father, his father-in-law and two of hisuncles had flown in just to be with him on that "Specialmilestone" in his life. It was then that he fully realized howwrong his initial motivation had been.

Think about it! What induced YOU to petition for thedegrees? Think about the Masons who have influenced yourlife, and your way of thinking.

Stewart M. L. Pollard is a member of Ralph J. Pollard

Lodge #217, Orrington, Maine and served the Masonic

Service Association as its Executive Secretary from

1977-87.

This article was reprinted with permission from

THE SHORT TALK BULLETIN VOL. 70 April 1992 NO. 4,

The Masonic Service Association of the United States


2007 Lodge OfficersWorshipful Master Richard Marcus, PM 414-228-7731

Senior Warden Andy Paradowski, PM 414-962-0236

Junior Warden Frank Nuernberger 414-357-8141

Treasurer Charles Roeder, PM 262-238-0163

Secretary David Haase, PM 414-964-4080

Senior Deacon James Roberts 414-332-8247

Junior Deacon Walt Smith 414-906-1695

Senior Steward

Junior Steward Charles Carroll 414-352-8333

Chaplain Tony Busalacchi, PM 414-963-9162

Tiler Joe Davenport 414-962-8882

Counselor Richard Marcus, PM 414-228-7731

Trustee '07 William Huegel, PM 414-352-8020

Trustee '07 Hank Hofmann, PM 414-453-0447

Trustee '08 Horace Palmer, PM 414-332-3515

Trustee '08 Tony Busalacchi, PM 414-963-9162

Trustee '09 George Burgess, PM 414-332-5723

Trustee '09 Otto Tesch 414-445-3537

Trustee '09 Andy Paradowski, PM 414-962-0236

Organist Larry Roou 414-371-1121

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"The Surveyor": March/April 2007

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