August 2025 Trestleboard

The Trestleboard is an official publication of Twin Peaks Lodge No. 32, which is a legally constituted Masonic Lodge operating under charter granted by the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of Utah. The Trestleboard is published for the sole and exclusive use of the members of Twin Peaks Lodge No. 32, and any other use is expressly forbidden.  The editor of The Trestleboard is Glen Van Steeter.  Submissions of educational articles or other announcements may be sent to the editor at [email protected], and if selected for publication, will be given full attribution. All submissions are subject to the approval of the Worshipful Master of Twin Peaks Lodge No. 32 and the editor of the Trestleboard.

The Lodge Secretary tries to keep our roster as current as possible. If you are moving, changing your mailing address, phone number or email address, please update your information in Grandview or notify the Secretary so that we can keep your information current.

Our Calendar on the Calendar page is kept up-to-date and ccurrent, but we are adding information here for your benefit. Keep in mind that during July and August, there are NO stated meetings on the first Monday of the month. However, we are usually at either the South Valley Masonic Center (7390 Creek Road, Sandy, Utah) holding practices, or we are at the downtown Salt Lake Masonic Temple at 650 E South Temple performing a degree.

August

• 18th at 7 pm at the Salt Lake Masonic Temple located at 650 E. South Temple Street, Salt Lake City, in the Egyptian Room: Fellow Craft Degree for Brother Coleby O’Brien. Officers are asked to wear tuxedos or dark suits. Sideliners are asked to wear business attire. Degree / Lecture assignments have been sent out. If you cannot perform your assigned degree part, you are asked to contact the Worshipful Master as soon as possible so that a replacement will be found. If you are an officer or degree team member, please plan to arrive at least one-half hour early in order to help with Lodge setup. All others should plan on arriving fifteen minutes prior to the meeting.
• 21st at 7 pm. (Virtual Meeting). W:.B:. Bob Hartman will be presenting an educational on the “Saints John”, who, as all have been informed, are two very important patrons of Freemasonry. Be looking for an email from the assistant secretary with connection information.
• 25th at 7 pm at Chubby’s Cafe, Riverton located at 1276 W 12600 S., Riverton, Utah. Make sure you let the wait staff know that you are with “Twin Peaks Lodge”. Attire is VERY casual.

September

• 1st: LABOR DAY. There is no Twin Peaks activity scheduled for this day. Enjoy the day with your family and friends! Don’t forget to remember the hard-working Americans and their fight for representation and fair wages on this day.
• 8th at 7:30 pm at the South Valley Masonic Center (7390 Creek Road, Sandy, Utah, Suite 203). Stated Business Meeting. Welcome back to work, our Brethren! We will be discussing what happened over the summer as well as to plan out what looks to be an exciting 4th quarter to our Masonic Year. Mentors need to report on the progress of their candidates. Committee Chairmen should be preparing reports to the Lodge. Attire: Business. Remember that we open the doors at 6:30 pm for dinner and refreshments!
• 15th at 7:00 pm at the South Valley Masonic Center. Degree Practice. We will be practicing the 1st or 3rd Degree. Members who are interested in taking new parts should contact either W:.B:. Bob Hartman or W:.B:. Van Steeter. We are looking for members to learn the Apron Lecture, Senior Steward’s Lecture, and any of the “big 3” (EA, FC or MM Degree lectures).
• 22nd at 7:00 pm. Chubby’s Cafe, Riverton located at 1276 W 12600 S., Riverton, Utah. Make sure you let the wait staff know that you are with “Twin Peaks Lodge”. Attire is VERY casual.
• 27th at 8 am. Utah Food Bank Service project. We need 15 volunteers! Please contact either W:.B:. Hartman or W:.B:.Van Steeter via email to volunteer.
• 29th at 7 pm. Esoteric Education night via virtual meeting at the South Valley Masonic Center. The presentation details will be emailed in September.

UPCOMING EVENT DETAILS

Fellow Craft Degree – August 18th at 7 pm at the Salt Lake Masonic Temple

Esoteric Education Night (Virtual) – August 21st at 7 pm

Worshipful Brother Bob Hartman has a presentation exploring the importance of Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist, who are said to be “two great patrons of Masonry.” This will be a virtual event on Zoom and hosted by WB Glen Van Steeter. An email will be sent out shortly with connection information to all members of Twin Peaks, including our Entered Apprentices and Fellow Crafts.

Chubby’s Cafe Meetup – August 25th at 7 pm

Date: August 25th at Chubby’s Cafe, Riverton located at 1276 W 12600 S., Riverton, Utah.
Time: 7 pm

Come on out and enjoy some good diner-style food with good company. Members, family and friends are welcome and those interested in learning about our Fraternity are always welcome!

DATE: September 27th at 8 am at the South Salt Lake Warehoure at 3150 S 900 West, South Salt Lake, Utah address. SAVE THIS DATE! We need 15 volunteers. Contact either W:.B:. Hartman or W:.B:. Van Steeter via email to volunteer. Make sure you put “Utah Food Bank” in the subject line so we don’t miss it! Friends and family are always welcome! This is our primary philanthropic effort, so we really need your help to support it. Dress for light to moderate warehouse work. No open-toed shoes. It’s fun and it really helps our community. The Utah Food Bank distributed 54.6 million meals in 2024, and are able to make $1 stretch to over $7 in real delivered value through 182,549 volunteer hours, or the equivalent of 88 full time employees. Please plan on arriving fifteen minutes early in order to register and sign the waivers.

PAST EVENTS

Brother Phillip receives the 2nd Degree in Masonry

On August 4th, 2025 at 7 pm, Twin Peaks Lodge No. 32 assembled in the Egyptian Room of the Salt Lake Masonic Temple and passed Brother Phillip L. to the Degree of Fellow Craft. The Degree was performed well by the members and officers present and Brother Phillip was very expressive of his appreciation for all the work was done to make it an impressive Degree.

Twin Peaks Masons at Work at the Utah Food Bank

On July 12th at 10 am, the Brethren of Twin Peaks, family members and our friends of the Insanos Motor Cycle Club assembled to help sort food for at the Utah Food Bank in South Salt Lake. This was good old fashioned muscle work, as we emptied pallet “bins” (which are at least 4 1/2 feet tall) of miscellaneous foods and sort them into eight categories such as dry foods, canned meats, canned vegetables, glass packaged goods, etc. We managed to stack twelve pallets of sorted food items, which will then be distributed to over 200 food pantries across northern Utah. Thanks to all the members of both Twin Peaks and the Insanos Motor Cycle Club for their hard work and willingness to volunteer for an excellent cause.

Master Mason Anniversaries

The brethren below were raised to the Degree of Master Mason in August and September.

• Brother Lawrence D. McGill  who was raised on August, 10, 1965 and has 60 years of service.
• Most Worshipful Brother George Keith Odendahl  who was raised on September, 09, 1975 and has 50 years of service.
• Brother Daniel M. Overman  who was raised on September, 28, 1998 and has 27 years of service.
• Worshipful Brother Kevin Alger Tucker  who was raised on September, 30, 2005 and has 20 years of service.
• Brother David Nicholas Burleigh  who was raised on September, 23, 2013 and has 12 years of service.
• Brother Jaysen Zachary Roundy  who was raised on September, 27, 2013 and has 12 years of service.
• Brother Kaleb Patrick Valdez  who was raised on September, 16, 2014 and has 11 years of service.
• Brother Spencer Lee Forman  who was raised on September, 30, 2019 and has 6 years of service.
• Brother Austin Jeremiah Stoker  who was raised on September, 11, 2023 and has 2 years of service.
• Brother Christopher Glen Van Steeter  who was raised on August, 19, 2024 and has 1 years of service.

Reach of the Cable Tow

I have been part of some recent discussions regarding the Cable Tow, and it’s usefulness (or
non-usefulness) as a symbol in Masonry, particularly regarding W;.B:. Albert Pike’s
discussions on the same. Recently, I came upon an article that I am sharing with you now,
simply as one more point of view regarding one of our many symbols.

“. . . Freemasonry teaches us that we are bound by the limits of our cable tow. Each of
us has limits that we cannot exceed. We must know what those limits are, and even while
working to improve ourselves and build our skills, we must know what we can and cannot do
at any given time and stay within those due bounds.

We are only responsible to perform the tasks that are within the reach of our cable
tow, tasks that we are capable of doing well. We must not yield to the temptation of pride and
claim that we can do everything alone without help. No man can do everything and there is
no shame in asking for, and accepting, help when it is needed.

Also, just as we are limited, we must recognize that every other person in our life has
his or her limit as well. We must not ask others to do more than they can do. And, if another
person needs our help because he cannot do something that we can, then we are happy to
offer our aid as long as it is within the reach of our cable tow.”
(Making Good Men Better, Carl W. Davis, p104. Retrieved Aug 12, 2025)

All Masons are taught the use of the cable tow during the first degree lecture, about which no
more need be said. In that regard, I personally had a hard time defining a positive view of this
Masonic symbol. Bro. Davis’ article provides another, certainly more admirable use of the
cable tow as a Masonic symbol.

Again, we are reminded that no one point of view is absolutely correct regarding the meaning
of our symbols!

Respectfully Submitted by Bob Hartman, PM – Twin Peaks Lodge No. 32

History of the Twin Peaks No. 32 Building Fund … and a Plea

Over 50 years ago, Brother Samuel Gust Morris, who was an active member of Twin Peaks Lodge #32 until his death at age 91, made the first donation to the Twin Peaks Lodge Building Fund-a donation of $1000.00. A copy of his check is in the Lodge archives. Brother Morris was one of the original members of this lodge, and he was gifted a life membership in our Lodge on April 21, 1973. He was called to the Grand Lodge on High on April 9, 1986.

His $1000.00 donation then would be the equivalent of $5975.19 today! It was his desire, and that of many members of our Lodge, from its original foundation, that Twin Peaks Lodge #32 should have its own building in the southern part of the Salt Lake Valley.

Times have changed, and the current economic situation doesn’t allow most of us to make a $1000.00 donation to this worthy cause today. However. . .

Under Worshipful Master Lyle Miller’s direction, Twin Peaks Lodge established at “365 Building Fund” to continue the process Bro. Morris started over half a century ago. Twin Peaks Lodge has a portal on the Lodge website where you can easily make contributions to the 365 Building Fund via PayPal or Venmo. Here’s the link: Twin Peaks Lodge 365 Building Fund.

Think about it: $1.00 per day is less than coffee at Starbucks (or even McDonalds), less than a fountain drink at Maverik or Holiday, less than a pink sugar cookie from Crumbl. When your donations total $365.00, your name will be engraved on a plaque of honor displayed at all tiled meetings of the Lodge. Some members of our Lodge have started monthly donations and thank you for that; six have already donated $365.00 or more to the Fund, and a big THANKS to those members.

And now, my Brother, what about you? Are you willing to donate $1.00 per day to help Twin Peaks Lodge #32-YOUR Lodge-achieve this dream? I believe Bro. Samuel Gust Morris would appreciate your donation; I know Twin Peaks Lodge #32 would!

Bob Hartman

Bob Hartman, PM, Chairman 365 Building Fund

Rusty Trowels or “Man, I haven’t been to Lodge in a long time!”

Brethren all, I came upon this “poem” on The Masonic Trowel website some time ago it’s a much more poetic way of describing what happens to the working tools of the Craft if we do not actively make use of them. I include this for your consideration. It’s a long read, but it’s worth the time and affords substantive thoughts for the serious, thinking Mason. — Glen Van Steeter, PM

THE RUSTY MASON

The Masonic Review – 1862

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Once on a time I sought to know
The mysteries of Masonry, and seeking
Knocked, and found the door wide open for me.
And when I looked within
I saw a band of men all clothed in white
Around an altar; and on the altar
Lay the word of God with square and compasses.
Of that band of men,
I saw one more kingly than the rest,
For on a throne he sat, and gave to each
And all, lessons of wisdom.
He came and gave to me
A lamb-skin, pare and white, and
Told its meaning.
He told me, too, that good great men
Long had worn it, and how free it was
From stain, or spat, or blemish.
He gave me tools to work with,
A guage, a gavel, level, plumb and square,
And last of all, a trowel that had no spot
Of rust upon it, for earth’s noblest sons
Had used it ages long upon the Mystic Temple.
He told me, too, I stood an upright Mason
He spoke to me of Temperance, Fortitude,
Of Prudence; and of Justice.
I listened still with wondering ears
To learn a Mason’s tenets;
And when they song of Faith, of Hope,
And Charity, the true steps that lead
From the level of time to the Grand Lodge on high,
I pledged myself then, that the tools to me given,
Should never find rest till the cap-stone was laid !
And my lamb-skin, if spotted, should know but the stain
Of Masonic cement, while on life’s rugged road.
This pledge was freely given,
For I meant to act as Masons act;
And if my memory serves me right,
I started for the work, but found the world
All cold and selfish, and then I feared
To make the effort.
I never used my tools one hour,
And all are lost, save this – this rusty trowel.
It seemed to me it might have kept its brightness
If never used, but as I laid it by
The rust began to gather, and now
It has no affinity far any, save
Untempered mortar.
I hope some Craftsman true has found
My guage, my gavel, level, plumb and square,
And laid them by for better workmen.
Inactive as I was,
My lamb-skin gathered dust,
And with the gathering dust,
It lost its whiteness; and now that, too, is gone.
If I remember rightly, they taught me
How to know my brethren.
Though they were truly given,
They were not safely lodged.
And now, to tell the summing
Of this matter, this much I know –
I once was made a Mason!