The North Carolina Mason

Page 10 The North Carolina Mason March/April 2016 see next page If your lodge has a newsletter for its members, make sure The North Carolina Mason is on your mailing list. Lodge newsletters are a major source of news from Masons around the state. If you don't have one, think about starting one. Newsletters are a good way to keep your members active, happy, and informed. By Ric Carter traveling the tarheel state news From our lodges Pilot Mountain When kidney problems forced the wife of a member of Pilot 493 to suf- fer 13 operations last year, Pilot Lodge and several others took up collections to help with all the incidental bills that arise during such emergencies. Donations came from Pilot 493, Pilot OES 23, Forsyth 707, West Bend 434, King 722, Piedmont Pioneer 685, Pi- lot Mountain Friends Meeting, and our Grand Lodge. Pilot Lodge has, over the years, often visited Mountain Home Lodge in Stu- art, Virginia. ey made the trek again January 14 to see their old friend Jim Litten make his first visit to his home lodge as grand master of Masons in Virginia. e Virginia lodge traces its origins from our long defunct Coles- ville 278 in Stokes County. At their January 25 blood drive, Pilot Lodge collected 28 units, a good showing, but their first time to fall short of their goal. Eleven members of the lodge volunteered their time to help with the event. A special crew of Pilot 493 mem- bers assembled for breakfast at Dickie's Sandwich Shop on December 19. After hanging out together for a while, they split into small teams to deliver 18 fruit baskets to needful friends of the lodge. Most of the deliveries included nice vis- its with the recipients. — e Pilot Mountain Traveler South Mills New Lebanon 314 was joined by members of Perquimans 106 (Hert- ford), Gatesville 126, and Army and Navy 306 (Hampton, VA) on a trip to the Masonic Home for Children. ey traveled there shortly before Christmas to share pecans for holiday treats. — e Plumb Line Hookerton Jerusalem 95 has been taking care of their property lately replacing some cracked windows and patching a leak in the roof. Toward the end of the year, Jeru- salem Lodge sent nearly $900 to the Masonic Home for Children and al- most $300 to the MESH Foundation at WhiteStone. The lodge recently named Grifton 243's Charlie Hall an honorary mem- ber. On January 13, Charlie Hall, J. K. Hall, Tommy Forrest, and Ronnie Harper visited William Henry Heath to give him his Veteran's Emblem cel- ebrating his 50 years as a Mason. — e Jerusalem Journal Kenly On February 11, Kenly 257 was hosting the Cub Scout Pinewood Der- by. ey were serving the kids hot dogs and snacks at "trackside." Kenly Lodge was holding a barbecue chicken fundraiser for their scholarship this spring. ey were hoping to bing in enough to present two $1,000 grants. — W. C. Barrett Spruce Pine After last year's state-wide discus- sion about adequate petition fees and a lengthy debate within the lodge, Ves- per 554 has raised their fees for the degrees to $160. An announced goal of Vesper Lodge is to improve their communication with their members. ey are using three pri- mary tools, their acclaimed Newsletter, phonetree messaging, and email alerts. Several of Vesper's members have earned their Frank Donald Magee, C. J. Higgins, Charlie Gordon Epley, and Tom Calloway. — Newsletter Wake Forest Wake Forest 282 formed a team for the April 9 St. Baldrick's event at the Raleigh Beer Garden e St. Baldrick Foundation shaves heads to raise mon- ey to fight children's cancer. — Jordan Horst Thomasville A Super Bowl gathering of lodge members was being discussed at om- asville 214. Tony Downs' office was a possible location. omasville Lodge had two events scheduled for February, a lodge clean up on February 6 and a Brunswick Stew Fundraiser on February 20. For the stew, they form four teams to take care of the different tasks of the fundraiser: preparation, early cooking, serving, and cleaning up. ey were hoping to sell 400 quarts and raise at least $2,000. omasville Lodge Master Matt Leonard was offering $150 to the lodge fund the first time they surpass 30 members at a meeting, and $100 each time they reached that goal thereafter. — Trestle Board 10 10 "Masons Can" Food Drive Feed the Needy Each Mason should bring ten dollars or ten cans of food for admission to Annual Communication in September.

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