Where do youwant to serveyour Lodge?

Indian Wells Valley No. 684, F. & A.M.

Master's Trestleboard

IWV #684

625 N. Norma St., Ridgecrest, CA 93555 (760) 375­2883Ridgecrest Masonic Center

After the 15th of the month, items are included as space and timepermit. Trestleboard Editor:Betty Austin, (760)377­5307 <baustin@iwvisp.com>

Trestleboard Deadline is the 15th of the month.

AMBA

President:Vice President:Treasurer:Secretary:

Master:Senior Warden:Junior Warden:Treasurer:Secretary:Chaplain:Senior Deacon:Junior Deacon:Marshal:Senior Steward:Junior Steward:Tiler:Trustees:

http://www.iwv-masonry.org/

Master of the Lodge: Art Austin ­ (760)­377­5307 (aaustin@iwvisp.com)Secretary: Bob Ludy ­ (760) 446­4331) e­mail : ( bobludyjr@gmail.com)Brethren, if you know someone who is under the weather, be sure to call our Jr. WardenPeter Eiserloh ­ (760) 375­1517 or if failing to reach him, Master of the LodgeArt Austin ­ (760)­377­53077

Arthur Austin, PM

Charles Quinlan

Peter Eiserloh, PM

Will Lusk

Robert L. Ludy Jr. PM

Dave Truesdale

Steve Goad, PM

Bennie Wegener, Jr. PM

John Dollman

Bennie Wegener, III

Bob Schwaiger

Dick Nickles

1 - Steve Goad, PM

2 - Bob Francis, PM

3 - John Dollman

Charles Quinlan

James Wilhorn

Will Lusk

Steve Goad, PM

Art Austin, PM

Bob Ludy, PM

Dave Truesdale

Mary Frost (Assoc.)

Alex Topar (Advisor)

Brothers and Friends,

FROM THE EAST December 2014

At our Stated Meeting in November we welcomed our District Inspector,Worshipful Steve Goad, for his annual visit. Of course, Worshipful Goad is withus every month, but not as District Inspector. We accepted the application ofMichael Wegener to become a Mason. We also had election of officers at theNov. meeting. The following were elected to serve for the ensuing Masonic yearwhich begins with the installation ceremony to be held on January 24th. Markyour calendars now and reserve this date for participation in this specialceremony.

Master elect – Charles QuinlanSr. Warden elect – Peter EiserlohJr. Warden elect – to be filled at a later dateTreasurer elect – Willard LuskSecretary elect – Robert Ludy, Jr.

We also chose Steve Goad to serve as a trustee and elected Jim Wilhorn andJohn Dollman to sit on the Board of Directors of the AMBA. Trustees and Boardof Director members serve 3 year terms. Their terms start when elected in theNovember election of officers.A very special award will be given at the December Stated Meeting. Bro. WillardLusk has been chosen by the Lodge to receive the Hiram Award. Thepresentation will be made prior to the Stated Meeting. All members and friendsare welcome to attend and I personally invite you come out and support thisvery deserving Mason and help us make this a very special event for Bro. Lusk.We are still seeking donations for our newly established Scholarship Fund . Ourgoal for this year is to have $2000 in the fund by the end of December. To datewe have collected $1456.10. This means we still need $543.90 to reach ourgoal. Let’s all get behind this project and make it successful. What better wayto support education than to help deserving students attend college? If just 5Brothers would donate $120.00 each we will reach our goal.

Sincerely and FraternallyArt Austin, Worshipful Master

Indian Wells ValleyMasonic Lodge #684 Page 2December 2014

Stated Meeting DinnerMenu:

ROYAL ARCHCompanions,Our December Chapter meeting will be(Thursday Dec 11). As we did not havea quorum last meeing, we will hold ourelections this month. So, everyone that can, pleasecome to our last meeting of the year. At 5:30,before our meeting, we will dine at Ferris' ItalianRestaurant on Ridgecrest Blvd.S&F, Peter Eiserloh, ­ HP

ORDER OF THE EASTERN STARWe hope everyone had a Happy

Thanksgiving. It is hard to believe theHolidays are here already. Where hasthe year gone? Important Dates:Dec. 3rd we are cooking for the Blue Lodge StatedMeeting. Jo Ann Lusk is ChairmanDec. 8th­­ Regular Stated Meeting at 7:30pm withour Cookie Exchange after the meeting withdessert. We will be serving Dinner at 6:30pm$5.00 Donation Please call reservations in by Dec.1st at 760­549­9891 to MaudeNo Meeting on Dec. 22nd.Jan 12, 2015 Regular Stated Meeting at 7:30pmCelebrate SnowflakesWe Wish Everyone a Merry Merry Christmas and aHappy New Year.Maude O'Connell, WMGerald Flagg WP,

Time: 5:30 pmSponsored by: Eastern Star

COMFORT STATION

Hi Everyone ­­ Boy did we have a good lunch.Most of the dishes were hot for a change and justwonderful.

We had some visitors from Independence andAgnes Davis brought her friend Vanetta. Also Mysister came to help us out. Gee if you ever want agood time please show up. I promise it will cheeryou right up. What fun. So the next meeting is Dec.10th. 9:30 to 12 noon. Let's see if we can top thislast meeting on the food. Happy Holiday's.Marilyn Brendel, Chairman

WHITE SHRINE

Saturday December 13th is our 2ndannual White Shrine White ChristmasBoutique and Bazaar from 10AM ­ 4PM.Vendor set­up is 9AM.Marilyn Brendel is having a booth with her CancerComfort items, we are doing a baked good sale,and the other vendors are selling items from theirboutique. So come do your Christmas Shopping!Saturday Dec 20th is our stated meeting andannual Christmas Dinner, hosted by Mary Roseand Bennie Wegener. Have a joyous Christmas;remember: Jesus, Others, Yourself =JOY! !Molly Erskine, WHPBennie Wegener, WOS

Next Month Sponsored by:

AMBA

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AMBAThe AMBA would like to extend to Worshipful Bob

Francis a most humble and deeply felt appreciationfor his contributions to the Lodge and to the lodgebuilding this year. We are "on target" with ourbudget, now, but could not have achieved thiswithout his help in addition to others who havegenerously supported us.Thank you, one and all.Charles Quinlan

FOR SALE

Cemetery plot for sale, never used, $600Call 760 375­7271

Chicken and Dumplings, Squash Dish, Green Salad,Corn Bread, Old fashioned Bread Pudding and OldFashioned Banana Pudding. Donation: $10.00

Ridgecrest Masonic Center

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday2

109:30­12:00

Comfort Station7:00 pmF&AM

Practice 3rd Degree

4 5

CommandryChristmasObservance(Bakersfield)Flex

6

7 8

7:30Eastern Star

Cookie Exchange

9

3

5:30 pmStated Dinner

7:00 pmF&AM

Stated MeetingHiram Award

11

5:30 pmDinner at Ferris' Diner

7:00 pmRoyal Arch

12 13 White ShrineWhite Christmas

Boutique 10 am­4 pmInstallation

WinnedumahLodge 284

2 pm14 15 16 18

6:00 pmAMBA

F&AM3rd DegreeConferral

17

7:00 pmF&AM

3rd DegreeConferral

19

Flex

20

2:00 pmWhite Shrine

Christmas Dinner

21

First Day ofWinter

22

7:30Eastern Star

Dark

23 24

7:00 pmF&AMDark

25

Christmas Dinner3 pm Appetizers

4 pm DinnerChristmas Day

26 27

30 31

7:00 pmF&AMDark

NewYears Eve

1

2928

December 2014

Indian Wells Valley Masonic Lodge #684 December 201 4

FROM THE WEST

Senior WardenCharles Quinlandoctorquinlan@yahoo.com 760­384­8995.

To one and all, this season is special. But most importantly, we must take time to remember why wecelebrate.Times were not always the best, and for most of human history the Winter Solstice, December 21st, was atime of no harvests, no food unless you had it stored up, and no heat!!! Being king did not help, castleswere drafty and cold, too.But at this time, all ancient civilizations "celebrated" the coming of Spring. The days stopped gettingshorter and actually got longer. The sun was returning, and the promise of new life was hinted at. All ofthese civilizations took note and renewed hope and faith.Christmas, Chanukah, the feast of Janus, the Winter Solstice all symbolized what we inherently know: thatlife renews, and that the "death" of the sun, only to be returned to life, was a reflection of the truth that welook forward to the renewal of our lives, and the continuation of our own souls throughout eternity.So it is that we wish all this season the peace of knowing that the divine design takes into account eachand every one of of us, none are lost to the One who gave to each of us that immortal part.Let us celebrate, in our individual ways, what this season means, and how it can remind us of that perfectand unending part which we all have in the divine plan.

Indian Wells Valley Masonic Lodge #684 December 201 4

FROM THE SECRETARY'S DESK:

Brothers and Sisters,We will be emailing the Trestleboard to all who request it. We will still be sending it out by snail mail but ifyou would like to read it sooner and in color send me your email address to BobLudy jr@gmail.com, ifyou would like to receive both let me know. If enough people request to receive it just on line, we may beable to cut our mailing costs. Send me an email if you want to it on line.Robert L. Ludy Jr. ­ Secretary

DO YOU HAVE A MASONIC ELEVATOR SPEECH READY?

An elevator speech is one that you can deliver to one or more persons while taking a brief elevator ride.It may be 30 seconds, or 1 minute long. It must summarize and provide an important message in aminimum of words.

For example, you step onto the elevator with a business associate who says, "What is that lapel pin youhave on?" By the time you reach his or her destination on the third floor, you should be able to say it is aMasonic pin, and state a few positive things about your membership or about your organization.

How many times has an opportunity similar to that happened to you, but you quickly answered andhoped the other person would change the subject? How often, when you thought about the opportunitylater, did you wish you had been ready to produce a short, intelligent response? The time to prepare your"elevator speech" and explain Free Masonry and what it means to you is now­­­­­before that chancearises.

[Excerpted from MIC Focus, June 2014, The Masonic Service Assocition]

GEORGE WASHINGTON----IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT

In 1797, George Washington hired a Scottish plantation manager, James Anderson, who encouragedhim to build a whiskey distillery next to his gristmill. This distillery was the largest in America andproduced almost 11,000 gallons of whiskey in 1799. Five copper pot stills produced whiskey usingWashington's original mash bill (60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley) which was then sold toneighboring farmers and in Alexandria. It was one of the most successful enterprises at Mt. Vernon.

When George Washington died in 1799, an inventory listed peach, apple, and persimmon brandy, plainwhiskey, and cinnamon whiskey stored in the mansions basement. It is thought that all these items weremade at Washington's distillery and served to guests. Today, the two­story distillery is reconstructed andoperates seasonally, mashing, fermenting and distilling grain as it was done in the 18th century.

[From an article by Frank Munoz in Masonic temple Topics, June 2014]

Stated Meetingsat 7 PM on the 1st Wednesday of every month,Dinner at 5:30 PM (except July and August)

IndianWellsValleyLodgeNo.684 F.&A.M. 625N.NormaSt. Ridgecrest,CA93555 Phone(760)375-2883

Non-ProfitOrg USPostagePAID Ridgecrest,CA93555 PermitNo.18

Master's Trestleboard

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