The Longstreet Lodge Annual Fish Fry Fundraiser has been completed and by all accounts it was a roaring success.

Numerous brethren were on hand to assist with the fundraiser, leaving all with something to do but with nobody having to bear all the burden.

Over 200 fish plates were sold.

Longstreet Chapter No. 285, Order of the Eastern Star also sold desserts as a part of the event.

As always it was a wonderful day of fellowship, made possible by all the brethren who came out to participate in the event!

Thank you to all those who supported the lodge by purchasing a fish plate. We hope to see you again next year!

On Monday August 17th, 2015, the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons of Mississippi, Fred F. Bean, was received at Longstreet Lodge No. 268 prior to the Initiation of Mr. Jeffrey Williams.

While it is an honor for any lodge to receive the Grand Master, this reception was of particular importance to the members of Longstreet Lodge.

Brother Fred, as we have all addressed him for so many years, has long been a trusted instructor for many members of our lodge, for District 16, and indeed for masons throughout the State of Mississippi. Whether your lesson with Fred involved spending a hour or more doing floor work in a lodge room, several minutes sitting in his office, or just a quick phone call to help jog your memory on a lost word – Fred has been, and always is, there to help.

Brother Bean has been to Longstreet Lodge many times in the past be it to help put on a degree or just to fellowship. However, it was our honor – on this night – to receive him as our Most Worshipful Grand Master and to let him sit and watch as all those who he has taught put on a degree, from start to finish, without him having to say a single word.

Thank you, Brother Fred, for teaching us so well and for always being there. We’ll try to do even better next time – as always.

Brethren,

Our hearts are saddened by the Great loss of Our Dear Brother, Harold Seaver.

Death is the most profound mystery of all human experiences and it will visit each one of us with absolute certainty. When our time will come we know not. We all expect it, but none of us will escape it.

The sense of utter grief weighs heavily on our hearts as we mourn the loss of our Dear Brother and Friend.

Our fraternity tells us that we should live our lives so that we can welcome the grim tyrant of death and that is precisely what Brother Hippie did.

Whatever he did, from building ramps for handicapped people, to writing notes and keeping records for a country Masonic Lodge, he did it well. He accomplished each task that he performed with pride and honor.

When life’s day has ended and a loved one has gone to rest, we are somehow lifted above the plane of everyday life and our souls are permitted to catch faint glimpses of the spiritual world.

It is then that we are comforted by his memory. We recall the jokes that Brother Hippie made and his joyful and easy-going heart that made all of our days a little brighter and we are again reassured that we have a future home in the House of the Lord.

Brother Harold has worked long and faithfully. He has built his bridge that others may pass, and now he has gone to receive his wages from the Master Builder. We rejoice in his everlasting and total happiness, for his eyes have seen God.

To those of the immediate family, we offer our heartfelt sympathy. Our faith tells us that He who tempers the wind will look down upon the bereaved with infinite compassion, and that the Great Architect of the Universe will fold His arms of love around those who have put their trust in Him.

“I am the resurrection of the life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”

Brethren, we pay our tribute of respect and love to Brother Harold, who was near and dear to us by fraternal ties and the unbreakable bonds of Friendship and Brotherly love.

How often, when the day is ended and the sun has gone to rest, we pause, to stand in awe, beholding the Western sky that is transformed with a radiance which seems to shine out from the very gates of Heaven. We see it as a beautiful picture that is painted by the hand of God, and we are lifted and exalted by the beauty and glory of His creation.

As the bright butterfly bursts from its cocoon to soars aloft in the sunshine, so has our brother Harold Seaver’s spirit cast off this earthly vessel.

His work on earth is finished, his Temple is completed and he has been called by the Master Builder to receive his reward.

Be not sad, but rather rejoice in the beauty and symmetry of the memories that he left us, which will be in our hearts from this day forward.

With a firm faith in the Supreme Grand Master of the Universe we know that we shall meet again in the realms beyond the skies, so until then dear friend and Brother we say.. Farewell.

-Danny Fisher

Worshipful Master, 2015