March's Stated meeting has come and gone.....
A good time was enjoyed by all. Once again we were graced with the attendance of our fellow brethren from Table Mountain and once again they were happy to partake of our potluck and leaving, in exchange for this delicious meal, one large and over-sized gavel. I guess you could say they were short one brother as there were three of them "visiting". Four is necessary to leave the gavel. Our WM Dan Norton was able to fill that need of Brother #4 which enabled our visitor's to leave this gavel as a token of their fondness and appreciation for their Brothers at Forbestown. WM Dan is also a member of Table Mountain.
Our Forbestown brethren were more than happy to share the gavel with Oroville #103. The opportunity arose to gift them with the gavel on Oroville's stated meeting night. We were treated with DeMolay's presentation of their Light Ceremony. As the young men of DeMolay filed into lodge, soft laughter was heard as Jacob proudly carried the gavel and laid it at the base of the podium in the East. As of Friday morning, Oroville still retained possession of the gavel.
Those of you who were unable to attend the presentations missed out, The Light Ceremony done by DeMolay and Jobs Daughter's Robe presentation were great. It was a wonderful evening and a large gathering! Lots of visiting going on! |
March Birthdays
Frank Stowell Jr
Scott McArthur. Larry Thompson Harold Pye Randy Kelley William Standlee Jesse Davis Harry McIntosh Harland Roy April Birthdays
Graves, Ronald L. Jr. Kelley, Robert L. Andrews, Raymond L. |
March Anniversary's
Richard Gilbert
Don Gillett William Standlee Richard Sutherland Donald Toney Scott Watson April Anniversary's
Daniel Battershell
Kenneth Holley James Mitts |
The young ladies are holding this event on the same weekend as the Old Time Fiddlers event in Oroville. If you plan on attending the Old Time Event, take some time to enjoy dinner and help the girls out! Or just come down for dinner! The girls would love to see you! WM Jim Gill of North Butte has already purchased his tickets for the event! I will have to find out the time for this as I've heard it was 5-7 but am not sure...
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March 17th - FIZZ BREAKFAST!!!
North Butte Lodge in Gridley is holding their famous FIZZ Breakfast! Do I have a time? No, but many of us arrive between 8 and 9 a.m. Good food! Good people! Good Cause! Good FIZZ!
Note on our calendar says $10 per person.... hope that is correct....
History Corner
Part 2 of 2 B.W. Barnes of Jefferson Lodge
The final chapter of B.W. Barnes life actually took place after his death. While researching some history of our old lodges I found the following account in the book "Roar of the Monitors - Quest for Gold in Northern Sierra" By Jann E. Garvis. I was shocked when I read the passage and sad too... (This is a fantastic and interesting book! If you get the opportunity to read it, take that opportunity!)
1902
Exhuming the body of Benjamin W. Barnes In October, Cleveland O'Rourke and Al Primeau had the sad task of exhuming their old friend and brother in the lodges. The body of B.W. Barnes was to be exhumed and re-interred in San Francisco. The casket was raised above ground by 3:00 p.m. and seemed very heavy O'Rourke and Primeau decided to open the casket and the body was in fine condition. They went into the School House (located above the cemetery) to ask if anyone would like to see how Mr. Barnes looked. Elizabeth Robinson (10 years of age) and others went along to look. Here they saw a perfect face (rather bronze in color) with mustache and eyebrows a bit untidy. Mr Barnes had turned to stone! All night the casket was left in the cemetery. The next morning it was put on Mr. Berdelle's peddling wagon to start the trip to San Francisco, About 35 miles down the rough mountain road, the heavy casket seemed to be breaking through the wagon bed, so the driver put extra boards underneath. On arrival at Marysville, the casket was put into a metal box and shipped on to San Francisco via Southern Pacific railroad. On arrival at San Francisco, Mr. Barnes' widow was presented with a freight bill for 700 pounds. This she angrily refused saying it was too much as Mr. Barnes weighed less than 200 pounds when he passed away in 1897. B.W. Barnes' remains were then sent away for research. Seems that a large amount of uranium in the earth had cause his remains to petrify .....
As to where Mr. Barnes' remains are now.... ?
The final chapter of B.W. Barnes life actually took place after his death. While researching some history of our old lodges I found the following account in the book "Roar of the Monitors - Quest for Gold in Northern Sierra" By Jann E. Garvis. I was shocked when I read the passage and sad too... (This is a fantastic and interesting book! If you get the opportunity to read it, take that opportunity!)
1902
Exhuming the body of Benjamin W. Barnes In October, Cleveland O'Rourke and Al Primeau had the sad task of exhuming their old friend and brother in the lodges. The body of B.W. Barnes was to be exhumed and re-interred in San Francisco. The casket was raised above ground by 3:00 p.m. and seemed very heavy O'Rourke and Primeau decided to open the casket and the body was in fine condition. They went into the School House (located above the cemetery) to ask if anyone would like to see how Mr. Barnes looked. Elizabeth Robinson (10 years of age) and others went along to look. Here they saw a perfect face (rather bronze in color) with mustache and eyebrows a bit untidy. Mr Barnes had turned to stone! All night the casket was left in the cemetery. The next morning it was put on Mr. Berdelle's peddling wagon to start the trip to San Francisco, About 35 miles down the rough mountain road, the heavy casket seemed to be breaking through the wagon bed, so the driver put extra boards underneath. On arrival at Marysville, the casket was put into a metal box and shipped on to San Francisco via Southern Pacific railroad. On arrival at San Francisco, Mr. Barnes' widow was presented with a freight bill for 700 pounds. This she angrily refused saying it was too much as Mr. Barnes weighed less than 200 pounds when he passed away in 1897. B.W. Barnes' remains were then sent away for research. Seems that a large amount of uranium in the earth had cause his remains to petrify .....
As to where Mr. Barnes' remains are now.... ?