From the East
Greetings Brethren, family, and friends!
Welcome to the month of November. It's hard to believe that we're already this far into the year, yet here we are. First thing is a thank you to those who came to the lodge for the Halloween on Main Street event while we handed out candy to the kiddos. As always, there was a huge number of kids eager to get some sweet and a few adults that were curious about who we are.
Second note, due to the 2nd Monday of this month being a federal holiday, the Stated Meeting has been moved to 11/18/24 per our bylaws. As a reminder, this stated meeting we will be holding elections for 2025.
Last order is regarding the Installation of Officers for 2025. The date has been set as shown below:
2025 Installation of Officers
January 4th 2025
Social Hour: 2pm
Ceremony: 3pm
Light finger foods will be provided
Fraternally, Chase Murray - Worshipful Master
From the West
Dear Brothers, Families and Friends
Brother Pete Johnson and I just returned from the annual Grand Lodge Communication. I would have to say that in my thirty four years as a mason, this was the best and most interesting trip to San Francisco EVER! First of all, this was the cleanest I have seen the city in many, many years. The homeless have been relocated and accommodated elsewhere. Secondly, Grand Lodge, the Grand Master and his officers ran the annual communication very efficiently. All business was completed in one day, very impressive, and thirdly, the most exciting thing we experienced in San Francisco was SELF DRIVING TAXIS...YES!!! Nobody behind the steering wheel! I never thought that I would have seen and experienced this in my lifetime. Brother Pete and I rode the Robo Taxi five times and each time we felt more relaxed. In fact, I felt safer in the Robo Taxi than I would in a strange cab/ Uber with a driver that I did not know. Brothers, this is the future, GOOGLE "Waymo" and see for yourself.
Don Ruch, PM, Senior Warden
From the South
To all the brothers, Ladies, family and Friends,
Welcome to the Month of November. This month we celebrate Thanksgiving, but in reality we all have so much to be thankful for. We are blessed to have each other and to be living where we live and have the freedoms we have.
Please Join us on November 18th for our Stated meeting dinner. We will have a thanksgiving themed dinner catered by Ranch. The following is the menu:
Pork Tenderloin, Thanksgiving Stuffed Chicken, Candied Sweet Potatoes, Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Ambrosia Salad, Rolls & Butter, and Pumpkin Pie for dessert.
Please Note: On December 5th, we will be having a First Degree for Mr. Christopher Satterly. Please make an effort to be here to help make this first degree for Christopher special.
On October 12th we celebrated our Worshipful Brother Ken Bychak on receiving the “Mason of the Year” award at Consuelo lodge in Escondido. He has continued to dedicate his time to this lodge not just by being an officer of the lodge and serving as Master 2 years in a row, but he serves as the officers coach and tries to volunteer and be a part of all the events that goes on at our lodge and other Masonic events throughout. Worshipful Ken can always be counted on for help and guidance and is a vital role in the health of our lodge. Congratulations Worshipful Brother Ken. See Pictures below celebrating this wonderful event.
Brother Wade and I will continue to plan trips to go visit other lodges at least every other month for a degree or stated meeting. This will help expand our brotherhood and support other lodges.
As mentioned in past Trestleboards, We really need to focus on how to get brothers to come back to the lodge. This is an ongoing problem with most lodges in California and frankly all over the world, and especially with our lodge. With the hope that I will be voted by my brothers in a few years to become the Master of the lodge, I want to start my journey towards the East sooner and not wait unit I am actually sitting in the East (if elected). I would like to encourage all brothers currently coming to the lodge, but especially those that are not coming to the lodge to start reaching out to me personally and share your journey in Masonry with me and to start finding ways we can change, improve, or enhance the lodge experience to get all those brothers back that have gone away for one reason or another. I encourage the brothers to call me at 858-943-1079 or email me at pjjohnson04@gmail.com. Please share with me what we can start doing to get you back into the lodge. We are not looking to fill officers’ chairs (although in full disclosure, that is a concern), we are looking to get our brothers back into the lodge and build back what this Lodge once was. We have a lot of younger members that really would thrive by hearing the masonic journey from brothers that have been here for a long time. I will continue to push this every month and will start reaching out to those I don’t hear from. We need to get the Santa Maria Lodge back to the brotherhood we all came here to join and put the past in the past and build towards the future of this lodge, for the younger members and for members who have yet to join. Let’s be proud of our fraternity again and especially the fraternity that has been here in Ramona for over 100 years. I love you my brothers and would love to see you all come back!!
John 6:35 “and Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
May God Bless you all and keep you safe and healthy!!
Pete Johnson - Junior Warden
Secretary’s Corner
We are voting for the 2025 cadre of Officers this month. Come to the November Stated Meeting and have your vote counted! The Dues Notices for 2025 are being sent out. The new Grand Master’s budget was approved. The dues for 2025 are $129.00. Check your mail. Payment is due by December 31, 2024. You can pay by sending a check in the enclosed envelope, log in to the website and pay by credit card or you can bring a check or cash to me at the Lodge.
Remember, if you send a payment in and are in arrears, that payment will go to the past due amount. You will still need to come back to good standing for the current year to receive your Dues Card. Please contact the Master or myself to discuss this if you have any questions.
Please go to member.freemason.org and check your information. If you have not yet created your account, PLEASE get with me and I will walk you through creating the account and entering your information.
If you are interested in becoming a Life Member, please use the following information from the CMC 2022
§809.320.B LIFE MEMBERSHIP A sum of money equal to the Lodge’s annual dues at the time of purchase of the Life Membership multiplied by the factor indicated opposite the member’s age in the following schedule: Age 49 and under, a factor equal to or greater than 24 times annual dues; 50 to 54 inclusive, a factor equal to or greater than 20 times annual dues; 55 to 59 inclusive, a factor equal to or greater than 18 times annual dues; 60 to 64 inclusive, a factor equal to or greater than 16 times annual dues; 65 to 71 inclusive, a factor equal to or greater than 14 times annual dues; and Age 72 and over, a factor equal to or greater than 12 times annual dues.
Our current dues are $126.00. Use the chart above to calculate the amount needed. As an example, I am in the 55-59 bracket. For me to purchase a Life Membership, the cost would be 18 x $126.00 for a total of $2,268.00. Please contact me if you wish to pursue this.
There are still 16 Brothers that are in arrears for the 2024 dues. Remember, you have an obligation to pay your dues. If you have not made your payment, you are overdue. The dues for 2024 are $126.00. Per our By-Laws, the calculation is $60.00 + per capita rounded up to the nearest dollar. Per capita is $65.25 this year, which gives us our total of $126.00
If you are in arrears for your dues, you need to pay all that is owed to be brought back in to good standing. As an example, if you pay for 2024 only, and owe for 2023, I cannot send you your 2024 dues card. You are still in arrears and will need to bring your dues up to date first.
If you are financially unable to pay your dues, please contact the Master to discuss.
You can mail your dues to: Santa Maria Lodge No. 580, PO Box 68, Ramona, CA 92065
You can also go to our website, http://www.santamaria580.org, and pay online. If you have paid and have not received your card in a reasonable amount of time, please contact me at 951-970-4294 or secretary@santamaria580.org and I will take care of it.
S/F
Bill Graham, PM - Secretary
Reminder!!
Have you moved? Changed your phone number? Changed your e-mail address? Have you notified the Lodge if you have done any of these things?? In an ongoing effort to ensure that all member get due and timely notice of all Lodge information, it is important that you keep your information updated with us.
I would greatly appreciate it if all of you would log in to member.freemason.org, go to the My Profile section and ensure that all of your address/phone number/e-mail is up to date. This will automatically update the i-member section that I use as the Secretary to for your mailings and other contacts.
Calendar of Events
Lodge Officer Directory
Master - Chase Murray
Senior Warden - Don Ruch, PM (Vicki)
Junior Warden - Pete Johnson
Treasurer - Bob Weldon, PM (Brenda)
Secretary - Bill Graham, PM (Teri)
Chaplain - Elijah Descoteaux
Marshal - Bruce Smith, PM (Beverly)
Senior Deacon - Ken Bychak II, PM (Laura)
Junior Deacon - Rex McCray
Senior Steward - Mark Lantz (Kim)
Junior Steward - Dave Murray, PM (Catheren)
Tiler - Wade Hendry (Marianne)
(619) 607-2935
(619) 787-3858
(858) 943-1079
(760) 807-2883
(951) 970-4294
(619) 987-1004
(760) 788-9475
(707) 328-9617
(760) 788-4957
(858) 231-4646
(619) 302-1223
(760) 535-3176
Santa Maria Masonic Building
Association (SMMBA) Directory
President - Don Ruch, PM
Vice President - Chase Murray
Treasurer/Secretary - Dave Murray, PM
Member - Ken Bychak II, PM
Member - Bob Weldon, PM
Member - Wade Hendry
Member - Bruce Smith, PM
Member - Pete Johnson
(619) 787-3858
(619) 607-2935
(619) 302-1223
(707) 328-9617
(760) 807-2883
(760) 535-3176
(760) 788-9475
(858) 943-1079