News

 

Dear Brothers,

The role of the workmen has been called, and one Master Mason of Seaport Lodge No. 7 and member of the Portland Valley Scottish Rite, Brother Howard Anderson, 32°, has not answered to his name. He has laid down the working tools of the Craft and with them he has left that mortal part for which he no longer has use and traveled to that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns.

“Anderson, Howard 92 Oct. 14, 1922 Aug. 10, 2015 Howard was one of three children born to Axel and Elisabeth Anderson in Astoria, where he was raised. He often recalled fond memories of growing up in Astoria and spending time on the Columbia River with his father who was in charge of the United State Light House Service based at Tongue Point. He served our country in WWII as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, in charge of an amphibious landing craft and tank platoon in the South Pacific for which he received a citation of meritorious service. After the war he returned to Oregon and Oregon State where he met the love of his life and future wife, Elizabeth “Betty” Joy Springsteen, who preceded him in death after 56 years of marriage. He spent most of his working career in the insurance industry with several brokerage firms. He was a lifelong mason. Howard was an avid outdoorsman and fly fisherman and led his children to love our great outdoors. He especially enjoyed helping children learn about the joy of fishing through his association with Northwest Steelheaders. He is survived by his son, William H. Anderson, M.D.; daughters, Marsha Henry, Sally Turchetta, Patricia Anderson, Carol Adams and Nancy Hay; beloved grandchildren, Bill and Sam Henry, Michael and Matthew Anderson, Lisa Turchetta, Stuart Adams and Charlie Hay; and nephew and niece, Russell and Lisa Hickman. He was preceded in death by his sister, Florence; and brother, Russell.”

He joined the Portland Valley in 2004.

See more at:http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx… 

This speech was given by Larry Roberts 32° KCCH at the 2015 Orient of Oregon Honours Dinner November 2015

***

In our modern world of continuous war, corporate greed and political corruption, the importance of Freemasonry in today’s world cannot be overestimated.

Masonry bestows upon us the importance of developing our mind and our souls.  It reminds us of our interdependence upon each other, upon mother nature and most importantly upon God.

It makes us aware of our nature as moral beings and makes possible the creation within ourselves of a place fit for the habitation of God.

Masonry teaches us that we posses the power to create happiness and to ease the suffering of mankind.

I truly believe that freemasons, including those in this room, can and will help change the world.

Alexander the Great is quoted as saying, “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep lead by lions”.  There are many masonic lions leading us in the Orient of Oregon.

My being honored with the invitation into the Knights Commander of the Court of Honor is only due to my endeavor to imitate many of the great men sitting next to you today.

Men like our Illustrious S.G.I.G Gary Kuney who proves his compassion and leadership to me daily.

Men like Illustrious Brother Bob Fountain who taught me the importance of good ritual and how it can transform not only ourselves but the lodge, our families and our communities as well.

In our Master of the Royal Secret degree it states, “He who works faithfully to attain a purpose by the work itself prays to God.”  This degree instills upon us the importance of our labor for the greater good… not only for the lodge but more importantly for mankind as a whole.

There is no better example of that degree in practice than our Illustrious Brother Walt Johnson who shown me what real work ethic is. When less than two weeks after having open heart surgery was back to his masonic labors at the Scottish Rite.

Any successes I’ve had in life, masonic or otherwise is due to the love, support and friendship of my wife of 29 years Debra Roberts. She is my inspiration and my reason for being….I will love you forever and a day my princess.   

Finally, Freemasonry… like all great philosophies, teaches us to remember and contemplate our own mortality.  We don’t beat the grim reaper by living longer, we beat the reaper by living well with the time God has given us.  Death comes for us all….what matters, is the love that we’ve shared, the compassion we’ve shown, and the suffering we’ve eased during our time on this earth.

I pledge to you my brothers before this room filled with our friends and loved ones, that I will work every day to ensure that I remain worthy to wear the red cap of the KCCH.

Thank you all for helping make this one of the most important days of my life.

God bless

Larry Roberts 32° KCCH, Portland Valley Executive Director/Treasurer. Member of Modesto Lodge 206, Esoterika Lodge 227 and Research Lodge 198.

 

Greetings Brethren,
On Tuesday March 22nd, 2016 the Portland Valley Scottish Rite will be having our Annual Ceremony of Remembrance & Renewal.

This Ceremony is observed by Scottish Rite Rose Croix Chapters around the world and is considered to be a mandatory meeting for all Scottish Rite Members. During this ceremony Scottish Rite Freemasons remember and honor their Brethren who have passed to the Celestial Lodge in the previous year and commemorate the dignity and divine origin of mankind. This observance is to strengthen the ties of brotherly love, past and present. Particularly highlighted are the ideals of Rebirth, Freedom and Fraternity.

Schedule
Doors open 5:30 pm
Dinner 6:15 pm
Ceremony 7:00 pm

Invited Guests of Scottish Rite Members are welcome, the preferred attire for the occasion is formal.

Please RSVP for you and your guests if you plan to attend the dinner by Email at officemanager@portlandsr.com or Phone 503-226-7827

Tuesday the 15th of March, at 7:00 pm, the Portland Valley Scottish Rite will confer the 5th Degree of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America, “Perfect Master”.

All Scottish Rite Members of the 4th° or higher are welcome to attend. Visiting Brethren will need current dues card showing membership in the Scottish Rite.

The Duty of the Fifth Degree is “Be industrious and honest.” The Lesson of the degree teaches “life is uncertain; death may call at any time. The noblest portion of humanity is virtue for virtue’s sake.”

Schedule
6:00 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Degree
After the degree there will be a cast party and social in the Members Lounge.

Please RSVP for dinner reservations no later than 11:00 am on Monday the 14th. Any requests that come in after the cut off will go on the standby list. Email officemanager@portlandsr.com to RSVP.

Have you as a Master Mason ever wondered about joining the Scottish Rite? Good News! The Spring Reunion and New Member Initiation is on May 13th & 14th!

The Scottish Rite in Oregon began in Portland in 1870 headed by the first S.G.I.G. John C. Ainsworth, 33°, who has been followed by eleven other Honorable Masons holding that office including the present S.G.I.G. Illustrious Brother Gary Kuney, 33º Active, appointed in 2009.

The Scottish Rite is often called the College of Masonry and this Spring we will be having a Class of new Candidates to join us in the quest for further Masonic Light. The ritual of the Scottish Rite comprises twenty-nine degrees, the fourth through the thirty-second, each of which, in the dramatic form of a vaudeville era Shakespearean style moral play, presents lessons of high purpose developing the moral character of the individual.

The theater here was built expressly for these degree presentations. Our Temple in the Historic Goose Hollow Neighborhood is the first building exclusively designed and built for the Scottish Rite Degrees in the United States and was used as a model for other Scottish Rite buildings throughout the world. It was the great architectural vision of Brother Richard H Martin, Jr, 33º who designed several other Fraternal Buildings in downtown. It is unique in still having over ninety hand painted stage drops available for the degree presentations. They were painted in the early 1900’s and are known for their outstanding perspective. The drops and fly system accompanying them are some of the best preserved in the country of their type and age. Our Temple along with being the last vaudeville era stage still in active use in Oregon, is also the oldest building in downtown Portland still occupied by its original inhabitants, the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

Contact officemanager@portlandsr.com or call the Portland Valley office at 503-226-7827

Greetings Brothers!

At long last the Sculpture has arrived so on Tuesday March 1st of 2016 all members of the Scottish Rite Orient of Oregon and their guests are invited to attend a Ceremony in Honor of the most recent Past Sovereign Grand Inspector General Illustrious James J. Taylor, 33º Emeritus.

It will be held at the Portland Valley Scottish Rite Temple starting at 6:00 pm with a social hour including heavy hor d’oeuvres with live entertainment and festivities to follow.

On this occasion we will be unveiling the sculpture made in the likeness of Illustrious Brother Taylor to Honor and immortalize his contributions to Scottish Rite Freemasonry.

Please come enjoy the event!

Preferred attire for the occasion is formal.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend by Email at officemanager@portlandsr.com or
Phone 503-226-7827.

MEDFORD SCOTTISH RITE

March 25^th and 26^th 2016

Friday

12:00– 2:00pm         Registration – Check-in – Snacks in Dining Room

2:00 – 2:45                       4^th Degree Conferral

2:45 – 3:00                       Communicate 5^th Degree

3:00 – 3:45                       6^th Degree Conferral – Medford

3:45 – 4:00                       Communicate 7th degree

4:00 –5:00                        8^TH Degree Conferral

5:00 –5:30                        Communicate 9^th through 13^th degree

 

Saturday

7:00 – 8:30 am            Continental breakfast

8:45 – 10:00               14^th Degree Conferral

10:00–10:15               Communicate 15^th – 17^th Degree

10:15 – 12:00              18^th Degree Conferral – Eugene

12:00 – 1:00 pm         Lunch

1:00 – 1:45                 Communicate 19^th – 29^th Degree

1:45 – 2:45                 30^th Degree Conferral – Roseburg

2:45 – 3:15                 Communicate 31^st degree

3:15 – 4:45                 32^nd Degree Conferral – Klamath Falls

4:45 – 5:00                Sovereign Grand Inspector General, Closing remarks and

Capping Ceremony

Click here to download and print a pre-registration form for this Reunion: S. Oregon reunion registration 2016

Greetings Brothers!

At long last the Sculpture has arrived so on Tuesday March 1st of 2016 all members of the Scottish Rite Orient of Oregon and their guests are invited to attend a Ceremony in Honor of the most recent Past Sovereign Grand Inspector General Illustrious James J. Taylor, 33º Emeritus.

It will be held at the Portland Valley Scottish Rite Temple starting at 6:00 pm with a social hour including heavy hor d’oeuvres with live entertainment and festivities to follow.

On this occasion we will be unveiling the sculpture made in the likeness of Illustrious Brother Taylor to Honor and immortalize his contributions to Scottish Rite Freemasonry.

Please come enjoy the event!

Preferred attire for the occasion is formal.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend by Email at officemanager@portlandsr.com or
Phone 503-226-7827.

It doesn’t matter how fast light travels, darkness is always there to meet it

I am very proud to say that my son, Cory Roberts, recently joined Portland Lodge 55 as an Entered Apprentice. Several days after his EA degree he began asking me questions about the ritual and its meanings. I must admit that it has been some years since I took out the EA tracing board, but every time that I do I’m amazed at the beauty and wisdom that is held within its sublime scene. 

What first struck me was the black and white checkered floor. This floor represents our physical state of being, or rather the lower material element within us. These checkered floor tiles are all of equal dimension and are equally spaced between each other. This tells us that everything within our mundane world is split into two opposite aspects. Like the checkered floor within our blue lodges we see this power of opposites everywhere around us in the natural world and even within our own bodies… brain, lungs, kidneys, arms and legs all have opposites. In truth there is nothing earthly which with a bit of contemplation and clarity we cannot recognize its complementary opposite.

Some brothers might mistakenly think that we should endeavor to step only on the white tiles and avoid the black, but the answer to this is a resounding no. It is far beyond our power and ability to only step on the white tiles. The first real task of the mason seeking wisdom is to attempt to rise above this material dualism. In order to do this we must adjust our vision to see beyond the material, i.e. we must become masters of our lower nature and bodily tendencies. For example, when evil and despair dominate our environment the wise mason would recognize these as having the same educational values as that of a pleasant condition. Life is a hard teacher and if we are good masonic students it leads us from the material drudgery of the mundane to the spiritual value of true understanding.

Our ritual states that the black and white tiled floor is for the High Priest of the temple to walk upon. We should recognize that we are the High Priests of our bodies and that as we walk upon the black and white tiles of our existence, we must use the lessons learned to create within ourselves, that holy temple which, once properly constructed, is fit for the habitation of God.

When constructing the spiritual temple within ourselves, states the cabalist, it is to be supported by three great pillars…Wisdom, Strength and Beauty. Wisdom to construct the building; Strength to support the structure and Beauty to characterize its every aspect.

We must remember that it is both the light and the darkness which allows us to chip away at the rough edges of the ashlar in order to construct the Sactum Sanctorium within us. Only by traveling upon and then reflecting on the white and black tiles can we aspire to truly understand the Royal Secret of equilibrium.

I wish you well my brothers in the construction of your inner temple.

Larry Roberts 32° KCCH, Portland Valley Executive Director/Treasurer. Member of Modesto Lodge 206, Esoterika Lodge 227 and Research Lodge 198.