FROM THE EAST
In a couple of weeks, we will travel to Atlantic City, NJ for the annual Grand Lodge session to elect our next Grand Master and see the end of Most Worshipful Leonard Vander Horn’s year as Grand Master. I wanted, on behalf of the Lodge to congratulate MW Bro. VanderHorn on a very busy and successful term in the Grand East and to wish him much success in wherever his masonic journey next takes him
I also wanted to say congratulations to RW Bros. Edward Calderio, Eric Gonzalez (In Memoriam)
Edward Cantillo, Richard Schultz, Robert Bailey, Kevin Flannery, Ryan Vander Horn, and David Lovatt, on their successful year and thank them for their dedicated service to MW Bro. Len and the Grand Lodge. We look forward to seeing you in Lodge.
But while the Grand Master and his team will have a very deserved break, Clifton Lodge goes on. And November will be a very excting month, starting with the return of Trivia night and concluding with a Master Mason degree by the Lodge Past Masters and the Masonic Kilties of New Jersey. I would especially like to thank RW Bro. Bailey for all of his work in assembling the Past Master Degree team.
We also are beginning the process of preparing for next year with our nominations, and as you can see from the petitions received, we have a growing list of candidates for next year. And there are many other potential candidates in the queue, so it likely will be a busy year with degrees in 2025.
In a couple of weeks, we will travel to Atlantic City, NJ for the annual Grand Lodge session to elect our next Grand Master and see the end of Most Worshipful Leonard Vander Horn’s year as Grand Master. I wanted, on behalf of the Lodge to congratulate MW Bro. VanderHorn on a very busy and successful term in the Grand East and to wish him much success in wherever his masonic journey next takes him
I also wanted to say congratulations to RW Bros. Edward Calderio, Eric Gonzalez (In Memoriam)
Edward Cantillo, Richard Schultz, Robert Bailey, Kevin Flannery, Ryan Vander Horn, and David Lovatt, on their successful year and thank them for their dedicated service to MW Bro. Len and the Grand Lodge. We look forward to seeing you in Lodge.
But while the Grand Master and his team will have a very deserved break, Clifton Lodge goes on. And November will be a very excting month, starting with the return of Trivia night and concluding with a Master Mason degree by the Lodge Past Masters and the Masonic Kilties of New Jersey. I would especially like to thank RW Bro. Bailey for all of his work in assembling the Past Master Degree team.
We also are beginning the process of preparing for next year with our nominations, and as you can see from the petitions received, we have a growing list of candidates for next year. And there are many other potential candidates in the queue, so it likely will be a busy year with degrees in 2025.
Greetings and Salutations from the east my brethren all ..
I continue to explore the theme of how our fraternity makes good men better. As I sat contemplating this topic, I looked down and saw my Masonic ring. As the thoughts came to me, I wondered if it is the ring that makes me a better man or if the ring is just there to let other people know I am a mason. I reflected on where I got my ring and thought about where my brothers received theirs.
So I began asking my brothers how they received their rings. As I did so, it became clear to me that the ring symbolizes something far more valuable than just recognition of the fact that I am a mason.
Many of my brothers received their rings from their fathers or other family members, who set the standard for them on how to be better men. As children, our parents teach us right from wrong, but as masons, we are taught from our fathers or other family members on what it means to be better men. They instill in us what it means to be charitable and demonstrate how to do so; how to put someone else before ourselves.
How I obtained my ring is to me a sad story because the tradition of whether or not it made a good man better will never be known. You see, I bought my ring from a scrap gold shop. As I look at it, I think of the nameless brother that wore it. Did he receive it from his father or family member? We will never know. It was worn and scratched, but I wear it proudly because for me, I try my best to continue this unknown mason’s tradition and hope to make him proud by being a better man. Unknowingly to him, that mason made this good man a better man.
In Brotherhood,
WB Anthony Clemente
Worshipful Master, 2024
Grand Lodge Mission Statement
FREEMASONRY promotes a way of life that binds like-minded men with the principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth in order to serve God, Family, Country, Neighbor and Self.
I continue to explore the theme of how our fraternity makes good men better. As I sat contemplating this topic, I looked down and saw my Masonic ring. As the thoughts came to me, I wondered if it is the ring that makes me a better man or if the ring is just there to let other people know I am a mason. I reflected on where I got my ring and thought about where my brothers received theirs.
So I began asking my brothers how they received their rings. As I did so, it became clear to me that the ring symbolizes something far more valuable than just recognition of the fact that I am a mason.
Many of my brothers received their rings from their fathers or other family members, who set the standard for them on how to be better men. As children, our parents teach us right from wrong, but as masons, we are taught from our fathers or other family members on what it means to be better men. They instill in us what it means to be charitable and demonstrate how to do so; how to put someone else before ourselves.
How I obtained my ring is to me a sad story because the tradition of whether or not it made a good man better will never be known. You see, I bought my ring from a scrap gold shop. As I look at it, I think of the nameless brother that wore it. Did he receive it from his father or family member? We will never know. It was worn and scratched, but I wear it proudly because for me, I try my best to continue this unknown mason’s tradition and hope to make him proud by being a better man. Unknowingly to him, that mason made this good man a better man.
In Brotherhood,
WB Anthony Clemente
Worshipful Master, 2024
Grand Lodge Mission Statement
FREEMASONRY promotes a way of life that binds like-minded men with the principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth in order to serve God, Family, Country, Neighbor and Self.