Trestleboard | star-in-the-east-59

SEPTEMBER 2026 trestleboard

Star in the East Lodge #59

Exeter, New Hampshire

Wor. Dwane Staples, Master

TRESTLEBOARD

Stated Meeting of Star in the East Lodge #59, F. & A. M.

Thursday September 10, 2026 at 7:00 P.M. (Dinner at 6:P. M. and Collation after meeting)

- To conduct all business that may regularly come before the Lodge

- Program: Worshipful David Dominianni Washington Slide Show

Thursday September 3: Rehearsal MM opening and degree 7:00pm

Thursday September 10: Stated Meeting, Visitation by DDGM, Supper 6:00pm open 7:00pm Examining Brother Jacob Maurier for FC Degree

!! Sunday September 13: Breakfast at Star in the East. 9:AM!! FC Rehearsal 11:00am

Thursday September 17: FC Degree, Open Lodge at 7:00pm for the FC Degree for Brother Jacob Maurier collation to follow

Thursday September 24: Masters & Wardens at Gideon Lodge 6:30pm supper, 7:00pm Meeting

============================================================================== FROM THE EAST

Greetings Brethren!

I hope you all have had a great summer break and have enjoyed family and friends this summer. I cannot believe it is September already and Fall is upon us. The first Trestlboard after the break contains plenty of opportunities for anyone to attend Lodge and as you can see, we will be busy in the first part of the fall.

We will start off with a rehearsal for the FC Degree and our SW Mike Frost will be in the East for this degree. I am also very excited as our Jr. Steward Brother John Mosley will be doing the Middle Chamber Lecture for the first time. I hope as many as can come and support him in doing this lecture. He has worked hard all summer during the break and we all are looking forward to seeing him do this part in the FC Degree.

We move onto our monthly breakfast where we will have a rehearsal of the FC Degree after breakfast at 11:00am. This will be a walk thru of the degree and our SW Mike Frost will be doing the degree. The Degree will be on our Fellowship night with a collation after the degree and no hot dogs before on this night. night starting at 7:00pm

Our Fellowship night will resume in October. We have also used this night to do some Degree work or rehearsal after enjoying the Fellowship. Please come and enjoy the Fellowship and we will be conferring the FC Degree on Jacob Maurier that night.

Don’t forget about our monthly Lodge breakfast on Sunday September 13 starting at 9am. Please bring something to share for breakfast and if you come to the stated meeting Wor. Mike Daley Jr. will let us know what he needs.

We end the month with Masters and Wardens meeting on Thursday September 24 at Gideon Lodge in Kingston. There is a supper at 6:30pm and the meeting starts at 7:00pm. All Masons are welcome to attend.

I look forward to seeing you in Lodge!

Fraternally,

Dwane Staples, WM (DDSL@comcast.net) 603.682.5205

Final Thought:

“The secret of making progress is to get started.” - Walt Disney

Special Notes:

- There is no warmth more comforting than surrounding yourself with good people who care.

- Star in the East is committed to being a Lodge that practices inclusion. Please, Brethren, if you would like to present a program, take part in Ritual, serve on a committee, or help with our dinners, we’d love to hear from you.

- Remember, our Lodge room is a sanctuary, free from the worries and tribulations of the outside world, where we all meet on the Level.

- You are someone’s impression of the Fraternity. Please dress appropriately for our meetings.

From the West

Greetings from the West, Brethren. I am very excited to get together with all of you in September.

I have been happy to meet/stay in touch with those of us working on ritual, degree work or just getting together.

I have also located some great Masonic education sites. One of them is: Masoniccourses.com. I am still in the exploratory stages of this resource. Being a perpetual student of the Craft – I will check them out and report back.

I have started to follow, as many of our local Brethren have, “Blue Collar Freemason.” This is something that you can find on Facebook (yes, something good to follow on Facebook). Please check out the hilarious skits with Masons who may remind you of…well, I will leave that to you.

REMINDER:

Please take a few minutes and reach out to Brothers (and special ladies) who you may not spoken to lately. Extend your “cable-tow” for their wellbeing, please.

SELF-MASTERY IS LEADERSHIP:

“Freemasonry teaches that self-mastery is the foundation of true leadership. A man who cannot govern himself cannot effectively guide others. Discipline of the mind, control of emotions, humility in success, and patience in adversity are the marks of a Mason who has embraced the deeper meaning of the craft.”

The Ashlar

Fraternally,

Michael Frost, S.W.

FROM THE SOUTH

We are looking forward to our September Stated Meeting with Dinner starting at 6PM.

There are many things in our world that only happen between Memorial Day and Labor Day. So much stuff is packed into that “~100 days”. It is only a little over a quarter of the entire year, but the focus for many “what are we going to do (this year) and when we are going to do it” usually lies in that timeframe. When we see each other on September 10th, it will be great to catch up with all of you, to see how everyone has spent their time since our June Meeting. I am also looking forward to getting back to work in our Lodge. We have a busy fall ahead of us!

The menu for September Stated:

MAIN COURSE:

Italian Feast – Spaghetti & Meatballs, Baked Ziti, Lasagna
- Salad and Garlic Bread

DESSERT:

Cannoli and Pizzelles

COLLATION:

Assorted Cookies and Pastries

NOTE: RESERVATIONS ARE AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR THIS MEAL.

The cost of this meal will be $15
If you will be joining us for dinner, you are requested to REPLY directly back to the Text-Em All that will go out the Friday before our stated.
Please, if you are reading this, and do not get our Text-Em all, please call, e-mail or send a text with who your info and I will add you in: Joe Elliott, Junior Warden
- cell: (603) 702-3480 or e-mail: joe@atlanticautotruck.com

. “Active Candidates & “Special Ladies” are not charged for the meals

Fraternally,

Joe Elliott, JW

SUNDAY IS FUNDAY!!

Just a reminder – our next breakfast will be September 13th, at 9:00 am and go until we run out of food or conversation. Bring your family and friends for breakfast. There is no charge. All we ask is that you bring some food item to contribute to the meal. If you could please let the Junior Warden or me know if you’re attending it would be appreciated.

– Wor. Mike Daley, Jr.

FROM THE HISTORIAN

I have been asked several times by Brethren - both members and visitors - if Star in the East Lodge always met on the second Thursday of the month. My response has always been no, but I could not be much more specific than that. I always knew I had the specific answer someplace, but could not remember where. Being continuously frustrated was frustrating, so I decided my office clutter was such that I had three options: live with it, throw it all out, or downsize. (Jim Ryan and I have something in common - being given Masonic “stuff”.)

In the process of downsizing (the logical choice), I found I have copies of what are probably the original and next two revisions of the Lodge by-laws from 1857, 1875 and 1895. They were in a box with a collection of myriad other small booklets on various and sundry Masonic topics. I had the answer to both meeting nights and the Annual Communication:

From 1857 to 1875, Lodge was held “on the Wednesday of each week on which the moon fulls.” The Annual Communication was on the regular lodge night in April.
From 1875 to 1895, Lodge was held “ on the Thursday of each week in which the moon fulls.” The Annual Communication was held on the first stated communication of the year.
The 1895 by-laws permitted the Lodge to omit meetings in July and August by vote of the Lodge, but the Lodge was still a moon lodge.

Moon lodges generally allowed for better light traveling home from Lodge meetings. There were probably a significant number of Moon Lodges in the early days of Masonry, but I do not have anything that gives me that information. There are several well-written books with Lodge histories, but none that I have in my library include that information. There are/were still two moon lodges in New Hampshire in the recent past - Evening Star in Colebrook and King Solomon’s in Elkins. With all the recent Lodge mergers, I’ve lost track.

My apologies for my Trestleboard absence the past few months, but it has been a complex period in the Cole family, and I found myself pulled in many directions. I want to thank our Worshipful Master and Senior Warden for helping me maintain a semblance of normalcy, balance and functionality.

Richard F. Cole, Jr., PDDGM, Historian

FROM THE NORTH

Greetings Brethren,

I truly hope you all had a great Summer and are as excited as I am for getting back to Lodge.

As has been discussed at Lodge and in the Trestleboard, there will be a PowerPoint (slideshow) presentation of the trip to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Mount Vernon and the George Washington National Masonic Memorial that Brothers Almon, Elliott and I took back in April. If you’ve never been to any of these places, I strongly recommend that you make plans to visit all or any of them. Impressive is a tremendous understatement to say the least. I was able to check off 3 items from my bucket list over the 3 days we were travelling.

Fraternally,

David Dominianni, P.M.