Congratulations to Bryan Bever, the Worshipful Master for 2018 at Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City! RW Darrell Fremont is seen here fulfilling his duties as Installing Master. WM Bryan is also a member of the Des Moines York Rite and the Des Moines York Rite College.

Operative Lodge #308 new web page

Polk City's Masonic Lodge, Operative Lodge #308, has a new web page thanks to the efforts of brothers Ed Baker and Scott Nemmers. You can find information about the Lodge, Freemasonry in general, Operative's North Polk Schools Scholarship program, and even our pizza sale! Trestle Boards are also available on the site.

Thanks Ed and Scott for your work in updating our presence on the web.

Officer Installation at Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City, Iowa

Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City installed its 2016 officers on Sunday, Jan. 10. Twenty-seven braved the cold weather for the public installation. Outgoing Worshipful Master Scott Nemmers welcomed guests and Masons. 

Installing officers were MW Brother Dean Johnson, PM, PGM, RW Brother Darrell Fremont, PM, DGM, Brother John Whitaker, PM, and Brother Jim Trotter, PM. 

Those installed included Worshipful Master Mike Miller, Senior Warden Keith Gordon, Junior Warden Bryan Bever, Senior Deacon Jason Salts and Tyler Asa Moeckly. 

Pictured at left is the new Worshipful Master Mike Miller (that's me by the way) and outgoing Master Scott Nemmers.

Two Degrees at Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City, Iowa

Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City, Iowa conducted degrees for Varney Sackey and Joseph Mozena on Wednesday, August 26. Varney was a candidate for the Entered Apprentice degree and Joseph was passed to the Fellow Craft degree. 

The night was one I'll always remember. I was in the East for the first time conferring the Second Section of the Fellow Craft degree.

Congratulations to Brothers Varney and Joseph. Welcome to Operative Lodge #308!

Installation at Operative Lodge #308 Polk City, Iowa

The 2015 officers of Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City, Iowa were installed on Saturday, January 3 at 1:30PM. Most Worshipful D. Dean Johnson PGM performed the installation as Installing Master and Right Worshipful Mike Aves PDGW was Installing Marshall. John Whitaker PM and Jim Trotter PM served as Installing Chaplain and Secretary.

Scott Nemmers is the new Worshipful Master at Operative Lodge #308 for 2015. Scott is pictured below speaking to those present at the ceremony and also presenting the 2014 Master Keith Gordon with his Past Master's pin.

Visitors included the Masters from Auburn-Union Park #592 in Des Moines and King David Lodge #407 in Altoona. In addition, Jean Koss, the Worthy Matron of Polk City's Eastern Star Chapter attended and brought greetings to the new officers.

Worshipful Master Keith Gordon, Operative Lodge #308

2014 Operative Lodge #308 Worshipful Master Keith Gordon (in the middle) with installing officers Worshipful Brother Jim Trotter (PM), Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master Mike Aves Sr., Most Worshipful Brother D. Dean Johnson, and Worshipful Brother Lane Shaver (PM).

Delicious Pizza!

The pizza chefs once again turned Polk City’s Operative Lodge #308 into a pizza factory on October 19. Twice a year the members of Operative Lodge make and sell pizzas to benefit charity. This fall Lodge members, and a few wives, turned out in force to create just about the best pizza you’ve ever eaten! Seriously, the pizzas are great and you can pick the toppings. Plus, the money helps support charity.

If you missed out this fall, look for us next Spring!

Operative stone carving at Operative Lodge in Polk City

The Freemasons at Operative Lodge #308 met for their stated meeting Monday evening, March 11, and were treated to an informative presentation by Brother Ben Mayer, a visitor from Acanthus Lodge. Brother Ben is a working stone carver and he brought some of his working tools as well as his work with him. A few pictures are below.

Brother Ben’s talk included explanations of both traditional and modern tools used by masons. The several common gavels and hammers he had are still used today, but the pneumatic chisel, which operates at over 3000 cycles per minute, has replaced much of the manual work. Even a modern pneumatic chisel requires a considerable degree of skill; Brother Ben spoke of how he must both listen to the tone of the sound produced from chiseling as well as be attentive to the feel of the tool as it moves lest the work be ruined.

Thank you Brother Ben Mayer for your interesting and enlightening presentation!

Operative Lodge Christmas Party 2012

Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City, Iowa hosted its annual Christmas Party on Monday, Dec. 10. Worshipful master for the 2012 year Darrell Fremont welcomed over 75 Freemasons and their families to the event. The dinner included turkey, ham, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and much more; the deserts alone required an extra table! Special thanks go to the Eastern Star chapter at Polk City for their beautiful decorations.

Santa and his "elf" also made an appearance, much to the delight of the children, and Masons, in attendance! A few pictures are posted below.

Polk City Square Lighting 2012

The city of Polk City held its annual Square Lighting on Monday, Dec. 3. The town square is decorated with a wide assortment of lights, holiday characters, and decorations and on Dec. 3rd the lights were all turned on.

Operative Lodge #308 in Polk City hosted an open house along with businesses on the square. We served 1 gallon of punch and 3 1/2 hot pots of hot chocolate to about 30 folks who stopped by, including the winner of the 2012 Operative Lodge North Polk High School scholarship. He said school at ISU was going well and he expressed thanks for the scholarship; he has already spent the money on expenses and that it went fast! He is majoring in Ag Business with a minor in law enforcement.


Pasted below are a few pictures of the square lighting from the Des Moines Register.

Elections!

November is election time for more than just political offices such as the president and congress; Masonic Lodges also elect their officers during this month. Officers in a Masonic Lodge are of two general types: elected and appointed. Elected officers include the Worshipful Master, senior warden, and junior warden (secretary and treasurer are also elected). The Worshipful Master is the leader of the Lodge and he appoints two stewards, junior steward and senior steward, as well as two deacons, junior deacon and senior deacon.  Typically, a Freemason progresses through the “line” of officers starting with junior steward and continuing through the deacon positions then the wardens and ending as the Master of the Lodge; each officer’s term lasts one year. For example, if a man starts as junior steward and is reappointed by succeeding Masters and then elected to the positions of the wardens, he will reach the position of Master of the Lodge in seven years.

Elections in Masonic Lodges are quite different than elections for political office. Carl Claudy writes about this in A Master’s Wages. His writing illustrates one of the biggest differences between elections for political office and our elections: the lack of electioneering. Masonic elections are intentionally structured in such a way that electioneering, politics, and lobbying are not just discouraged but inherently ineffective. Claudy writes: “…many lodges do not hold elections for the lower positions, but leave these to be filled by appointment. If succeeding Masters reappoint those already appointed, when they have faithfully served, they eventually get, in line, to whether they must be elected or dropped. Which depends entirely on the man.” I teach American Government to high school students and I can assure you that American elections are not similarly structured!

Operative Lodge #308 held its elections at the November Stated Meeting this evening and the following officers were elected:

Worshipful Master: John Whitaker

Senior Warden: Keith Gordon

Junior Warden: Scott Nemmers

Secretary: Jim Trotter

Treasurer: Bob Koss

Congratulations to WM John Whitaker, the Wardens, and the Secretary and Treasurer!

Operative Lodge and Star Lodge: common work for an uncommon purpose

Star Lodge #115 in Madrid raised a brother to the sublime degree of a Master Mason yesterday evening. This small town Lodge has been quite active the past several years with new brothers joining and more experienced brothers passing the test for their Masonic Instructor’s Certificate. (Past Master Brian Ahrens is the most recent member of Star Lodge to have received this honor). Last night’s Third Degree was well attended with visitors from five Lodges in attendance including Operative #308 in Polk City and Mt. Olive #79 in Boone. 

Operative Lodge #308 and Star Lodge #115 have an especially close relationship. Operative Lodge was formed by several brothers from Star Lodge #115. In 1857, Star Lodge held its first meeting in what was then known as the town of Swedes Point, now Madrid. In 1871, brothers from Madrid, with the permission and encouragement of Star Lodge, applied to the Grand Lodge of Iowa for a charter to begin a Lodge in Polk City. Today, several brothers of Operative Lodge are also members of Star Lodge, including Operative’s Worshipful Master and Senior Deacon.

Freemasonry is a brotherhood which draws us closer together and builds community. We each experience this in different ways, even when we are engaged in a common goal. The Third Degree is one way to extend the meaning of this brotherhood simply by participating together as a community of men in a common work for an uncommon purpose. Star Lodge and Operative Lodge share these strong bonds of community, work, and purpose and it was an honor to be a part of this 140 year relationship yesterday evening.