Grand Council Ohio Session

This morning I attended the Grand Council Session. A member of my Council, Mike Smith, was installed as Grand Illustrious Master. The session moved right along and just hoping our session this afternoon also runs as smoothly.

Grand Chapter Session

Well the final hour has struck and my time as Grand High Priest is done. The first few months went right according to plan then COVID-19 hit.  At that time all plans went out the window, I did how ever need to make lots of decisions that would possibly shape the path we would take. Hopefully those decisions were right as there was no playbook to follow for any of those decisions. I often had to make decisions I really did not want to make but I did make all decisions with the best interests of Grand Chapter, the local Chapters and our members as the driving force behind the decisions. Being a leader isn’t always easy which is why it is important to choose the one who will look out for the best interests of what they will be leading. This is not goodbye, though it will be my last BLOG entry, but rather just a change for me. I will still be traveling around the state (I already have inspections/visits in all districts planned for the upcoming year). I’m hoping to have many years left to continue to meet and greet new friends in this organization we call Freemasonry on my Pathway to the Future.

 

Trinity Chapter #44 Stated Meeting

My first Chapter visit after I was Installed Grand Master 1st Veil was to my home Chapter. My first Chapter visit after I was installed as Grand High Priest was to my home Chapter and tonight my last Chapter visit was to my home Chapter where I got to declare the meeting closed for my final act as Grand High Priest. They had ice cream afterwards to congratulate me on the years I served in the Grand Line.

Hi-12 Club Meeting

Well today I headed to the Dayton Masonic Center to attend Hi-12. When I got there the first thing I did was to stop at the Elite catering office to pay the bill so those attending the dinner after installation Wednesday will get food. Next I headed to Hi-12 we’re after eating we heard a speaker talk on some very interesting, thought provoking topics. Instead of heading right back home, I spend the next couple hours finalizing the details for the invite only session and obtaining the Mt. Moriah paraphernalia to finalize their merger with Unity Chapter. I like days like today where you can get lots accomplished with one stop. 

Grand Chapter Planning

Today we held a meeting for the 3rd District Leadership team to do a final run through of how things will be held on Wednesday and where we need people to assist. We also discussed our DDGHP Installation and District Reaffirmation Day activity’s. In addition, we discussed installations and who would be doing what for those installations. To finished, we discussed  the special events for the District and a future money making opportunity.

Loveland Chapter Reconsecration

Today we held a reconsecration at Loveland where they had lots of nice touches set up for the day. They created a great program and history of the Chapter along with a lapel pin to represent the event. They mayor came in and made a proclamation along with a person representing the state of Ohio. Afterwards they had prepackaged meals for everyone. Oh and the also made a generous donation to the Royal Arch Foundation to honor the event. Great event today.

Valley Vineyards Grotto Outing

Tonight 18 of us went to the winery in Morrow Ohio for a social outing. You cook your own steak here and get salad, all the sides and dessert. Oh... and it also includes a couple glasses on wine. They had us spread over 3 tables and everyone seemed to have a good time.   We all had plenty of stories to share (and probably and a few half truths). 

PM Club Shrine Meeting

This afternoon Pam and I went to our Grand Marshall’s house where we packed up year end gifts for those serving over the past year along with PGHPs. Next Greg and I headed to our Shrine PM Club meeting where we passed some rules changes which will hopefully yield some new members and work on reducing the number of meetings we have each year. We also discussed at length the upcoming ceremonial.

Meeting w

Robert L Williams #467 AMD

Tonight I headed to Waynesville Ohio for the regular meeting of Robert L Williams AMD. They had a nice dinner prior to the meeting. Considering the current health conditions they had a good turnout. The seats were all marked so folks were 6ft apart. They also held their annual elections and installation of officers for 2021.

Shrine Leadership Meeting

Well I originally had planned to attend the 4th District Chapter Meeting tonight but something came up and I was not going to be able to leave in time to make it. I did, however, Zoom into the Leadership Meeting for Antioch Shrine and represent the Greeters since the meeting started at 7 and I finished up what I needed to get done at 6:55 (and caused me to miss the other meeting as I mentioned above). This was a hybrid Zoom/in person meeting but as I mentioned I was just barely able to attend as part of the Zoom meeting. We covered upcoming events and discussed the Shrine Hospital move from Cincinnati to Dayton.

Ballot Counting

Tonight our Grand Guard in conjunction with his team of members of several Chapters counted the ballots for both legislation and new officers for the upcoming year. Since our normal in person system was not feasible this year we mailed ballots to those who, by the code, were identified as eligible to vote. Let me say this was a monumental task to make this happen and our Grand Secretary and his wife Donna along with several others who helped him achieved this tasked deserve everyone’s thank. Surprisingly most of those returning ballots appeared to have read the instructions and voted per the instructions while being given the opportunity to vote for or against Legislation per their on conscience and for the officers they wanted to serve this Grand Chapter in the upcoming year. All results will be announced at an invitation only gathering October 7th with each Chapter receiving the results along with all reports for 2019-20. While I would have personally liked to have proceeded in the normal matters associated with our Grand Session this year as in prior years, my paramount concerned had to be for the welfare and health of our members and Chapters. I hope next year by the time of our Grand Session we can once again meet together as in the past. I urge all members to do their best to stay safe and healthy and comply with the temporary changes needed to ensure everyone’s health. We may not all agree on how things can be done to get us back to “normal” in our Royal Arch Chapters but hopefully we all do agree that working together to ensure we grow and prosper must  be our common goal.

Grand Chapter OES

Today, Pam and I attended the Grand Chapter Eastern Star if Ohio as the representatives of Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons of Ohio. While it was a larger gathering, they were very careful about adhering to expected health regulations and suggestions. The Roberts Center is a huge facility and made social distance seatings very easy.

Another Busy Day

Today wasn’t busy going to meeting but rather following up on administration items for Grand Chapter. October 7th is fast approaching when I will turn over control to the next Grand High Priest. I guarantee a peaceful turnover which our Grand King and I have already started working on about a month ago. This weekend we will have a team counting ballots (which were due back yesterday).

Miami Valley York Rite College

While I officially went out here in April (though we couldn’t hold an in person meeting and used ZOOM to install new officers) I returned tonight to help fill in as needed in the officer line as I knew some couldn’t make it. While it was basically an officer only driven meeting, a couple joking said, I was staring back through from the bottom again. I enjoy going to the meetings but next time I will be on the sidelines.

Khana Shahar Grotto

 Tonight I had to travel to Springfield and stayed for the Grotto meeting in Springfield. Several from Achbar in Columbus travelled over as their meeting got cancelled this evening. With everyone wearing a mask (and many wearing their Grotto mask) we were spread out through the room to socially distance while they covered several different topics. Many of their new Prophets from July were in attendance. The Monarch from Achbar forgot his fez and got to wear the special one Khana Shahar has folks to wear if they forget their fez. It is all in fun.

Change of Plans

I had intended to head to Kentucky for their in person Grand Session tomorrow but after some further discussions with some folks from the medical field decided against attending. While it isn't that I'm extremely concerned about getting the virus infection, I was reminded if anyone in attendance had it I would need to quarantine for two weeks and thus would have to miss the installation of the new Grand Chapter officers. I decided since there will be a sizeable crowd in a smaller enclosed area, social distancing might be difficult and even with a mask might be a challenge. This is the same location I’ve attended in the past for their Grand Session and the room it is held in is not that large. On a normal year it is sufficient in size but not sure about under the current conditions. Better safe than sorry.

Hi-12 Dayton Stated Meeting

Today was our first opportunity to meet since March at the Dayton Masonic Center and it was good to see several I haven’t seen since March. There was plenty of room to social distance and the meeting, after we ate, was fairly short as the outside speaker had to cancel out last evening as they had been quarantined.  A little later I met REC Dan Smith where we exchanged the GHP jewel I had lent to him for his official picture. He was in Dayton to review the Dayton Masonic Center site for our annual installation for Grand Chapter on October 7^th.

Ohio Grotto Association Meeting

Tonight I attended a Zoom meeting where a few from the Ohio Grotto Association got together to discuss the possibility of some suggestions to bring o the Ohio Board of Trustees for the Association. We discussed a couple of items and it was a good meeting where we found out some things that we were unaware of but will probably still bring up the items for the Boards consideration in February. Since the Association only gets together 3 times a year (and this year two meeting had to be cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns), the February meeting will probably be filled with items to discuss for the future.  I’m glad to see folks are thinking about things despite some of the challenges we are all facing with the virus and its overall effect on the organization.

Irish Council Knight Masons Annual Meeting

Today in West Carrollton we held our annual meeting, elections and installation. Grand Superintendent Dan Conley was in attendance. The meeting was compacted and items which could be delayed were referred to our next meeting. Greg Clatterbuck was elected and installed as the new Excellent Chief.

Ohio DeMolay Conclave

Today I attended a reduced Conclave held online in addition to a minimal number in person. (While I could have attended in person, I decided to leave more room for DeMolay’s and parents of those being installed) by attending online.  While I would have preferred to attend in person, especially as Grand High Priest, I’m hoping next year we can be back more to normal so I can attend in person.