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Calendar of Upcoming
Meetings and Events
Feb 3 6:00 pm - EA Degree Practice
Feb 4 6:15 pm-Lodge Dinner followed by
Stated Communication at 7 pm - EA
Degree To Be Performed
Feb 17 6:00 pm - MM Degree Practice
Feb 18 7:00 pm - MM Degree
Mesa lodge #55 AF&AM Grand Junction, Colorado
February 2016
today with more empty chairs on the sidelines than
filled with members and officer chairs all too often not filled – the Lodge room can look a little anemic. We need our Past Masters to provide the leadership
and oversee the structure of the officer line as never before.
Come Past Masters, help us by lending your time
and talents in reviving the Lodge to become a Lodge
men will want to join.Brother, can you lend a helping hand?
Fraternally, Roger Phillips, WM
t
February Birthdays
Lynn Robison February 6
Charles Downing February 7
Robert Jaramillo February 21
John Anderson February 22
Christopher Geisler February 27
The Grand Junction Masonic Center
By John Groves, PM
If you visited the Masonic Center recently you may have
notice a lot of strange goings-on - square dancers, cribbage
players, church groups, weddings, various types of parties,
banquets, even gun classes. And you may have wondered what’s going on?
Well, to explain that we need to understand a little history. Masonry in Grand Junction started in 1883 with the chartering
of Mesa Lodge #55 by the Grand Lodge of Colorado. The Lodge originally met in a small hut on Colorado Avenue with
a dirt floor, dirt roof, one small window and one doorway with a bearskin or blanket as a door. There was no heat and no furni-ture. The members sat on the floor or stood. The Tiler, outside the cabin, both tiled the Lodge and watched the horses of the
visiting Brethren.Around 1921 the Lodge move its meeting place, The “Ma-
sonic Temple,” to a place in the 400 block of Rood Avenue, where the Alpine Bank now stands.
Over the years other Masonic organizations were added to a
list of users: Grand Junction Lodge #173, Eastern Star, Scottish
Rite, York Rite, Job’s Daughters, the Rainbow Girls, and the DeMolay Boys.
In the early ‘70’s the Temple was getting old and new quar-
ters were needed. Land was donated near the KREX TV tower on what is now known at 2400 Consistory Court, the Rood Ave. property was sold to Valley Federal S&L, and members of the various Masonic groups raised about $325,00 to build the
present Masonic Center.
Master’s Message
WHERE ARE THE PAST MASTERS
The Lodge needs dedicated brothers to serve as
models, mentors and guides. Past Masters can provide invaluable support during stated meetings, degree work and educational programs.
Many times in the past I have heard it said that key to a well-run lodge is having the progressive officer chairs filled with competent brothers. That was easy to say twenty or more years ago, but today these chairs may or
not filled with brothers who are willing and interested in moving to the East.
There is an assumption that if one is shown what to
do several times everything will be “ok”. We all know that it takes much more than this. It takes lots of prac-
tice with all officers participating.Elected and appointed officers need a guiding hand,
both collectively and individually. Each individual officer’s chair should have an active “chair mentor.” A position that could be filled by a Past Master. The Past Masters would not only provide expertise in the dialog,
floor work and duties, but also could form a bond with officers and possibly renew their own commitment to the Lodge.
Unfortunately we have seen officers deciding not to continue in the progressive chairs. The natural officer progression allows a brother time to acclimate to ritual,
business, degrees and his fellow officers. With this new role of the chair mentor, “jumping” would become
rare because the Past Master would provide the type of
leadership to help guide his charge’s movement through
the officer’s chairs.From the Lodge room full of brothers in the 1950’s
and 1960’s, with a line of brethren waiting to start in
the chairs and move into the East -- to the Lodge room
Active Past
Masters
Ronald P. Franklin Past Master 2006, 2012Erik Groves Past Master 2013Doug Gaumer Past Master 2015
John W. Groves Past Master 2003Milo N. Harris Past Master 2001Garry L. Hart Past Master 1997Neal A. Lindenbaum Past Master 2014Daran Mahoney Past Master 2009
William E. Marshall Past Master 1994, 2002Sean Norris Past Master 200
John S. Vanderpool Past Master 2004Thomas E. Verdieck Past Master 1983Harry K. Webster Past Master 1977Thaddeus F. Wilcox Past Master 2007
2016 Lodge OfficersWorshipful Master Roger A. Phillips (Audrey)
970-241-2762
roger.phillips66@yahoo.com
Senior Warden Doug Gaumer (Penny)
970-257-1365
pdgaumer@gmail.com
Junior Warden Ted Lambert, P.M.
970-201-3727
rkymtnted@gmail.com
Treasurer Christopher Geisler (Kele)
970-250-8979
crgeisler@bresnan.net
Secretary John Groves, P.M. (Pam)
970-261-5189
johngroves@mac.com
Senior Deacon Spencer Hughes
970-986-9050
spencerlhughes@gmail.com
Junior Deacon Tim Claypool (acting) (Heather)
970-712-3280
musashi_sama88@yahoo.com
Senior Steward Neal Lindenbaum, P.M.
970-208-6594
cycol@hotmail.com
Junior Steward Andrew BE
970-424-5011
andrewbemba@gmail.com
Chaplain Ronald Franklin, P.M. (Karen)
970-255-8047
rpfranklin@yahoo.com
Marshal Erik Groves, P.M. (Jennifer)
970-640-7717
Egroves@gmail.com
Tiler John Anderson
970-640-9815
johnosoz@bresnan.net
Mesa L
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Perm
it #43
Ownership of the Consistory Court property was placed in a
corporation, The Grand Junction Consistory Association, man-
aged by representatives of the four Grand Junction Consistory
Bodies. The Consistory Association entered into a 99-year lease with another corporation, The Grand Junction Masonic Temple
Association. The Temple Association was managed by a board of trustees elected each year by the Masonic Organizations using
the Masonic Center. These organizations became “renters” of the facility.
Today the “renters” are: three Masonic lodges, Mesa #55,
Grand Junction #173, and Palisade #125; two youth groups, Rain-
bow For Girls and DeMolay; The Scottish Rite; and The York Rite. The youth groups pay rent by in-kind services to the facility. The others pay rent proportionately based on their memberships. For the past several years the annual rent collected from the
Masonic renters has been fixed at $43,600.However, as we reached the Millennium the costs of maintain-
ing the 40-year old building exceeded the financial ability of the renting groups (with their declining memberships) to keep up. Something had to be done to cover the shortfall.
Which brings us to all those strange groups we find in the building now days. The Temple Board followed the path of many Masonic temple associations in deciding to rent the facility to
community groups - we to into the rental business.From a small beginning in of $960 in 2000 to $17,500 in 2015
we have received a total of $170,555 over the 15-year period
from outside rentals. This has not only covered the shortfall in fund for expenses but is building up a reserve for future improve-
ments and major repairs.
Unfortunately, a reserve fund was not available as we
moved in to the present decade. By 2010 the building was badly in need of repairs and improvements as well as updates
to the electrical and mechanical systems. The Masonic renters combined their resources to raise funds to replace all six heat-
ing and air conditioning systems, to modernize the electrical
systems with LED fixtures, and to add state of the art sound systems in lodge rooms and the dining hall. Along the way repairs and replacements have been made to the roofs and
parking areas, and a security system has been installed.Today we have a facility with an assessed valuation of ap-
proximately $2,600,000. We coexist with community groups and hundreds of people who don’t just share this wonderful
building but learn about the institution of Masonry.But what of the future? We have an auditorium that could
be improved to a modern theater for use not only for the
degrees of the Scottish Rite but for community performances
before crowds of up to 250 persons, a facility for which there
is a need and no comparable venue.Look to the East! We have undeveloped land next to the
building that can be landscaped and turned into a picnic and
recreation area. Look to the South! Lodge Room #3 and the area between it and Lodge Room #2 can be remodeled into a
multi-purpose room for weddings, receptions, seminars, out-
door events, and other uses, for us as well as the community.We are Masons. We are builders. We serve God, our neigh-
bors, and ourselves. Let’s do it!
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