Brethren,

Tiding from the East. My term as Master is rapidly coming to a close, and this is the last time that I will address from the East in this publication. Garner Lodge 701 has enjoyed a banner year thanks to your diligent work and dedication to the tenets of our great fraternity. Listed below are some of the accomplishments our Lodge has realized this year:

Ø Our Membership directory was revised, reprinted, and issued

Ø Our Lodge’s Bylaws were reviewed, revised and rewritten

Ø Our own Website was developed and placed online along with an electronic newsletter

Ø Our fund raiser & solicitation campaign generated more than $8000 for the Masonic Charities

Ø A Masonic Education Program or Degree Work was performed every month this year

Ø We hosted an open house that yielded at least one new member

Ø A brand new copy machine was donated by one of our members

Ø All the lights were replaced downstairs in the dining hall

Ø The kitchen was thoroughly cleaned and reorganized

Ø A new ice machine was installed

Ø Funds were allocated to have our Bible refurbished

Ø An old, ongoing drainage problem was fixed

Ø Several distressed brothers were assisted in various ways

Ø The DDGM & DDGL visited our Lodge on more than one occasion

Ø Our Lodge played a primary role in assisting with District Projects

Ø Several long-absent members were contacted and responded by returning to the Lodge

Ø Our Newsletter won recognition at Grand Lodge

Ø We enjoyed a Valentines Dinner / Fund raiser event in February

Ø Three new Masons were initiated

Ø We enjoyed a Christmas banquet & provided fruit baskets for our widows

This has been an extremely rewarding year for me. Thanks to YOU, I have grown personally and as a Mason. There has not been one single occasion this year that I have asked ANYONE to do something for the Lodge that was not done promptly and cheerfully. Thank you.

Over the year many of you have come to me privately and offered encouragement, or expressed pleasure with the way the Lodge was running. I think that I will remember those brief, private, very personal moments and kind words the most when I reflect on my year as Master. Thank you.

I have realized that in Masonry there are many Masons that are traveling toward the East, but I am now ready to join those who are traveling FROM the East. The Past-Masters of this Lodge has been an unimaginable resource to me. Until you “wear the hat” you can little appreciate exactly how much the wise counsel of Past Masters can mean. Thank you.

And as for those who are traveling toward the East, the line officers of this Lodge, how did such a dedicated, loyal, hard-working group come to assemble in the same Lodge? For your diligence, for your unfailing support, for your love of Masonry, Thank you.

And to all the brethren, I want to thank you for making this a superb Masonic Year. At Past-Masters’ Night, Worshipful Brother Bill Tapp made a statement that really stuck with me, because he was so precisely on the money. He said in part that often we think in terms of a particular master’s year. It was Brother Bill’s year or Brother Harry’s year or Brother Lee’s year, when in actuality it was the Lodge’s year. This certainly was not Jimmy Stevens’ year; it was YOUR year, and a very good one. Thank you for permitting me to be a part of it.

I hope that you will demonstrate the same enthusiasm for the craft during Brother Ricky Marcum’s term as Master. Brother Ricky will be installed at an OPEN installation on Saturday, 12 January 2002. The Lodge will open an emergent communication at 2:00 p.m. and will be opened to non-Mason guests at 2:30 p.m. Please plan to attend and support Brother Ricky.

Finally, I most sincerely hope that you and your family enjoy the merriest Christmas ever, and that your New Year will be happy and prosperous. When you get around to making your New Year’s resolutions, why not resolve to attend more Lodge meetings next year? It’s just not the same without YOU!

Fraternally,

Jimmy Stevens, Master

Garner Lodge 701

At the stated communication on December 10, 2001, the following officers were elected for the coming year:

Master Ricky Marcom

Senior Warden Ronnie Williams

Junior Warden Greg Ray

Secretary John Tawney

Treasurer Myron Staton

If you have any news, important or otherwise, please contact:

Ricky Marcom 779-0105

Lee Phillips 851-2517 lphillips4@earthlink.net

Next Newsletter Deadline –

January 15, 2002