Brothers,

A cordial and fraternal invitation is extended to you and your Masonic friends to attend the listed communications of White Plains Lodge No. 473 F. & A.M., for the transaction of such business as may regularly and constitutionally be brought before it.

December 5th 7:00 PM
2077 Stated Communication Re do of Degree of Fellowcraft

December 9th 2:00 PM
WPL Holiday Luncheon
Casaletto Restaurant, Elmsford $65/person

December 15th
Salvation Army Bell Ringing
10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Stop & Shop N. White Plains
Contact R...W...James Holden to volunteer

December 19th 7:00 PM
​Lodge Communication
Lecture by R...W...James Glover

Greetings Brothers all,

On Oct 17th we hosted the District Deputy Grand Master R...W... Michael D Grenadier on his official visit to our lodge. Accompanying the DDGM were the Grand Sword Bearer R...W... William Keindl and the Assistant Grand Lecturer V...W... Raphael Wong.

The visit was well attended and informative. The importance of following and knowing the protocol for our meetings was expounded on and many examples were given with the participation of the brothers
present. We have the Fellow Craft degree scheduled for Nov 7, and preparations and rehearsals are under way. Conductors for the four candidates will be assigned at the night of the degree. Please volunteer. Preparations are also under way for the two Entered Apprentice degrees scheduled for December 5 and 19. Rehearsals will start after the completion of the FC degree in November.

Other events:

The Thanksgiving dinner is scheduled at the lodge for Wednesday Nov 21st Please contact Bro Junior Warden Andrew Lovato.

The Christmas luncheon is scheduled for Sunday Dec 9th 2:00 PM at Casaletto Ristotante Elmsford, N.Y. Family and friends are invited. The cost per person is $ 65.00 which includes hot and cold appetizers, pasts a choice of three entree’s, dessert and coffee, beer and wine. (Cash bar for mixed drinks).

Please send your RSVP check payable to White Plains Lodge and mail to Box 1842 White Plains, NY 10602.

Salvation Army bell ringing scheduled for Saturday Dec 15. Please Contact R...W...Jim Holden to sign up for your preferred hourly time slot.

The ceremony of Apron Presentations to District Officers, when V...W...Raphael Wong will be presented with his Apron as Assistant Grand Lecturer. The event will be held at the Tarrytown Masonic Temple, 54 Main street on Monday November 5. Dinner at 6:30 pm and ceremony at 8 pm.

Please reserve by email to: R...W...Michael Grenadier.

Birthdays of November will be celebrated at the Nov 21st meeting.

Bro. Bruce Bradigan 11/9/1945
Bro. Erik Tiedge 11/29/1990
Bro. Jody Mcaleer 11/9/1977
Bro. Kory Breitel 11/27/1957
Bro. Leslie Horrell 11/8/1956
Bro. Michael Giannasca 11/17/1985
Bro. Peter Genovese 11/17/1985
Bro. Sebastian Martell 11/18/1985

S & F
W...Andy Papademetriou
Master, White Plains Lodge No. 473 F & A M

Brothers all,

Our September 19th Stated Communication Meeting marked the beginning of the new Masonic Year, and I am happy to say that we hit the ground running.

Looking ahead for the next three months, we have a busy schedule, starting with the District Deputy Grand Master’s official visit to our Lodge on October 17. We have a Fellow Craft degree scheduled for Nov 7, followed by two Entered Apprentice degrees Dec 5 and Dec 19. We would like to see every brother participate in these degrees as conductors or delivering some part of the degree. Please contact Senior Warden Peter Genovese for the FC degree and our Junior Warden Andrew Lovato for the EA degree.

The Thanksgiving dinner is scheduled at the lodge for Wednesday Nov 21st and the Christmas dinner is scheduled at a restaurant (to be announced) for Dec 9th. Family and friends are invited. Please contact Junior Warden Andrew Lovato and Bro Secretary Vincent Cunzio respectively.

On Oct 20th, our esteemed R...W... Grand Organist Frank Miller will conduct a recital hosted by our lodge at the White Plains Masonic Temple. The event is open to the public. Plan to attend. Donations are encouraged; proceeds will be allocated for the upkeep of Temple building.

Our Lodge participates in the Salvation Army bell ringing, in the city of White Plains, in support of charity. This year the event will be held on Dec 22 and we would like to encourage our brothers to sign up for hourly time slots with R...W.. James Holden.

Another public event is the Apron Presentation to District 2 Officers, where our own Bro Raphael Wong will be presented with his Apron as Assistant Grand Lecturer. This is a public event with dinner at 6:30 pm and ceremony at 8 pm on Nov 5, at Tarrytown Masonic Temple, 54 Main street. Please Reserve by email to: windygardn@aol.com

Bro Ramon Viruete underwent kidney transplant surgery at Yale University Hospital in New Haven, CT, on Sept 12. He has been released from the hospital and he is recovering at home. Email: ramon.viruete92@gmail.com

Collation dinners will be free this year. This makes your RSVP crucial for our planning. We recognize that the collation dinner is a great way to socialize and be in communion with each other and we encourage all to participate. Brothers who would like to demonstrate their cooking abilities are encouraged to contact Bro Junior Warden Andrew Lovato and sign up for preparing and serving the meal in an upcoming collation. An award and recognition will be given to the chef judged to have prepared the “Best Meal” of the year.

Birthdays will also be celebrated at the meeting of the third Wednesday each month, after lodge closing. Make sure you do not miss your own birthday celebration.

S &F
W...Andy Papademetriou
Master, White Plains Lodge No. 473 F & A M

Brothers all,

I hope everyone enjoyed the summer season! It is now time to resume our Masonic labors, as we have a very busy calendar for the upcoming months.

Our first official communication will take place on September 19th at 7:00 PM. We will be taking a different approach to our collations going forward; there will be no charge! Our officers will be taking turns preparing their own special cuisine.

You absolutely must RSVP to Brother Lovato if you plan to attend the dinners; no RSVP means you may not eat!

Masonic education will be a priority during our upcoming lodge sessions, as there will be a number of informational readings and presentations.

Remember your participation is essential in keeping our lodge strong and viable, so I look forward to seeing you on September 19th Check out our lodge web page at White Plains Lodge for upcoming events!
​
W...Andy Papademetriou
Master, White Plains Lodge No. 473 F & A M

R..·. W.·. District Deputy Grand Master, R.·..W..·.s, V.·.W.·.s, W.’.s, Brethren All,

This is an exiting night for me. I dreamed of arriving at the East and now here I am.

First, I want to thank the installing team for a job well done. Without them the lodge would be without a Master! R.·.W.·. James Holden, W.·. Matt Palazola and V.·.W.·. Raphael Wong. As always, they have done an impeccable job.

Second, I want to thank you all for attending this evening, giving me and the other lodge officers your support with your presence. This is an exciting night for me. My road to the East started in Nov 2005 In Eureka California and took me to Scotland literally, joining the Antient Grand Lodge Scotland at one of its outposts in the Far East for 5 years. In 2011, upon my return to the US, I joined our beloved White Plains Lodge #473, which brings us to tonight, and my arrival to the EAST. Arriving in the East is a momentous occasion. Very soon, as a traveler, I will have to decide if this is a pit stop, or the conclusion of the upward journey.

Third, I want to thank Past Master Raphael Wong for his two years of service to our lodge. V.·.W.·. Raphael has achieved many firsts as the master of the lodge including visits to district sister lodges and has consolidated our officer line-up to mention just a few. V.·.W.·. Raphael has joined the Grand Lodge of New York district lineup starting this year as Assistant Grand Lecturer. Brother Wong, I thank you for your service to our lodge and your personal support and care in preparing me for the coming year. I want us to be the first to honor you with GRAND Honors.

This is a wonderful event full of emotions and reminiscence. Those of you who have been in the East understand the mixture of feelings and emotions present tonight. The rest of you and especially the newly minted brothers, I hope and wish that this evening becomes an inspiration for you for your own road to the East, a fulfillment of your masonic journey, and more importantly as a stepping stone to more grand adventures and roles in our brotherhood.

Tonight, is the last communication of our masonic year. The lodge will go dark for the summer until our next regular communication the third Wednesday of September. The only events scheduled is our Parking lot BBQ for June 6th at 6:30 pm, and our Summer Picnic scheduled for August 19, in one of the Marinas in Stamford CT. Hopefully the picnic will include a boat tour of the Stamford Harbor. Stay tuned as we are working out the details

Our theme for the coming year is to ensure the viability of our lodge. Our mission is to keep the lodge going to eternity and as such our objectives are to keep the lodge financially solvent, endure a healthy level of the membership by bringing in new brothers, and ensure that we have a vibrant community where our members are engaged, participate and contribute to the well-being of our community.

During the summer I will work with the wardens and deacons, the past masters and district representatives to detail out the full calendar for next year as well as detail the various initiatives and support activities for the year. I aspire to have a well thought out calendar and Trestle board ready for publication by our first communication of the year in September.

In the spirit making our meetings interesting and engaging, I would like us to introduce the 10-minute talk at each of our communications. There is a plethora of talks available for us to choose from and I will be asking one of you brothers to deliver it. The talks will have historical, philosophical, ethical and inspirational themes, and will come from many masonic sources.

In closing, I would like to challenge all of you to think of ways to make our communications meetings more interesting and better attended. Bring your ideas and suggestions to me or the wardens for consideration.

My Brothers on behalf of myself and the rest of the lodge officers, thank you for your support. I look forward with confidence and enthusiasm to a bright future for our lodge.

W.·. Andy Papademetriou
Master, White Plains Lodge No. 473 F. & A. M.

Greetings Brethren All,

Our first bit of news right off the bat:  Congratulations to Bro. Brian Latorre and Bro. Ramon Viruete on being raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason!  Please be sure to offer your congratulations when you see them.  These two brothers have demonstrated an enthusiasm for the Craft that has been refreshing and promising for our future as a lodge and I hope you will encourage them in their ongoing journey in Masonry.

Bro. Andy Papademetriou, Bro. Miguel Acuna, and Bro. Jermaine Smith joined me in supporting and welcoming our new Master Masons.  A special shout out to Bro. Jermaine Smith for helping me personally raise our brothers later that evening.

Ideally, I would have like to raise our brothers at White Plains -- the weather threw a wrench into our best laid plains.  It was nevertheless a remarkable evening, being with brothers from four lodges, raising brothers from four lodges:  Huguenot Lodge No. 46, Mount Masada-Galaxy Lodge No. 902, and ourselves, hosted, with our sincerest gratitude, by Kisco Lodge No. 708.  Our thanks to W.'. M.'. Scott Davidson for having us and to V.'. W.'. John McAloon, who brilliantly lead the degree from the East, for affording us this singular opportunity.

White Plains also made a good showing at the Grand Lecturer's Convention held at the Tarrytown Masonic Temple. Again, due to the vicissitudes of weather during the last few months, this became a joint effort hosted by both the First and Second Westchester-Putnam Districts.  R.'. W.'. Kessler was in fine form as he introduced us to the newly proposed ritual for opening and closing on the first and second degrees.  In fact, we will be opening our next meeting on the first degree!  It was a great evening of fellowship and learning.  It was also the first Masonic experience, other than a degree, for our newly minted Entered Apprentices.  I want to recognize the brothers who attended -- I believe we were the largest lodge there after Dunwoodie:

Bro. Andy Papademetriou
Bro. Peter Genovese
Bro. Andrew Lovato
Bro. Andrew Haight
Bro. David Furcayg
Bro. Miguel Acuna
Bro. Brian Latorre
Bro. Anthony Fella
Bro. Ben Razinovsky
Bro. Jose Trinidad

Many of the brothers who attended expressed to me their pride in our lodge and how invaluable the experience:

"It was a great turnout for us.  BUT we need to figure out how to spread this excitement and involvement in our own lodge..."

"I think people missed out on an excellent evening.. very different [from] a regular meeting, and... an opportunity to meet new Brothers..."

"I absolutely enjoyed being there as a newly entered apprentice... it was awesome that my first meeting was with the brothers at [a] GL Convention..."

White Plains Nation is back.  Check out the gallery for some photos of the evening.

R.'. W.'. Quesada and Bro. Acuna were also able to represent us at the 250th anniversary of Masters Lodge No. 5. and the Ineffable and Sublime Grand Lodge of Perfection up in Albany, New York.  I invite you to check out some of the pictures in the gallery.  White Plains is indeed a well-travelled lodge.

This is one of the points of pride I take during my tenure as master these past two years.  As a lodge, we have visited every lodge in the district and then some.  It is with some sadness that I leave the East, but I will confess that I am looking forward to some rest and a transition to new ties in the Fraternity.  It has been a pleasure, sometimes a stressful pleasure, but always overcome by brotherly love and friendship, and a singular honor to serve all of you these past two terms.   I am proud of what we have accomplished together, but I know that there is much more to do.  You can rest assured that you have some amazing leadership and ritual talent in the line and we can look forward to even greater years of service and fraternity.

As of this writing, I am anticipating our participation at the District Dinner Dance where we will be celebrating our Mason of the Year, Bro. Peter Genovese, and our Distinguished Service Award recipient, W.'. Les Horrell.  Again, join me in congratulating both these worthy brothers!

Our Masonic season will then be going out with a bang.  Please come out to welcome new brothers at the Degree of Entered Apprentice.  Bro. Peter Genovese will be in the East.

May 2, 2018
Stated Communication: Degree of Entered Apprentice
6 pm Collation, RSVP pcgenovese@gmail.com
7 pm Gavel
Officers formal attire; brethren, suit and tie.

Grand Lodge will then convene on Monday, May 7 and May 8.  If you have the time, it is an experience, especially the day one ceremonies, I recommend seeing at least once.  All Master Masons are welcome to attend.  9 am gavel.

We can then proceed to elect and install our own officers:

May 16, 2018
Summoned Communication:  Election and Installation of Officers
6:30 pm Collation, RSVP pcgenovese@gmail.com
7:30 pm Gavel
Officers formal attire; brethren, suit and tie.

I'm anticipating that our parking lot BBQ will be the first Wednesday in June, but I will leave those details to our incoming Master.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to serve.  I look forward to seeing you in lodge.

Sincerely & Fraternally,

Raphael Wong
Master, White Plains Lodge No. 473 F & A M

Greetings Brethren All,

Through some strange calculation of fate Nor'easters fell on the first and third Wednesdays of the month of March and prevented our coming together in fellowship.  I hope you weathered the storms and are faring well -- and are ready to return to our labors as we look to bring in new brothers into the Craft!

March was not a total bust.  We were able to see Bro. Brian Latorre passed to the Degree of Fellowcraft at John Jay Lodge on March 14th.  Congratulations to Bro. Latorre on his achievement!  And much thanks to the brothers of John Jay to afford us the opportunity to bring our brother one step further on his journey.  It was a festive evening as we also joined with brothers from Huguenot Lodge to see some of their brothers pass as well.  Also, thanks to our brothers,  Bro. Senior Warden, Andy Papademetriou, Bro. Andrew Haight, Bro. Frank Vaccari, and Bro. Ramon Viruete, among others, who were there to support Bro. Latorre!  (I apologize if I missed a brother -- I was under the weather that evening and was not able to stay long.  Let me know and I'll shout out to you on the web version of this message!)

My brothers, we have some very important events coming up as we look toward the home stretch of this Masonic season.

April 4, 2018 - Degree of Entered Apprentice.  6 pm collation. 7 pm gavel.  Please be properly attired in business suits; officers, formal attire and gloves.  RSVP to Bro. Junior Warden, Peter Genovese, at pcgenovese@gmail.com.

April 6, 2018 - White Plains Lodge will be 159 years old!

April 18 2018 - Grand Lecturer's Convention at Tarrytown Temple.  There will be no meeting at White Plains that evening.  All officers must attend.  All brothers are welcome and encouraged to attend.  This is a great opportunity to deepen your understanding of ritual and meet brothers from the !st and 2nd Westchester-Putnam Districts.

April 24, 2018 - Joint Degree of Master Mason at Kisco Lodge -- I would like officers to make every effort to support our brothers who are to be raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.  Come out to Kisco Lodge to support Brothers Latorre and Viruete!

April 28, 2018  - the District Dinner Dance.  At our last Table Lodge we formally announced the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, W Les Horrell, and our Mason of the Year, Bro. Peter Genovese!  Both are well deserving of these honors and I hope you will join me in celebrating their achievements by not only congratulating them personally, but joining us in the formal celebration of these awards at the Second Westchester-Putnam District Dinner Dance on Saturday April 28 at the Westchester Manor.  Cocktails will start at 7 pm and the dinner will be served at 8 pm.

The cost per person is $90.  You should let me know if you are planning to attend and mail a check to W Palazola, payable to White Plains Lodge No. 473.  Make a note that this is for the District Dinner Dance.

The Westchester Manor is at 140 Saw Mill River Road in Hastings-on-Hudson.  Please let me know ASAP if you are planning to attend.  We need your full name as well as your guest's full name for the place cards.

I wish all brothers a Happy Passover and Easter.  If you do not celebrate, I hope you are finding a sense of renewal with the coming of spring.   In addition to the religious meaning of these holy days, they are also of Masonic significance for those of us who will recall and hold fast to the promise of Eternity.

I look forward to seeing you in Lodge!

S.'. & F.'.,

Raphael Wong
Master
White Plains Lodge No. 473 F & A M