18th District Grand High Priest Reception

Tonight was the Grand High Priest Reception and Awards for the 18th Capitular District in Massillon. Past Grand High Priest MEC John Gartrell was also present in addition to the 18th DDGHP and the Grand Master of the 1st Veil. We all had a good meal and left for home early....which was probably a good thing since everyone from outside the District had been up early and in meetings all day for the 20th District All Degree Day.

All Degree Day in Ashtabula

Today was the Inspection for Geneva Chapter, Conneaut Chapter and Western Reserve Chapter in the 20th District at Ashtabula. In addition, the District did a join Royal Arch Degree to complete all four degrees in one day. At the end of the day, they had 10 new Royal Arch Masons. Our Grand High Priest MEC Don Owens, Grand King REC Robert Thomas, and Grand Master of the 1st Veil REC John Donohoo were also present and helped out where needed. Several received the Grand High Priest Excellent in Ritual Pin. I also took a quick side trip to a covered bridge just on the outside of town as there are more covered bridges left in this county than any other in Ohio.

   

Palmyra Chapter # 235 inspection

Tonight was the chapter inspection for Palmyra Chapter in the 3rd District in the Royal Arch degree at Brookville. It was the final inspection of the year for our chapter district. Twin Valley Came over and help them out with a few of the ritual parts and had a official visitation. I think we had a good inspection season but hopefully next year we will have bigger crowds at the inspections. This is the Home Chapter of Past Grand High Priest MEC Jerry Crawford's and he was present in addition to Past Grand High Priest MEC George Shell. Unfortunately, the Guard had some car issues tonight and. ran into the house next door and was hurt fairly bad.

Sometimes it doesn't pay to get up in the morning

While I planned to attend Piqua's Inspection last night and head north to Golden Rule this evening, my plans were changed when a more urgent matter at the house required immediate attention.... a water leak. While I think I determined the source of the leak, getting it fixed (luckily it is on a line to the outside of the house and only is an issue if the outside faucet is turned on) and the clean-up is still ongoing. I'm hoping by tomorrow evening to be able to head to Palmyra's Inspection but we will see if the water clean-up issue was successful or if I have to resort to more drastic measures tomorrow night. And as anyone who has had a water leak knows, the clean-up and attention to getting it resolved can't be delayed.....

Antioch Shrine Stated Meeting...Maybe a Lesson For Chapter

Tonight was our stated meeting at Antioch. Rather than just a normal meeting business meeting, tonight it started off with a family from the Cincinnati Hospital coming to tell their story about how the Hospitals helped them out when their son had some critical birth defects. When was the last time we brought someone in at a stated meeting (or special event of the Chapter) who could give a personal example of how the charities we support helped them. This was really a powerful message and I know it made everyone in the room proud to think this is what they are helping to happen. They also had a ladies program while the men were in their meeting called paint by the glass where a lady came in and showed how to paint and then each of the ladies got to paint a couple glasses or a canvass. My wife is not a painter but she told me she had a great time and would love to do it again. (Maybe another lesson for us in Chapter ... a fun filled program for the ladies during one of our events in which they actually get to participate might make them more willing for us to participate.) The bottom line ... while we have great ritual work  ... maybe we need to give the members a little more to keep them coming back .... and for those who have been around a long while they would know this is something we used to do in Chapter.

My Travels Week of 4/8

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 4/8

·  Tuesday 9         3rd District Piqua #31 Chapter Inspection
·  Wednesday 10  9th District Golden Rule #167 Chapter Stated Meeting

·  Thursday 11     3rd District Palmyra #235 Chapter Inspection Brookville

·  Saturday 13     20th District Western Reserve #8 Chapter Inspection Ashtabula

·  Saturday 13     20th District Conneaut #76 Chapter Inspection Ashtabula

·  Saturday 13     20th District Geneva #8 Chapter Inspection Ashtabula

·  Saturday 13     18th District Grand High Priest Reception Massillon

 Week of 4/15
·  Tuesday 16     16th District Heights #206 Chapter Inspection
·  Wednesday 17 3rd District Kings Dinner
·  Sunday 21        6th District Grand High Priest Reception Bellefontaine

Hamilton Chapter Inspection followed by Jimmie Buffett

Today was the Inspection for Hamilton chapter in the Royal Arch Degree. The Grand High Priest MEC Don Owens, Grand Chaplain REC Chester Burton, Grand Guard REC Ron Hart Sr, were all present in addition to Past Grand High Priest MEC George Shell. REC Jim Stephens filled in as High Priest at the Inspection after the elected High Priest resigned.

Afterwards, I headed north for a Jimmie Buffet Party at Antioch Shrine. There were around 140 in attendance and most stayed for dinner and 4 hour party with music afterwards. I mention this because it was a fun time and several younger members were present but the older folks also seemed to have a good time. I can remember when individual Chapters and District used to have fun events like this and we had good turnouts and also had a good mix of young and old. Possibly we should again try some fun event at the Chapters to help get more people involved.

13th District Grand High Priest Reception

Last night was the Grand High Priest Reception for the 13th District in Athens. It was a great day for a drive so it was nice that we were able to take the scenic route. They also presented their awards for the year. The facility at Athens is perfect for this type of event and they always put out a good meal. It was a shame more could not attend. On the way back we saw lots of deer and luckily saw one just before he ran in front of the car which gave me  time to slow down and miss him.

Grotto. Meeting, Preble Council SEM and Past Masters Club Meeting

Well I'm falling a little behind so dock my pay ...wait a minute I forgot I don't get paid! Work has been unbelievable and I haven't had time to update the BLOG so here goes.....

Tuesday I went to my Grotto stated meeting, Wednesday went to Preble Council to help them out with their Super Excellent Master degree, and tonight to the Shrine to the Past Masters Club meeting.    The good part is I was able to take care of some Chapter follow up business at each of the three nights since  it was a different group of persons at each meeting.

More Sad News

Today was the viewing for REC Herb Clonch who lost his battle with Cancer this past week. In addition, REC Keith Green's mother past away last week. If that wasn't enough another friend from another organization also past away last week so today I had 3 viewing for various persons. Due to work, I was unable to attend the service for Keith Green's mother but I believe it was more family only. I was slated to attend the other two viewing/services this evening but unfortunately I got a cut and it took over an hour to get the bleeding stopped. Luckily I'm now fine and everything is under control...though I missed both which I really wanted to attend as both were very active in their respective organizations.