It has been a good year, and a very busy year, thus far and as I review the calendar for the remaining five months, I note that there are still a number of major events scheduled.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT "AUGUST" ACTIVITIES:

In addition to the significant items listed in the Trestleboard on page 7, I have listed other information which I feel you should know about:

Our Senior Warden, Brother Claude Harris, will return to Missouri and visit with his family from July 25th to August 6th.

The DeMolay Conclave, will be held in Lynchburg, Virginia on the weekend of July 31 to August 2. I, along with several Master Masons from the Lodge will attend this Conclave session.

Our Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother Bob Dean, will make an official visit to Manassah Lodge #182 on August 3 and to Skidmore Daylight Lodge #237 on August 4. There will be a Luncheon following the Skidmore Lodge meeting. There will be two rehearsals for preparation of the Blue Lodge Visitation Program degree work. On the 10th we will rehearse in the Lodge Room and on the 18th we will have a final rehearsal at the Scottish Rite Temple. It is important that all officers involved in the degree work attend both rehearsals. On the 17th, we will make an official visit to Elmer Timberman Lodge #54. This meeting will be a Table Lodge and will require a ticket to attend. We will have 16 members in attendance.

On the 22nd we will participate in the Blue Lodge Visitation Program to the Alexandria Scottish Rite Valley as the Host Lodge. There have been 51 Lodges from 9 Masonic Districts invited to attend this event. We received 26 tickets to attend the dinner which will be held during the event and these tickets have been distributed. If you would like to attend the event but did not get a ticket, you can attend the Lodge meeting portion and witness the conferring of the Master Mason's Degree but will not be able to attend the dinner.

For our called meeting on the 24th, we will examine a candidate on the Entered Apprentice catechism and then pass the candidate to the Fellow craft Degree. Please plan to attend this meeting to provide support to the candidate.

OCTOBER 1992 WILL BE AN INCREDIBLE MONTH:

On Saturday, October 10, we will celebrate Ladies Night at the West End Dinner Theater to see the show "The King and I." The tickets are $35.00 per person. If you will be joining us for this event, please get your tickets now. Please send me your request for tickets as soon as possible. Make your check payable to "Alexandria-Washington Lodge" and send it to my home address.

On Tuesday October 13, a number of the Officers of the Lodge will participate in the Reenactment of the White House Cornerstone Laying Ceremony to be held on the Ellipse in Washington, D. C. We will participate with Federal Lodge #1 and Potomac Lodge #5 and the Grand Lodges of DC, Virginia and Maryland.

On Thursday, October 15, we will have a CALLED MEETING to receive our visitors from Constitutional Lodge #294, Beverley, England. Following the meeting, we will have a Festive Board in the Dining Room in coordination with Andrew Jackson Lodge.

On two Saturdays, October 17 and 24, the 1992 Fall Scottish Rite Reunion Class will be conducted. This class will be in honor of our Past Master, Worshipful Edward John Gondella, Master in 1969. The deadline for petitions to be submitted to the Scottish Rite for this class is Friday, September 11, 1992.

A REMINDER FOR THE "Life Membership in Perpetuity" PROGRAM:

Instructions for obtaining voluntary "Life Membership in Perpetuity" in the Grand Lodge of Virginia is covered in Section 5.00, Life Membership in Perpetuity Plan, of the Methodical Digest of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. To obtain life membership, you must fill out the appropriate application form which is provided by the Grand Lodge through the Lodge Secretary, pay one years dues and Grand Lodge tax in advance, which is $35.00, and pay the life membership fee of $525.00. The completed application with a check made payable to: "Grand Lodge of Virginia - LMIP," in the amount of $560.00 will be provided to the Secretary who will then forward the application and fee to the Grand Lodge of Virginia Life Membership Committee. You may address any questions about the "Life Membership in Perpetuity Plan" to me or the Secretary and we will be pleased to assist you.

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Granville C. Canard, Jr.
Worshipful Master

Knowledge is power: If you are of an inquiring mind you will want to know something about Freemasonry and very naturally you will seek those books which give reliable information upon the subject. Freemasonry like all other great institutions has its history, literature and poetry. Do not get the idea that ritualism and masonry are the same thing. Ritualism is merely the vehicle which carries masonry to the hearts and minds of men. Ability to recite the ritual does not mean a knowledge of the institution. Your first duty as a masonic student will be to get a copy of the by-laws of the lodge and learn what is expected from you in your legal relations to the fraternity. For a short history of the Fraternity, Gould's Concise History of Freemasonry is recommended, or if a more extensive and complete work is desired Mackey's History of Freemasonry in seven volumes is suggested. The Poetry of Freemasonry by Robert Morris, The Poet Laureate of Freemasonry is a very delightful volume and contains much that is good along that line. The best work, however, for general masonic information is Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry. Every subject connected with Freemasonry is considered both historicallyand symbolically. This work is a complete masonic library in itself and will answer any question which an inquiring masonic student may ask. If you feel that you can invest in but one book then Mackey's Encyclopedia will prove the most satisfactory. You will be a better mason and appreciate the fraternity more thoroughly if you know something about it and to that end you are urged to read and study. Subscribe for some good masonic paper and keep yourself informed upon current events.

Making the most of it: What masonry is going to be worth to you depends wholly upon yourself. You are going to get out of the fraternity just what you put into it. Therefore if you put nothing in, you need not be disappointed if you get nothing out. Very often you will hear men say that masonry never did them any good. Many of these men carry dimits in their pockets or may have been suspended for non-payment of dues. The truth is that they went into the fraternity from purely selfish motives. They expected that masonry would be helpful in business, society or politics and while they never did anything for the institution they attempted to draw wages which they had not earned, and were disappointed. Merely because a man keeps his dues paid is no reason why he should expect to lay claims to the benefits of the fraternity. To expect that masonry will be of service to you, you must attend meetings of your lodge and contribute your mite to the welfare of the fraternity. It is not necessary that you become a ritualist and devote a grate deal of time to ritualistic endeavor in order to secure the benefits of the institution; it is only necessary that you show your willingness to be of assistance wherever you can because by so doing you will be putting funds in the masonic bank subject to your withdrawal when most needed. Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, was once asked to name in a single word the whole duty of man to man and he replied, reciprocity. This is the key note of masonic relationship, for the whole of masonic duty is reciprocal. Therefore before you seek masonic favors make sure that you have earned them, then you will not be disappointed if they are not forthcoming when asked for.

What is the Cable-tow? - The cable-tow is a symbol of the method of control for the individual. The cable, cord or bond is interwoven in countless religious ceremonies and the use of a tie is as ancient as any known art in the history of mankind. To many the cable-tow is symbolic of the umbilical cord, which is necessary to begin life but is severed when love and care replace it in supplying those essentials needed for growth. Thus, in our ceremonies, the cable-tow is removed when the need for physical control no longer exists.

The length of the cable-tow is frequently referred to in the language of Freemasonry, but many of the new brethren do not understand its meaning. Formerly the cable-tow was deemed to be the distance one could travel in an hour - assumed to be about three miles. The symbolic length of the cable-tow is the scope of a brother's reasonable ability according to the definition made by the Baltimore Convention of 1843. This is generally accepted as the meaning of the term today. Each Mason is bound to all other Masons by a tie as long and as strong as he himself determines the extent of his ability.

Why is the presiding officer of the Lodge called Worshipful? - This is an old English word meaning worthy of respect. Thus it comes to us in Masonry as a title of respect given to the officer who rules and governs the Lodge. Since he is chosen by the brethren, they deem him to have sufficient wisdom, integrityand Masonic knowledge to govern the Lodge properly.

Why is the Worshipful Master's station in the East? - In the world of nature the sun rises in the East to shed light and luster on the earth. In like manner it is the province of the Master to be the source of Masonic knowledge for his brethren and they "approach the East in search of Light."

The towne of Alexandria was laid out by an Act of the Virginia Assembly in the year 1749. There were fourteen streets running North and South parallel to the Potomac river and twenty streets running East and West. All of the streets were 66 feet wide except Washington and Franklin which were 100 feet wide. The squares formed by the intersecting streets contained two acres of ground; these were laid off into four lots of one half acre each. The lots incidentally, sold for 30 to 70 dollars each.

The price of the lots was certainly attractive. Even after throwing in a few thousand bucks or pounds for those perky closing costs which probably included the standard plot surveys, title search, termite inspection, attorney fees, etc., this was still a great deal. Who knows, in two hundred years, the Governor, along with his pal, a billionaire entrepreneur, might designate the adjacent property (railroad tracks) as an Indian (Redskin) camp ground. These valuable lots could become the site for up-scale seafood restaurants, antique shops, or quaint little stores selling genuine relics, bagels and customized T-shirts.

August 10, 1792 - The Indian War though important was becoming an object of secondary magnitude. The critical and irritable state of things in France began to materially affect the United States; August 10th was the beginning of the War in France and the first bloodshed. It was not until August 21st that word reached Washington and Congress by letters requesting support of the United States. However, Washington and the people of the United States were most concerned about their Friend and the Fate of the Marquis de La Fayette, who had been declared a traitor to France and was imprisoned by Prussia.

August 21, 1792 - Congress voted and Washington signed the Excise Tax, which was resisted most strongly in the South, North Carolina and four western counties of Pennsylvania with the assistance of Albert Gallatin who drew up a paper of objection to declare the tax illegal.

+ LODGE RITUAL SCHOOL - conducted every Sunday at 7:00pm unless otherwise noted in the Trestleboard. This school will cover work in all degrees and in catechisms. The school is for all members of the Masonic Community and ALL are invited and encouraged to attend.

+ OFFICER PLANNING MEETINGS - conducted in conjunction with the Sunday Night Ritual School.

+ MASONIC BIRTHDAYS - recognized on second stated unless otherwise noted.

+ STATED COMMUNICATIONS - second and fourth Thursday except Thanksgiving; Observance of George Washington's Birthday and Installation on Saint John Day, December 27th.

+ OTHER MEETINGS AT GWMNM - Alexandria-Washington Chapter, Order of DeMolay meets the first and third Monday at 7:00pm in the North Lodge Room; Bethel No. 22, I.O.J.D. meets the first and third Wednesday at 7:00pm in the North Lodge Room.