My what a big month May is! And Friendship Masonic Lodge has used all five weeks to the max. The month began with with the official visit of the Grand Master (which you can read about here, along with the comings and goings of the first couple weeks), but that all seems ages ago after all else that has happened.
Brother Quinn Haase, worried he wouldn’t be available in June, gave a stellar performance in his examination on the Master Mason Degree. This being one piece of business that had to be held over from our stated meeting, the Worshipful Master convened a special communication for this purpose. The assembled brethren were stunned and overjoyed at Bro. Haase’s word-perfect execution of the work, and rewarded him with a hearty, long-lasting round of applause once he’d completed.
Just a little further along in our trek came our second philosophy discussion night of the year. The event was proctored by our Junior Warden, Kent Smith, who opened the night with a live reading of the essay, The Metaphysical Case for Honesty. The usual brothers were there along with two hopeful candidates, and everyone was so engaged that it clearly was a party where we all gained light. It was a phenomenal evening of high-minded conversation and hearty fellowship lasting well into the night (well past this little Worshipful Master’s bedtime), and left such a mark on the mind of our members that our own Senior Warden found his way to penning this response.
Due to a scheduling conflict we had to postpone our Entered Apprentice Degree for May, moving it ahead to the next available date, June 20th. Not wanting our candidate to be too disheartened, the Worshipful Master and Officers of the Lodge called for one of our quirkier traditions – a full-on Chickenlodge. I don’t need to hype it up into something more than it is -it’s pure fellowship. We meet at a favorite local pub and enjoy each others’ company over good beer and fried chicken. They don’t happen too regularly, but there’s a few a year, and when they do happen it’s a hoot and a half.
A much more casual affair than our typical gatherings and fellowship nights, this Chickenlodge was a real treat. We had twelve familiar brothers show up along with a handful of hopefuls. Two even managed to earn the coveted Chickenpin – a lapel pin commemorating your “heroic feat” of eating a “Kretchmer”. A Kretchmer is just a regular chicken and waffle, only you can’t know about the pin when you order it (my apologies to everyone who’s now read this –forget what you’ve seen!), and is named after Bro. Tim Kretchmer, who first tipped Friendship off to the venue.
With the month finally winding to its close, members of Friendship, Columbia, and Waverly Lodges partnered once again to put on the 30th annual Safety Patrol Picnic at Oaks Park this past Wednesday and Thursday. You can read more about it and see some photos our members shot here. A long standing tradition of Friendship Lodge, the picnic was started by our own Jack Armstrong who, though in his nineties, made it out once again to work side-by-side with Portland Public Schools and the Portland Police Bureau to reward the hard-working students who donate their time and attention to service to the public schools’ safety patrol.
