From the East – June 2020 – Portland, Oregon

The most recent Edict of the Grand Master is that Stated Meetings may be held after May 30th. If the County has been approved for Phase 1 meetings of groups up to 25 participants. Multnomah County is currently expected to request approval to move to Phase 1 as of June 12th. If all has gone well from this writing until your reading our Lodge will be called to order at is Stated Hour and place on July 8th.

We now need to prepare ourselves for the emergence from the Covid-19 limitations. This will be a time that requires us to be particularly careful and adaptive to new and passing requirements.

The cautions of the Grand Master’s Edict of May 21, 2020 include the following:

Lodges shall meet according to their By-Laws, limited to no more than 25 people at a single gathering.
All members shall wear a mask at all times while in Lodge, including when entering or departing a Lodge building.
Social distancing will be observed before, during and after Lodge meetings. Additionally, while it is to be avoided during these times, should personal contact be necessary, the use of hand sanitizer will be required before and after contact.
It is recommended that members also wear gloves (vinyl or latex); in absences of gloves, and in general, hand sanitizer shall be used regularly to prevent the spread of any disease.
If you are over 60 years old and decide to attend a Lodge, you must wear a mask. Gloves and practice social distancing.
Members are encouraged to follow proper sanitization measures to avoid spreading or coming into contact with active viruses.
Members who have COVID-19 symptoms themselves or in their household, or who are running a fever, are advised to stay at home and not attend any lodge meetings or Masonic events.

Washington Members should receive by US Mail a written agenda and summary of necessary repairs to the building which are currently in the process of being started.

There will be an interactive internet meeting limited to active members of Washington Lodge No. 46 held on June 17th to discuss the building and the plans to complete those repairs before the Fall of 2020. The flat roof which covers the Kitchen, bathrooms, dining room has been problematic with seasonal leaks for many years. After discussions with several roof experts it has been decided that the out of warranty roof should be replaced with a metal roof with a much longer life expectancy and warranty than the current TPO (plastic fabric) roof. Additionally, the metal roof will correct the drainage problems associated with the current design. This roof inspection led to examination of the 5 HVAC units on that roof; 4 of which were found to be not only obsolete, but over 25 years in age. In as much as these units need to be removed from the roof to allow for the new roof to be installed; reinstalling the 4 obsolete HVAC units on the new roof seems to be an unwise decision. This project will begin shortly and is expected to be completed before September. Funding for this will come from existing reserve accounts for major building repairs and will be eligible for partial grants from the Grand Lodge.

Warren Burkholder
Worshipful Master