21st Masonic District website and email update

For your information the 21st Masonic District website is up and running following the transfer of our domain to a new registrar. Be advised that the email system will not be fully functional until the beginning of January, the administrative emails are working but some email addresses for lodge Worshipful Masters and Secretaries may not work because of the yearly transition of officers.

If you need assistance from a Worshipful Master or Lodge Secretary please go to the lodge link on the right and use the telephone number. For other assistance email office@21stmasonicdistrict.com.

Thank you.

21st Masonic District Website and email outage alert

Starting on December 25th we began the process of moving the 21st Masonic District domain to a new registrar service due to ongoing issues with our current registrar and as a result the district website and email addresses for the District Deputy Grand Master, Worshipful Masters, Lodge Secretaries and District Committeemen will be intermittently unavailable. We expect the transfer to be completed by December 30th.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Fraternally,
Bro. Rick Schwarz, 21st Masonic District website administrator

Merry Christmas

From the R:.W:. John R. Miller, District Deputy Grand Master. the Worshipful Master and brothers of the 21st Masonic District. Merry Christmas to you and your families.

21st Masonic District office closed

The office of the 21st Masonic District will be closed from December 24th thru January 2nd in observation of the Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years holidays. If you need assistance during this time please email office@21stmasonicdistrict.com and we will get back to you ASAP.

Happy Hanukkah

As the first of eight days of Hanukkah starts, R:.W:. John R. Miller, District Deputy Grand Master and all of the brethren here in Florida's 21st Masonic District wish our Jewish brethren, their families and friends a Happy Hanukkah and Shabbat Shalom.

Upcoming Annual Officers Installation Schedule

The following is the current list of 2020 lodge officers installation schedule.

Kathleen Lodge No. 338 - December 27th, Dinner at 6:00pm and installation at 7:00pm
Winter Haven Lodge No. 186 - December 28th, Meal, 12:00pm, Installation 1:00pm
Haines City Lodge No. 219 - December 28th, Installation at 5:00pm with refreshment to follow afterwards.
Sebring Lodge No. 249 - January 3rd at 6:00pm
Travelers Lodge No. 390 - January 4th, Breakfast at 7:30am, Installation at 9:00am
Lake Wales Lodge No. 242 - January 4th, Lunch at Noon, Installation at 1:00pm
Wauchula Lodge No. 17 - January 4th, 6pm Dinner and installation at 7:00pm
Placid Lodge No. 282 - January 6th, Meal at 6:30pm, Installation
Poinciana Lodge No. 227 - January 6th, CLOSED installation, held during Stated Communication
Bowling Green Lodge No. 121 - January 9th, CLOSED installation held during Stated Communication
Lakeland Lodge No. 91 - January 11th, Installation 2:00pm, with meal to follow
Corinthian Lodge No. 191 - January 16th, 6:30pm Meal, Installation 7:30pm

Lake Wales Fish Fry

Lake Wales Lodge No. 242 will be holding a fish fry on Saturday January 11th from 4:30pm to 7:00pm. $10.00 per person. The menu includes one of the following fresh Cat Fish filet or Swai (mild white fish) with Cole Slaw, French Fries, Baked Beans. Cheese Grits, Hush Puppies (with or without Jalapenos), deserts and ice tea or coffee.

Chicken filet will be available only by advance request. Please direct any questions to R:.W:. Wendell Farrow at 863-287-0490.

December Master Masons Association Meeting

The next meeting of the 21st Master Masons Association will be held on Wednesday December 18th at Fort Meade Lodge No. 160. The host lodge is Fort Meade No. 160.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Election of officers for the new masonic year will be held during this meeting. Your attendance at this meeting is expeditiously required.

Dinner will start at 6:30pm and meeting will start at 7:30pm.

Direct all question to MMA President John Bush at mma@21stmasonicdistrict.com.

Funeral Service For W:. Bob Hubbard

Brethren:

We have received a request for a Masonic Service for W.·.Bob Hubbard of Winter Haven Lodge No. 186.  The service will be on Sunday, December 22nd at 3:00 pm (Gloves and Aprons at 2:30 pm) at the First Presbyterian Church, 637 6th St. NW, Winter Haven (same location as Judge Curry's service).  Please let me know your availability, so that we may extend R.·.W.·.Hubbard a proper Masonic Service, email secretary338@21stmasonicdistrict.com.

Thanks and Fraternally,
Bill Doolin

Hurricane Katrina and the Masonic Bible

A few years ago I wrote a post on my personal Facebook page intended to be read by my fellow Masonic brethren about keeping your Masonic possessions safe, the post came to fruition as a result of an article that I read online about a Masonic bible (pictured above) which was for some reason not taken care of by its owner, it was left unprotected inside a garage in the lower Ninth District in New Orleans, Louisiana. On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina (One of the worst Hurricanes in U.S. history) hit New Orleans causing massive destruction in its path including devastating flooding as a result of rising waters from Lake Pontchartrain which desolated the Ninth District, the bible was reportedly pushed out of the now destroyed garage by the flood waters to a spot five miles North of its original location and was found two months later underneath a pile of mud, the blue leather cover and gold lettering were faded and the inside pages were water damaged, with no one claiming it the Bible was said have been return to a local lodge in New Orleans to be restored, unfortunately since that Facebook post I've heard nothing further about what happened to or where the bible is currently located.

The point of this post my brothers is please don't think that your Masonic treasures are not important enough to protect, you need to make sure that anything that you have which is Masonic including your Membership certificate, Masonic Bible, rings, aprons etc...are protected someplace like a home or office safe or in a bank safety deposit box.

Important Scam Alert... Please read

Its recently come to our attention that scammers are now targeting the Masonic community including the Grand Lodge of Florida, the Masonic Home of Florida and the Shriners Hospital For Children calling, sending out emails or snail mail letters asking for donations and in one case a brother from the another district in Florida received a letter purported to be from Grand Lodge claiming that their Masonic membership is in arrears and if they didn't make immediate payment they will be suspended. All correspondence for non payment of dues is through your lodge secretary not through Grand Lodge.

Members of the Grand Lodge of Florida office staff which including the Grand Secretary, WILL NEVER contact you by mail, email or telephone unless you initiate contact with them first. Additionally funding to operate the Grand Lodge's day to day operations does not come from donations but from the Per Capita fee in your yearly lodges dues bill.

The Masonic Home of Florida and Shriners Hospitals For Children do not solicit by phone, they do however send out yearly mailers to previous donors, donations are also accepted directly in person at their offices or through their website, for donations to the the Masonic Home of Florida please visit.. www.masonichomefl.com and for donations to the Shriners Hospital For Children please visit... shrinershospitalsforchildren.org.

If you've received any type of scam call making claims to be a Masonic organization please immediately report it to your local police department and/or sheriff's office, taking note of the name and phone number that appears on your Caller ID device. You should also be aware that the scammers are now using a technique where they can spoof the real telephone number of an organization such as the Grand Lodge, Masonic Home or Shriners Hospital. Do not be fooled, remain safe by simply hanging up the phone.

Lodge Assistance Grants Now Available

Grand Lodge of Florida - Membership Development Committee

Brothers,

Attached below, to this guidance letter is a link to a spreadsheet that can be used by your lodge for requesting a "Lodge Assistance Grant" from the Grand Lodge of Florida's Membership Development Committee. These grants are intended to support lodges in securing advertising opportunities not only for the good of Freemasonry in general in their geographic region.

The Grand Lodge of Florida has budgeted roughly $150,000 for this purpose, and as such, funds are limited to that amount for this year. These grants are intended to be MATCHING funds for your lodge, and shall be paid to your lodge upon receipt of payment to the advertising vendor in total. These grants also can be used for something as simple as a road sign or welcome marker for your town, all the way up to a full-scale advertising program.

The following are some basic requirements for use of these funds to assist you in determining whether your lodge would like to participate:

1. Lodge Assistance Grants per lodge are limited to $2,500 in matching funds, there is no minimum limit.

2. A lodge may only apply once for a grant in this year.

3. Multiple lodges, District Zones, or Areas of Lodges may apply together and this number shall compound per lodge including in the request (i.e. if three lodges apply as one program, they are eligible for up to $7,500 in matching funds).

4. An application must be filed out and submitted for consideration.

5. A plan, with samples of the advertising being considered, must be attached to the application for consideration.

6. Approval for the grant must be received prior to the lodge paying any funds towards the program itself.

7. The advertising program must occur prior to the 2020 Grand Communication.

8. The Membership Development Committee reserves the right to give guidance and revise any copy submitted for payment of these grants prior to approval.

We greatly hope that as many lodges as possible are able will participate in this program. It is intended for all of our Particular Lodges to begin programs themselves that will help them advertise and get their names out into the community. If you have any questions, or would like to know more about how to apply for these grants, or would like assistance in developing marketing material, please email R:.W:. Chas. Jordan, State Chairman of the Membership Development Committee  at each1reach1@beafloridamason.com.

Link to Lodge Assistance Grant Application
https://grandlodgefl.com/docs/2018-19_Mail/1907/15%20Lodge%20Assistance%20Grant%20Application.pdf

SUCCESS FAVORS BOLD

Approved for distribution by M:.W:. John W. Westerman III, Grand Master, on June 26, 2019.

Important reminder about contacting Grand Lodge

Brethren, as an important reminder from the Grand Lodge, back in October they permanently disconnected their toll-free telephone number, if you need to contact Grand Lodge please use their local number 1-904-354-2339. Thank you.

Additionally, Brethren who are not members of this jurisdiction are reminded that it is a violation of Masonic protocol to contact the Grand Lodge of Florida directly. If you need to contact the Grand Master or a member of the Grand Lodge staff you must contact your Grand Secretary at your Grand Lodge in writing stating the reason you need to contact the Grand Lodge of Florida and if approved you will be contacted back.

Holiday reminder... Lodges going dark for the holidays

Brethren,

As the Christmas, Hanukkah and New Years holidays come upon us, this is a reminder that before driving to a lodge in the district for their Stated Communication you should first consult with the lodge secretary first to find out if they will or will not be holding a Stated Communication during the second half of the month of December. Most of the lodges in the district have opted to go dark for the holidays and will resume in January.

Circumscribe cards

Brethren:

If you have order a Circumscribe card from Grand Lodge and you have not received it after waiting several weeks/months please 1-904-354-2339 for assistance.

Thank you.

Deputy Grand Master's Fundraiser Invitation

Brethren, Grand Lodge has released information about R:.W:. Tommy R. Turlington, Jr., Deputy Grand Master's Fundraiser. Dinner will be Spaghetti & Desert with all the fixins. Meatless Spaghetti will be available for those who desire such a meal. The cost is $10.00. Further information is available on the attached flyer.