From the West

It is nice to be back at the Lodge after a short trip to the Philippines. And on behalf of my family I would like to express my gratitude to brother Henry Seno for the special accommodations that he extended to us during our sojourn. Thank you brother Seno for making our trip a memorable one.

Because of my hurried trip to the Philippines, I submitted my Jun'10 article a little bit earlier, hence I was not able to mention our successful trip to Las Vegas, Nevada to raise Brother Alex Bugay. Congratulations Brother Alex for being raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason and to Sister Rachel for expecting a baby. This was the first time that our SS, Bro. George dela Cruz, chaired a large event and I'm proud to say that he passed it with flying colors. For the first time in the history of our lodge, we spent a very minimal amount of our lodge fund due to the effective planning of Brother George with the expert guidance and advice of Wor. Joey Aguilar and of course with Sister Bernadette dela Cruz's assistance.

I congratulate the chairmen of the Filipiniana event held last Saturday, 6/19/10, for a great job. We had a huge crowd & nice foods were overflowing. Thanks to our brothers & sisters who donated the two lechons & the delicious foods for the occasion. The entertainment was superb utilizing our lodge talents with some guest performers. Kudos goes to brothers Jimmy Gonzalez, Ed Quijano & Jonathan Asis, our Senior Deacon, who was the lead chairman, who always does an outstanding job with his assigned committee. And to his wife, Sister Lyn Asis who is always there for us working behind the lines for the success of our lodge. Thank you brothers & Sister Lyn. Our lodge is so blessed that in all our activities, not only our brothers but also our sisters are always there to support us. They are our shining stars and our guiding light.

It would be a remiss if I don't mention also the effort of our JS, Brother Anthony Castillo, for his great job in getting the event's pictures professionally while at the same time helping in adjusting the sound system. I hope in the next succeeding future events that we will have, some brothers of ours who have knowledge also in photography or sound systems could step up to the plate (without being asked) and help brother Anthony with these chores so that he will not be overburdened. And by the way, what about the huge new projector that we have had in the lodge? These ideas were conceptualized by brother Anthony and ably backed-up by Wor. Oscar Moreno and the brethren. The financing of this project was made possible thru the different financing activities of our lodge.

May I remind everybody that our Hiram Award is fast approaching. It will be on 10/16/10, two weeks after the Annual Communication. I encourage all our brethren to submit the name of their respective candidate who they think deserves to receive the highest award that our lodge could bestow upon a brother in recognition of his service to the fraternity or mankind in general. This award is given to a brother who, year after year displays his devotion without receiving special recognition or special honor. Please get the nomination form from me or from the master of the lodge, Wor. Douglas McDougall and give it to us the soonest possible time so that the assigned committee could act on it the sooner.

On the Level
Bro. Gilbert O. Cabrera, SW