Your Valley held a Maundy Thursday program on April 5th. We were most fortunate and blessed to have the Deputy Grand Master of Masons in California, Right Worshipful John Lowe, as our speaker for the evening. We are indebted to him for his inspirational presentation. This year we were able to have a formal Relighting of the Lights Ceremony on Easter morning. My compliments to our Venerable Master, Director of the Work and Chapter Rose Croix cast for the efforts put into the program.

The month of May brings our annual observance of Memorial Day. Here is a little background I found interesting on the Wikipedia.

―Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed annually on the last Monday of May (May 28 in 2012). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. (Southern ladies organizations and southern schoolchildren had decorated Confederate graves in Richmond and other cities during the Civil War, but each region had its own date. Most dates were in May.) By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. As a marker it typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end.

By the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend

The preferred name for the holiday gradually changed from “Decoration Day” to “Memorial Day”, which was first used in 1882. It did not become more common until after World War II, and was not declared the official name by Federal law until 1967. On June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Holidays Bill, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a convenient three-day weekend. The change moved Memorial Day from its traditional May 30 date to the last Monday in May.

The law took effect at the federal level in 1971. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) advocate returning to the original date, although the significance of the date is tenuous. The VFW stated in a 2002 Memorial Day Address:

Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has con-tributed a lot to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.

Since 1987, Hawaii’s Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War II veteran, has introduced a measure to return Memorial Day to its traditional date.

After some initial confusion and unwillingness to comply, all 50 states adopted Congress’s change of date within a few years. Memorial Day endures as a holiday which most businesses observe because it marks the unofficial beginning of summer.

Get involved, my Brother; you can make a difference!

Thought to live by…. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. 

Fraternally,

Ray

I would like to salute the volunteers that help make all of this work. First, let me commend the Stage Craft crew that consists of Bob Hjorth, Gene Harp, George Morton and Rick Wood. They come in early before our Stated Meeting and set up the rooms. They also set up and get the costumes ready of our degrees and programs.

Next are the servers or Wayne’s Boys. This group consists of John Rider, Gene Harp, Charles Reeves, Waine Richey and others as needed. They serve our meals, pass out de-serts, and they always have a smile on their faces.

The Knights of Saint Andrew, headed by First Knight James Segerstrom, handle our check in table and help clear the dinner tables following the meal. They also do the Bingo for the ladies. These volunteers and their dedication are valued and appreciated. If you get a chance, thank them, for the Valley could not function without them.

Our program for May will be a presentation by Wayne Folsom, 32° on personal computer security. He is very knowledgeable and the program should be very interesting. It will be after dinner, so the ladies can attend. He will have a question period after the presentation.

May is also going to be a preparation month for our Reunion Class in June. The dates are June 1st and 2nd. I understand that the new 14° team will be trying to unseat the 18° team as the outstanding degree team. This is the kind of competition that I like. This will be followed by a cap and ring ceremony at our Stated Meeting on Monday June 4th. This is a busy start to the month of June. As we approach the end of the first half of the year, I would like to know how we can do better for the last half of the year. If you have a minute, let me have your sugges-tions to improve our Valley. You can contact me at the Valley Office at 714 543-7277, my cell at 714 381-2949 or email macsquest@aol.com. Thank you for your interest and dedica-tion to our Valley.

Bob McNamara, 32° KCCH

The Sovereign Grand Commander, Illustrious Ronald A. Seale, 33° led the class of 28 fellows through a series of exercises to increase awareness of Valley needs. After the class had chiseled away the excess of the Scottish Rite all that remained were the relationships of Valley members. It is the relationships that must be improved upon if a Valley is to grow. Our Valley, Brothers, increases and decreases based on the relationships we choose to build. Who best can work and best agree has always been the key to the success of Freemasonry.

So how do we improve our relationships? We implement more opportunities for newly made Scottish Rite Masons to get involved. By creating new events and improving programs we can break up the mundane cycle of stated meeting, dinner, meeting, dinner. We can choose to actively engage the lessons of the Scottish Rite. We must also create more educational events that are open to all Masons in the area. Find time to visit the Childhood Language Center, your presence alone can prove to a child that Scottish Rite Masons care about their success.

In the last two months we have created two new Facebook pages for the Valley and the Knights of St. Andrew. These pages are open to every one and will keep the younger members of the Valley engaged as they come in. The Knight’s of St. Andrew have also begun taking steps to form their own line of officers and will be holding separate meetings in the near future. These meetings will give the younger members of the Valley an opportunity to become involved right away while the Valley will see an increase in support from the Knights.

Help us create a Valley that others turn to for guidance,

Daniel Willerton 32°

His cutting edge insight into this fascinating world of electronic technology and communication is something you won’t want to miss. His presentation will be at 8:00p.m., after our dinner, so the ladies can also attend. There will be a question and answer period after the presentation.

There is an availability to start a Master Craftsman workshop on a monthly basis to help and encourage progression and completion of both I and II. It seems difficult to find a night or morning to hold a workshop as everyone seems to be committed to something. If you are interested in a workshop, let me know of the times that you are available and I will try to put it together. We will be able to go over the test questions, grade them and then send them in for a faster turnaround time.

You can contact me at the Scottish Rite Office 714 543-7277, my cell 714 381-2949 or my email, macsquest@aol.com.

Scottish Rite Masonry is known at the University of Masonry and this, my Brothers, is one of the opportunities for further light.

CHANGE IN DATE: APRIL 22nd 

CHANGE IN LOCATION: DeMolay Center in Anaheim

CHANGE IN MENU: We are adding fresh fruit to our extensive menu of made to order omelets, biscuits and gravy, eggs, waffles, juices, hash browns, bacon and coffee.

NO CHANGE IN COST: $10 for adults and $6 for kids under 12

NO CHANGE IN TIME: 9 am to 12 pm

NO CHANGE IN PURPOSE: Fund raising for the Valley

Our Stated Meeting this month will honor EL Bekal Shrine and their members. Our Secretary, Bill Sizemore, 32⁰ KCCH, is this years’ Potentate, so he will become Illus-trious Bill Sizemore at our meeting. Plan to attend and honor our Shrine Nobles.

The February Stated meeting had the first presentation of the Century Club pins and that was highlighted by David Kussman, 32⁰ KCCH, receiving a silver one designat-ing his cumulative donation of $500. At dinner, Jack Slagle, 32⁰ KCCH, presented a brief presentation on the 32⁰ that was informative and well received. After dinner, the Knights of St. Andrew lead by First Knight, James Segerstrom, 32⁰, knighted four of our brothers.

For those enrolled in the Master Craftsman program or those who are interested, were are going to start a Master Craftsman group here that will be able to teach, help, mentor and administrate the course. John Rider, 32⁰ KCCH and I are going to co-chair the group. It will initially meet on the last Tuesday of the month at 7 pm at the Shrine Center. If that is a conflict for some of the participants, other times will also be available. This will start in March. Let me know at of your interest at macsquest@aol.com or call the Office for additional details.

And last, but not least, this will be the last Scottish Rite News edited by Gary Whitlock, 32⁰. A job change necessitates this move. He has done an excellent job and made many changes that have improved the SR News. Our new format was his idea and his help with the emailing the publication has reduced our costs. We wish Gary well and we will still see him as a member of Santa Ana. Our new editor will be Daniel Willerton, 32⁰ and you can email him infor-mation for the April SR News at danielwillerton@yahoo.com.

See you on March 5th,

Bob McNamara, 32⁰ KCCH

Venerable Master

Eleven Brothers were presented with the bronze Century Club pin and we have more to present. Those unable to make a Stated Meeting will have theirs mailed to them as we want them to know we really appreciate their support.

The 2012 members are Bill Bottorff, Darrell Brawley, Wade Faircloth, Jr., Pete Jantz, David Kussman, Bob McNamara, George Morton, John Rider, Neil Simmons, Andrew Todd, Elwin Wolcott, and Glen Woody.

John Rider and Bob McNamara have qualified for the silver pin and it will be awarded at the March Stated meeting.

The Century Club is an easy way to support your Valley and it really helps with our administrative costs.

Bob McNamara, 32⁰ KCCH

Assistant Personal Representative for Administration

You may take Barry home with you, or to your place of work , or wherever pocket change is plenty. Just drop those pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters into Barry and watch his tail wag! Barry accommodates folding money too…

Once Barry is full, just take him to the SR Office or Stated Meeting and exchange him for another. Upon each exchange of a full pig, you will receiv e an entry into a drawing for a beautiful gourmet gift basket. The basket contains various wines, cheeses, crackers, olives and other goodies. The more pigs filled and exchanged, the more opportunities to win.

Barry, the Pig donations are tax deductible 501c(3).

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have.

David Price, 32° KCCH
aka Pig Czar
714 289-2555
dpriceless@att.net

The work that the Center does with young children is extremely important in their development as they learn to communicate and speak properly. That is a skill that most of us take for granted, but think for a minute if you had trouble communicating and speaking. It would make your life a lot harder. These are the skills that the Center imparts to their clients.

This is our main Santa Ana Scottish Rite charity. Let’s support it! And remember it is tax deductible. Membership is $365 per year. Checks should be made out to California Scottish Rite Foundation (CSRF) with a memo Childhood Language Center of Santa Ana (CLC of SA). Thank you, my Brothers, for supporting this worthy cause.

Bob McNamara, 32⁰ KCCH
Treasurer, CLC of SA