2009 Retreat A BIG Success!!!
The Fifth Annual Gate City Lodge No. 2 Retreat was a wild success. Twenty Seven Brethren attended the two day event which featured a great combination of work and fellowship. GCII welcomed several guests from Lodges as far away as Peru and New York to brethren around Atlanta including Chamblee, Sandy Springs and Palestine.
The six thousand square foot house was just big enough to accommodate every thing that was going on - and there was a lot! Our Entered Apprentice Brethren worked well into their Catechisms. Doug Hrabe and Tom Lawrence were busy with Lodge administration. The officers drilled repeatedly on the opening and closing ritual. David Llewellyn cooked for what seemed to be the entire time. Officers from Chamblee Lodge were busy planning out their upcoming year.
The evenings were devoted to fellowship and unstructured time. Whether enjoying the heated pool, hot tub, pool table or watching football, everyone was relaxing and enjoying himself in the company of his Brethren.
One of the attendees, a brother, raised six years ago, who has just affiliated with GCII in the last six months, commented, "This is one of the things that I thought Freemasonry was supposed to be doing when I joined the craft." So did we - so we did.
Llewellyn's Pumpkin pancakes - Saturday's breakfast.
Our retreat house featured four large fireplaces.
Never one to leave his Raptors home, EA Alan Colussy brought his five Falcons along.
Alan stopped by the Airport on his way to the retreat to pick up his latest bird - an owl. Nothing stops twenty Brethren from talking quicker than the introduction of a live owl into the room. Everyone was amazed to see the raptor up close. Alan gave pointers as well as talked about Falconry, which also happens to be his occupation.
Gate City II is an Atlanta Masonic Lodge. We are Free and Accepted Masons working under the jurisdiction of The Grand Lodge of Georgia. We meet at the Atlanta Masonic Center (formerly The Atlanta Masonic Temple) 1690 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA 30309