Help for The Bridegrooms
On Monday, October 24th 2011 , John and Tammy Bridegroom received the horrifying news that their 5 year old daughter was very ill, and she was flown to Riley’s Hospital in Indianapolis. I won’t go much further into that, as John and Tammy have done such a good job with updates on their facebook pages. Suffice to say, it is life threatening in a very immediate sense.
The purpose of this email is to spread the news about an avenue of assistance to his brothers in the fraternity. At Centier Bank in Northwest Indiana, an account has been created where anyone can walk in and deposit a very much needed, and eternally appreciated donation. Any branch will do, and if you wish to do so previous to Monday, simply give my name and three accounts will pop up for the teller. Tell the teller to deposit it into the account with the subtitle “Bridegroom Benefit”. Come Monday the 31st, and anytime thereafter, “Bridegroom Benefit Account” will be enough. By then the account will have separated itself from my two accounts. As soon as the debit card arrives, it will be sent down to John for use during this emergency. The next thing is for those of you who do not live in the Northwest Indiana area.
If you wish to donate, simply send the check to the Post Office Box listed below, and I will personally deposit each donation separately. I will then mail each deposit receipt back to the original donor or lodge for your records. I have worked out a system that will make the bookkeeping easier, and I expect the turnaround to be about a week.
Please send, resend and re-resend this email to EVERYONE! John and Tammy haven’t been home in almost a week, so you can imagine that just their living expenses are piling up by the day. There are a number of fundraising events being scheduled, and when they are set, we will also be sending those out so be watching and don’t miss out on the upcoming fun!!
Someone at LaPorte last night stated that they wanted to donate, even though they didn’t know John… to that I submit this. He is a Freemason. That alone means that we all know more about him then many of the “civilians” who may know him. We have all been helped by strangers, and have helped strangers ourselves. To that end I applaud the Brother from LaPorte. Secondly, allow me to tell you a few of the things John would never say. He is, without exception, not only the most active, but also the most overall educated Mason I know of my generation… bar none. Not only the education you acquire from reading, but the education you obtain from heart. Since 2004, he has been a Past Master with High Distinction, an Illustrious Master ( who received the Cryptic Mason of the Year Award ), is currently in half a dozen officer lines, and I haven’t mentioned poised to be, pending election, Potentate of Orak Shrine next year along with High Priest and Commander in Hammond’s York Rite. He actually is active in all these organizations, and currently is serving the Grand Council of Cryptic Masons as the Arch 1 Officer as well. It’s amazing to watch, only because he is amazing to know. There is so much left out here even still, I feel it a disservice to digress. But it would take forever to continue about the person he really is, aside from Masonic achievement.
Nonetheless, please get this email “humming” through every Masonic email account in Indiana. If you so choose, bring it up in your Lodges, York Rites, Valleys, Shrines and every other organization you may visit. this was a very sudden revelation, and as such, they’re dealing with much more than I care to ever experience. Let us work together to try and alleviate any concern or problem he may have… at least as much as we can. Thank you so much for helping, forwarding and certainly most of all – praying. My information is below. God Bless.
Steven Arlington
