North Star Lodge #447

The Night Before Christmas, Down At the Lodge

Colby — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:00:38 +0000

Courtesy of Bro. Todd E. Creason (http://toddecreason.blogspot.com/)

The Night Before Christmas, Down At the Lodge

‘Twas the Night before Christmas, and down at the Lodge

Not a gavel was stirring, and in the hodge-podge

Of aprons and jewels and chairs East and West

you could savor the silence, most gladly divest

All metal and mineral, it mattered not,

since Christmas was nigh and the coals were still hot

In the hearth of your homestead, all Masons abed,

as visions of trestle boards danced in their head;

When up on the roof there arose such a clatter,

Our Tiler jumped up to see what was the matter!

He picked up his sword and ran fast to the door,

three knocks shook the panels – he wondered ‘What for?’

He answered the knocking with, raps of his own,

and once the door opened he saw, with a moan

Of delight it was Santa, all jolly and red

Except for one notable feature Instead!

Upon his large finger lie wore what we knew

was compass and square on a background of blue!

‘Why Santa!’ he shouted and lowered his blade

‘I see you’re a Mason!’ the Tiler relayed.

He looked toward the Master’s most dignified chair

and said, voice near trembling, ‘Most Worshipful there

Is a Gentleman properly clothed at the gate!’

The Master replied, ‘Let’s allow him – but wait!

You tell me a Gentleman, but I don’t see

His Apron beneath that red suit, can it be

Our visitor hasn’t been properly raised?

Must we offer a test that is suitably phrased?

‘I do beg your pardon,’ old’ Santa said quick

As he pulled up his coat and displayed not a stick

But a cane with, engraving, two balls did appear

and oh, what an apron, he wore and held dear!

Adorned like the Master’ complete with a sign

Of “Lodge Number One, the North Pole” on one line!

“Now let man enter,” the Master declared,

and once in the Lodge room the Brethren all stared,

For Santa was wearing a jewel not seen

for many a century – there in between

The fur of his coat and the splendid red collar

gleamed two golden reindeer that shone like a dollar!

“It’s Donner and Blitzen, who, I must confess

Are actually images brought from the West

By my Warden, a craftsman like none in the world!”

And with a great laugh from his bag he unfurled

An ear of fine corn and some oil from the east,

“My friend I have plenty, tonight we will feast

On all that is good! We are Masons, kind sir!”

A murmur went throughout the Lodge, quite a stir,

As presents and promises flew from his sack

This Santa, a Mason, showed he had a knack

For making this Christmas the best you could glean,

And soon even Deacons were laughing, they’d seen

On this very night only happiness reigned!

This jolly Saint Nicholas quickly explained

That only a Mason could be so inclined

to make all kids happy, make all people find

A Christmas so special, yes, Santa was right!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Happy Holidays from all of the brothers of North Star Lodge #447

Pictures From the Pancake Dinner

Colby — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:47:49 +0000

Here are some pictures from our pancake fundraiser on November 13th. All funds went towards the North Star Lodge scholarship funds. Thanks to all of those who stopped by for dinner, and all of the volunteers.

Click to view slideshow.

Pancake Lunch – Sunday, Nov. 13

Colby — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:49:39 +0000

WHAT: Annual Pancake Day

WHEN: Sunday, November 13, 2011

TIME: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: North Star Masonic Temple, 2003 East Central Avenue, Estherville, Iowa

COST: Adults: $5, Children 5-12: $2.50

Each year North Star Lodge holds our annual Pancake Day. The profits from this event go to our scholarship fund. Each year, two scholarships are given to area high school seniors who will be attending Iowa Lakes Community College. Our Masonic orders have always been proud of our contributions to this scholarship fund which benefits youth in our area.

If you would like tickets, contact a member of our lodge or contact Larry Niles at 362-4259. You may also pay at the door. Tell your friends and bring your appetite.

Grand Lodge of Iowa Launches New Website

Colby — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:51:26 +0000

The Grand Lodge of Iowa just recently launched a newly redesigned website that can be found at http://www.grandlodgeofiowa.com/. Here’s the Grand Lodge’s post describing the new site:

Welcome to the newly redesigned
Grand Lodge of Iowa Official Website.

This design and the reformatted information is the work of the Ad Hoc Technology Committee under the direction of Most Worshipful Brother
Craig L. Davis, Grand Master of Masons in Iowa.

The goal of the committee was to bring the Grand Lodge of Iowa website to current web standards for design and functionality. The Grand Lodge of Iowa site is built on the content management system WordPress using the Graphene theme. The content contained there in is copyrighted by the Grand Lodge of Iowa and All Rights are Reserved.

The theme uses top level page navigation and related pages are located on drop down menus below. For instance, If you click on the top level “Calendars” dates for future Grand Lodge events are located there, the drop down pages under Calendars are self explanatory. Some top level navigation pages do not have drop downs. There is a Site Search feature in the upper right corner and RSS is available Upper left. Google Calendar has been incorporated and in the near future a Photo Album widget will be installed soon.

You will notice that all Grand Lodge of Iowa URLs bring you to the site. If you have bookmarked any favorite links, say to forms or education materials, you will want to update those. For reference, Awards, Forms and Applications are located under the top level navigation page “Grand Lodge”. Education Materials are located under the top level page “Education” and are organized by groups in drop down pages below Education.

We have made every effort to make this transition easy for you and if you find you are having difficulty finding the information you need, please let us know by emailing the Grand Secretary’s Office.

Your comments and suggestions are always appreciated as well.

Fraternally,

The Grand Lodge of Iowa – Ad Hoc Technology Committee

Special attention should be brought to the new “Knowledge Academy” described briefly here:

Here you will find a place to explore various aspects of our fraternity in a semi-self-directed manner. You will be able to work alone and/or with others in studying the ritual jurisprudence, history, and symbols of our Gentle Craft.

As with Masonry you will begin at the first level and progress through more advanced levels until you obtain the designation Master Adept of the Academy.

Great things are happening for Freemasonry in Iowa.

Help A North Star Lodge Member Support Bike MS

Lodge_447_webmaster — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 03:33:07 +0000

North Star Lodge member Colby Moorberg is participating in the Bike MS Historic New Bern ride in September. Bro. Moorberg lives in Raleigh, NC where he is attending graduate school. The charity ride raises money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Bro. Moorberg will be riding 200 miles in the two days of the bike ride, but he must raise $200 or more to do so. Please lend him a philanthropic hand and help support research for this terrible disease. You can find out more about Bro. Moorberg’s fundraising efforts at his website here: Help Support Bike MS. You can donate to his cause at his fundraising web page at <http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/colbymoorberg>.

Chris Fuhrman Raised to the Third Degree

Lodge_447_webmaster — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:31:21 +0000

(left to right) Brothers Dallas Brown, Christopher Fuhrman, and W.M. Brian Moorberg

Congratulations to Bro. Chris Fuhrman who was raised to the degree of Master Mason on April 5th. Bro. Fuhrman is an Estherville native and a graduate of Estherville Lincoln Central high school. He attended the University of Iowa and has a law degree from William Mitchell University. He works as an attorney in Estherville.

W.M. Brian Moorberg Completes 1st Triathlon

Lodge_447_webmaster — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:51:43 +0000

Congratulations to our lodge’s Worshipful Master, Brian Moorberg, in completing his first triathlon. W.M. Moorberg competed in the Regional Wellness Center Triathlon on May 28. It started out with the swim, followed by the cycling and running portion of the race. His split times were as follows:

Place	6
Bib #:	46
Name:	Brian Moorberg
Start:	10:29:39 AM
Split 1:	10:38:43 AM
Split 2:	11:24:11 AM
Split 3:	11:24:10 AM
Finish:	11:50:39 AM
Elapsed:	01:21:00 AM

W.M. Moorberg competed in the 50-59 year old division and earned 6th place. The full event results can be found at raceplacechiptiming.com. Race result highlights can be found on the Estherville Daily News website.

Brother Wounded in Afghanistan

Lodge_447_webmaster — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:42:39 +0000

Grand Lodge Secretary William R. Crawford sent out the following note to Masons in Iowa regarding a fellow brother from Taylor Lodge #156:

Dear Brother,

Brother Dustin Morrison, a member of Taylor Lodge No. 156 at Bedford, was recently wounded when a massive improvised explosive device detonated underneath the Cougar MRAP in which he was riding while on a routine combat patrol mission in eastern Afghanistan’s restive Paktia province. It rolled one. Two others were wounded and one soldier was killed. The wounded were evacuated to a treatment center in Germany. They are members of Bravo Company, of the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team of the Iowa National Guard.

Expressions of care and concern may be sent to Brother Morrison’s home at 1010 North 16^th Street, Apartment B6, Clarinda, Iowa 51632-1139.

Fraternally,

William R. Crawford, Grand Secretary

Please send cards and keep Brother Morrison and his family in your prayers.

Annual Pancake Day

Lodge_447_webmaster — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:52:10 +0000

WHAT: Annual Pancake Day

WHEN: Sunday, April 10, 2011

TIME: 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

WHERE: Masonic Temple, 2003 East Central Avenue, Estherville, Iowa

COST: Adults: $5, Children 5-12: $2.50

This year we changed the day from Saturday to Sunday in hope of increasing attendance by getting people to come after church services. If you would like tickets, contact a member of our lodge or contact Larry Niles at 362-4259. You may also pay at the door. Tell your friends and bring your appetite.

We’re on Twitter!

Lodge_447_webmaster — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 22:27:04 +0000

North Star Lodge is now on Twitter. You can see our Twitter feed by following this link: http://twitter.com/#!/northstar447 or by clicking the icon below. Twitter is a way for people, and brothers, from around the world in real time. It is a fun way to stay connected. If you’re interested in starting your own twitter account, follow this link: https://twitter.com/signup.

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