Allied Masonic Degree Meeting tonight

Well due to several factors, I ended up not heading north to the Cleveland area to attend Marshall's Chapter Inspection. I actually called the Deputy earlier in the day to let him know I was not going to make it and he indicated they might have a few inches of ICE tonight. And much to everyone's surprise (since I indicated I couldn't make AMD tonight due to the Inspection) I was in attendance at AMD. I did hear an interesting story tonight involving Chapter. Apparently someone suspended for non payment of dues in 1973 decided to take advantage of the Grand High Priest's amnesty program. The ride home, however, was a challenge as the normal 20 minute ride was over an hour with stop and  go traffic on the highway due to very slick roads.

Chapter Work Night

Well I originally planned to attend Canden's Lodge Inspection this evening but with some work and planning for this weekends Chapter Fund Raised, I decided to stay home this evening. I made several calls, set up the work schedule, got a few items we need for the fund raiser and also worked on a couple of Inspection reports. While I love to travel and support the various events, some times the less glamorous or fun activities have to be done. Each of the next three days is going to be hectic either calling to remind workers or actually working!  Can't wait for the Super Bowl ... No I don't really care for either team playing I just know by that time our fund raiser will be over for this year (or at least our initial project)!

PDDGHP Association

For a few years we have been trying to get a Past Third District Deputy Grand High Priest Association started. After multiple planning meetings over the years, I think with the meeting tonight we can say we finally got the Association off the ground. We had several discussions and important opinion gathering moments this evening which can hopefully prove successful to assist in making the Third District even better. The current President is Jim Stephens and the Secretary is Harless Maynard. We also invited the ladies this evening and all enjoyed a great dinner. Overall, a very good first "real" meeting. Oh and by the way ...where was George Shell this evening as he was no where to be found....I heard some weak story about an unexpected layover from his cruise. probably just too many drinks with umbrellas!

Friendship Chapter 245 Inspection

Tonight was another Inspection in my District but it was not just any Inspection as the High Priest this year is PGHP MEC Steve Duncan. In addition, the main part this evening was portrayed by PGIM Bobby Campbell in the Most Excellent Master degree. Among the nearly 50 in attendance was PGHP MEC Jerry Crawford, our new Council Arch Inspector Mike Smith and Grand Principal Conductor of the Work Lynn Alexander. I was an all star cast this evening with some very good degree work.

Royal Arch Fund Raiser

We atill looking for a few folks to work the circus parking at UD Feb 1-3 as a Chapter fund raiser at the Shrine Circus. We will need 14 person per show and there will be one Friday, two Saturday and one Sunday. Times are tentatively as follows:

2/1- Report time: 4:30  Doors Open time 5:30Show time 7  Shift end 7:30

2/2- Report time: 8:30  Doors Open time 9:30Show time 11  Shift end 11:30

2/2- Report time: 3:30  Doors Open time 4:00Show time 6  Shift end 6:30 

2/3- Report time: 10:30  Doors Open time11:30 Show time 1  Shift end 1:30

Ladies and non chapter members can also assist. Let Jeff Shaw if available to assist.

My Travels Week of 1/28

While often my travels are dictated by my work schedule, I am going to try keep at a running two week schedule of potential Chapter related visits/events which I plan to post every Sunday or Monday. If anyone from my area is interested in traveling with me, contact me and we will see what we can do.

Week of 1/28

·       Monday 28      3rd District Friendship Inspection Chapter

·       Tuesday 29      3rd District PDDGHP Meeting

·       Thursday 31    9th District Marshall Inspection Chapter at Elyria

·       Friday 1           Shrine Circus 3rd District GHP Parking Fund Raiser - Dayton

·       Saturday 2       Shrine Circus 3rd District GHP Parking Fund Raiser - Dayton (2 Shows)

·       Sunday 3          Shrine Circus 3rd District GHP Parking Fund Raiser - Dayton

Week of 2/4

·       Tuesday 5      6th District New Carlisle Inspection Chapter

·       Thursday 7     Masonic Week Washington DC

·       Friday 8         Masonic Week Washington DC

·       Saturday 9      Masonic Week Washington DC

Scottish Rite Worshipful Master Recognition

Tonight I attended the Scottish Rite Worshipful Master recognition. Each year the Scottish Rite invites the Grand Master to present a pin to each Worshipful Master serving within the Valley of Dayton area. The Scottish Rite usually invites the York Rite leader from that area and the District Deputy Grand Masters and District Education Officers from Grand Lodge to attend. They have also asked the 33rd from the Valley along with the Shrine to participate at times as well. So tonight I represented the Grand Chapter as the Grand Master of the Second Veil at the event. A positive thing I noticed this evening was many of the WMs in our Valley are also active in their Royal Arch Chapters. So why is this important....hopefully this means they are asking many joining the Lodges to join Chapter as well. I know many of the WMs who are active in Chapter which I went up to congratulate them mentioned they were glad someone from Chapter was there to congratulate them. I continue to say as the Grand Master said tonight his theme TOGETHER WE CAN.

Toronto Chapter 221 Inspection

Wondering if I made a wise choice!!!

 

Tonight was the inspection for Toronto Chapter #221 in the 15th District in the Most Excellent Master Degree. Due to the weather situation this was a last minute decision whether I would go or not. The deciding factor was this might be my only opportunity to go to this District during this Grand Chapter year and if I want to make each District every year I am given the privilege to serve in Grand Chapter, I needed to go tonight. (I'm now down to the 2nd, 16th missed last Friday due to illness, 19th and 20th left this year and still have multiple opportunities in each of these districts to make an Inspection) And actually, I was still determining my final destination by the road conditions as to if I actually made Toronto or stopped short and went to the Chapter inspection at Millersburg. The roads proved good enough to brave it through to Toronto, Ohio. They had 3 candidates Denver Thompson and a father/son combo Doug and Eric Cunningham. Before the  meeting I talked for a while with Robert Holsinger who is a PDDGM and just received his 50 yr pin in Chapter. He told me he loved Chapter but was losing his ability to remember anything. We then went upstairs and he proceeded to do the High Priest in the Most Excellent Master Degree including the parts which are sometimes read by a reader. So much for a memory loss! He also showed me his award for the York Rite College (Equivalent to the Earl C.Gifford Award in Chapter) which is only one of two ever given in Ohio. They gave me some good food before sending me on my way back home.

KYCH Dinner

Well last night I planned to head to Cincinnati for their Council Inspection....WRONG! Seems as though I got feeling bad in the afternoon and took some medication to help me feel better. When I awoke it was after 9 PM. I guess I needed the sleep though after I got up I worked for several hours before going back to bed. I actually felt a little better this morning and this evening went to the local KYCH Dinner Meeting at Houston's near Mason. Man do they have good Frog Legs and a super salad bar. The Prior Dennis Wilhelm was in attendance and he was greeted by the club members and our club President Richard Holcombe. The current Grand Officers of the York Rite Bodies present were introduced and MEC Steve Duncan and MEC Jerry Crawford were also in attendance.

Trinity Chapter 44 Inspection



Good Ol' Faithful Johnnie Duff

Tonight was the Inspection for my home Chapter Trinity Chapter 44. It was in the Most Excellent Master Degree and considering the situation I think they did fine. I say the situation because over the past few days we have had a bunch of unfortunate happenings. The High Priests' mother is in very serious condition and may not make it much longer (and he was doing the High Priest part of the degree work). One other person in the degree work slipped this past weekend and tore the cartilage in his leg and can't walk except with crutches and in awaiting surgery. Another member of the cast hurt his shoulder and is scheduled for shoulder surgery. And yet another cast member came down sick yesterday. Thankfully, Friendship Chapter and Twin Valley Chapter heard the cry for help last night and came to the rescue and assisted us in the parts which were vacant due to the unfortunate serious of events. And I was proud to think we still had 20 of our own members present despite the many issues. Past Grand Illustrious Master EC Bobby Campbell filled in as the High Priest in the ritual work and Past Grand High Priest MEC Steve Duncan (who is also High Priest of Friendship Chapter) was in attendance with several of his companions to help out as needed.

Background Work

Tonight, I "officially" joined the Past Potentate, Cabiri organization as their Vice President. (Traditionally the outgoing Potentate is the VP and then President) While this may sound significant, the organization is mainly set up to assist the officers and get information out to the Past Potentates on a monthly basis. After this short meeting, I went to Valley Commandery's (my Commandery) stated meeting to support them and also solicit assistance for our Chapter District fund raiser. In addition, I worked on some Grand Chapter Membership items during the day as I was off work due to the Martin Luther King Holiday (well off at least half the day...I’ll take the other half Friday afternoon). Maybe not the most interesting day but often one needs to step back to get some "real" work done!

My Travels Week of 1/21

While often my travels are dictated by my work schedule, I am going to try keep at a running two week schedule of potential Chapter related visits/events which I plan to post every Sunday or Monday. If anyone from my area is interested in traveling with me, contact me and we will see what we can do.

Week of 1/21

·       Tuesday 22      3rd District Trinity Inspection Chapter

·       Wednesday 23   Cincinnati Council #1 Inspection – Grand Chaplain Chester Burton IM

·       Friday 25       15th District Toronto or 18th District Millersburg Chapter Inspection

Week of 1/28

·       Monday 28      3rd District Friendship Inspection Chapter

·       Tuesday 29      3rd District PDDGHP Meeting

·       Thursday 31    9th District Marshall Inspection Chapter at Elyria

·       Friday 1           Shrine Circus GHP Parking Fund Raiser - Dayton

·       Saturday 2       Shrine Circus GHP Parking Fund Raiser - Dayton

·       Sunday 3          Shrine Circus GHP Parking Fund Raiser - Dayton

Royal Arch School 3rd District

This morning was our Royal Arch School lead by REC Don Wilcox with our speaker for the day on the Most Excellent Master degree being our DEO REC Fred Gallo. He gave allot of information on the degree and where to find more information for Companions to review after they left for the day. In addition, we signed up several to work for our fund raiser at the Shrine Circus for the 3rd District GHP fund. It was a very busy Masonic day in the area and for this the crowd was down slightly.

After the meeting I headed down to the Shrine for an activity and then over to Valley Commandery 80 in Miamisburg for their Inspection. Several of the members of Valley Commandery are activity in the Royal Arch Chapter District structure and we have 3 Past Grand High Priests who are members. I was part of the stage crew (and the Inspecting Officer Bruce Basil staff as a Grand Chapter Officer) and possibly the best dressed stage crew you will ever see as I was dressed in a Tux!

I had one more event after this I was going to attend but decided not to push it as I was fairly worn out and can not afford to be down sick for any period of time.

Things Don't Always Go As Planned

Last night I had planned to head to Cleveland for Inspection at Mt. Olive Chapter. Well I guess the operative word is planned as it seems my body decided otherwise and I ended up completely out of commission for the entire day. Feeling a little better now that I slept most of the day. Hope to be back at it today!

Sneak Peak

As you are probably aware by now I have officially been appointed and Installed as Grand Master of the 2nd Veil due to the passing of REC Ralph Curtis back in December.  Since my official pin indicates Grand Master 1at Veil and since  I am now Grand Master 2nd Veil, I am going to go ahead and have the second pin in the series produced. I received the sample today so you get a sneak peak. Hopefully, it will only be a few weeks in the making before I can start handing it out.

Fort Meigs 29 Insp

Today was the Inspection for Fort Meigs Chapter in Toledo in the 8th District. We had some companions from Michigan in attendance including one Grand Officer. Past Grand High Priest MEC Wayne Dill and Grand Royal Arch Captain REC Keith Green were also in attendance. REC Green was officially installed this evening as Grand Royal Arch Captain. Our Grand High Priest MEC Don Owens along with Grand Musician REC Ed Howard and Grand Master 1st Veil John Donohoo were also traveling along with him. They were inspected in the Mark Master Degree by Guest Inspector Christian King as their District Deputy Grand High Priest Dave Kevorkian is from this chapter. 

Horace Wright 226 Chapter Insp

Tonight was the Chapter Inspection of Horace Wright Chapter in Worthington in the 11th District in the Most Excellent Master Degree with three candidates. Past Grand High Priest MEC Don Lossaao was present along with Grand King REC Bob Thomas and Grand Principal Sojourner REC Jeff Addis. The High Priest was REC Dan Smith who is now the Grand Marshall. They did a nice job on the ritual work. John Hollback also received his official Grand Representative certificate for Western Australia.

Lebanon Chapter 5 Inspection

Tonight was the Inspection for Lebanon Chapter in my District in the Royal Arch degree. Past Grand High Priest George Shell and Past Grand Commander Richard Holcombe were also present. EC Lynn Alexander, Grand Principal Conductor of the Work for Grand Council did the introductions. They also had 3 new members they exalted into Lebanon Chapter which is the largest in our District.

My Travels Week of 1/14

While often my travels are dictated by my work schedule, I am going to try keep at a running two week schedule of potential Chapter related visits/events which I plan to post every Sunday or Monday. If anyone from my area is interested in traveling with me, contact me and we will see what we can do.

Week of 1/14

·       Monday 14      3rd District Lebanon Inspection Chapter

·       Tuesday 15    11th District Horace Wright Inspection Chapter at Worthington

·       Wednesday 16 8th District Fort Meigs Inspection Chapter at Toledo

·       Friday 18       16th District Mt. Olive Inspection Chapter at Euclid

·       Saturday 19     3rd District School at West Carrollton

Week of 1/21

·       Tuesday 22      3rd District Trinity Inspection Chapter

·       Wednesday 23   Cincinnati Council #1 Inspection – Grand Chaplain Chester Burton IM

·       Friday 25       15th District Toronto Inspection Chapter



End of Shrine Year

Well, I'm officially a Past Potentate now and have a significantly less amount of hair. No, I didn't pull it out but rather lost it due to something we were able to achieve for the first time in at least more than 20 years .... positive membership growth (not sure exactly how long since we couldn't determine the last time we had a membership gain). Why is this significant for us in Grand Chapter .... Because I used the new Grand Chapter Membership information as the basis for the starting point of my program. We used it and it WORKS! 

Oh and getting back to the hair... As we were closing in on the end of the year back in September as part of our "Get The Buzz For Membership" campaign, I made the final push to motivate the membership by indicating if we could get to positive membership that they could buzz my hair at the OG Roast. It caused a renewed interest in cutting down on the suspension for non-payment of dues and this became the deciding factor. 

The best part is though we did not sacrifice the upcoming year for last year as we brought in 3 new members at the Installation (via short form) and have about another dozen waiting and another 40+ persons we have already invited to join! 

As the saying goes it is difficult to get to the top but even more difficult to stay there. We plan to prove it can be done.

Minerva Lodge 2 EA's With a Twist

Tonight I went to my lodge to support them as all Royal Arch Masons should do but I also had another reason to attend as tonight we were having a special craft team come in to do the EA degree. It was a special team put together by the Scottish Rite and they do all the parts for the EA degree in colonial costume. It was an interesting an nice twist but more especially it drew a large crowd and at the end the degree director was given the floor to say a couple of words about the Scottish Rite. Sounds like something maybe we should think about doing (say with the Peculiar Stone Degree). I know some are preparing the Peculiar Stone Degree to do exactly the same type of thing. In fact there was one Past Master in attendance who had not been back to Lodge in around 10 years who came specifically because he heard they were doing something different this evening and he came to see it.

Wakeman 177 Chapter Inspection

Tonight was the Royal Arch Inspection for Wakeman Chapter in the 9th District and they had 10 candidates to exalt. Also present were the Grand High Priest MEC Don Owens, REC John Donohoo, and Grand Aides REC Bob May and REC Renee Blankenship.  This was the third time already this Capitular Year the Grand High Priest has been in the 9th District so they are all getting to know him well. Past Grand Illustrious Master Bill Laughlin (who is also High Priest of Huron Chapter) was also in attendance. In all, there were close to 50 in attendance. They did a good job on the ritual work for the evening and are getting ready to start another class with their next Inspection on Friday.

Kent Chapter 192 Inspection

Tonight was the Inspection for Kent Chapter in the 17th District in the Royal Arch Degree. Our Grand High Priest, Don Owens, was present and he installed myself and Right Excellent Companion Ross Black in our new Grand Chapter stations. Our Grand Chaplain REC Chester Burton, Grand King REC Robert Thomas and Past Grand High Priest MEC Jim Himmelright were also present. It was nice to see they had 2 candidates for the degree (a third was scheduled but got called away on family business). They did a nice job protraying the work and two received the Grand High Priest excellence in ritual pin. Afterwards refreshments were some good hot soup and peach cobbler before starting the track back home.

Jefferson Lodge Inspection

Tonight was the Inspection for Jefferson Lodge in the 2nd Masonic District. The Commandery posted the colors and they had 101 in attendance. Several of the Middletown Chapter members were in attendance and assisted with the Inspection. It was also good to see the Grand Masters theme of "Together We Can" as some of the officers are also very active in the Shrine, some in the Chapter, some in the Council and some in the Commandery and others in the Scottish Rite. Instead of focusing one "who is better" it is better to remember we all are in it for the same purpose.

York Rite Cooperation Meeting

Today the elected Grand Officers for Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery got together and discussed how we could tackle any issues facing Masonry. I was especially nice to see the Grand Lodge Officers including our Grand Master MWB Jim Easterling in attendance. We had a good discussion on several subjects and it was great to see everyone trying to accomplish a common goal, improving Masonry.

My Travels Week of 1/7

While often my travels are dictated by my work schedule, I am going to try keep at a running two week schedule of potential Chapter related visits/events which I plan to post every Sunday or Monday. If anyone from my area is interested in traveling with me, contact me and we will see what we can do.

Week of 1/7

·       Tuesday 8       17th District Kent Inspection Chapter

·       Wednesday 9   9th District Wakeman Inspection Chapter

·       Saturday 12      4th District Chapter School at ET Carson Cincinnati

Week of 1/14

·       Monday 14      3rd District Lebanon Inspection Chapter

·       Tuesday 15    11th District Horace Wright Inspection Chapter at Worthington

·       Wednesday 16 8th District Fort Meigs Inspection Chapter at Toledo

·       Friday 18       16th District Mt. Olive Inspection Chapter at Euclid

·       Saturday 19     3rd District School at West Carrollton

Hamilton DeMolay Installation

Tonight, I attended my fourth activity of the day which was the Installation for Hamilton DeMolay. They had a fairly large turnout of adults (around 35-40) which is a major plus for a DeMolay Chapter and they installed about a dozen officers. In addition the State Master Councilor was there along with several other State Officers. I was also happy to see REC Bob Benton present. Bob is a Past District Deputy Grand High Priest from the 4th District who recently had some extremely serious health issues. He told me he was about ready to give up hope of recovery when the DeMolay Chapter came into the ICU unit to see him (Not that I would ever recommend as it is not allowed). Apparently they invited him to come to the Installation and he had told them he was going to get better so he could attend, which he did!

Wilmington #63 Inspection

Today was the Chapter Inspection for Wilmington in my District in the Past Masters Degree. Again, I saw a very good Inspection but it is what I expected as this Chapter as it has a strong history of very good ritual work. Past Grand High Priest Steve Duncan was also present. It was also really good to see something the Chapter has started doing. While in the past to ensure the line officers were not just going through to get a title, they were told they were expected to continue to help out the Chapter after serving as High Priest and even possibly again as High Priest. While they have not changed their policy, they have now added around 3-4 younger members to their line. As Steve Duncan said, this is what a Chapter should be like!

Springfield 48 and Shawnee 237 Chapter Inspections

 

 

This morning the two Chapters in the Springfield Masonic Temple held their Annual Inspections. The first Inspection for Springfield Chapter started in the Mark Master Degree with 5 candidates followed by the Past Master Degree for Shawnee Chapter with 6 candidates. The Grand High Priest, MEC Don Owens, was in attendance along with Past Grand High Priests MEC Bill Berry and MEC Garis Pugh. It was nice to see several candidates along with a nice attendance considering it was early in the morning and there were lots of other Masonic activities many had to attend later in the day.  It was also nice to see some very good work with 3 receiving pins from the GHP and 5 during the second Inspection for excellent work.

Slight Change In BLOG Content

Starting with a new year comes a couple of changes with the BLOG. The first will be that since I will no longer be running a separate BLOG for the Shrine after the 13th, I have decided to expand my reporting on this site. I am also probably going to be updating the background slightly very soon. I will also start accepting guests articles from those attending Chapter related functions in the 3rd District  which I am not able to attend. Last will be that hopefully very soon this BLOG will be hooked off our web page.

Happy New Year