Chapter/Council School: Texas #362/#321 & Ft. Worth #148/52 will host a School of Instruction on August 14 at the Ft Worth Masonic Center, 1100 Henderson St., led by Companion Eldon Brooks; breakfast at 7:00 am, School at 8:00 am. Contact Jim Fester (817) 246-1962. All Companions invited to attend and learn.

York Rite Festival: San Antonio Chapter/Council Degrees on Wednesdays 1 & 8 (7 pm) and Commandery Orders on Saturday the 11th (9 am) at San Antonio Scottish Rite Cathedral, Ave E & 4th St. Contact SK Gerald F. Nowotny ((210) 573-3829) for details. Courtesy candidates welcome.

Temple Commandery #41 will celebrate its 100th Anniversary on August 17, 2004 (Tuesday) at the Masonic Center of Temple, 16 E. Central Ave. Doors open at 6:00 PM, dinner at 7:30; $15.00 per plate. Please RSVP if attending NLT July 31: mail: P.O. Box 1387 Temple 7659-1387; phone: (254) 773-2348; or e-mail: Yorkrite@vvm.com. Dress: SKs: Uniform with Sword and Chapeaux; Ladies and guests: Sunday attire/coat & tie. Y’all come!

Sesquicentennial Celebration: Our Sesquicentennial will be celebrated in San Antonio on March 5, 2005. Put this date on your calendar now. More information about this significant Grand Commandery event will be forthcoming.

To the Sir Knights of Texas:

Our State Membership Chair, Louis E. Hopkins, has reported GOOD NEWS FROM THE QUARRIES! We have, for the first month in a long time, if not years, actually seen an overall membership increase statewide. I want to thank the members of the Membership Committee, official and unofficial, who have already been working very hard to achieve our goal of 750 new Sir Knights by the end of this calendar year. I am very encouraged by the wonderful response that I have heard and seen from so many of you Sir Knights in moving forward on the membership attainment as well as retention fronts. It will take all of us working and pulling together as a cohesive team to have a successful final result at the end of the “accounting period.”

On another matter, I want to encourage each Commandery to plan to have a member in attendance at the Sesquicentennial Grand Conclave. I would like to see every one of our constituent Commanderies have a member present to answer the roll call. I would venture to say that if we can accomplish this feat, it will be one that has not occurred in fifty years, if not a hundred. I, for one, think that each of our Commanderies owes it to themselves, as well as Grand Commandery, to be present on this very historic occasion to “show their Beauceant” at the call of the roll. In fact, having said that, I will request that each Commandery’s representative be present to parade their Beauceant on that occasion, as well as at the Saturday Night Awards’ Banquet as well. It was a very stirring site to see each Grand Commandery parade their State Colors at Grand Encampment. I see no reason why we cannot, at least on this one unique occasion in our history, each parade our respective Beauceants to honor ourselves as well as to also honor and show our pride in also having our own Past Grand Commander and M:E: Grand Master Fischer present as the official representative of the Grand Encampment Knights Templar of the U.S.A.

My theme for this year is “Our Utmost for His Highest.” I have borrowed it from a popular devotional guide by Oswald Chambers called My Utmost for His Highest. I think that it is a very appropriate theme and goal for us as Christian Masons and Soldiers of the Cross to each individually, but more especially collectively, have and I think it coalesces well with Grand Master Fischer’s theme for this Triennium: “Every Christian Mason Must Be A Knight Templar.” If we each individually and collectively give My/Our Utmost for His Highest, we will accomplish not only our Commandery and Grand Commandery goals in fellowship and service, but, in doing so, will accomplish our Grand Master’s goal to have “Every Christian Mason be a Knight Templar” thereby accomplishing and far exceeding our membership goal as well. What a laudable goal, indeed!

I am excited about this sesquicentennial year and hope I am conveying to you my enthusiasm for the admittedly rough and rugged road we have to journey, but looking expectantly ahead to the Crown we each hope to receive as our reward at the end of the well-run race. It is my hope that your Grand Commandery Officers can lead each of you by our example and thereby energize each of you whom we serve for the work we each have ahead of us.

Please contact me this year at on of the following: 10122 N. Manton Lane, San Antonio, Texas 78213-1948; O: (210) 349-9933; H: (210) 344-4309; F: (210) 349-9988; Email: jnh.kt@hhzlaw.com. Check out our website at www.texasyorkrite.org/grcommandery. We have been and continue to update it regularly with pertinent information. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments on how we can better serve you in general as well as with/through this internet tool.