The George M. Truemper Masonic Scholarship awards a $10,000 scholarship to Bret Harte senior

Gabriel David Sagewalker received a $10,00 scholarship after completing his senior year at Bret Harte High School. He finished number 2 in his class with a GPA of 4.00. Through his entire years at Bret Harte he never received less than an A in each of his classes. He has chosen Harvard as his choice of colleges to attend.

While at Bret Harte he was active on the soccer team and excelled in tennis. He has taken piano lessons since second grade, saxaphone lessons since fifth grade, and clarinet lessons since eighth grade. He is currently working on recording his own composition for his senior project. In college he wants to pursue a career in clean energy, as well as write novels and produce music.

To provide balance to his upbringing on the farm his parents took him to many foreign countries. These trips allowed him to see some of the treasures the world has to offer. These trips also showed him that Calaveras County had given him the best possible childhood he could hope for. Calaveras County, despite its small size, has offered abundant opportunites to learn, serve and participate in the community.
Here are a few excerpts from his writings on the Masons who founded our country:

'The Masons have been a susccessful organization throughout history. Upheld by their belief in honesty, charity and justice, they have boasted such names as Washington, F.D.R., and Mark Twain. Masons believe in commitment to the furthering of education. Throughout their history as an organization, they have been dedicated to making the world a better place through education and hard work.'

Gabriel Walker article submitted by the Murphy's Masonic Lodge "Ophir Bear Mountain Lodge #33, F.A. & M.

The following is a bit of the history of the George M. Truemer Scholarship and Lodge #33 written by Charity Maness:

What began as a way for the closely guarded secrets of the mason trade to be passed from generation to generation, from the building of Solomon’s Temple in 960 BC to the fraternal organization in the late 16th century Europe, had traveled to the ‘New World’ by 1730 and subsequently evolved into the modern day free and accepted masons, known better as the Freemasons. Using symbols of architectural tools; the square & the compass, teaching moral and ethical lessons on “liberty, equality, and fraternity” and subscribing to the belief of a “supreme being” are all cornerstones to the fellowship of the Freemason. Candidates swear to follow the rules of the fraternity and to keep the “secrets of freemasonry” harking back to the day when a master mason would closely guard his masonry secrets, only passing them along to an apprentice or a son, ensuring his creative craft would remain his.

The Murphy’s Masonic Lodge, known as Ophir Bear Mountain Lodge #33 F.&A.M., has its own amazing history dating back to 1853, when Murphys was known as “Murphy’s Rich Diggins.” When the gold rush came catapulting into the Sierra Nevada so did violence, greed, and hope. Out of this collection of folks seeking gold came a group of men that brought with them “the civilizing Masonic virtues of temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice.” By “1853 Ophir Lodge received its charter from the Grand Lodge of California and began regular meetings in private homes.” In 1988 the Angels Camp lodge, Bear Mountain merged with Ophir to create the current lodge known as Ophir Bear Mountain.

With the current lodge understandably showing the wear of time, built in 1902, a new lodge was constructed in 2002. The dream of a new Masonic lodge had become a reality due to a generous endowment from George Trumper. With the completion of the lodge George still felt he could do more for his community and the Masons as a whole, posing the question, “What can I do to benefit the masonry the most?”

Enter the scholarship endowment fund set up five years ago in George’s name. Following George’s wishes to the letter, each year the Murphy’s Masonic Lodge gives one scholarship to a well deserving senior from Bret Harte High School. Receiving many applications, a trio of elected trustees base their choice on multiple facets: top 10% of the class in GPA, school essay, and an essay that answers the question “What effect has masonry had in the field of the arts, sciences, etc.?” From the applicants, five finalists are chosen and are then interviewed, with one becoming the recipient of the scholarship. The scholarship amount varies with the amount of interest received for that year on the initial invested amount. Recent recipients have gone on to study at CalPoly, Chico,Harvard and UCLA.

Though George Trumper did not live long enough to see the first recipient of his scholarship endowment fund, he knew he would make a lasting difference. Before he passed he stated, “I am certain that the spirit of my dear wife Betty, who awaits me in the hereafter, shares my joy.”

A couple historically notable local Mason’s: Albert Michelson, the first American to receive the Nobel Prize in the Sciences, resided in Murphy’s: Samuel Clemens, served as a junior Deacon in February 1865 in the Angels Camp lodge. Famous Mason’s: Benjamin Franklin, Bob Hope, Paul Revere, John Glenn, 14 US Presidents, 33 Supreme Court Justice, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Francis Scott Key, and the list goes one.