Greetings Brethren,
I hope this message finds you, your families and loved ones in good health and great spirits.
In my evening freetime I have been reviewing Oregon Newspaper articles and Masonic texts searching for wisdom from the past to share from our Masonic Ancestors.
I hope this article shares a bit of light, love and hope for you all. I look forward to seeing you all at a Scottish Rite function in the near future.
Fraternally,
Br. Nathan Neff, 32º, KCCH
CLICK HERE TO READ Michael Robinson_Lemuel Lyon Bio
MWB, RWB, WB Brethren and Brethren All,
In this difficult time, as I work to recovery from recent surgery, I thought that I would share this article for the edification of the Craft and your entertainment.
Introduction:
I sometimes find it strange where I end up while researching Oregon Masonic History, and if my special talent for inadvertently making my projects as complicated as I can might require medical intervention. At the last Grand Lodge session there was a vote on an expanded Masonic News. I don’t believe the brethren understood the benefits this might bring and it was voted down. In hopes that those benefits might be illustrated there was talk of a sample version being published this spring. Be that as it may, I began looking into what I might be able to offer to this project. My attention to detail, or perhaps obsessive desire to find the whole story, makes it impossible to offer the kinds of articles I would like to submit in our current system, and my apparent long winded approach would make even the expanded version a challenge. While copying volumes of the old Oregon Masonic Analyst I found an article in 1923 which talked about the origin of our ritual and cipher. It was a reasonable size and I thought that would be great. However, I decided that I would look back into the Proceedings for more prospective. From the stand point of brevity that was probably a mistake. I quickly noted that the short article failed to capture the complexity of the situation and was not quite accurate; it gave some interesting perspective for the immediate decade and then a bunch of statistics of minor interest. It no longer seemed a good choice. The project had now gone off the rails. As I gathered more and more data on the Uniform Work in Oregon it quickly became apparent that this was not an article but a book; which I am working to have finished by the Grand Lodge Session in June. Having by that time extracted 30 pages of information from the proceedings and that rapidly increasing, I stumbled upon an article in the appendix of the History of Oregon Masonry by John Wilkinson (the first Grand Lodge Historian 1951-1975) concerning the Uniform Work. At first I thought maybe I had wasted my time and the story was already done, but upon further examination I had found many things he had missed, and he had found a few things I had missed. So I ventured on. I have spent a lot of time over the years building a digital archive of pictures. Ever one to complicate the issue, I decided to add pictures where I could of the men involved. After the mention of Lemuel Lyon appeared a few times, I set out to complicate the issue further by putting together bios of the main players in this story. Lemuel Lyon was the first and so far most extensive. Very little was written about him, a few paragraphs in the Lyon Lodge History, some mentions in the Proceedings. But the further I looked the more interesting his story became, and so the harder I dove in. Tracking his genealogy I was able to find resources online from the Grand Lodges of Massachusetts, California, Oregon and Japan. With the sponsorship of the Eugene Valley Scottish Rite, I had gotten a subscription to Newspapers.com where I could find original articles from the 1850-60s. With that, details gleaned from Ancestry.com and Findagrave.com began to unearth a rich story of a fascinating man and Mason. So I now present the Story of Capt. Lemuel Lyon. And yes I am aware that my introduction would already be considered a long article even for the expanded newsletter.
Sincerely and Fraternally,
WB Michael D. Robinson, 32°, K.C.C.H.
Orient of Oregon Historian, A&A Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Oregon
Greetings my Brethren,
I am officially postponing our Spring Reunion for the Portland Valley. At this point I say postponing, but I believe from indications of health officials that the virus will be too active throughout June to reschedule in the near future.
Please take this time to communicate with those you haven’t seen at your meetings for a while and ask if they need anything. Also take care of yourself and your loved ones.
If you are in a Valley that rents to outside groups, tell them the building (Valleys) will be closed through May 1st, 2020. I will update everyone periodically on the status of the effects from the virus, on our facility operations, and when we will consider resuming meetings.
We have the ability to meet electronically and over the phone.
Take care and God bless.
Fraternally,
Gary Kuney, 33°
Grand Chamberlain &
S.G.I.G. in Oregon
Meal: Braised brisket & brown mushroom gravy, roasted parsnip and squash with cipollini onion confit, waldorf Salad, bread & butter, coffee, and cake for desert. [For our Brother’s widows, their meals are complementary, for members and general attendees dinner is just $15]
Invited Guests of Scottish Rite Members as well as all Masons of any degree and their loved one are welcome, the preferred attire for the occasion is formal. As with all our events this is not open to the public.
Please RSVP for you and your guest if you plan to attend dinner by Email at officemanager@portlandsr.com.
Next Tuesday, February 25th at 7pm will be the Portland Valley Scottish Rite Stated Meeting for the Ainsworth Chapter of Rose Croix No. 1.
There will be short reports by various officers and committees on the status of membership projects in the works, balloting on new members and the announcements of the upcoming calendar events. All members are encouraged to attend.
Note, there will not be a meal provided for this meeting.
Schedule
7:00 pm Stated Meeting
Dinner at 6:30pm, Intro at 7:15pm in the Auditorium
Please RSVP to officemanager@portlandsr.com for dinner
With special guests The Purple Herons providing festive entertainment!
There will be a potluck dinner at 6:30pm with some hors d’oeuvres provided; please email officemanager@portlandsr.com to RSVP and sign up to bring; hot plates, casseroles, salads, sides, appetizers or desserts. To enable us to sufficiently cover for everyone’s attendance please email no later than Monday December 2nd at 11:00 am.
Attire is Holiday festive, Ugly and Awesome Christmas sweaters are encouraged! So feel free to break out your best/worst sweater for the evening. Christmas music will be provided. We will also have festive punch, holiday spiked eggnog, regular eggnog and non-alcoholic beverages.
As with all our events, this is not open to the general public.
A great time was had by all with celebratory Healths (Toasts) and some of the finest dining in the City at the Portland Valley’s first Albert Pike inspired Table Lodge.
For the Oration Br. Myers shared his heartfelt experiences with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates program), a truly great charitable outreach to our community’s youth. Click here for more info about this great program https://www.casahelpskids.org/.
The Brethren even engaged in the ages old Masonic tradition of singing a rousing rendition of the Table Lodge Closing Song! Keep an eye out for upcoming meetings where the Valley may just make this a more regular tradition.
On Tuesday, November 26th Portland Valley will be conducting an adaptation of Albert Pike’s Table Lodge Ritual for the November Stated Meeting. This will be a tyled meeting open on the 14th Degree.
There will be short reports by various officers on the status of projects in the works, balloting on new members and announcements of the upcoming calendar events. After conducting the brief business at hand we will begin the Table Lodge Ritual during the meeting.
As an entertaining education piece we will have a presentation by Br. Phil Myers on the Court Appointed Special Advocacy Program and its role in helping the youth of Oregon.
Schedule
7:00 pm Stated Meeting & Table Lodge Ritual
Table Lodge Dinner: Herb roasted turkey, mushroom gravy, braised green beans, Yukon gold mashed potatoes, green salad with a lemon-garlic vinaigrette, dinner rolls with butter, cookies and coffee. All for just $15. [Vegetarian option available by request.]
Refreshments to follow in the Member’s Lounge.
As with all our events this is not open to the public.
Email officemanager@portlandsr.com to RSVP
