Brethren,
An Entered Apprentice
degree was held April 29th, bringing the number of new Entered Apprentices
to four for this year. On March 29th,
a Master Mason degree was conducted increasing the Lodge’s membership by
one. With each of these degrees, Harmony
is well on its way to meeting the goals I set for this year. I extend my sincere thanks to all who
assisted with these degrees in my absence.
You may
have noticed that the parking lot has been scraped and swept, giving it a more
attractive appearance, thanks to Gowan Tuten. Other
brothers and their spouses have assisted in cleaning the inside of the building
over the last few weeks. Also, several
ideas have been brought up at the business meetings on what improvements need
to be mad to the building. With funds
made from the auction, some of these suggestions can be accomplished.
The Auction
was held on April 19th and it was largely a success. I would like to take this opportunity to
THANK Worshipful Brother Henry Chambers, PM, for all of the items he donated to
our Lodge for this auction. Without his
generosity, this would not have been possible!
Artwork, furniture, glassware, decoys, a generator, a power washer and a
mule four wheeler were all sold. The
auction sales brought in over $6,000 before the final tally is made. This amount is surely to increase, as there
are still several items that did not sell.
Those items include a boat, fishing rods, a four-wheeler and a tractor
with implements.
In addition
to the auction sales, Lawrence Laughlin sold hot dogs, snacks and drinks during
the auction. After paying for the food
and drink items another $100+ dollars were placed in the auction funds.
I would
like to thank everyone who assisted with the auction and setting it up, you all
worked very hard. I have listed each of
you on an attached sheet, and if I left someone off, it was not intentional. The auction would not have been a success without
all of your assistance. Craig Dopson’s brother Mike, a professional auctioneer, conducted
the auction, gratis and it certainly helped to increase the funds collected.
Davis
Spears, Charles Spears and Kevin Ennis all attended the Grand Lodge in Greenville on April 24th
and 25th. Hopefully, they
will share their experience with us during the May regular communications on Thursday,
May 8th.
Lastly, I
am well on the way to mending from my accident in February and was able to
climb the stairs to get to the Lodge room to conduct the regular communication
in April. Again, Thank you for your calls and prayers!
To each of
you (and especially to the ladies) a heartfelt THANKS for making the auction a success: Clayton Cooler, Craig and
Darleen Dopson, Kevin Ennis, Paul Griffith, Howard
and Joan Harris, Mary Kozak,,
Lawrence Laughlin, Scott Robinson, Charles and Sand Spears, David and Katrina
Spears, Jason Stowers, Gowan
Tuten and Debbie Youmans.
Howell Youmans III
Worshipful Master
CRABBY OLD MAN
When an old
man died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Tampa, Florida,
it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when
the nurses were gong through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the
staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
One nurse
took her copy to Missouri. The old man’s sole bequest to posterity has
since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Lois
Association for Mental Health. A slide
presentation has also been made based on this simple, but eloquent, poem.
And this
little old man, with nothing left to give to the world is now the author of
this “anonymous” poem winging across the Internet.
Crabby Old Man
What do you see nurses?
What do you see?
What are you thinking, when you’re looking at me?
A crabby old man, not very wise,
Uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food and makes no reply,
When you say in a loud voice, “I do wish
you’d try!”
Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
And forever is losing a sock or a shoe?
Who, resisting or not, lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding, the long day to
fill?
Is that what you’re thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse, you’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of ten, with a father and mother,
Brothers and sister who love one another.
A young boy of sixteen with winds on his feet,
Dreaming that soon now a lover he’ll meet.
A groom soon at twenty my heart gives a leap,
Remembering, the vows that I promised to keep.
At twenty-five now I have young of my own,
Who need me to guide and secure happy home.
A man of thirty my young now grown fast,
Bound to each other with ties that should
last.
At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone,
By my woman’s beside me to see I don’t mourn.
At fifty, once more, Babies play ‘round my knee,
Again, we know children my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my wife is now dead,
Look at the future I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own,
And I think of the years and the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man and nature is cruel,
“Tis jest to make old age look
like a fool.
The body, it crumbles: grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young guy still dwells,
And now and again my battered heart swells
I remember the joys I remember the pain,
And I’m loving and living life over again!
I think of the years all too few gone too fast,
And accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people open and see,
Not a crabby old man.
Look closer, see ME!
Remember this
poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking
at the young soul within. We will all,
one bay, be there too!
PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM
The best
and most beautiful things of this world can’t be seen or touched. They must be felt by the heart. God Bless.
This poem
was contributed by Most Worshipful Brother, Robert V. Pinkston, Secretary
Emeritus [Ed.]
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Brothers, Happy Birthday to you!
5/20 Arthur Martine
Berger 5/02 Laron Hubert Cain
5/22 Paul Ray Cole 5/18 Joel Byron Crane
5/30 Charlie Wilder
Dempsey 5/01 Ken Usif Ennis
5/02 Raymond Carrol Fletcher 5/17 William Lee Hall
5/04 Robert Clayton
Heck 5/06 Joseph W Lipsitz
5/17 Edward Marion Lubkin 5/14
Daniel Clyde Newton
5/22 Scott William
Robinson 5/02 Percy Alan Rowland
5/28 Melvin
Schoenberg 6/11 Larry Talmadge
Conley
6/02 William Lamar Bethea 6/19 Samuel Clifford Greenly
6/24 Edward Leeland Emanuel 6/15 Gerald Franis
Kane
6/04 Robert Burton Hill 6/09 John Frederick Maag
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