Greetings, St. Alban’s Brothers,

Usually I have quite a bit to say for my Master’s Message each month. I’m honestly drawing a blank slate ahead of our October stated communication.

The first 6 months after our annual were jam-packed with activities, visitations, and a potential merger with another local lodge. After our usual summer pause, it’s been back to work. But because we don’t have any active candidates, it seems a little slow. We have been preparing for our Fellowcraft degree taking place in October. I’m hoping for an easy degree night. There has been a rumor of potential new candidates on the horizon; only time will tell.

Brother Roger Belmore successfully put together a fabulous calendar raffle, and has been drawing lucky recipients daily to begin the month. We hope Brother Tim Pray will be putting on a Scotch tasting sometime in the early winter, tho he is still gathering the information. Also in October, a gathering of lodges named for St Alban will be taking place in CT this year, on the weekend of October 23,24 & 25. See a member for more details if interested in attending to see what all the fuss is about. Our Bristol lodge has hosted the weekend event twice in the last ten years, just for factual comparison. Far out on the horizon will be our annual holiday gathering. After a vote of members present at the last meeting, we decided on Sunday, December 6 th, in the early to mid-afternoon. A Yankee swap will be taking place too. I think that’s all the news fit to be printed!

Greetings, St. Alban’s Brothers,

Welcome back to the lodge from our traditional summers break. I’m sure each one of you enjoyed the rest and relaxation, spending time with family and friends. A brief recap of some summer activities for the lodge since our June communication. In early July many families and masons alike came down to the lodge for our 4 th of July celebrations. I was fortunate to have presided over a special communication of St Albans the morning of the 4 th , opening lodge with use of the Grand Masters special gavel he commissioned for use at the Semiquincentenial lodge no. 250 which was opened in early May by MWGM Gilbert Fontes. Many brothers also attended the Grand Lodge annual picnic at Buttonwoods Park in Warwick. It was a wonderful time and a beautiful day spent enjoying pastimes and renewing friendships. To end the summer we gathered at the Nystroms where they hosted their annual Winefest. What a wonderful way to enjoy friends, and now onto work of the fast approaching fall and winter season.

Greetings, St. Alban’s Brothers,

As every member of the lodge can attest, the month of May was extremely busy, as I sit here at my desk to reflect on the activities. I am continually reminded of our rallying call, not just to our resilient active members but to all masons across our grand jurisdiction. At least 8 brothers possibly more were in attendance on Monday, May 18th for the Grand Lodge annual. We bared witness to a new MWGM Gilbert J. Fontes, Jr. and to all those serving from the Grand Council down the line, and to our very own, Jason M. Nystrom who was installed as RW Grand Marshall. A hearty round of congratulations and applause goes out to them for their past achievements and future accomplishments. We unfortunately heard from the Grand Secretary the continuing long list of those brothers who ascended to the celestial lodge above. It’s evident brothers that our membership is disappearing.

Refecting back to the rallying call of the lodge, what is it you may ask? When you hear it, you’ll likely smile. Suddenly you’ll say, but we’re an active lodge, frequently at our communications we boast of nearly half our total membership present. It is an accomplishment, but a fleeting one. Lets face it brothers Freemasonry is at a crossroads. I was present this past week for the spring meeting of the East Bay Past Masters Assoc., where we welcomed our new GM, his G Marshall, our new DDGM Daniel Rzewuski and his GMC Russell Lorenson. The GM spoke of leading with courage, serving with honor, inspired by faith, and dedicated to growth! If there is any one brother who can lead this charge up and over the hill, it is our Grand Master. I have faith in him, as he alone has the conviction to succeed, I have faith too in our conviction as masons, and as a collection of men who represent a lodge in the East Bay. Our rallying call, for SAL, and for masons across our grand jurisdiction-
WE ARE SMALL, BUT WE ARE MIGHTY

Greetings Brethren,

We are nearly five months in on the current masonic year for St. Alban's Lodge & I can hardly believe it. Do any of you think time is speeding up? Or perhaps just my imagination. Seems only yesterday we were preparing for our lodge annual, now our grand jurisdiction is preparing for its annual. Soon it will be the end of the line for our brother and Most Worshipful Grand Master Rick Baccus, who has enjoyed a fantastic year. At our April stated communication, the Grand Master made a Special Visitation to his second lodge by membership in the East Bay. In a little over a week, he will be making his last visitation to his mother lodge, which is Washington lodge, (for those who are unaware) on May 12 th. I sincerely hope every member of our lodge will make the trip to Warren for this occasion.

Our stated communication for May is fast approaching, on May 13 th. This will be the first lodge night of 2026, with a regular agenda. Dinner is at 6 pm by reservation, the lodge opens promptly at 7 pm, and after the usual business, we will be receiving WB Joshua Manfredo, from St Paul’s Lodge No. 14 in Middletown, who will be giving our program for the evening, titled: Words Matter and how it affects us as Masons.

Greetings, St. Alban’s Brothers,

If everyone doesn’t already know, in a little over a week, on April 8 th, the date of our next stated communication, our Most Worshipful Grand Master, Rick Baccus, is making a special visitation to our lodge. What a great honor it is to welcome him and all the Grand Lodge officers who travel with his suite. I can properly say with pride that I should know what it’s like to travel with the Grand Master, because I am an honored floor officer, having said yes to his call a little over a year ago. I’m not sure if everyone feels the same as I do, but it’s an incredible feeling to hear your name called as part of his line. My official title is Worshipful, Grand Pursuivant. What is a Pursuivant? Technically speaking , according to those in the know, the definition states: A specialized officer within a The Masonic Grand lodge responsible for guarding the inner door, announcing visitors, is the regalia custodian, provides escort duty and attends Grand Lodge meetings, often acting in processions representing the authority of the Grand Master. In our grand jurisdiction, the Grand Pursuivant is purely ceremonial, but is ready to assist the junior deacon in guarding the west. In any capacity, it has been my honor to represent the position with honor and dignity.

Greetings, St. Alban’s Brothers,

Our opportunity to officially welcome our District Deputy Grand Master, Michael Cunningham to the lodge is upon us. I hope to see all of you there and share this visitation with our brothers from the other East Bay lodges. The program for the evening is the officers' forum. Moving forward, now that we are all back in state, I’ll be putting together a more thorough practice schedule for the degrees once I have good input from the line officers and past masters on the best dates and times for practice. We will be concentrating on the Entered Apprentice degree for now.

Worshipful Dave Lavery of St. John's Lodge No. 1 reached out to me recently to request another joint communication and asked if I would be in favor. I am thrilled to share my visitation with the brothers of St. John's Lodge No. 1 as we move forward to consolidation. Speaking of lodge consolidation, be on the lookout for a special communication to discuss and potentially vote on the whole host of items that the joint special committee has been working on. Time will be of the essence on this special communication, and I’ll be requesting all brothers to attend for the good of the craft.

Greetings, St. Alban’s Brothers,

Writing my first Master’s message in five years, I have plenty of thoughts racing through my mind. Just recently, I was in the west, gazing across the lodge room at the Master. He had an extremely busy year, and with it, the support of the lodge. So much so that he rallied the faithful for a run at the Grand Masters award. EUREKA!

Now I look back on my year, what I want to accomplish, where I want to be in a year, and how many masons will be raised. For many months, I had it all worked out in my head, who, what, why, and how many, all in vivid color; my dreams, hopes, and aspirations were ready to advance. Then came the low rumble, gaining strength of potential lodge consolidation? What is it, how will it happen, with whom, with what, why, and how many.

Greetings, St. Alban’s Brothers,

What a fantastic December, brothers! It started with our annual Holiday Party with the Ladies, Families, and Widows on 12/6/25, and followed with Bristol’s Grand Illumination. All had a great time. “What are ya gonna steal?!” Thank you to everyone who helped plan, coordinate, and decorate!

Next, on 12/10/25, we put on a fantastic Master Mason degree and raised our new brother, Kevin Manual. Again, kudos for coming together and putting on such a great degree for our candidate.

Finally, on 12/20/25, we presented our Adopted Christmas Family with their gifts with Jen Mancieri of the BFD Ladies Auxiliary. We brought tears to Michelle’s (mom) eyes with our generosity. Great job, brothers, we dug deep as a group again and made this family’s Christmas special. And we have even more to come!

January promises to be a very busy month as we head into the New Year. Our January 14th program will have three things: MM Candidate Proficiency, Bylaws Discussion/Approval, and Merger/Name Discussion.

For our January program, please give consideration to what you believe is most important: