Time Capsule

As part of the year-long Bicentennial celebration of East Aurora, New York, on March 1, 2019, a time capsule was assembled and sealed to be opened March 1, 2069 – 50 years from now. The Brothers of Blazing Star Lodge included the following letter and some other specifics for our Brothers 50 years from now. This year is our Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary of our current charter) and we are planning for a celebration on June 15 which is open to the public (Details are coming soon). When the time capsule is opened our Lodge will be celebrating 200 years of Freemasonry.

---

Brothers of Blazing Star Lodge #694 Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York.

Good afternoon Brothers,

Today is March 1, 2019, this year is the 200^th anniversary of East Aurora, New York and this year also marks the 150^th (sesquicentennial) Anniversary of Blazing Star Lodge #694.  We are busy planning our 150^th celebration scheduled for June 15, 2019.  Bro. Wochensky already taking an active role by being the chairman of that committee.  You should be planning your 200^th by now too.  My name is Todd M. Paterek I am 46 years old and if all goes well I am reading this to you in Lodge at 96 years old.  I am currently filling some very big shoes as Chaplin as Bro. Janeczko recovers from some health issues.  If I am not here, I already put down my heavy earthly working tools and joined our Brethren in that Celestial Lodge above.  Hopefully one of my sons is reading this to you in my stead.  Our Worshipful Master is Bro. Capron.  W:. Capron is very passionate about Masonry and is working hard for our Lodge.  He truly is an exceptional Mason and should be remembered.  Bro. Rhodes is our Senior Warden, a man who has devoted his life to the betterment of everyone else’s life.  Sitting in the Junior Warden chair this year (again) is W:. Andruczyk, a man who is helping the community, The Craft and this Lodge each day.  Senior Deacon is Bro. Ginter.  He is way too busy for his own good but continues to play an active role.  Junior Deacon is Bro. Layman.  He is a fine and honorable man who is growing in the Craft.  Our Secretary is W:. Breth.  He never stops and is probably still the Secretary or is the Secretary of the Celestial Lodge above.  Our Treasurer is Bro. Thomason.  He is our Knight Templar and wears the armor well.  W:. Barber is currently the Marshal.  He knows every line and every movement to every position and ritual, for everything there is in Freemasonry.  We have Bro. Egressy sitting in the Senior Master of Ceremonies chair.  He started Brothers of the Bread to help supply food pantries in the area.  So far it has spread from just him to several Lodges helping from Niagara Falls to Syracuse and soon to be Statewide.  W:. Markuse, DSA is a Trustee and heads up our Fellowcraft club.  He is always organizing a delicious fundraising dinner.  Bro. Evans, DSA is truly dedicated to this Lodge personally paying for and attending to many of the repairs in the Lodge.  W:. Mann has finally taken a roll on the sidelines after MANY years of dedicated service. Bro. Snyder recently affiliated with Blazing Star and is a welcome addition especially with his ritual expertise.  When W:. Breth was Master he started a quick history of the world for each year from our Chartered year of 1869.  I will take the honor of doing the same for 2018-2019:  Dues are $150 per year.  The average cost of a home in NY is $382,000.  The average cost of a new car is $34,000.  The average cost for a dozen eggs is $2.96 and milk is ~$2.00 a gallon while gas is $2.48.  The average salary is $44,564 and a haircut will cost $20.  Donald Trump is the President of the US.  I am using a Dell 5530 Precision Laptop with an i9 processor, 32GB or Ram, 2GB nVidia graphics card, and a 1TB solid state hard drive.  This is the BEST laptop I could purchase at this time.  You can get other desktops that have more graphical processing power but the i9 CPU is the best out right now.  The iPhone XS and Samsung Galaxy S10 are the best mobile phones available.  Currently, there are estimated to be about 1,035,000 Mason in the United States we hope that number grows and are working to attract new, worthy, and deserving men to join our Lodge.  We currently have about 100 members with about 10-15 active members.  This year we Raised two new Brothers (Bro. Wochensky and Bro. Neff) to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason and just this past Tuesday, Initiated Brother Cius in his Entered Apprentice Degree.  We also have about eight men expressing some interest.  I included a copy of our 2018-2019 Roster and By-laws, a letter from W:. Capron at the beginning of the 2018-2019 Masonic year.  I also included a dues summons because I had it laying around, and a petition.  We wish you well Brothers.  It is our sincerest wish that the building is in good repair, updated a bit but still holding and practicing the time-honored traditions of Freemasonry.  Always remember that you are Sublime – Of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe.  Go inspire Brothers!