November 2018
Message From The East
Brethren
A new Masonic year is begining for CH-HSJ. The newly elected and appointed officers are ready to take on the challenges, and receive the opportunities that await them. I wish to thank you all for the opportunity to serve as Master. My year in the East was truly rewarding.
? If you have not served as an officer of a Lodge, or, are not active in the Lodge’s activities, I encourage you to do so. It does involve time out of your already busy day, but it will reward you with experiences you cannot get from anywhere else. As Master, I received a real feel for the tenets of brotherly love, relief and truth, which previously was just a phrase I heard in a Masonic lecture. How good and pleasant it is when you begin to understand that those Masonic phrases which were previously only heard, become real.
This fraternity is as intricate and diverse as the people who are in it. While attending Lodge, you may want to be not withstanding change. If so, I encourage you to allow it. Enjoy it. Follow its principles. Endure any of those hardships that may stand in your way, because, I believe you will find that what you put into and get out of Masonry, can and will award you with a lifetime of rewarding experiences.
I pray the light you receive from Masonry does not blind you, but rather illumes your path throughout a good and righteous life.
Once again, thank you!
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
October 2018
Message From The East
Brethren
Next week begins a new Masonic year for our Grand Lodge officers. Their convocation is in Sandusky this year. Our Lodge’s new year will begin next month. If you were planning to be an active member of the officer line, a committee member, or just wanted to be sure the right officer gets elected, be sure to attend our November stated meeting. Sorry, we do not have absentee ballots.
How do you like the new Grand View format? It is a bit early yet, but please, give us your feedback on any good or bad things you may have encountered so far.
We have a candidate receiving an F/C and an MM in the following weeks. Please make the effort to come by and support your officer line and give him a hearty welcome to the Lodge. While you’re at it, pick up a petition for anyone you may believe would make a good Mason, also available on line.
Awards night is coming up. Please make it a point to make reservations for dinner with us as we applaud those who have attained their milestone in Masonic history. These goals are to be celebrated. This year we have a member that was to receive his 75 year pin. Instead, he was chosen to receive it from the Great Architect in the Celestial Lodge above. The pin, of course, is not the award. It’s all those memories, times, and efforts that were spent being among good people, working to improve ourselves, and helping to better society.
We have many elderly and also several ill members. Please reach out to them in either voice or prayer. Till the next time we meet and forever after, may you conduct yourself in a manner conducive to Masonry.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
September 2018
Message From The East
Brethren
To those who would like to become active again but forgot how...come to dinner before our meeting and we will brief you on what you need to know. I'd like you to see some of the changes and updates we have made and to get your feedback.
Speaking of changes, if you'd like to check your Lodge profile information that we have on record, Grand Lodge has replaced Mori with Grandview which will allow you to do so and I encouraged you to please try it out. Go to: https://oh.grandview.systems/ and search for your Lodge. Click on your Lodge and then, in the bottom right side, click on ‘sign in’. At the top right side of that page, click 'member registration' and enter the information. Your member ID# is on your Dues Card.
We have two degrees to do next month, If you would like to watch, or participate, please check the trestle-board for dates & times. Also check out and attend any of the other events listed. They should prove to be a good time for all.
At the Deputy Grand Master’s rollout program this year, he asked us to ask ourselves “What is the reason that I am a Mason”. I believe the answer to that will aid us in seeing the positive effects Masonry can have in, or, has had on, our life’s journey. It should also prompt us to understand why we are to promote Masonry to others.
And foremost, if you have not seen the replaceyourself.org link, please do so as growing our membership is always in order! This site helps explains how to handle those secrets with which you have been so solemnly entrusted..
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
June 2018
Message From The East
Brethren
Our past improvements to our building have proven to provide a great place where we can dwell together. It’s getting to be quite a nice place, one that you might recommend to an acquaintance. Another improvement to the building, rather major, has been proposed. It is one that should command your attention, and require at least your input.
The months of July and August are dark for our stated meetings; however the Lodge Officers will still be at your service and continuing to be at your service throughout this period. Their contact information can be found on our website www.chhsj641.org as well as other valuable information.
Even though you may have not been at a meeting lately, please note on your calendar to attend Corn Roast 2018 which is to be held in the lot of the College Hill Masonic Center. For a small price, you will receive plenty of good food and social time. The Eastern Star is having a sale that day which will start early for those who may like to shop before they eat. All are welcome. Bring your family, friends and neighbors.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
May 2018
Message From The East
Brethren
If you haven’t been keeping up with what has been going on at CHHSJ lately, you might want to come to a meeting in the near future. Changes are happening, but of course, only with the consent of its members. Your feedback is important and the improvements, or changes, are intended to increase your quality of life while spending, and enjoying, the time you spend with your Brothers at the Lodge.
We have gotten many compliments from several other Lodges in the district on how much nicer the Lodge looks. We intend to continue this recognition. We have a Long Term Planning meeting scheduled for later this month which you are encouraged to attend.
In some of our dealings, an increase in assistance from the Eastern Star Chapter at College Hill is welcomed. How pleasant it is for brethren, and Sisters, to dwell together in unity. If you know of someone who might want to get active with the OES, please, let me know.
It would be very remiss of me not to mention that the Cumminsville Royal Arch Chapter would also like to welcome any interested Brothers into their membership.
There you have it, plenty of selections to get active in a rewarding path. Hope to see, or hear, from you soon!
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
April 2018
Message From The East
Brethren
I wish to thank you for the updated and/or confirmed contact information you have been sending. I have also been getting some short stories of how Masonry has been shaping your lives. If you haven't already done so, please continue to send in your info, and stories.
Be sure to check out the website replaceyourself.org and turn in those candidates petitions. After you have a replacement, we would like it if you would offer him some guidance too.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
March 2018
Message From The East
Brethren,
You are missing out on a great time if you are not going to any of the inspections being held throughout our first Masonic district. (They are listed on our webpage www.CHHSJ641.org ) How pleasant it is to dwell among a brother from another Lodge. Our District Deputies chime in with words of wisdom and news from our Grand Master MWB Rick Schau.
One topic brought up at an inspection was on the amount of Masonic jewelry worn by the brethren. It seems many of us wear them. Some of this jewelry is from our relatives or acquaintances who were Masons. Still others excitedly may go out and purchase new that special signet. It is good to know that such a great Fraternity is so well received that a person is happy to display the fact that he is a member.
Have you ever been out shopping or socializing and noticed someone wearing a Masonic article. Do you feel like you know him or that you are comfortable around him. Or possibly, you had just settled on a price for something you purchased, and afterwards found out that he was a Mason, would it reassure you a little more that you were probably treated fairly in this deal.
Many men do not wear any kind of sign showing that they are a Mason, except for the one they wear in their heart. They generally try to be a good and upright man, and that is what we are trying to teach at the College Hill Masonic Temple.
All the members of this Lodge have a lifetime of learning that needs to be shared. Please join us for dinner before our next meeting and share your stories. Bring along a friend. Maybe they will see the light that shines the pathway of how Freemasonry can improve the world we live in.
Please Note: I need your assistance in our efforts to update our records. Do not assume. Send your current contact information so that we can get you more informed, and involved with what goes on at College-Hill Harry S. Johnson Lodge.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
February 2018
Message From The East
Brethren,
We are trying to contact each and every member as well as all of our widows to get current contact information. We have been doing some exciting events this past year and we are in the process of continuing many of them this year. If you have not been contacted by phone or email recently, please go to the Lodge’s website http://www.chhsj641.org/ and send me an E-mail. I can be contacted through the heading marked “Contacts” at the top of the page. Then just click on Lodge Officers and you will find my Email address, as well as all the other officers’. No Email, our phone numbers are listed as well. No internet, Send us a message via mail. We may even read it at our next meeting.
Communication goes both ways. If you haven’t heard from us it may mean I need an updated phone number and/or Email address from you. Our mailed bulletins work well but only if you receive them in time. We can Email them, and other information, and you will receive that information quickly which will give your more time to plan for your attendance at these events. You don’t want to miss Corn Roast 2018 this year, do you? If we have your current contact information, you would get informed quickly of any last minute changes or cancelations.
We are still promoting the webpage www.replaceyourself.org . It’s a good feeling to be a Mason and an even better feeling to help someone you know to become one. We are having some new events this year on which you will not want to miss out. It is a good time to be associated with the great Fraternity of Masonry..
I hope you will assist us in our efforts to update our records with your contact information so that we can get you more informed, and involved with what goes on at College-Hill Harry S. Johnson Lodge.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
January 2018
Message From The East
Brethren,
In my December’s message, in an effort to bring you more light in Masonry, I fell short. I asked you to go to a website set up by the Grand Master of Ohio, but then I directed you to an incorrect website. Please go to the correct site: www.replaceyourself.org
Our LEO will be going into more detail on this program at our next stated meeting. Please be there, or for more immediate needs, make arrangements with him. Contact information for him and all the officers is on our Lodge’s website www.chhhsj641.org
Appears we are getting very electronic in our Masonic dealings. Many of our forms and communications are now being handled through E-mail, through websites, or even online. The mailed bulletin works well enough for some, but did you know that it too can be E-mailed? The ‘Phone tree’ contact method is slowly being replaced. It is a good means of contact but I believe personal contact remains best. And, how better it is to receive current and correct meeting times and dates, at your finger tips, when you want them, but by an electronic method which will give you the most current data to insure that you know about, and not miss, any of the coming events.
In December I initiated the phone tree to be implemented so that we could get all our members’ phone and address information confirmed. I am also asking to acquire your E-mail addresses. Did you get a call? I am finding several phone numbers have been disconnected. If you have not been contacted, please contact us right away. May I suggest using the website listed above, or, give us a call?
To remain successful there must knowledge and communication. You may have noticed that all Lodges have an Education Officer. But, to succeed, they must get that knowledge to their members.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
DECEMBER 2017
Message From The East
Brethren,
The new officers are now installed and are ready to handle the inner working of your Lodge. The Lodge is operating well. Can we say the same about our families, our neighbors, or, even our country? What kind of world would it be if everyone you knew was a Masonic brother, sister, niece or nephew? They can be. There are Masonic programs available for everyone. I am proud to inform you of one new method allowing us to spread brotherly love, relief, and truth. Take a look at this program on the internet - www.replaceyourself.com. It was started by our MWB Rick Schau. It is designed to do exactly that, replace yourself. As we progress through life, we are constantly learning, so that we can therefore teach. This program will not exclude you but rather gives you a heritage. Our LEO will go into more detail about this program at our next stated meeting. Till then, take a look at that website, and learn.
Years ago, when someone asked you about Masonry, you might have quipped “It’s a Secret”, if, for no other reason, than because you might not have known how to explain it to them. Has being involved in Freemasonry improved the way you look at life’s situations? Everyone should have this type of Masonic teachings, but of course, you must first determine who has that desire to learn, and then again, teach. Watch the video on the website listed above. It may shed some light.
This time of year, expectations and celebrations are particularly high. May God Bless you All.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
NOVEMBER 2017
Message From The East
Brethren,
I am sorry to announce that if you wanted to be a Lodge officer for 2018, it is too late. The members have elected several great men to lead your Lodge into its 101st year. Their names and contact information will be in the bulletin. Please send them each a note thanking them for their time and service to this great fraternity. Your words of support will help strengthen them for what may lie ahead.
A Master Mason inspection degree is in our future. Please contact me if you are willing to partake in any capacity in that event. As you know, a well choreographed fellow craft team really makes this degree stand out. We hope to have a new candidate ready by that time.
Time, patience, and perseverance will accomplish all things. Please make the effort this year to devote a little of your time to assist your new officers. If there is something you’d like to change about or add to the Lodge, let me know or join one of the respective committees available and endeavor to help achieve this feat. If you are desirous to attend a meeting but can’t find the time, keep trying. It may take a change in your current lifestyle but can add so much to it.
The Lodge can exist without any one of us, but it can mean so much more to society if we all unite and work together. Differing and opposing views should widen our perspective and only cause us problems when we are unwilling to accept them.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
OCTOBER 2017
Message From The East
Brethren
How good and pleasant it's been presiding over a Lodge that's been very active for the past year. The plans and preparations of the many different types of celebrations, which we have had in this our 100th anniversary year, has kept all of us quite busy. It was no secret to the district either as the deputies rewarded us at the FMDOA awards night with a plaque titled Lodge of the Year. Thank you to those who directly assisted and enjoyed those festivities which earned this Lodge that award. Also a big thank you goes to our long time members. The ones, past and present, who laid that north east stone to allow us to be in position to reap such an award.
Grand Lodge is at the Dayton Masonic Center this year, close enough for all of us to go. A member of our Lodge could possibly get an elected position in the Grand Lodge Officer line. Please make a special effort to be there to support him on his journey.
To be a Mason, is the only award that we should actually seek. To have the ability to dwell with other men who are Masons is a great honor. Not because they are Masons, but due to their desire to be one.
Fraternally,
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
SEPTEMBER 2017
Message From The East
Brethren,
It was a long night for those members and officers who attended our stated meeting. Thank you to all whose talents and valuable time was used to aid in making our Lodge operate at peak efficiency.
An item of concern was our dues. We try to keep our dues low for all. Constant changes in required allotments that we owe to various entities wreaks havoc when balancing our budget. After much discussion, the total dues amount will be a constant, a base amount needed to operate the Lodge, plus, those fluctuating, additional allotments. What is your membership worth, to you? To avoid confusion, remember, endowed memberships are available. If you have any questions, please ask.
Please note that you should hold on to your 2017 dues card. This is a permanent dues card. However, you must remain current on your yearly dues payment.
Thank you to those who have been to one of the 100th anniversary year events. Be sure to call and make a reservation for our November 4th Awards Night. It is to be held at Clovernook Country Club at 6:30 pm. Payments/reservations are due by October 28th.
Wives' and Widows' Night... September 28th... Open to all. .Bring your friends and family to the Lodge for a free dinner and live, big band music.
Rick Long
Worshipful Master
June, 2017
Message From The East
Brethren:
It is said that a man does not join Masonry, but that he becomes a Mason. There is indeed a difference. This organization, through its various lessons, teaches us how to become a better man. That, in turn, will improve society and everyone’s quality of life. To join, and then, just be a Mason, is possible, but not as fulfilling. There are times when we all need help remembering these important lessons. Please make it a point to come to a meeting for a refresher course. Have you ever gotten a good feeling just by seeing, in everyday life, some of the symbols and emblems that we use in Masonry? Would a square on a carpenter’s table, a set of compasses next to a draftsman’s sketch, or, a trowel, stir any of your emotions? How about the letter ‘G’?
I hope you are enjoying this year’s festivities. We have completed our inspection and our re-consecration. We have had several improvements and additions to our Lodge. Be sure to stop by July 16th for something to eat at the Corn Roast 2017. It’s open to your family and friends. Since we are a benevolent organization, we are hoping to make a large donation to several charities by raffling off a 1957 T-Bird. We’ll finish off the year giving it away at a dinner, again open to your family and friends, at the Clovernook Country Club. Call us for reservations.
We are half way through this lodge’s 100th year. This is also the 300th year of Freemasonry. Two BIG anniversary dates. Wouldn’t you like to help keep Freemasonry going? A sad note here is that apparently not enough of our members have been spreading the word about Freemasonry and our numbers are declining. Participation has increased, but not as much as it should. We all need to step up and be accounted for, and also, to give good counsel to our friends, family and acquaintances by giving them that golden opportunity to know what it is to become a Mason.
Fraternally
Richard A Long
Worshipful Master
MAY, 2017
Message From The East
Brethren:
It was truly an exciting evening with the onset of our Reconsecration and the Grand Master's Reception coming up. We had more preparations to do at the Lodge, so we tabled a lot of our work to our June Stated. Please join us then. If you do, you will also be able to see the beautiful gift we received from WB John Dsuban at our stated meeting. Also come see the stained glass square and compasses that we received from a donation to Childrens Dyslexia.
At the Reconsecration many compliments were received on the condition of the Lodge. Those that attended saw the Grand Lodge officers confer a beautiful ceremony.
Those of you who would like to see your charity at work are invited to an open meeting this Thursday to a More Light Event on some of the Masonic Home amenities available in Hamilton County.
I hope to see you there.
Fraternally,
Richard A. Long
Worshipful Master
April, 2017
Message From The East
Brethren:
The One Day Class has increased our membership by five. Now is the time for you to add to their Masonic experience with the lessons that you have learned. Though their entrance into the Fraternity may have been abridged, I do not wish to curtail the experience on which they are about to embark. Please assist me in bringing more light of this now 300 year old Fraternity to these new Masons with some of your own experiences.
Our website www.chhsj641.org is up and running. Please let me know your thoughts. Many of you want to be more active in your Lodge. Communication is the key to getting you information that can make that happen. That key is being sure we have your current and correct e-mail address. The phone tree was good, but slow. With e-mail, I can plug you into 10 times the information and take up a fraction of your time, and, you can view it on your schedule.
E-mail me now and congratulate our five new Masons. This will allow us to update your records and imagine what it would be like to show these new Masons a response from every one of our members.
Fraternally,
Richard A. Long
Worshipful Master
COLLEGE HILL-HSJ 100TH ANNIVERSARY RAFFLE
Take your chance at winning a 1957 T-Bird, tickets are $100 apiece and only 2,000 will be sold.
The proceeds from the raffle will be split between College Hill-Harry S. Johnson Lodge, Scottish Rite Dyslexia Learning Center of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Shrine Burns Hospital, Cincinnati Childrens’ Hospital and the Ohio Masonic Home/Grand Lodge Library.
We all know what great works each of these organizations do; just think what a generous donation like this could do for them in their missions. Your chance is just $100. Tickets will be available at all Lodge events and meetings till the end of September. If you can’t attend, contact me at 513-254-6835 and we can find a way to get you a ticket.
Fraternally,
Matt Rosensweet, PM
General Chair
March, 2017
Message From The East
Brethren:
How good it is for us to dwell together, and soon, there will be even more of us. Thank you to the work of several, we will have 5 candidates for the Grand Master’s One Day Class. There is still plenty of time to get someone you know, involved in Masonry on your Lodge’s 100 th anniversary year. It may not be in this one day class, because the deadline has past, but there’s plenty of other ways it can be achieved.
Freemasonry directs all men to search the open Bible for his path through life. Shouldn’t that be a direction you need to direct your acquaintances? Our petitions are available at anytime via the internet. Now may be the time you should be getting involved in Masonry. And what better way than with someone whom you can help guides and direct.
This year we have planned several special festivities throughout the year to help celebrate our 1917-2017 history. Check out the calendar on our website www.chhsj641.org
If life has been generous to you, check out the raffle on our website. Donation will be used to contribute to several worthy charities with one person, through a drawing, ending up with a 1957 T-Bird as first prize.
Fraternally
Richard A Long
Worshipful Master
February 2017
Message From The East
Brethren:
For our February Stated Meeting, I emailed many of you requesting petitions. We did get a few. I would have liked to have seen many more. This is a great opportunity that few need to exercise. We would be able to make these candidates Master Masons in just one day through this annual Grand Master’s One Day Class. We still do the conventional method of making a Master Mason, but this class is a modern approach to interact with the very busy schedules of today.
As you may know, we are still required to confer all the the degrees each year, as well as being inspected in one of them. Therefore, the conventional method is still available. We often go to other Lodge inspections, to learn, and to build friendships with other Masons.
There is an old adage, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink. This class is a tool to lead a small, or a large, number of men to the Fraternity of Freemasonry where being made a Master Mason in just one day is available. However, for a man to truly become a Master Mason, to drink of that water, it still requires his efforts to achieve those tenets of Freemasonry.
We need to make Masonry readily available to all of our acquaintances because there are those we know who are too busy to realize the benefits it can offer to them and to our society. This “tool” is a means for helping us make this possible. Let’s put it to use. You’ll like what happens.
Happy 100th Anniversary.
Fraternally,
Richard A. Long
Worshipful Maste
January, 2017
Message From The East
Brethren:
It was a cold, snowy day for the first stated meeting of our Lodge’s 100th year. Those of you who could not make it, I hope you were warm, and well. Those that did come, I thank you for your dedication to the Craft. Earth alone has never been found to be unfriendly to man, but at times, she can make us struggle.
Life, in general, is easier these days. Years ago, what took a room full of secretaries typing away busily all day has been replaced by computers, as with many other manual type labors. Becoming a Mason, too, is easier. Petitions are readily available with a stroke of the hand on the internet. There’s even a one day class this March that can raise a man to Master Mason in just ONE DAY. What a difference that one day could make in the rest of his life.
Just one uplifting “You’d make a good Mason” comment from you, to a man, whom you know is worthy, could then prompt him to ask “How do I become a Mason”. This would make a positive difference in the rest of his life. Wives and Widows that are reading this bulletin can also play a role in helping a man get into this Fraternity. Contact me, or any officer, and we can tell you how.
Fraternally
Richard A Long
Worshipful Master