Greetings Brethren, family, and friends of Lodge 542! It’s another exciting month here at the Lodge. The highlights of which are the annual election of 542 officers, and – as always – good men working on becoming great Masons!
At this month’s Stated Meeting, we voted on, and selected, the top officers for the following year. Unfortunately, I won’t be one of them next year. I’ve been working on an engineering degree for a few years now, and my studies are becoming more demanding. I don’t have the time to be successful in both school and a leadership role in the Lodge. Fortunately, Masonry emphasizes balancing one’s priorities in life and not interfering with the important areas of one’s life outside of the Lodge. So, I decided not to run for Senior Warden this year, in order to focus on my education and establish my future career.
On a brighter note, Brother Matthew Frietze completed the necessary work for his Fellowcraft degree this month. I’ve had the pleasure of mentoring him through his first two degrees, and I look forward to seeing him receive and complete his Master Mason degree. The end-of-year is a busy time with elections, installations, transition of officers, and so on. So, he’ll receive his degree early next year. If you’re a Master Mason, please keep your eyes open for this upcoming degree and try to attend as Bro. Frietze receives the highest degree in Craft Masonry.
If you can’t wait until next year to see a degree, stop by on Thursday, November 17th, to see our motivated, new candidate, Justin Alexander, receive his Entered Apprentice degree. Justin’s been hanging around for over a year and is one of the last few prospects to carry over from when we were meeting at our old temple in North Hollywood. I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with him on a regular basis since then and seeing him display his work ethic by helping out around the Lodge however he can. I’m confident he’s going to make a great addition to the Lodge!
In closing, it’s been a pleasure serving as an officer at Lodge 542 for the past, five years, and keeping you informed with these blog updates over the past year. I wish Lodge 542 the best moving forward, and I’m excited to see new members continuing to enter the Fraternity and do the Work. Take care of yourselves and don’t hesitate to reach out to the Lodge if you’re ever in need.