Omega 380 Trestleboard - August 2024 - as of August 7th, 2024 Thursday, August 8th, 2024 - Omega 380 District School of Instruction: District Instructor Barbarisi, has scheduled a VERY SPECIAL FLOOR WORK TRAINING to focus on Part II of the Master Mason Degree. We need a large turnout of Master Masons, who are interested in learning or honing skills in the esoteric work of the Master Mason Degree. Training for the second half of the third degree often gets less training attention than desired because time and energy run out before we can get fully into it or because we just don't have enough brothers present to train it effectively. On Thursday, August 8th, Brothers will begin to arrive at 6:00 pm for refreshment and fellowship; the training will begin at 7:00 pm. Brothers are welcome to bring the red cipher books and floorwork manuals which can be referenced during the training session. Hope to see you there. The previous District School of Instruction on July 11th at Omega was very well attended, 21 brothers in all, which focused on the Fellowcraft Degree. Besides Omega 380, Brothers came from Okaloosa 312, Alpha 172, Concord 50; a lot of good training was done and various chairs were assigned a monitor to make sure that the best training and instruction would occur. Our next District Instructor is likely in training for the job right now; I wonder who that will be. August 15th, 2024: Omega 380 will have its second Stated Communication. Much important business will be conducted including some balloting for new and honorary memberships. Supper is served at 6:15 pm with the meeting to begin at 7:00 pm. Brother Marshall Ballard is in charge of the meal. The District 3 Masonic Association has scheduled a Boston Butt cook to raise funds for its charities. The cook will take place so that the roasts will be available for pickup at four locations on Saturday, August 31, 2024. Tickets are available now and price is set at $35.00. There is an option to have your Butt cooked without spices (salt, pepper & Bad Byron's Butt Rub) if you so desire. Pickup is possible Saturday, August 31, 2024 from 8:00 to 10:00 am at Concord Lodge No. 50 in Crestview, DeFuniak Lodge No. 170, Okaloosa Lodge No. 312 in Niceville or Omega Lodge No. 380 in Fort Walton Beach from 8:00-10:00 am. Saturday, August 31st, the Saturday before Labor Day. The Brother in charge is Right Worshipful David York who has prepared a PDF file flyer for bulletin boards or hand outs which is attached to this email, or if you prefer you can click the dropbox link below and get it there: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/6n3pafrb6aqvpnvi8prrt/AEK209qcS90Sqf7h8gkfPhc?rlkey=8wpdlysrci93rip73kqica2cd&st=mj1aheek&dl=0 RSVP Reminder: Mark Your Calendars and Notify Your Lady: The Grand Master's Official Visit (GMOC) will be Friday, September 13th, 2024 at Warriors Hall; 201 Stillwell Blvd; in Crestview. There will be a fine meal and then a tyled meeting and a ladys' program after the meal. This is a must attend event, so plan accordingly. The official invitation and more details are listed below; please RSVP ASAP to Right Worshipful Jeff Teasdale or through your lodge, but not both. This is so we can have a reasonably accurate head count for the purposes of planning the right amount of food. RSVPs are very helpful for planning the meal. You do want to be helpful, don't you? Attached you will find the Invitation to the Grand Master’s Official Visit to the 3rd Masonic District to be held on Friday, September 13, 2024, with Dinner and the Ladies Program to be held at Warriors Hall and the Tyled Meeting to be held at Concord Lodge No. 50. A map is also attached to assist in your travels. Please RSVP soonest to Right Worshipful Jeff Teasdale [ 850-420-2128; jeff.teasdale51@gmail.com ] or through your lodge secretary, but not both. Attached you will also find the Invitation to the Grand Master’s Official Visit to the 1st & 2nd Masonic Districts to be held on Saturday, September 14, 2024, with Dinner and the Ladies Program being held at Zelica Grotto and the Tyled Meeting being held at Naval Lodge No. 24. A map is also attached to assist in your travels. Please RSVP using this Eventbrite link: GMOV to the 1st & 2nd Masonic District Tickets, Sat, Sep 14, 2024 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite Attached you will also find the Invitation to the Grand Master’s Official Visit to the 28th Masonic District to be held on Saturday, September 21, 2024, with Dinner and the Ladies Program being held at the Marathon Yacht Club and the Tyled Meeting being held at Marathon Lodge No. 323. A map is also attached to assist in your travels. Please RSVP using this Eventbrite link: GMOV District 28 Tickets, Sat, Sep 21, 2024 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite Sincerely, Maegan Dover, The Grand Lodge of Florida, P.O. Box 1020, Jacksonville, FL 32201-1020, Ph. (904) 354-2339, Fax (904) 632-3865; maegan.dover@glflamason.org; http://www.grandlodgefl.com/ The Official Visit Schedule for Right Worshipful District Deputy Grand Master, Jeff Teasdale, is shown below. If you would like to review the PDF file of the Committee Programs Book, it is available for download under the "Resources" tab on the Grand Lodge of Florida website. These programs will be briefed during the official visits so you might want to educate yourself in advance on these programs so that you will be prepared to get answers to any questions you might have. District 3 DDGM 2024 Official Visit Schedule. Just Remember that Schedules are subject to Change, so verify. Alpha 172 - Official Visit - 16 July 2024 Okaloosa 312 - Official Visit - 22 July 2024 DeFuniak 170 - Official Visit - 1 Aug 2024 Concord 50 - Official Visit – 19 Aug 2024 Mt Ewell - Official Visit - 26 Aug 2024 Herman 108 - Official Visit – 3 Sep 2024 Omega 380 - Official Visit – 5 Sep 2024 Glendale 225 - Official Visit - 26 Sep 2024 Laurel Hill 44 - Official Visit - 7 Oct 2024 Beaver Creek 230 - Official Visit - 22 Oct 2024 The district instructor, Right Worshipful Dennis Barbarisi, plans to conduct numerous District Schools of Instruction during his term so if you would like a District School of Instruction at your lodge, please talk to the District Instructor so that plans can be put in motion ____________________________________________________________________ Brothers (recipients) are invited to share this email with newer members so they can reply and ask to have their email address added to distribution. Ladies who wish to stay informed can also be placed on distribution. Anyone wishing to be removed may reply with that request. Constructive feedback to these Trestleboard emails is welcome, since we desire them to serve the craft as best as can be done. * Thursday, August 8th: District School of Instruction - Omega 380, Master Mason Degree part II *DDGM Schedule of Official Visits and other Events in District 3 (see above) *Tuesday, August 13th, 2024 Masonic Association meets at Okaloosa Lodge No. 312, Supper at 6:15 pm *Saturday, September 8th, 2024 - Open books at Concord 50 starting at 9:00 after breakfast. *Friday, September 13th, 2024 - Grand Master's Official Reception (GMOC) (see above)(RSVP) Masonic Association Meeting Dates (Normally the 2nd Tuesday of each month) and Locations have been announced by Secretary Right Worshipful Ken Eichorn: Meetings usually commence at 6:15 pm with the meal to follow the pledge of allegiance and the prayer. After supper, the meating starts and usually doesn't take much time; essential business is conducted and then we adjourn. We would like to see as many more masonic ladies present (like in past times) not to clean up after, but to get their feedback and keep them informed of District 3 events and functions. The lodge provides the main entree, drinks and bread; attendees are asked to bring a covered dish and/ or dessert. In past times the Masonic Association was called the Masters and Wardens Association, but in order to encourage larger participation, the name was changed to ensure that all Master Masons and their ladies feel welcome and encouraged to attend; this meeting is attended by anyone who wants to be a leader in the masonic community. The hat is usually passed to collect once for charity and again for the meal. The meal receipts are passed to the Worshipful Master of the host lodge to defray the cost of the meal, but most often this money is returned to the association president for one of the charities. January 9 – Alpha 172, / February 13 - Mt Ewell 131, / March 12– Beaver Creek 230, / April 9– Herman 108, / May 14– Glendale 225, / June 11 – Omega 380, / July 9 – DeFuniak 170, / August 13 – Okaloosa 312, / September 10 –Mount Ewell, / October – 8th Omega 380,/ November 12 - DeFuniak 170, / December 10 – Concord 50 NOTE: We will continue to use this order of visitations with adjustments for those lodges which host us more than once. If a lodge cannot accommodate the schedule, please contact Secretary Eichorn and we will adjust as necessary. Ken Eichorn, Secretary Many thanks to the Brothers who have updated their contact information. The lodge email address is : omega.lodge380@gmail.com Also, check out our FACEBOOK GROUPS Page at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/323033236207118 Please support the District 3 Masonic Widows’ Fund. Many Master Masons find the Masonic Widows Fund to be a convenient way to help our departed Brothers' widows financially in their hour of need. The Masonic Widow's Fund Application/ Brochure in PDF file format is now available on Dropbox at the link below. Please encourage all District 3 brothers to join the Masonic Widows’ Fund; it is a very simple and effective way to provide a little help for each new widow. You can download and print out copies to keep at the Secretary’s desk and to distribute to your lodge brothers or District Visitors. Please support the fund in all ways possible and contact your Lodge Trustee or Worshipful Master for questions or additional details. Worshipful Masters: Please make sure your lodge has two trustees, who have ability to attend the quarterly meetings, and that your members know who your lodge trustees are. Masonic Widow's Fund Application & Info at the link below: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ 5019k229cqvowu6/MASONIC% 20WIDOW%27s%20FUND%20APP.% 20Rev%20NOV%2021.pdf?dl=0 Be sure to visit Omega 380's website at: http://www.380fm.com/ Lodge Email: omega.lodge380@gmail.com Facebook Groups Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/323033236207118 Please remember to notify the lodge when your address, phone number or email address has changed. A lot of information and downloads are available at the Grand Lodge of Florida website: https://lodges.glflamason.org/ If you are looking for a Petition or Supplemental Forms, there are many forms (pdf files) that can be downloaded from the Grand Lodge of Florida website. It always seems to take me a while to find that page, and perhaps the following link will help: https://www.grandlodgefl.com/forms/