152nd Installation of Officers

Gardner Lodge held their 152nd Annual Installation of Officers Ceremony yesterday evening to great success. As is tradition the evening was started off with a festive board that doubled as a recognition of the upcoming St Johns Day that is traditionally Masonicly celebrated with a feast.

Brother Al Van Tries took the spotlight prior to the installation to receive his 50-year pin. Worshipful Brother Kurt Neis had the privilege and honor to do this as his last official act as Master of the lodge. A rather cool coincidence, Worshipful Brother Kurt ended his year in the East in the same manner as the made his way into the East, with his first act being the presentation of a pin to Brother Vernon Knabe.

To at a bit of personality to the ceremony the incoming Master, Worshipful Brother Derrek Hittle, chose to bring the old Palestine Lodge (Edgerton, KS) Bible out of the archives and use it for the ceremony. As you can appreciate in the pictures, this 1800s Bible is not of a style you often see still around these days. The Bible was presented into the lodge by the Masters Lady, Amy Hittle who was accompanied by their daughter, Kimber presenting the Square and Compasses.

The lodge enjoyed the company of a blended crowd of Brethren, our Ladies, Family, and Friends,  filling the lodge hall for this annual occasion. We would like to express sincere congratulations and appreciation to the newly installed officer line for taking on their roles of leadership to further the efforts of Gardner Lodge for the 2020 year. I would also bein fault for if I did not also mention for appreciation, the efforts of all involved for the planning, setup, and cleanup of the event including miss Savannah Powers who has volunteered her time and services for several years not as our official event photographer. We thank you all!

2020 Officer Line
Worshipful Master – Derrel Hittle
Senior Warden – Gerald Sloan
Junior Warden – Trever Leikam
Treasurer – Ralph Jensen
Secretary – Dave Hayden
Senior Deacon – Alex G. Powers
Junior Deacon – Dustin Spillman
Senior Steward – Steve Neis
Junior Steward – Roger Stiles
Chaplain – Ron Elrod
Tyler – Kurt Neis