Brethren,

We will celebrate the feast of St. Valentine at 6:30P.M. in lieu of our regularly scheduled meeting on February 5th. After our prime rib dinner, the Jazzapella East quartet will perform a medley of love songs for all to enjoy. The feast is named after several Christian martyrs - one, a bishop of Terni, the other, a priest in Rome, who both happened to die on the same day. The custom of sending "valentines" began in medieval England and France. The belief commonly held was that at the beginning of the second fortnight of the second month of the year birds begin to mate. Thus we, like the birds, send our own tokens of love at this time. Please call Br. Robert J. Schott (his wife's name is Phyllis) at 410-825-0880 for reservations. The cost is $15/ person (40 person limit).

On February 19, Senior Warden's Night, Norman Sanford has arranged for Steven Ponzillo III, P.M. to come in character as George Washington. Raised to the third degree of Masonry in August of 1753, history indicates George Washington initially treated the fraternity as more of a social club, as did many of his fellow Masons of that day. After he was raised, records indicate that he attended meetings of his Fredericksburg lodge only twice in his lifetime. It was only after the revolution, when Masons were recognized as integral participants in the struggle for freedom from British rule, that George Washington wore his Masonic apron in the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the capitol building in the new city of Washington, D.C. in 1793. The meeting will begin promptly at 7:30 P.M. and regular lodge business will be conducted this evening.

Fraternally,

Dennis R. Hamlet
Worshipful Master

Dates to Remember (excerpted from A New Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry compiled by Arthur Edward Waite)

1173 A.D. The term Magister (Master Mason) was conferred upon William of Sens at a meeting of building artificers in Canterbury.

23 Feb 2007 A.D. (Saturday) Bob Schott and Ned Featherston hold their Famous Pancake Breakfast in the dining hall of Mt. Moriah Lodge from 7:30A.M. til 10 A.M. for the amazing cost of only $3/person (not an excerpt).