Freemasons Lodge 363 – Trestle-board December Issue – 2020 – Vol. 7

Greetings Brothers,

December has almost passed into memory and along with it a tough year.  2020 will definitely go on record as one of the hardest years that Freemasons Lodge #363 has had to endure.

With that said, I could not be more proud of our lodge, for the hard work, perseverance, and leadership we’ve shown throughout the year.

When we learned about COVID in late March there was a combined effort to safeguard our membership with quick actions from Grand Lodge, like closing down masonic events, and spinning down in person stated meetings.

These actions were followed with a sustained effort to create consistent bi-monthly Trestleboard Articles, virtual Teams meetings, Facebook Messenger Group Chats, Text Messages, and Calling Campaigns.

During all of these actions, we made calculated decisions that involve asking questions, not only from our Members but also from Officers and Past Masters of our lodge.

When the time came that the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Wisconsin allowed for in-person masonic gatherings we not only queried our membership to see what everyone wanted to do, but we used the edicts from Grand Lodge along with the health and public safety standards put forth by the state of Wisconsin.

We over-communicated and forced logistical operations by having temperatures taken in the parking lot, wearing masks, and enforced empathetic standards by expressing to our membership and officers who felt “endangered” or “scared” or “at-risk” to stay home without pressure whatsoever.

Moving forward in time, when Grand Lodge issued a path forward on Degree work, we planned these actions again according to state law and Grand Lodge edicts.

Most importantly imbued into all of the actions above, no one forced anyone to do anything, we kept the decision to get involved to individual choice.  Using this strategy we accomplished carrying out, a few Masonic events, conducted our stated meetings and carried out Enter Apprentice Degrees.

With this as my last address as Worshipful Master, I want to say thank you for letting me serve, and I couldn’t have done any of it without the unyielding support of the 2020 Officers, Trustees, Past Masters, and last but not least the Membership of Freemasons Lodge #363.



Sincerely,
WM Sanchez

Coffee Talk for December

by WM Damon Sanchez

There have been a few descriptions cast upon 2020 as being “The Year of the Lame Duck”…

While 2020 was tough, listing out our accomplishments, technology updates and COVID strategies would constitute anything but, a lame-duck year.


For starters, we had the Boy Scouts of
Wauwatosa Den 116 conduct the flag ceremony
at our 2020 installation.

We officially picked up new aprons for the lodge,
which we badly needed.

We created new Marketing Materials along with a new and “easy to administer” web site www.mkemason.com, along with Search Engine Optimizations, paid keywords, Mail Chimp email templates, and updated Facebook Headings.  So that our lodge’s advertising presence is consistent across platforms.

We created, setup and maintained new social media
placements throughout the year, including Twitter and Instagram.

We resurrected our annual #363 table lodge.  Which was well attended, put on at McKinely Lodge.  A special thanks to 
PM Mike Reindl and his lady Deb for the hard work in setting this up.

We set up and conducted Virtual Teams meetings, as
touchpoint for membership during the downtime of
Masonic Events being canceled or postponed.

We were the first lodge in the state of Wisconsin to conduct a stated meeting after the Grand Lodge edict was lifted in July. 

With heavy logistics, we conducted in-person stated meetings. Spearheading the idea of temperature checks in the parking lot, wearing masks, and creating RSVP lists.

With heavy logistics in early November, along with the permission from Grand Lodge and adhering to the health and public safety guidelines of Wisconsin we conducted Enter Apprentice Degrees, adding 2 new members to our lodge.

Last but not least, in early December, and along with
heavy safety restrictions, and a lot of advanced
planning by both the Leadership of #363 and the
SteakOut we held our annual Holiday Dinner event.

Lame Duck… Not a Chance… Was everything we did hard… Absolutely…

Thank you, for being a part of a great year.  Let’s keep up the #363 SPIRIT of pushing the envelope, leading by example, and staying true to each other in 2021.

Sincerely and with Love.
now “PM” Sanchez 🙂