Trestle Board

May 2015

FROM THE EAST

OPEN HOUSE MAY 9

Please join us in May for

our annual open house.

This is a great opportunity

to bring friends and family

to the Lodge and present

them with the opportunity

to tour the Lodge, review

descriptions of each office

and ask any questions they may have.

If you were not able to make it out for the Stated meeting

in April, we had a great exhibit by Morgan Laderer. Mor-

gan demonstrated her winning engineering project.

(From the East continued on Page 6)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

From the West………2

Golden Fleece, Roman

Eagle, Star and Garter

Youth Groups ............ 5

Chapter Chairman Bill

Enloe Message

Eastern Star ............... 6

OES Invitation

York Rite ................... 7

Installation of Officers

Success or Failure? .... 8

EVENTS THIS MONTH

May 4 6:30 pm

Trustee Stated Meet-

ing

May 5 6:00 pm Tri-

ple Second Degree.

All three candidates

will go through both

sections at the same

time

May 12 Stated Meet-

ing Dinner @6:00

Meeting at 7:00 pm

May 23 Open House

3 pm to 7 pm

May 26 7 pm Lodge

of Education

May 23 3 to 7 pm

2

As they apply to the lambskin or white leather apron of a Mason and the meaning thus conveyed in the Entered Apprentice’s lecture. Brothers, a couple of months ago I was assisting another brother in studying for his proficiency on the Entered Apprentice’s Degree. That brother would ask, on several occasions, for more information on just what the Golden Fleece, the Roman Eagle, and the Star and Garter meant as it related to the “Badge” of a Mason. I will have to admit that my answer was somewhat lacking in detail. My answer and the answer of another brother present was something along the lines of “they are an-cient and honorable orders bestowed upon some individual who has done some great deed.” But even as I spoke the words, it seemed to me to be an answer lacking in some detail. I could also tell that our Entered Apprentice was still looking for more infor-mation. Therefore, I have done some research on the topic and hope I can now give a better answer. While I did utilize our little library here in the Lodge, the Encyclopedia, and Webster’s Dictionary for source materials, my best source of information actually came from an article on the Internet. It turns out that Brother Steven W. Sanford of Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, had already worked up an article on just this topic. I hereby freely acknowledge his work and thank him for making it available to other brothers. In the first degree, it is explained that the apron is an emblem of innocence more an-cient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more honorable than the Star and Gar-ter. From time immemorial, symbolic emblems, medals, and high orders of recognition were created by those in power to recognize outstanding individuals and to create or-ders of honor and chivalry.

FROM THE WEST

The origins of the

Golden Fleece – Roman Eagle – Star and Garter Presented at Shelby Lodge # 662, F.&.A.M. Waddy, Kentucky by Bro. Steve Case

Congratulations to Companions Chuck Simpson, Colin Laing and Nick Tyler on

becoming Super Excellent Masters on April 25th . The Super Excellent Master

Degree is an honorary degree in the Council of Cryptic Masons of the York Rite.

The Degree is very impressive and requires a very large cast. It is given once per

year in Arizona.

3

Golden Fleece

“More ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle.” Sounds like something we may have learned about in high school, in Greek Mythology from “Homer and the Iliad” with Jason and the Argonauts performing a heroic deed in rescuing the

Golden Fleece in 939 BC. Well, you are right. Mythology holds that the Golden Fleece was supposed by the Greeks to be hidden in a remote land far across the trackless sea. This precious fleece grew upon the back of a ram, the gift of one of their gods. The ram was constantly guarded by bulls that breathed fire and by a dragon that never slept. The prom-ise to the Greeks was (or so the fable went) that if they could find and recover the Golden Fleece and bring it to Greece, wealth and prosperity would abound in that country. The hope of redeeming that promise led to the formation of an order which embraced in its membership many of the most illustrious men of that period, who were called Argonauts from the name of the ship, Argo, on which

they sailed. Tradition is replete with the daring deeds and suffering of those men in the cause in which they enlisted. Somewhat later, in England, Philip, the Duke of Burgundy, founded the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1429 as an Order equal to the English “Star and Garter” as a means to keep alive chivalry, to honor old knights, and as a means to tie this Order to his title, which would in turn extend his heritage. The name of the Order and its badge, a pendant sheep’s fleece made of gold, was a new device for the House of Burgundy and was certainly intended to represent the fleece sought by Jason and the Argonauts, an heroic legend which paralleled the Arthurian origins of the Or-der of the Garter. The adoption of a pagan image as the badge of a Christian Order led to a protest by the Order’s first Chancellor, Jean Germain, Bishop of Nevers, who preferred that it should recall Gideon’s fleece (which was neither gold nor a prize for courage). Later in the century, Chancellor Guillame Filastes added the fleeces of Jacob, Mesa, Job and David to be associated with this image, making six in all and supposedly corresponding to the virtues of magnanimity, justice, pru-dence, fidelity, patience and clemency. The badge was to be suspended from a Col-lar adapted from an earlier livery badge to that of a Fire-Steel or (fusil).

4

Roman Eagle

The Roman Eagle became the symbol of imperial power about a century before Christ. It was the most prominent fixture or symbol throughout the Roman Empire intending to remind everyone as to who was in power and it preceded all Roman armies when marching to and from battle. But, the ritual use of the Apron has a much earlier history than these. The Bible mentions a garment worn by the High Priest, called the Ephod, described as an apron or skirt covering the body from the waist down, and made of white linen with shoulder straps, possibly a bib. It also had a "girdle", described by the Bible as "curious," with no other details. Elijah and John the Baptist wore aprons of leather. Isaiah wore an apron of haircloth. Jeremiah wore an apron of Linen. The ancient Druids wore a white apron for the sacred duty of cutting mistletoe. Priests of the Roman gods wore white when making sacrifices. It is obvious that these various faiths chose a white garment to symbolize the importance of purity of heart when going about the work of God. To us, as Speculative Masons, it is a re-minder of our very ancient and divine heritage.

Star and Garter Our ritual goes on to describe the apron as being "more honorable than the Star and Garter or any other order that can be conferred”. King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter in 1348 as a noble fraternity consisting of the King, the Prince of Wales and 24 Knights Compan-ion. One picturesque version of its founding tells of King Edward at a ball where a lady lost one of her garters. Bending down to pick it up, the lady blushing and those present laughing, the King remarked, "Honi Soi Qui Mal Y Pense ” meaning “dishonor to him who thinks evil of it.” He tied it around his own leg and vowed to turn it into the most honored garter ever worn. Since its inception, it remains to this day as the highest Order of English Chivalry. The Order of the Star, created by King John II of France in 1351, was an imitation of the English Order. The apron as professed by our fraternity confers a greater honor than the very highest orders of chivalry. But, it also requires an extremely high standard of conduct for he who would dare to wear this emblem. These Orders do not have much meaning to our present day society, however, during those time periods; non-masons considered these orders to be the ultimate honor that could be be-stowed upon individuals. High honors that we can all identify with today, range from the Medal of Honor to the Nobel Peace Prize. Either way, our Masonic Fraternity wants each En-tered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason to know that from the very beginning of their Masonic journey, that the ultimate honor that can ever be bestowed upon them is their white leather apron. Scott Pearson Senior Warden

5

FROM THE CHAPTER CHAIRMAN

Hello Everyone,

My name is Bill Enloe and I’m the Chapter

Chairman from Chandler Chapter DeMo-

lay. I wanted to personally thank Chan-

dler Thunderbird #15 for the visitation

and the warm reception. The youth

groups could not survive without the sup-

port of the sponsoring bodies and often we

forget the thank you for much of what you

do. We look forward to a long relationship

with the Lodge and hope that when many

of the young men come of age and desire

to continue their Masonic journey that

they look to the sponsoring body as one of their first choices for membership.

With that said, I’d like to provide a shameless plug for assistance. If any of the members have boys between the ages of 12 and 21 that would like to know more about the DeMolay organization, please send me an email benloe@gmail.com. Some of our strongest members in DeMolay come from those that have a Ma-sonic family background and we’d love to be the Chapter that can welcome these young men. So, please send us your sons, grandsons, and/or nephews because we’d love to have you and your family join our Masonic family as a young man that can build into a bond that will last forever. In future, articles I’m thinking about including a get to know us section where

I’ll spotlight members and advisors from our group. In the meantime, I’d like

to thank you once again and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Bill Enloe

Chandler Chapter Chairman

DEMOLAY SCHEDULE

May 13 6:30 Stated Meeting

May 27 6:30 Stated Meeting

Order of DeMolay

“If any of the members have boys between the ages of 12 and 21 that would like to know more about the DeMolay organizations, please send me an email benlow@gmail.com”

6

EASTERN STAR IN CHANDLER

…Chandler Chapter #18, Order of the Eastern Star will

hold its annual installation of officers on Saturday, June

6th? If you didn’t know, mark your calendar now! Instal-

lation will commence at 2:00 pm. at the Chandler Mason-

ic Lodge at 88 West Erie Street in Chandler. If you are

reading this notice, you and your friends and family are

cordially invited to attend this open event. Come join us

as we celebrate the Eastern Star year now drawing to a

close and as we look forward to fun and friendship in the

12 months to come.

Want to know more about the great things Chandler

Chapter OES is doing? Contact our Chapter Secretary

Karon Lamb at (480) 892-0327 or karonlamb@cox.net.

You can also visit www.azoes.com

Did you Know ...

FROM THE EAST (continued from Page 1)

Also at the April Stated meeting the Lodge ap-

prove a couple of key measures including help-

ing the Chandler DeMolay Chapter with their

fund raiser (selling pistachios) and we are de-

lighted that in the near future, Brother Chuck

Simpson will install a beautiful black and white

stone tile mosaic pavement (see sketch)

Our calendar for May is full and includes a tri-ple Second Degree on Tuesday May the 5th. We

have a number of 3rd degrees to do before we go dark so keep an eye out for notifica-tions.

--

Fraternally,

Craig Carlson

WM Chandler Thunderbird Lodge

480-427-8862

EVENTS THIS MONTH

May 14 Stated Meeting

May 25 Stated Meeting

June 6 2:00 pm Installa-

tion of Officers

7

The York Rite Bodies of Scottsdale, Mesa and Chandler will

hold a joint Installation of Officers on Thursday, May 27,

2015 at the Hall of Chandler Thunderbird Lodge No. 15,

F&AM, 88 West Erie Street, Chandler at 6:30 p.m.

The Companions of Burning Bush Chapter No.14, Royal

Arch Masons and Tyrian Council No. 8, Cryptic Masons

and the Sir Knights of Crusade Commandery No. 11,

Knights Templar, invite everyone to join in the celebration,

which will include dinner and the installation, and which

will be followed by a Stated Assembly of Tyrian Council

(open to Cryptic Masons).

Companion G. Nicholas Tyler will assume leadership of

Burning Bush Chapter, and will be assisted by Companion

Lee E. Stith, King and Most Excellent Companion Paul C.

Howell, Past Grand High Priest, as Scribe. Most Excellent

Companions Foy O. Yancey and David G. Stankow have

been re-elected to serve as Treasurer and Secretary, respec-

tively.

Companion George P. Pirkle has been elected Illustrious

Master of Tyrian Council, and will be installed together

with Right Excellent Companion Paul C. Howell, Deputy

Master and Companion G. Nicholas Tyler, Principal Con-

ductor of the Work. Most Illustrious Companions Foy O.

Yancey and David G. Stankow will be installed as Treasurer

and Recorder, again, respectively.

Sir Knight Douglas J. Marley, Past Commander, will be

serving another term as Eminent Commander, to be assist-

ed by Sir Knights George P. Pirkle, Generalissimo; G. Nich-

olas Tyler, Captain General; Charles R. Unger, Senior War-

den and Lee E. Stith, Junior Warden. For the sake of con-

sistency, Sir Knight Foy O. Yancey, Right Eminent Past

Grand Commander, will continue as Treasurer, and Sir

Knight David G. Stankow, Right Eminent Honorary Past

Grand Commander, Recorder or another year.

David Stankow

Secretary/Recorder Chandler York Rite Bodies

EAST VALLEY YORK RITE INSTALLATION

EVENTS THIS MONTH

May 16 10:00 Regius

York Rite College at 345

W. Monroe in Phoenix

May 20 Practice

May 27 Installation of

Officers

May 27 Tyrian Council

8

Does the picture at the

right represent success

or failure? The osprey

had just attempted to

catch a fish that was too

large and strong for

him. The fish pulled

him 90% under water.

The picture was taken

just after the osprey let

go of the fish and pulled

himself out of the water

using his wings. The

water spray was from

the bird’s wings that

were completely drenched.

Source: http://www.caseinterview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Victor-Cheng-

Osprey1.jpg

SUCCESS OR FAILURE?

PLEASE PLACE STAMP HERE

Chandler Thunderbird Lodge 15 P. O. Box 580

Chandler, AZ 85225