Harvest Dinner

Last night we went to a wonderful dinner at the Minneapolis Valley Country Club. It was a pity that it was dark when we arrived, as the setting looked beautiful, with the country club overlooking the bluffs by the Minnesota River.

The dinner was celebrating the 40, 50, and 60th anniversaries of Mason members of the lodges, Century #338, Cataract #2 and Richfield #334. Sadly, Cataract #2 is the one lodge of the the three that still exists. Richfield and Century Lodges merged into Cataract about 5 years ago (something to do with the building of the Best Buy corporate center).

We sat with some delightful people, including Randy & Bev who were celebrating the 50th reunion of his becoming a Mason.

I was moved by the impromptu thank-you speeches that each recipient gave. How gracious they were. Most were inspired to become Masons by a close family member, like a father-in-law, or wife. Randy talked about how he would go to his brother's in Chicago, and he would go and take him over to the Children's Hospital there -- and Randy was always eager to see the good work that was done. One man said he hadn't much time unfortunately in recent years to be involved in his lodge, since he worked 6-7 days a week and retired at 80. His wife was just standing there beaming at him - I wonder what his profession was, that he was so dedicated to.

Nice evening!