Germania Lodge No. 46 F&AM

Germania Lodge Newsletter - February 2009
Klaus J. Kueck, P.M., Secretary/Editor

MESSAGE FROM THE EAST

My Brethren,

Our open installation on Sat January 10, was a really special event. Bro Vince Vance and his group provided us with some really good music. Lots of us danced and snapped our fingers! WB Joe Kueck and others have some good photos to share with us. Other photographers are e-mailing their photos. We will sort them as soon as possible and make them available to the brethren.

We are co-sponsoring a fund raiser for Bro Harry Ravain, Sunday, Feb 8, 2009, 3PM – 7PM, at the “Rock & Bowl” at Carrollton & Tulane. This event was the brainchild of several area musicians who are long time friends of Bro Harry. All proceeds will go to Bro Harry which he can use to defray some of his medical expenses. These musicians and the bowling alley are also sponsoring this event. Bro Vinnie will perform. The cup of fraternal assistance will be claimed at our next meeting for Brother Harry, plus I will present him with a check from the lodge at the event. Please mark this on your calendar. I really want Germania members to come out “in force” for our Bro Harry, who is in need. Please make every effort to attend. Bring family & guests. I’m not certain what the admission will be, but it will be very reasonable. You can bowl and/or listen to the great Nawlins music!

Our 1st fund raiser event for 2009 to replenish our building fund and treasury, will be at the Deutches Haus, Saturday, March 14 at 1 PM. We are supplying and serving the food to be sold to attendees of a Deutches Haus event. We will determine the price for the meals and keep all money collected. Bro Mike Possinot will be “in charge” of this fund raiser. We need volunteers to help prepare, serve, collect money and clean up afterwards. Please advise WB Joe if you can help. We can do this for other events at the Haus in 2009. This could be a great opportunity for some regular Germania income.

As previously announced, I will have special officers meetings, to review all our duties and to have a forum to offer suggestions as to the direction our lodge should take. We will have “brainstorming sessions” where any and every suggestion will be heard. I will announce soon when these meetings will be, but they will not occur before our 2 nd Feb meeting. (probably an hour or so before our regular communications)

As I said last month, it is important for all of us, new and old members alike, to really TRY to be present at our 23 remaining regular meetings this year. I expect all elected and appointed officers to make all meetings. However, it is understood that because of our jobs, vacations, etc, few of us can make them ALL. As we have noticed, the pleasure of our lodge experience increases as more members are present.

If you are unable to make a meeting, please e-mail or call me or Joe Kueck at least a day ahead. glenncupit@msn.com 225-235-2463 cell.

Best Fraternal Regards, Glenn

MASONIC BIRTHDAYS FOR JANUARY (sorry forgot last month )

Lon Lazar P.M. 01/12/2000 -09 yr.

Daniel Cox 01/27/1999 -10 yrs

Glen Cupit 01/23/1999 -10 yrs.

Charles “Chuck” Willis 01/22/1997 -12 yrs.

Richard "Ric" Bell P.M. 01/27/1993 -16 yrs.

Patrick Nichols P.M. 01/27/1982 -27 yrs.

Mitch Baggett 01/28/1976 - 33 yrs.

MASONIC BIRTHDAYS FOR FEBRUARY

Beryl Jacobs 02/16/2000 - 09 yrs.

Leonard Johnson P.M. 02/18/1995 - 14 yrs.

Steve Racca` 02/22/1995 - 14 yrs

Tom Mixon P.M. 02/09/1994 - 14 yrs.

Wayne Gilmore P.M. 02/12/1992 - 16 yrs.

Thomas Wolfe 02/22/1991 - 18 yrs.

Harry Ravain P.M. 02/10/1982 - 27 yr.

Larry Chapoton 02/14/1973 - 36 yrs.

Trestle Board

Saturday, February 8, 3 pm to 6 pm – fund raiser @ Mid City Bowling Alley for Bro. Harry Ravaine
Wednesday, February 11, 7:30 p.m.-FC degree – rehearsal on February 9
Saturday, February 21, Endymion Parade – all day.
Wednesday, February 23, 7:30 p.m. EA degree – rehearsal on February 23
Wednesday March, 11, 7:30 p.m. MM degree – rehearsal on March 9

OTHER NEWS

Thanks to Bro. Ray Wochomurka for his donation to the building fund.

Germania has three new plural members, brothers Tony Radosti, Elmo Barnes and Larry Sauer were all elected to plural membership at the January 14 th meeting. Bro. Tony is a Past Master of Etoile Polaire #1, he, his wife Julia and daughter Whitney have been frequent guests at most of our functions and have felt like a part of the Germania family for quite some time. Bro. Elmo is a P.M. of Perfect Union #1 and also has supported Germania. His company was a tremendous help to us after Katrina assisting with mold remediation and floor care. Bro. Larry is from Crowley Lodge #243 and a relative of Bro. Bobby Brandstetter. He is from New Orleans, a Past Master and secretary of his lodge, he is also known to tell a good Cajun joke or two!

The lodge will be open for the Endymion Parade so come on out and bring a covered dish or something to grill and your cooler. First come first serve for parking. It’s always a great time and well attended.

OUR DEEPEST CONDOLENCES

Brothers Andy Kessler and Tommy Wolfe both recently lost their wives. Elsie Kessler was always by Bro. Andy’s side and just this year was seen having a good time at our Germanfest. I am grateful for having known such a wonderful and sweet lady. She and Bro. Andy were married for 69 years! The family attended a private funeral service on Monday, December 22, 2008, with interment following at Hope Mausoleum. For those so desiring, memorials in honor of Elsie Reisig Kessler may be made to the Altar Guild at St. John Lutheran Church, 3937 Canal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70119.

Diana Wolfe, wife of Bro. Tommy Wolfe, passed away January 6 at the age of 72. She was well loved and ffectionately known for her good nature and generous heart.

A letter from Bro. John Day who is now back home but this letter was too exciting not to be published – sounds like he was just barley getting by .

Hello everyone,

The trip has been really great so far. I spent a week in Buenos Aires, I really got a good feel for the city and had a great time touring around. The Castellano Spanish really messed me up. I was able to visit the main Masonic lodge there but it was not open while I was there. I took some pictures.

The cruise was amazing, we left from Buenos Aires and our first stop was Montevideo, Uruguay. Masonry has had a huge influence on that city and I was able to pick up a book on Masonry in Uruguay. I’m gonna donate it to the library when I get back. Next we went to Puerto Madryn, Argentina. There we toured beaches covered with hundreds of Sea Lions. After that we went to Punta Arenas, Chile. It’s on the Strait of Magellan. There we toured the city and went kayaking in the Strait. It was super windy and it made kayaking very difficult. We did get to see a penguin swim around our kayak and a pod of dolphins swam right by us. The trip through the Strait was amazing, we had glaciers and mountains on both sides of us. Since its summer down there the sun barely set all night. We could see the waterfalls all over the place from the ice melting on the mountains. The fjords were really close at some points along the strait. Next we went to Ushuaia, Argentina. It’s known as the official bottom of the continent. There we went hiking in the national park and climbed up to a glacier. After that we sailed around Cape Horn, we were lucky that it was a clear day and it wasn’t too rough. The seas were only 15-20 foot swells with 35 mph winds. We were about 500 miles from the tip of Antarctica. I have some great pictures of the Cape that I’ll show you when I get back. After that it was 3 days at sea and we went north to Punta del Este, Uruguay where we were able to thaw out from the freezing weather we had been in. We la id out on the beach all day and I got a really nice burn. After that we entered Brazilian waters and went to Porto Belo, Brazil. We hiked an island and saw some 4000 year old rock carvings. Finally we ended in Santos and up to Sao Paulo. Tomorrow, Missy and I will be leaving for Ilha Bela for 5 days. Hopefully we will get some shipwreck dives in and do some good fishing. I want a marlin. We’ll be on the island for Christmas. After that it’s on to Rio de Janeiro for New Years and then to Cordoba, Argentina for a week. Then back to the states. I’ll be back in New Orleans on Jan 13 th.

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that's probably true of many languages.)

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is "UP." It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].
It's easy to understand UP , meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?
At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP , and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.
At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.
To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this up is confusing:
A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.
We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !
To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions
If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.
One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now ........my time is UP , so time to shut UP!
Oh...one more thing:
What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U P
Now I'll shut up SENT in BY Bro. Eldred Gilmore

2008 REPORT

We started the year with 99 members and ended up with 102. We had 3 EA degrees, 8 FC degree and 6 MM degrees, two plural memberships with two deaths, Bro. Joe Ulrick and Bro. Paul Snow, both 50+ members, and three demits. All in all a very good year! We have four plural memberships to be balloted on at the first meeting in 09, a slew of FC's ready to be raised and more petitions on the horizon.

Dues - no one was dropped for non-payment of dues and we assisted one brother in the military. We haven’t had to suspend anyone for NPD in years and hopefully this detail will remain true. Your 2009 dues were due on December 31, 2008 and there are still five members that haven’t paid 2008 (we only carry for two years). If you need assistance please give me or an officer a call.

The building – Downstairs is finished, if you haven’t seen it you are missing a masterpiece, it really came out first-class. The kitchen is not only nice looking but very functional. The way it is set up the cook/chef is always part of the program. Upstairs will be usable… really soon. There have been few glitches but it’s a painfully slow process when you are working with a limited budget and resources. It would be nice to hire contractors and say “Just do it” but … we’ll “get er done” our way. Brothers Andy and Melvin Mims along with others have saved the lodge tens of thousands of dollars by keeping all the work possible “in house”. We are in the process of installing lighting and trim which will leave only decorating, carpet and such. We sincerely hope to resume having meetings upstairs within the next month.