Poplar Bluff Lodge #209

The 2011 Mason of the Year is awarded to WB Ernest Phelan.

Each year Poplar Bluff Lodge #209 AF&AM identifies who, within their membership, embodies and lives the values and upholds the principles that the institution is built on and who, through their inspiration and leadership, have had the greatest positive impact on the local membership and Fraternity as a whole.  Worshipful Brother Phelan was selected for his work from concept to fruition of the Poplar Bluff Masonic Lodge Scholarship Foundation that awards Undergraduate study financial assistance to students in Butler, Ripley, Carter and Wayne counties and also for his willingness to go above and beyond the scope of his duties to ensure that the Lodge Hall and grounds are maintained and orderly.

Mitchell Penn being awarded the Missouri Round Robin trophy by RW Brother Randy Jones.                Congratulations Mitch!!!!!!!!!!

Earnie Wilson receiving the Truman Honor Lodge award from MW Brother Gail S. Turner on behalf of the members of Poplar Bluff Lodge #209.

The end of the 2011 Masonic year is quickly approaching. It has been a wonderful year and I am so honored to have served as the Worshipful Master of Poplar Bluff Lodge #209 during the past year. I want to give you a little information about the year we have experienced. We raised 24 new Master Masons, that is a very high number. We have preformed 68 individual degrees during the past year. The officers who have served you have done a wonderful job and I could not have been pleased more. I am so proud of the hard work that they have each put in not just to learn the ritual but to set examples for new members and work together in the lodge for functions and meetings. I can think of 2 people who said “I will never be able to learn that” and now that the year is almost over they not only know their own positions but they now know 1 or 2 positions in front them. We, as a Lodge earned enough points to qualify for the Missouri Truman Lodge Award. Most people would consider that a great year, but we did it in the first 6 months . That is a feat that I’m not sure if it has been done before but we did. We celebrated the 150th year of Poplar Bluff Lodge #209 and held a celebration dinner with Most Worshipful Gail Turner, Worshipful Grand Master of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Missouri in attendance. To top it all off, within the past 2 monts we as a membership voted to start a scholarship foundation to reward deserving students assistance in their efforts to make the world a better place. I feel that without a doubt I can say that I was given the keys to an already great organization here at the local level and that I left it in an even better position on retiring. This is quite a bitter sweet situation, yes, the pressure of top elected officer is now over but I feel like it went so fast and I really enjoyed the experiences I had and the people I met. Thank you all for the great year, a leader couldn’t really ask for a better group of officers and members to lead.

On March 5, 2011 a Region G School of Instruction was held at Zalma Lodge which was attended by 8 members of Poplar Bluff Lodge #209. At that School of Instruction several brothers competed in the Round Robin proficiency competition. Bro Mitchell S. Penn of Poplar Bluff Lodge won that competition. On June 11, 2011 Bro Penn and I made the trip to the Missouri Grand Lodge complex for the annual ritual committee meeting and Missouri Round Robin proficiency competition. The competition was enjoyable to see, especially since several members competing have joined the Fraternity after the proficiency requirement was done away with. Brother Penn maintained his focus and made it to the finals. The final two continued on until finally Brother Penn won out and was awarded the medal as the Missouri Round Robin ritual champion for 2011. It is such a pleasure to have Brother Penn as one of our very own members and see that his drive to learn the ritual is only surpassed by his dedication and willingness to work. The trophy will be officially presented at the annual Grand Lodge Communication held in September. The next time you see him give him a pat on the back, I know it took a lot of work to earn this award. During our visit to the Grand Lodge Complex we also spent some time in the Masonic Museum which we found to a wonderful experience. The relics that are on display show what rich history we have here in Missouri and it is definitely worth your time to see if you have the chance.

Each year the Lodge determines who, within our membership, embodies and lives the values and upholds the principles that the institution is built on and who, through their inspiration and leadership, have had the greatest positive impact on the local membership and the Fraternity as a whole.  R.W.B.  Brannum was selected for his sincere dedication and technical expertise in his duties of running the Lodge and Temple Board financial responsibilities which he executed cheerfully and with impeccable integrity and exacting measure and for his willingness to go above and beyond the scope of his duties to ensure that the Lodge meetings are orderly, efficient and pleasant for all.

We appreciate Bob’s service to the Lodge very much and look forward to his continued leadership and service to ours and the many other Lodge’s  that he has contact with.

Thank you Bob.

Poplar Bluff Lodge #209 received its charter from Grand Lodge of Missouri AF & AM to become a chartered lodge in May 1861. We have come a long way since that time, there have been approximately 2000 brothers who have received their degrees. We have a lodge to be proud of and on May 21, 2011 we will be celebrating the 150th Anniversary of our charter by holding a dinner. I hope that we have more people show up than we have tables and chairs. This will be an event that is open to all, so you can bring your family and have a meal together. I’m sure that there will be people sitting around exchanging stories about the past, reminiscing about fun times. I think this will be an enjoyable night for all. I am truly honored to be the Worshipful Master during this year and I think we are having a special year. There is an excitement and sense of brotherhood in the lodge that we can be proud of. To help commemorate the 150th anniversary of Poplar Bluff Lodge we have decided to have a coin minted. The coin will be available for sale at a mere $10 each and the proceeds will be used to fund the anniversary dinner and other special functions throughout the year. I have included an image of the coin so that you know what it looks like.