Looking for a Lodge

The Master of the lodge was working in his studio when a young Fellowcraft was brought to him. After offering him refreshment, the Master asked after the young man’s purpose.

“I have been traveling in search of work, and I stopped here when I saw the lodge.”

“How can we be of help, brother?” asked the Master.

“I would like to settle down someplace. Perhaps you can you tell me what the people are like here?”

The Master thought for a moment. “What are the people like where you are from?” he asked.

The Fellowcraft snorted. “They are a most unpleasant bunch. They carp and complain, and are rarely helpful.”

“I see,” said the Master. “Well, I am afraid that you will find the people to be pretty much the same way here.”

The Fellowcraft nodded. “I expected as much. I thank you for your time.” He then picked up his tools and went on his way.

Some time later, the Master was working in his studio when a second Fellowcraft was brought to him. After offering him refreshment, the Master asked after the second young man’s purpose.

“I have been traveling in search of work, and I stopped here when I saw the lodge.”

“How can we be of help, brother?” asked the Master.

“I would like to settle down someplace. Perhaps you can you tell me what the people are like here?”

The Master thought for a moment. “What are the people like where you are from?” he asked.

The Fellowcraft beamed. “Oh, they are usually pleasant and friendly, and happy to help out a brother.”

“I see,” said the Master. “Well, I believe that you will find people to be pretty much the same way here.”

The second Fellowcraft nodded. “I expected as much,” he replied, “and if you would have me, I would like to join your lodge.”

2007 is the Year of Giving for Friendship Lodge

WB David Hubbs, as the new Master of Friendship Lodge No. 33 in Southington wanted to have a project that would give back to the community. But once he began to discuss his ideas with others, he discovered that he could improve those projects by enlisting the help of others. By the time of his installation in January, WB Hubbs had developed a three phase plan which he called “The Year of Giving,” a plan that has been endorsed by the Grand Master, MWGM Charles B. Fowler himself.

WB Hubbs has broken the year up into three phases. The first phase, called “Open Your Hearts,”is spearheaded by WB Julian Shull and will last until June 30th, and involves the collection of personal care items for the soldiers overseas, and also to collect supplies for the schools our troops have been setting up in in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The second phase is geared to benefit those closer to home as Friendship Lodge will host a clothing drive. From June 1st to September 30th Bro. Doug Hageman will set up collection points for people to donate gently used coats and other clothing.

The third phase of the program will be to collect toys for the children of those people incarcerated by the criminal justice system. WB David Edman will be organizing these collections from September 1st until December 15th.

Most of January was taken up with planning for the first collection organized collection day on February 10th. Realizing the importance of getting as much community support as possible, WB Hubbs organized a number of local civic groups. The first planning sessions saw a joint effort with both Masonic and other groups. Representatives from the Order of Eastern Star (Frederica 110) were joined by the American Legion Kiltonic Post 72, Lions Club International (Southington and New Britain), Knights of Columbus Council 25, BPO Elks Lodge 1669 (Southington), the Improved Order of Redmen – Wonx Tribe 28, the Sons of Italy, and members of the Southington Chamber of Commerce to coordinate the publicity campaign and the pickup and storage facilities.

 

WB David Hubbs (2nd from left) flanked by members of local civic groups.

Drop boxes had been placed at various stores and businesses in the Southington area, and fliers had been distributed to let people know about the program, and on Saturday Feb. 10th the plans came together as the first of several public collection days took place. Volunteers stationed themselves at Stop & Shop, CVS, Walmart, Ocean State Job Lot, and several other stores, while others went to the public library, the Southington Town Hall, the YMCA, and other sites that had collection boxes. The American Legion Post became the central point at which the larger containers were packed before being brought to a local storage facility. By the end of the day, the Open Your Hearts group had collected 2,500 pounds of personal care items and school supplies. The Sons of Italy donated $250, and several other people likewise donated money toward the purchase of more goods, while Pratt & Whitney collected 500 pounds and the UConn Medical Center collected 350 pounds. Several other lodges around the state, including Fredrick-Franklin No. 14, Sequin-Level No. 140 and Corinthian No. 103 have also made contributions. Additionally, the American Legion found a way to have the good shipped by military transport, instead of having to go by mail or other carrier.

WB Hubbs has issued a challenge to other lodges and groups around the state to join him in this project. The next public collection day will be April 14th. WB Shull has guidelines for the donations.

For the troops: Cookies, Pop Tarts, microwave popcorn, microwaveable packaged meals, beef jerky, Pringles chips (no bag chips, please), baby wipes, foot or anti-fungal powders, Stick-up air fresheners, breakfast bars, small flashlights or headlamps, ramen noodles, small pillows, small personal toys (Frisbees, hackey-sacks, puzzles, etc.), Game Boys, and batteries (AAs mostly, but AAA and D are needed).

For the children: School supplies – pens, pencils, sharpeners, crayons, markers, stamps and ink pads, rulers, pads, paper, solar calculators, coloring books. Toys – small cars, yo-yos, jump ropes, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, Slinkys, and small electronic toys (with batteries). Hygiene items – toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap (in plastic bags), combs, brushes, washcloths. Personal items – hard candy and gum, mints, t-shirts, socks, ball caps, sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with batteries). Please do not include war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military action figures.

Those wishing to donate items should also make sure not to include used or damaged items, glass or glass containers, pork products, aerosol cans, chocolate, liquids or lotions, medications, drugs, or vitamins, easily breakable items, or edible items that are out of date, or will be out of date within 90 days of collection date.

99 Bottles of Sauce on the Wall

Actually, more like 96 jars.

Quart jars, that is.

Yes, at the end of January I once again donned my operative apron to cook about 96 quarts of tomato sauce.

Why so much, you ask? Because, you know, that’s like 24 gallons of sauce. You could overflow a bathtub with that much sauce.

The answer is that I needed a lot of sauce to serve over the 54 pounds of ziti and 160 meatballs. Along with the bushel of salad, and the several dozen loaves of bread, of course.

 

Pasta Dinner 2007
Click the pic to see the online album

The First Congregational Church of Southington has a mission trip for the high school-aged confirmands (those that are about to be confirmed), and for the last few years the missions send them to places that need some manpower. Usually they are involved with other groups that rebuild or refurbish churches and schools. This year, they are heading down south to assist with some of the damage from last year’s Hurricane Katrina. About a dozen or so are going, and while they will be put up in shelters, they do need to pay for transportation costs.

A few years ago, seeing the success of the Chicken Pie Scholarship dinner in the Fall, Reverend Rick asked my wife if she’d be interested in doing something similar to help the kids defray the transportation costs. My wife has a heart of gold, so naturally she volunteered my services. She volunteers my service whenever somebody needs to cook for a lot of people. In fact, one year, a couple of the church members had seen me in the kitchen so often that they asked her “Is that man a caterer? Because he’s pretty good and we’d like to have him give us a price on a party.” Naturally, I was a bit upset to learn that she told them that I was only her husband. Even more upsetting is that she sent them away without giving me a shot at bidding on the party. No, I’m not a professional cook, but if somebody wants to pay me for throwing a party, I think it’s only fair to give it due consideration.

The first year that we did this I learned something: no matter how accustomed you are at cooking for family and friends, cooking for large groups (we consistently have between 150 to 200 people) is just not the same. Yes, in theory one just takes a recipe and scales it up, but in practice it’s really difficult to work with the equivalent of four or five 5-gallon buckets of sauce. I tend to make meat sauces, so I needed to keep a pot separate for the vegetarians and cholesterol watchers. And I had to tone down the spiciness. And watch the herbs. And keep stirring.

And can you believe that some people can’t have wine in their sauce? The sulfites give them rather unpleasant reactions. Good thing that somebody warned the minister.

I also discovered that one is not even allowed to drink wine in the church while preparing sauce. Actually, the prohibition probably extends to more than just while making sauce – I suspect that they don’t want anyone drinking wine while cooking anything at all.

Like I said – it’s just not the same.

Anyway, by the third year we we had gotten the hang of it, and I’m pleased to say that this year was one of the best ever. We served about 170 people, and the dozen or so confirmands came down to serve and help clean up, and we were out of there by 9:30 – the earliest ever. Naturally we had some help from people who were carefully screened for the ability to work with sharp tools, hot pans, and who wouldn’t mind being around me for two days. And for the token bit of Masonic content, I’d like to thank Brother Ed for staying after dinner to help with the dishes, and his wife Polly who managed to not ask me about joining Order of Eastern Star as we scrubbed the pots.

We had some leftovers, so we made up large Ziplock bags of ziti and my wife ladled in some sauce and tossed in a few meatballs, and sold them the next morning after the services as “ready made dinners.” The dinner raised about $1,500 after expenses, and the only thing that we had left over was a large bag of ziti and some meatballs.

Anyone want to guess what I had for lunch for the rest of the week?