Brethren,

July has been a month of quiet diligence and meaningful connection. On July 10th, we conferred the Third Degree on Brother Stillinger. His steady progress through the degrees is a reminder of the journey we all share in the Craft. Thank you to all who made the degree a success, especially our newest officer team.

Fellowship this month took on a relaxed form with informal Thursday night dinners. From stuffed pork loin to taco night, the dining hall has been filled with laughter, stories, and brotherhood. If you haven’t joined us lately, you’re missed.

Our charitable work continues through preparation—our school outreach team is organizing fall support for local teachers, and we encourage Brothers to suggest worthy causes that reflect our shared values.

Together, we are building something greater than ourselves—one evening, one handshake, and one good work at a time.

Fraternally,

Davin Bowerman, WM

Humboldt Lodge No. 79

Summer greetings to you all,

It has been an active summer after returning from Grand Bethel at the end of June.  Our bethel joined the Shriners in Ferndale for their 4th of July parade, which is always a fun time to connect with more groups! The Bethel went to see How to Train Your Dragon in Eureka, as a fun activity.  It was such a cute live-action movie, and a great way to stay connected while we go dark for the summer!  Later in July, we headed down to California Job’s Daughters Day at the state fair.  For summertime in Sacramento, the heat was mostly bearable and only got up to 95F or so, which was a blessing as it can get BAD there! Thank goodness for A/C and pools!  As we write this, some are also at Job’s Daughters Supreme session in Glendale, AZ, braving the heat to represent us.  It will be exciting to hear of their travels when they arrive back the beautiful Humboldt fog!!

Looking further ahead, we are heading down to Ukiah for a picnic with our Grand Guardian and Bethel No. 106 on Aug 3rd.  The following week we will be presenting to Ferndale’s Order of the Eastern Star during their open meeting on the 13th.  And, we head down to the Miss Cal Pageant for a fancy dinner and get to listen to some empowering and motivating Job’s Daughters speakers, which is always such a great event to be at! We will find out who will be our new Miss California Job’s Daughter there. The following day some will be celebrating our Grand Director of Music with Bethel No. 15 Richmond.

If you have a daughter, granddaughter, niece, or neighbor who is between the ages of 9 and 20, we invite you and them to our next business meeting on September 15th at 7PM at the Humboldt Masonic Center in Eureka.  She will meet new friends, have new experiences, and gain unmeasurable knowledge. California Jobs Daughters is a safe place for girls to bloom into confident women.  Girls learn valuable leadership skills in our meetings, service activities, and charitable events.  If you know someone who might be interested, please have them contact the Bethel Guardian, Leia Pollard at Bethel No. 86 Eureka’s email bethel86@cajdi.org.

Jobie love,
Logan P. HQ
Bethel No. 86

Sisters and Brothers as we get ready to close out another month let us reflect on our July activities. July 9th meeting was Brothers night, and our WP Larry Nicholson presided over the meeting, except for ritual which was done by PM Patti Cady as our worthy matron Liz was attending to some family matters. We also had our annual aebleskiver breakfast, which was well attended despite the new location. I believe we made around $1500.00 in profit. It was delicious as always! The district also had its annual King of Hearts Lee Astorino Tea on July 20th also well attended by even a few nonmembers. They raised about $1000.00 for the Eastern Star Outreach Program that was near and dear to Brother Lee. Some of the members of District one traveled to San Francisco to attend the DGD Heather Currys honor and Triva Night. Such a fun time! This money was raised for the WGM &WGP Project Bradys K-9 and also there were lots of donations for the pet shelter in her area. ( See picture below.)

Our next meeting is August 13th and will be a short form meeting allowing time for the youth groups to give presentations.

Remember to reach out to your sisters and brothers who might need a kind word, a hug or just a phone call.

Elizabeth Carter Lorig WM
Larry Nicholson WP

We hope your summer is going well, everyone!  

At our June meeting we got everything done for our Deputy’s Official Visit.  Thank you, Sister Helene, for all your assistance and wisdom!  Associate Conductress Salena did great with all the parts she had to do in one night! It was lovely to have Sister Karen play piano for us.  And a great big thank you to everyone who came to the meeting.  We made our quorum (just barely) and had several visitors on the sidelines to make our Friendship Night special!  Thank you, everyone!

On July 20 was the 1st Annual Lee Astorino Memorial Tea and silent auction to benefit the OES Outreach.  Sister Deborah “Deb” Winn, PM, Director of Marketing at the SLC came up from Southern California to speak about the Outreach.  There were approximately 28 present to enjoy the scrumptious treats and bid on the several baskets.  Thank you to everyone who participated!   

Next meeting is August 6 and is Game Show Night!  Brother Michael has come up with the theme and plan for this meeting.  We will have an anteroom meeting and then we will participate in our own game show(s)!  Attire is casual.  Refreshments are at 7:00.  Brief anteroom meeting is at 7:30.  Game show to happen immediately thereafter!  I hope you will all be there to join in the fun!  (I believe I heard there might be prizes involved!)

August 10 is a District 1 Summer Paint and Sip event at Fortuna Lodge at 1:00 p.m.  The cost is $25 per person.  Snacks will be provided.  Bring your favorite drink to share (alcoholic or not).  All friends and family of Eastern Star Members are invited to enjoy this event with us!  You need to R.S.V.P. to Sister Janessa so she knows how many are coming and can plan accordingly.  Thank you to Janessa for putting this together!  It should be a lot of fun!

Our September 3 meeting will be themed “Number Please” for Telephone Tuesday.  It will also be our school supply drive.  Please bring whatever school supplies you can manage to the September meeting, and we will donate them to one of the schools here in Eureka.  Meeting will be short form.  Attire will be Business, which means ladies wear a “suit (skirt or pants), nice dress, nice pants and top, jacket optional,” and gentlemen wear a “suit with tie.”

On October 1, Let’s Do a Project!  National Do Something Nice Day and World Card Making Day are both on October 5, so let’s celebrate both and do a project together before the meeting!  Please be at the Lodge by 6:45 so we can get a project done prior to the meeting at 7:30.

Grand Chapter this year is October 15-18 in Visalia.  It is not too soon to start thinking about attending this year’s state convention.  If you have not been before, it is definitely quite the experience!

November 5 will be “Thanks for the Memories” and sharing of especially special memories made with our Eastern Star Sisters and Brothers.

Star love,

Joni L. Hewston, WM
Michael Biesen, WP

PHOTOS:  Lee’s “Professor Tea” hat and flowers from his garden
and  Deborah Winn talking about the OES Outreach  

Here it is August and my year as Master is 3 quarters done but there is still more to do. I want to remind
everyone that our Masonic Picnic is on August 3rd in Rohnert Park, Fortuna. This is a good time to
socialize with the Masonic Families and friends in our area. A deep pit bbq will be served at 12:00 noon. Remember to bring your plate, silverware, utensils and any side dish you would like. A donation is
requested to help defray the costs.

Our stated meeting is on August 11th
at 7:30pm refreshments at 7:00pm.

Practice for the 2nd degree will be on Monday Aug 4 at 7:00pm.

We will be conferring the 2nd degree for James George on August 18th at 7:00pm. Please come and support our Brothers as our member takes a closer step in becoming a Master Mason.
There is no practice on Labor Day Sept. 1st.

Fraternally
David Chris Petersen
Master Ferndale Lodge

Our Lodge had the honor or having an extra middle chamber stair case display which we received from Garberville Lodge when they merged with us, and we donated it to the Ferndale Lodge as theirs was worn out.

At the annual trap shoot Eel River Empire regained the trophy this year, thanks to Phil Grunert and others for their sharp eyes and fast trigger fingers.

Our Lodge is going to donate a covering for the high school baseball field for use during inclement weather.  The donation is on hold due to the lack of adequate drainage of the field.

A second degree was put on this month, with a beautiful staircase lecture from brother Tyler Harris.

Thanks to Bro. Mike Flockhart for filling in for me as I couldn’t get to Lodge due to the closing of highway 36 from the slide.

Bro. Simon Rios, a teacher at the high school,  shot some scenes at the Lodge with the students who enacted a drama of their own making and he shared it with the Bretheren at the July stated meeting.

Our annual B.B. Q., to be held again at the Fortuna park, will be held on August 3^rd.   All Masons and their guests as well as members of the community are invited.

Enough for now, come to Lodge

Theodore B. Lichti  W.M.

Dear sisters and brothers, it is hard to believe that we are already about to enter the month of July but here we go.

Our June meeting was friendship night and memorial. We had a room full of members who came to celebrate the lives of those we have lost this past year and our friendship with our subordinate officers from other chapters. There was also a surprise honor night for DGD Helene Nicholson who didn’t want anything. The officers of all the chapters in District one read an honor ceremony called you are my sunshine and was presented a handmade bicycle made of wood with a clock in the spokes of the back wheel. It was lovingly made by PGP Marton Anderson of Oregon. It is Beautiful. The Northern Stars also presented her with a bouquet of flowers. I think we were successful in pulling off our surprise. On June 14th Flag Day we finally held our long awaited Ableskiver  breakfast at the community center. We fed about 150, which was lower than previous years.  There was also a boutique table with handmade items from our members. Next month July 4th is the annual 4th of July parade we always participate in. The parade starts at noon, but we start assembling around 10 at the Ferndale masonic center. Our meeting is July 9th it is Our brothers night, western wear (Jeans are great). It will be long form and Larkspur and Water Lilys are the flowers of the month. Come see what’s in store. Also, July 20th is the first annual Lee Astorino Tea, there will be a guest speaker there to tell us about the outreach that Lee believed so strongly in. More information at our July meetings.

Always remember it might only take a smile to make someones day!

Elizabeth Carter Lorig WM

Larry Nicholson WP

Bethel No. 86 Eureka is enjoying Grand Bethel as of this writing.  It is a very exciting convention this year with our own Brooke Hansen receiving a Lily of the Valley Award!  This is an award the recipient cannot know anything about, so she was really taken by surprise!  

Our own newest Past Honored Queen Betsy was selected as Grand Bethel 2nd Messenger for 2025-2026.  Extra interesting, that was her mother Virginia’s office several years ago.  Betsy was wearing her mother’s Grand Bethel Officer sheet dress on Friday night when she learned which office she was drawn for.  

CONGRATULATIONS both to Betsy and to Miss Hansen!

Our May meeting was a lovely evening with the Worthy Grand Matron, Grand Chaplain and his wife and our Deputy present, and enough visitors to fill in every office and still have some sideliners!  It was quite a sight from the East!  Thank you to EVERYONE who came, participated, observed. 

We had our Memorial to remember Lee Astorino, Judy Pflueger, and Gene Chancellier.  Unfortunately, because I had a bit of a coughing fit when I should have been making my remarks, I did not have the opportunity to say that the poem I read during Memorial was a slightly altered version of “She is Gone” by David Harkins. Thank you to our lovely Conductresses and Chaplain for doing their work so beautifully. 

Also thank you to Sister Karen Parlato who played for us at this special meeting.  

There was a report on delivering the prizes and donation to the library.  There were 8 prizes, 2 each for varying age groups, for the Humboldt County Library Summer Reading Program on display at our meeting so everyone could see them.  Sister Peggy and I took them to the Library with the check the following Tuesday to deliver them, and they were – as always – well and gratefully received.  The Children’s Librarian said she’d save them for the grand prize drawing! 

Coming up is our meeting on July 2, and it is a BIG one!  It is our Deputy’s Official Visit (finally!), so we will be proving the Chapter and Balloting.  I need everyone who can possibly come to be there because there are so many moving parts to this meeting that have to be members of Camellia Star!  
In addition, it is Friendship Night!  I look forward to seeing our visitors on this special occasion.  

Our Deputy wants a brief practice at 6:30.  Then, if there is time before the meeting, refreshments will be at 7:00, meeting at 7:30.  If we do not have time for refreshments before the meeting, we will have them afterward.  

The theme this meeting is International Joke Day (July 1) and What’s Your Favorite Dad Joke?  We’d love it if you would share some jokes with us.  Attire is casual.  Opening is short form.  (We have had long form meetings all year so far; it is time to relax a bit.) 

In addition, this is the night our members are to bring all the things they want to add to a basket to be auctioned at the special tea in July.  We are planning two baskets.  One has more of a garden theme, and the other is more of a tea theme.  Camellia Star members are asked to bring something to contribute to one basket or the other!  Sister Jaelen has volunteered to make the baskets all pretty for display at the tea. 

Speaking of which, the First Annual Lee Astorino Memorial Tea is on Sunday, July 20, at 2:00 in Fortuna.  We will need lots of help with setting up and cleaning up, so please put the date on your calendar and plan to help if you can.  It would be greatly appreciated.  

Our August meeting has a Game Show Night theme to it.  More information to come.   See you all soon! 
Star Love, 
Joni L. Hewston, WM 

PHOTOS: 

#1 – Donation to the Humboldt County Library Summer Reading Program

#2 – Worthy Grand Matron’s Official Visit to Camellia Star 

It seems the year is going by fast and it will soon be the 4thof July. Remember to come and participate in the annual parade in Ferndale. The lodge will be open for donuts at 10:00 am. We would appreciate your help in decorating the Masonic trailer and riders are needed so lets show the community we are proud members!

Practices for the 2^nd degree will be held on each Monday at 7:00pm. Officer participation is urgently needed or it makes it difficult for the other Officers to do their work.

The regular stated meeting will be on July 14^th at 7:30 pm with refreshments at 7:00 pm.

Hope to see you at the parade!

Fraternally David Chris Petersen