Libertas-Security Lodge #466 2013

I spent a wonderful evening with the Brothers of Libertas-Security Lodge No. 466  Free and Accepted Masons in Bakersfield, CA.  The evening was scheduled to be a training night, it morphed into opening an E.A. Lodge and installing their new Jr. Warden and Stewards.  Their building is in the center of the city and very much reminds me of Manchester, Ct’s Building.  I took the photo from across the street where they have a large parking lot that they share with a very upscale restaurantnt.  All parties benefit from this arrangement.

I’m shown with W.B. Gary Jackson who invited me to pro-tem the treasurer’s chair during the E.A. Lodge.  I demonstrated my unique memory of Connecticut’s Ritual to the general satisfaction of all present. 

W.B Gary is also the Lodge’s web master.  Make sure you click the Hyperlink above so you can see the wonderful work he does as such.  Make sure you visit his joke page from which I purloined this story:

One evening after a brother had been a guest at an installation, he had partaken of too much wine, and his host was very worried, as he did not want him to drive home in his present state which was some distance away, so insisted that he stay the night at his house, and travel home the next morning, and after much persuasion this is what he did. 
When he got home the next morning, his wife was furious with him because he had forgotten to phone, and she did not believe his story about staying with a brother because of the state he was in, but wondered if he had been with another women, however she pretended to believe him, by asking how the ceremony had gone, and asked how many other brethren had been there and all the regular questions that wives do ask, and he told her that it had been an excellent Lodge meeting and that 65 brethren had turned up, etc.
However at the next Lodge meeting when the secretary rose to read out correspondence, he read a letter from the wife asking if the brother where her husband had stayed the night after the last lodge meeting would please write to her and confirm his story that he had stayed the night at his house because he was unfit to drive home. 
The next day in the post she received 64 letters.

Note that 3 Lodges all the appendent bodies, 2 Chapters of O.E.S and Job’s daughters and DeMolay all meet in this building giving it a great feeling of community.

 

 

 

 

My evening ended with a sour note.  When I returned to the Kern County Fairground, I found the gate locked.  It would not open with the digital code I had been given.  All of the 3 telephone numbers I had been given went directly to voice mail.

Time to crank it up, I called 911.  The operator said I did not have an ‘emergency’  No? said I ?  I am a citizen and visitor in distress shall I do something provocative to ramp it up to an ‘EMERGANCY’?  She gave me a new number which was also N.G.

A Bakersfield policeman came out, he work very hard for about 30 minutes trying several phone calls.  The fire department told him to nose his car to the fence and blow siren for 4 or 5 seconds, which would trip the gate system.  It didn’t ;-(  He was in the phone with a gentleman and told him in no uncertain term the it was HIS responsibility to to rectify the situation.  He said he would arrive in 15 minutes.

After 10 minutes of waiting, the sergeant called and directed my Cop to respond the a car accident with injuries.  As he ripped away he shouted to me that he would check back.  About 10 minutes a gentleman who was a senior manager showed up.  He was very contrite and gave me a master key to the facility.  It seems that the {New} fancy system had been giving the grief for several months, he moved it up his list to address.

Time Elapsed: 2 hours and 20 minutes!