VOL. 2, Issue 6

Jun 2023

Scottish Rite

The Ashlar

Valley of Columbus, Orient of Georgia

Serving Scottish Rite Masons in the Chattahoochee Valley

Personal Representative's Message

Volunteer for our Independence Day Fireworks Fundraiser Walmart (3515 Victory Dr) begining Saturday 24 June through Monday 3 July 2023.


Joseph F. Oelgoetz III

32° KCCH

colpr@gascottishrite.org

Personal Representative 

to the SGIG


Greetings Brethren,


I want to welcome to our membership our newest Masters of the Royal Secret.  Brothers Timothy Brad Coleman, Sr., Warren Clayton Daniel, Raine Ascott Miller (goes by Chance), Joseph Steve Rooks, and Joshua Michael Royster.  These Brethren were made Masters of the Royal Secret at the Orient Wide Reunion at the Valley of Atlanta on June 3rd.  They will receive their Caps and Rings at our next Lodge of Perfection Meeting on June 16th.  Please consider attending this meeting to show your support and fellowship to these, our newest members.


We have an additional candidate, Brother Arda Cilinger, who lives in Germany, He petitioned our Valley due to his membership at Mt. Hermon Lodge No. 304 here in Columbus.  He will be receiving his Scottish Rite Degrees via courtesy Degrees.  We requested this courtesy through our Sovereign Grand Inspector General.  Thus, the Valley of Germany will be assisting us in securing his Degrees during Europe’s Reunion in Italy in October.


I want to thank the 14th Degree team for their outstanding performance of this Degree at the Orient Wide Reunion on June 3rd.  The entire team performed admirably, and I received many comments concerning their outstanding work.  Specifically, I want to thank Illustrious John Ohrt, 33° (Director of Work), Illustrious Paul E. Wells, 33° (Venerable Master), Brother Bayardo Reyes, 32° (Orator), Honorable Brother Rossi Ross, 32° KCCH (Chaplain), Honorable Brother Sid Cooley, 32° KCCH (Expert), Brother Russell Ward, 32° (Junior Warden), Brother Jonas Barlow, 32° (Senior Warden), Honorable Brother Bill Block, 32° KCCH (Captain of the Host), Illustrious Brother Phil Harris, 33° (Sentinel), and Honorable Brother Larry Cox, 32° KCCH (Assistant Export).  Excellent work, job well done!


ZOOM ACCESS TO OUR LODGE OF PERFECTION MEETINGS 


We plan to offer this capability to our membership going forward.  We want to offer this to those of our brethren that may be homebound, unable to drive at night or any other member that would benefit “attending” our meetings virtually.  This capability is also great for our members and other Scottish Rite Brethren who are remote and live great distances from Columbus.  Look for the Zoom link about a week prior to each of our Lodge of Perfection meetings.  Any questions, please call the office.


MASONIC HENRY RIFLE RAFFLE TO SUPPORT THE GEORGIA SCOTTISH RITE FOUNDATION


Brethren, in support of our efforts to provide scholarships to worthy students who attend a Georgia four-year University or College and funds for RiteCare in the Orient of Georgia an Orient wide raffle of a Masonic decorated Henry rifle is in effect.  This effort will run to early June.  Tickets can be purchased at all Scottish Rite, Valley of Columbus events.  Cost: one (1) ticket for $10.00 or six (6) for $50.00.  See Brother Bayardo Reyes for tickets.


MASONIC RESUME


Brethren, I want to reiterate a new program for the Valley of Columbus.  I am asking each of you to provide a digital Masonic Resume to our General Secretary, Honorable Brother Roger Buterbaugh, 32 KCCH.  This can be sent to him via his Valley email: colsec@gascottishrite.org.  What is expected in this resume?  Masonic Organizations, when joined (for example when initiated, passed and raised a Master Mason); Officer Positions held, when and dates of service; community service (any community organizations that you belong to - dates joined and time served), examples may include Lions, Rotary, etc.; service to your faith and or church/temple (are you an usher, serve on committees, etc.); Government service such as county commissioner, city service, etc.  Any other important information such as employment, education or what you may want to include.  Any updates (elected to a new office, join another concordant body), please update with an updated date and forward to our General Secretary.


Why are we putting this in place?  This will help us in supporting brethren for honors, possible newsletter articles or any situation where “color commentary” may be useful to the brother.  Please note, information will only be used with the express approval of the brother whose information is to be used.  


Please consider attending our next Lodge of Perfection meeting either in-person or via Zoom.  The program is our Cap & Ring Ceremony for our five new Masters of the Royal Secret (32 Degree Masons).  Our meeting is Friday, June 16th.  Dinner is at 6:00pm with the meeting starting at 7:00pm.  Your significant other is welcome, as well as your other family members.  


I wish you all a wonderful Summer.



Warmest Fraternal Regards,  Joe


Joseph F. Oelgoetz III, 32° KCCH

Personal Representative to the

Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the

Orient of Georgia


Key Notes from the Valley

Scottish Rite Valley of Columbus - 2023 Officers 

Lodge of Perfection

Chapter Knights Rose Croix

Council of Kadosh

Consistory

Baron L. Conklin, 32° KCCH

Fraternally yours,

Baron L. Conklin, 32° KCCH

Venerable Master

Valley of Columbus

Venerable Master

Comments

Dear Brethren of the Valley of Columbus,


Last month, our Personal Representative to the Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the Orient of Georgia, Honorable Brother Joe Oelgoetz educated us on the similarities and differences of the Northern and Southern Jurisdictions of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. I learned quite a bit about their degrees, bodies, and insignia. He is definitely a wealth of Masonic information!


The Grandmaster’s reunion was a great success. Our Fourteenth-Degree team did an outstanding job and we now have five new Masters of the Royal Secret. This month we will have our Cap and Ring ceremony, followed by the third year of the presentation of the history of the Flag of our great Nation, presented by members of Daniel Morgan Camp or the Heroes of 76®. Soon after, our Fireworks Stand will open for business. This is a major fundraiser, and all those who are able should sign up to help.


Our September Centennial Celebration will soon be here. Make plans, get your reservation now, and join us on the 16th, at six o’clock for a great meal, and a great program.


General Secretary

Comments

Brethren, 

I join our Personal Representative in congratulating our five new Scottish Rite Masons. They attended the Grand Master's Reunion at the Atlanta Masonic Center on June 3. I also offer my gratitude to our 14th Degree Team. We have received so many compliments on the fine work that they did. See their picture in this issue.

We will have a busy Lodge of Perfection meeting on June 16. We will conduct our Cap and Ring Ceremony for our new Masters of the Royal Secret. We will also have our annual Flag Day ceremony, led by HB Baron Conklin and conducted by the members of Daniel Morgan Camp, Heroes of 76. We hope that you will be able to join us, either in person or by Zoom.

At our last Lodge of Perfection meeting, the Personal Representative presented $1,000 scholarship checks from the Scottish Rite Foundation of Georgia to William Knight and Delmas Shipman III. Brother Knight is a Master Mason and a member of the Valley of Columbus. His father is HB Torrey Knight. Mr. Shipman is the Grandson of HB Roger Buterbaugh. Both were very appreciative for being selected to receive scholarships. The Scottish Rite Foundation of Georgia Scholarship application period will next begin on January 1, 2024 and applications must be submitted no later than January 31, 2024. If you know of a college student who can benefit from a scholarship, invite them to apply. More information will be forthcoming this fall.

Our excellent Chef, Brother John Adams, is seeking ideas on what to prepare for dinner at future Lodge of Perfection meetings. He is placing a suggestion box on the table in front of the kitchen. If you have a favorite meal that you would like for him to prepare, submit it. Sorry, though, no lobster or caviar!

The KCCH Investiture will take place at the Valley of Savannah on August 25-26. There will be a dinner river cruise Friday evening and a lunch after the investiture on Saturday. As of today, no hotel arrangements have been announced. I will let everyone know when I receive them. See the KCCH Investiture flyer in this issue for more information about the Investiture as well as the link to purchase tickets for the dinner river cruise and lunch.

The Valley of Columbus will be selling fireworks again at the Victory Drive Walmart. The plan is to start selling on June 26 and sell through July 3 (or July 4 if we still have fireworks). Brother Jonas Barlow is our Fireworks Captain and will oversee the operation. Additional Double Eagle points will be awarded to those who volunteer to work the fireworks stand.

Our next Rite Care Dove Shoot is scheduled for September 2 at a new location near Buena Vista. Ill Bro. Phil Harris is the Dove Shoot Captain. Look for more information coming out in July and August.

Hope to see you in person or Zoom at our next Lodge of Perfection meeting.

Fraternally yours,


Roger Buterbaugh, 32° KCCH

General Secretary

Valley of Columbus

Roger Buterbaugh, 32° KCCH

Scan here for our online petition
Click the button above or read the below flyer for information surrounding the KCCH investiture event & ceremony scheduled for 25-26 Aug 2023.

Sir Knight 

Bayardo Reyes, 32°

Personal Invitation from the Knight Commander:

Inviting all Scottish Rite Masons to join us as we gather for fellowship and observance of the Battle of Bannockburn with a toast at the Valley of Columbus on 24 June at 11:30AM.

Must RSVP to attend. At colsm@sgascottishrite.org 


Attire: 

Upcoming KSA Meetings, Events, & Important Dates

Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars for the Centennial Celebration of the founding of the Valley of Columbus, Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry – Saturday, September 23, 2023.  We have gained acceptance of our invitation to Sovereign Grand Commander, Illustrious James D. Cole, 33°, Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite of the Southern Masonic Jurisdiction, who will be in attendance for this event.  Additionally, we have gained acceptance to attend by Most Worshipful & Illustrious Michael A. Kessler, 33°, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Georgia.  The Grand line will also be in attendance.

The current overall elements of the celebration event would be the following:

We are being led in our planning of this very special event by Brother Bayardo Reyes, 32°.  He is looking for others to join the planning committee.  Brethren and Ladies are welcome to be a part of the planning of this once in one-hundred years event.  If interested, please do not hesitate to contact either our General Secretary: Honorable Brother Roger Buterbaugh, 32° KCCH at colsec@gascottishrite.org, or Brother Bayardo Reyes, 32° at bayardo.reyes.32@gmail.com.

College of Freemasonry

Short Talks   by Joseph Fort Newton

Between the years 1923 and 1927, Brother Joseph Fort Newton, at the request of the Masonic Service Association, wrote a series of talks designed to be read at Lodge meetings. They proved to be so popular that they were collected and published in book form in 1928 as Short Talks on Masonry. Throughout the coming year, the College of Freemasonry will re-publish many of these talks in email format because, while the material in the book was written many years ago, we find that it has enormous relevance in the world today. 

Current Blog Post

A Freemason's Treasures

A Freemason's Treasures

By: R. W. Bro. Michael Woolley - Reprinted from Reflections Newsletter, Volume 18 No. 1  Original Source

Many people who are not Masons seem to think that Masonry is a religion. “After all,” a friend of mine commented, “they use a whole lot of church stuff and, like a lot of churches, they tend to keep a lot of art stuff and what you might think of as treasures around their halls. Look at how all the stuff is insured.” He had a point. We do value some of our artifacts highly and, yes, lots of our regalia and furniture is heavily insured - for obvious reasons. But all the rest of his ideas just show a small part of a non-Mason’s misunderstanding of what Freemasonry is all about.

Yes, we as Masons do have treasures and we do have artifacts, but we keep these very separate. Our artifacts are things. Our treasures are our values. Values can be ideals or tenets, but they are definitely not things.

One of our treasures is the concept of Brotherly Love. It is derived from the concept of philia, a Greek word sometimes translated incompletely in English as just Love. Regardless, this is, according to the General Charge that we all know and value so highly, the path to chief point in Freemasonry. Let me quote –

“therefore the utmost extension of fraternal feeling and affection which can exist between man and man is expected to be displayed amongst the brethren of a freemason’s lodge and thereby will be attained the chief point of Freemasonry namely to be happy ourselves and to communicate that happiness to others.”

Another of our treasures is Relief which is one of the blessings and benefits that Masonry gives to all - not just to Masons themselves and is therefore a step in giving happiness to others.

And finally, there is that most misused treasure Truth. Truth is a two-edged sword as sometimes it can be misinterpreted for frankness (and that with varying degrees of “charity” can be, at best, interference, and at worst a poor excuse for being just plain rude). 

Do you have a friend who tells you stuff that all your other friends are just too well-mannered to tell you, or do you know that “lady” who puts the NATIONAL ENQUIRER to shame? Truth can never be misapplied when delivered with AGAPE (remember all the implications?). The phrase “The truth shall set you free” under these conditions is very appropriate. Experience tells us that even the most well-meaning of social fibs can hold one hostage, whereas truth allows one to go freely forward.

Here, then are the Mason’s true treasures; charitable brotherly love which gives us the path to happiness for ourselves and others, which leads to relief and the real application of charity, and finally truth without which no real relationship of any worth is possible.

To these well-established values, a former Grand Master once suggested we adopt some more of these treasures for the future in order to promote and maintain our craft as we ought. Like truth, some of these have a likelihood of being misunderstood or misdirected. However, also like truth they can set you very effectively on the right paths. But beware of Pride. The faults that this trait can bring out are legion but the pride we are thinking of here is pride in our fraternity and all it stands for. Do you remember the ideals that you had when you joined Freemasonry? Your hopes for yourself and the Craft? Hopes which, if the craft lived up to your expectations and you to its, have been fulfilled and augmented.

Second is Loyalty. It is a natural corollary to pride and implies an active promotion and defense of the fraternity, so as to better our image to the world at large.

Third is work - that too is a natural corollary of what has gone before, and it implies that we should be pro-active not reactive in our promotion of Freemasonry and all that it stands for. To this end, some lodges rent spaces in local malls to show the generally uninformed public what Masonry does so they may promote the reputation of the order. Even without this the continuance of those duties and actions which we have performed to the betterment of ourselves our Craft and our fellowmen are of course necessary for the Craft’s continuance.

Finally - enthusiasm. A cheerful server can make even a truck stop meal memorable; a surly one can turn a gourmet feast into a trial. You were enthused when you first came into the craft. You have grown in it. You have worked for it and held its treasures as your own. Have those treasures become so familiar now that you don’t see them anymore? Have they become the sort of thing that is there and would be missed only if it vanished? Look at your treasures again. Don’t be a miser or a hoarder with them. Take them out and display them - SHOW Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth and now, Pride, Loyalty, Work and Enthusiasm - and by so doing let the World see what sort of man Freemasonry’s Treasures can make.

Committee Reports

Fundraising

Fireworks Fundraiser - Bro. Jonas Barlow, Fireworks Captain

For historical bacground, we began selling fireworks at the Victory Drive Super Walmart just prior to the 2023 New Year and sold for about 6 days. After expenses, we raised around $4,000 for the Valley.  Based on historical data, we anticipate successful future outcomes with our fireworks stand at this location. Typically a stand will earn at least twice as much, for the selling season leading up to the 4th of July, as it did for the New Year season. That means we expect a profit in the neighborhood of $8,000 to $10,000, for selling during the upcoming ten day period.

As an incentive, those who volunteered for the New Years stand were awarded Double Eagle Points for each hour they are at the Fireworks Stand. These points will also backdate for our Valley’s stand this past summer.

Save the dates: Reserve on your calendar now from June 23 to July 4th! You don’t want to miss being a part of this amazing and easy opportunity to raise money for the Valley and earn Double Eagle points for yourself!

Cast Call from the Theater Coordinator

Dear Columbus SR Community,

The Valley of Columbus has ventured into the theater world! We are planning two plays in 2023:  August and December.

We need to assess the membership for any interest in trying out for an acting part in the first play, "12 Angry Jurors" which runs August 11-20 (weekends).  Yes , we need 12 actors!  

Auditions will take place on Monday, June 12 at 7pm, Valley of Columbus, 1027 2nd Ave, Bro Chance Miller 32°, Director.


Danny L. Dawson, PM  33°
Theater Coordinator
(706)681-0871

Building Committee

Brethren,

I hope everyone is well! Our roof seems to be sealed good and we have not noticed anymore leaks!!! Knock on wood!!!

Our Scottish Rite building is in need of  some repair and beautification inside and outside. We would like to improve our outside appearance, not only to show the city and our community that we do care for our building, but to be looking good, and well maintained  for our Bicentennial in September. Several of our air conditioners have needed repair - one unit may need a fan motor. We are looking at a service agreement for maintaining our units.

 We need volunteers of  time, funds, or both to help with Cleaning, Painting, Repairing.

Cleaning of the Bricks, Sidewalk, to remove the algae and vinyl siding of the building. Scaffolding  would be needed to clean and repair the top part of the building. The Vinyl is very old and brittle in spots. Pressure washing would have to be with very,very low pressure. Or some type of a cleaning rinse.

Repairing parts of the building and front porch, ie; the carpet material on the front porch.   Outside of some windows, improve on bathroom appearance and fixtures. Overhead tile and above stage repair. Also some trim needs to be replaced or repaired.

Painting of the front porch and railing, Doors, Trim and Columns.

Please,  any assistance will be greatly appreciated! Suggestions & ideas are welcome.  We would like to get these building items completed before our Bicentennial celebration in September. Please contact me or our Valley Secretary for coordination of times and verification of materials on hand for work.

Fraternally yours,
Harry Ross,  KCCH

300th Celebration Silver Coin

300th Anniversary Coin commemorating the first constituted Grand Lodge from 1717-2017. 1 oz .999 Fine Silver Masonic coin. [One side stamped with Square and Compass and Genesis 1-3. Other Side with Appendant Bodies of masonry and coin sequence Number]. Each are serial number stamped 1-150. Can ask for specific number and availability but requires coordination with Bayardo Reyes at colsm@gascottishrite.org. 

Vol. 2, No. 6 - Jun 2023