October has arrived and "boy" do we have a packed schedule..

The month starts with the Tri-Mount Vernon Royal Arch Chapter meeting being held on the 2nd, followed by the Royal Arch Multi-Jurisdictional Festival on the 3rd, both of which take place in the North Lodge Room of the GWMNM. All Royal Arch Masons are invited to attend..

We have four (4) visiting Lodges this month, one on each of the first four Saturdays. The names are listed in the Trestleboard. Any Master Mason can attend these meetings, which will be conducted in the Alexandria-Washington Lodge Room..

We will make an official visit to Mt. Vernon Lodge on the 7th. If you would like to travel to the meeting with me in the van, I will leave the parking lot of the GWMNM at 6:30pm. Please let me know, in advance, if you will be traveling with me..

Also, on the 7th, Bethel No. 22, I.O.J.D, has designated their meeting as Master Mason's Night. If you do not plan to make the visit to Mt. Vernon Lodge, please plan to attend the Jobies meeting. They will really appreciate your presence..

At our stated meeting on the 8th, Brother Bill Roper will deliver an inspiring message about our Masonic Home. As the Development Director, he will be able to answer your questions about the long term plan for the expansion of the facilities at the Home. You will not want to miss this meeting..

On Saturday, the 10th, we will celebrate Ladies Night at the West End Dinner Theater with 29 members and their Ladies from William L. Elkins Lodge. Our visitors from Elkins Lodge will stay at the Sheraton National Hotel located at the intersection of Columbia Pike and Washington Boulevard, near Fort Myer, in Arlington, Virginia. If you plan to visit with the members of Elkins Lodge at the hotel, on the afternoon of the 10th, you can park at the hotel for $2.00, (instead of $5.00), if you tell the parking lot attendant that you are visiting the Alexandria-Washington Lodge Hospitality Room. We will have a total of 102 members, wives or guests attending the theater to see "The King and I.".

On Tuesday, the 13th, starting at 9:00am, there will be a Reenactment of the White House Cornerstone Laying Ceremony held on the Ellipse in Washington, DC, in which the officers of the Lodge will participate with Federal Lodge #1 and Potomac Lodge #5 and the Grand Lodges of DC, Virginia and Maryland. This is a public event and I hope that many of you will be able to attend..

Also, on the 13th, thirty (30) visitors from Constitutional Lodge #294, Beverley, England, will arrive at 3:30pm at Dullas International Airport. They will travel by bus to the Holiday Inn Hotel on Eisenhower Avenue and are expected to arrive there at approximately 5:00pm. Twelve (12) of our guests will stay with Host families while the remaining eighteen (18) will stay at the hotel. At 7:00pm, we will host a reception, at the Holiday Inn, for our visitors. This will be your opportunity to meet and welcome our visitors to our masonic family. A cash bar will be available at the reception. Twenty-six (26) of our visitors will leave on Friday, the 16th, for other locations within the States. The remaining four (4) guests will depart on the 20th. I hope you will join me in welcoming our guests and making their visit a warm and joyous one.

On Thursday, October 15th, we will have a CALLED COMMUNICATION to receive our visitors from Constitutional Lodge into our Lodge for a special meeting. Following the meeting, we will have a Festive Board, or Masonic Banquet, in the dining room in coordination with Andrew Jackson Lodge. In order to cover the cost of this event, I am requesting a donation of $10.00 from all who will attend the banquet, except for our special guests. You will receive a ticket for your donation and the ticket must be presented at the banquet. The Lodge Officers will be dressed in "Black- Tie" Tuxedo for this meeting. While the masons are attending the special lodge meeting, the visiting ladies with our host ladies will conduct a shopping visit to Pentagon City Mall. Following the shopping trip, the ladies will join us at the Masonic Banquet for dinner.

On the two Saturdays, the 17th and 24th, the 1992 Alexandria Scottish Rite Fall Reunion Class will be conducted, in honor of our Past Master, Worshipful Edward John Gondella. All Scottish Rite Masons are invited and encouraged to attend the reunion sessions.

At our stated meeting on the 22nd, RW Bro. Godfrey Runaldue, our senior active Past Master, will preside in the east in honor of our Past Masters. Wor. Bro. Lloyd Onion, our next senior active Past Master, will deliver the message for the evening about the Past Masters. This is the opportunity for the newer members of the Lodge to learn about our Past Masters and I hope all of you will attend this meeting.

You still have time, before the end of the year, to apply for the "Life Membership in Perpetuity" program. See the previous month Lodge Bulletin for details and the Secretary for the application form.

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Granville C. Canard, Jr.
Worshipful Master

Sign Boards of Masonry: About the first thing that a newly made Master Mason does is to go down to the jewelry store and invest in a supply of masonic jewelry, a pin, charm or ring and perhaps all three. Some have been known to purchase in these public signs before they have taken a single degree. Many years ago the members of the masonic fraternity did not indulge in display. If any masonic emblems were worn they were usually concealed somewhere about the clothing where they might be found in case of accident. It has always been expected that masons would make themselves known by proper conduct rather than by outward display. Man is of course a vain animal and is prone to decorate himself with various gewgaws. The wearing of a modest amount of masonic jewelry is not to be condemned, but many of the leading masons of the world wear little or nothing that will make known to the public their professions. It cannot be doubted that many members of the fraternity adorn themselves with masonic jewelry for business and social reasons. The business man however, always looks with suspicion upon the salesman who approaches him with a big square and compass on his coat front, or who by jiggling his watch charm tries to impress him with the fact that he is a mason, and is therefore entitled to consideration. There can be no objection to a man wearing a moderate amount of masonic jewelry so long as he does it modestly and for no questionable purpose. It is not surprising to see the worst scape goat in the fraternity plastered with masonic emblems because it is necessary for him to employ some means of securing recognition among his fellow men.

Those of us who live in or in the vicinity of Historical Old Town Alexandria, surely have reflected occasionally on the quality of life during the early years of this small port city. Our reflections were probably more like fantasies in reverse. Just imagine, no modern plumbing or heating systems, no refrigeration, vacuum cleaners, micro wave ovens and frozen dinners, no television, telephones, air conditioning, super markets, or shopping malls, no Buicks or Hondas. This doesn't appear to have been a very hospitable environment and the citizens couldn't have been particularly overwhelmed at what we today, would consider to be a primitive and unexciting life style. But wait! A more thorough observation of the community during its early days tends to contradict this perception of a dull and uninspiring life style.

The thoughtful planners of this little town were pretty clever fellows who seemed to have planned and provided for all of the "essentials." Around 1804 there were 236 Merchants and shopkeepers, 34 Taverns, 97 pleasure carriages, a Tobacco warehouse, a Brewery, and 5 biscuit bakers. These kinds of things must have made life not only bearable, but down right pleasant. Using a contemporary translation and a pinch of poetic license, the taverns become bars and lounges, the pleasure carriages were the Buicks and Hondas, the brewery a predictable source of six-packs, the tobacco warehouse was for the cigars and cigarettes and the biscuit bakers were the donut and candy shops. All familiar stuff, but packaged a little bit differently in 1804.

October 13, 1792 - The cornerstone of the Executive Mansion was laid with Masonic and Civil ceremonies upon the site selected by George Washington. It is said, Washington on his first view of the finished mansion, exclaimed, "The White House," because it reminded him of Martha's house on the Pamonkey River. It was all white at that first look. It is said, the painters were planning on a blue trim, but Washington said "No blue trim." There was just to much on this event to print in our paper, (if interested, I have a seven (7) page paper on the White House.)

Brethren,

On November 4, 1992, we will make an official visit to Fredericksburg Lodge #4, on the occasion of honoring the anniversary of the Initiation of Illustrious Brother George Washington, and on the official visit of the Grand Master of Masons in Virginia to Fredericksburg Lodge. This year, this will also be the Grand Master's official visit to the District. This is always a very special event and the occasion when we will present the Grand Master with his picture taken in the Washington Chair during his visit to our Lodge in February. This will probably be the last opportunity, in this masonic year, that we will have to honor and recognize the Grand Master for the good work that he has done for all of us this year.

The Lodge meeting will be preceded by a fantastic dinner prepared by the Stewards of Fredericksburg Lodge. The cost of the dinner is $8.00.

I hope for a large "turn out" for this visit, but, I must have an accurate count, well in advance (by the 15th of October), so I can inform the Master of Fredericksburg Lodge on how many to expect for dinner. If you plan to make this visit, please let me know so I can add your name to the attendance list.

+ 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.