Duane Mertz

Trestleboard Article

June 2026

 

Brethren: 

Now that we are at the halfway point of 2026, let’s take stock of what has been accomplished and where things stand.  

  

Accomplishments 

• Our lodge finances are in good shape.  

• We continue to have concerns about several aspects of our building. 

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o   The HVAC System. We are lucky to have Senior Warden Gerry McCune, an expert A/C technician, working on our system.  As of this writing, Gerry has been diligently working with a colleague and is finding ways to keep our system up and running without major expense. Because of the age of the system this is going to be an ongoing concern.  

o   The West Wall. Our SW is interviewing local contractors to arrive at the best solution to shore up this wall.

o   We are experiencing continued drainage issues with the drain in the floor of the lodge kitchen. Our SW is presently attempting to clear the drain and following that to assess whether further remedial measures need to be taken.

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• Our communications to members have improved.  If you are not on Signal or are not receiving regular emails from the Lodge, please let me know.  

• New member recruitment continues to disappoint. We are going to re-double our outreach to potential new members.  We also have improved literature, compliments of Brother Bill Berman, which we are rolling out.  

• Our strengthened Charity Program saw the Lodge award financial gifts to: 

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o    The Grottoes International Humanitarian Foundation  

o   The Mattie Williams Neighborhood Family Center 

o   The Rainbow Girls from Largo Assembly #86 

o   Egypt Shriners  

o   We’ve also offered the services of TBL members for special events at Mattie Williams.  As these opportunities arise, we will inform the Brethren who may wish to volunteer 

 

• Upcoming events 

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o   August 14th Grand Master’s Official Visit 

o   August 15th Town Hall Meeting – Masonic Home 12-2pm

o   August 18th @ 6:30pm – Tampa Bay Lodge Travelling to St. Pete Lodge No. 139 

o   September 1st @ 6:15pm – Called Meeting with DDGM Visit (dinner added) 

o   September 15th @ 6:15pm – Stated Meeting 

o   September 16th @ 6:30pm – SMMA Meeting Dunedin Lodge No.192.

o   October 6th @ 7:30pm – Called Meeting.

o   October 10th TBL Annual Shrimp Boil @12-3pm.  This event will be at a new location - Shelter 6 at Phillippe Park.

o   October 20th @ 6:15pm – Stated Meeting.

o   November 3rd @7:30pm - Called Meeting.

o   November 18th @ 6:30pm – SMMA Meeting St. Petersburg No. 139 

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Have a nice Summer Brothers.  

Fraternally,  

Duane Mertz