Ain’t That Crafty?

As I head into next year to serve the Lodge again as WM, part of the planning naturally includes gifts and gimme’s.  It is tradition that on the night of the Official Visitation, that is, when all the other Lodges in the district visit your Lodge along with the District Deputy, that you welcome them and present your contemporaries with a gift, or small token of your esteem and appreciation for them visiting.  One unique idea was from Bro. William L. Herz of Union Lodge No. 479 who presented an imprinted baseball with his name and Masonic logo on a home-made stand and autographed by all the officers in the lodge – that was a uniques gift!

We also celebrate what are called “Masonic Birthdays” – when we formally recognize the month that a brother came into the Fraternity.  There’s usually a token gift involved with that recognition as well.  In bygone times (i.e. my first time around - 20 years ago) the gifts for “Birthday boys” was a choice of a cigar or a candy bar.  This year – they get a candy bar.  Not the big attraction it was when we first started recognizing birthdays.  Many a Master orders advertising specialties – keychains, ice scrapers, pens etc. to give out. 

As is also tradition, the officers pay for these gifts out of their own pockets, as it is their year and not fair to use up Lodge funds for such niceties (though we did have some WM’s in the past who submitted receipts to the Lodge for the gifts they gave out – WRONG!)

Well, as you probably know, I am currently sans-employment (out of work), so I thought about what gifts I could give on my self-imposed shoestring budget.  So I turned to a hobby of mine for the solution.  You see, I like working with wood – woodcarving, woodburning, wooden crafts, refinishing/repurposing furniture – those sorts of things.  So in my spare time, when not sending resumes, applying for jobs on-line, or reading rejection letters, I grabbed some wood and took to the scroll saw, the carving knife and the wood-burner. 

I started with the Birthday gifts (as I assume I’ll need more of those) – made about 50 of them for starters, each will be personally signed by the JW,SW and WM (me).  They look something like this:

 

 

 

Next I took to making the gifts for Visitation.  I got the inspiration from a Halloween wall-hanging we picked up at a craft show a few years back – kind of a country craft-style Frankenstein.  I basically used the same dimensions and with a little artistic twist, created nine country craft-style Worshipful Masters.  Each one has the Lodge number on the front to represent the Master of each visiting Master’s Lodge number.  Once I had them assembled, I had no place to store them (until next April), so I rigged it so I could hang them all up in the basement.  The basement now looks like this:

 

 

 

I hope the months pass quickly, because these little guys are beginning to freak out my wife just a bit when she goes down to do laundry.  I can’t wait for her reaction to the 4 foot free-standing version I’m making now for the District Deputy.

I also used the woodburner to recreate the District Deputy’s jewel on a piece of wood.  It started as an experiment, but turned out okay, so I’ll probably give him this too:

 

 

 

 

And that’s about it for the gift items…on a shoestring budget, doing something I enjoy so the time flies by, not difficult to make.  But I also made these things “just for so” as we say here in PA Dutch country:

Scroll saw & woodburning

 

 

 

 

 

Woodcarving - "The Old Master"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that’s what I do for fun – I sure hope the Brethren like ‘em.  My wife said “I hope they appreciate this after the time you put into it!”    I’d be doing something like this to relieve stress and have fun anyway even if it wasn’t for my Lodge Brethren….but, me too dear.

The Steward!

Met last night with our new Steward.   See, our current Steward is hanging up his spatula at the end of the year so he can focus on going to Shrine Legion of Honor with his dad while he still can.  So fo 2010, we’ve got a young guy (he’s about 31 or 2) who’s got alot of restaurant and food service experience.  He’s happy to organize, plan and otherwise manage the food service for the lodge next year.  What a great find!

I told him we’d have about 4 meetings next year where we’d serve dinner beforehand and invite wives etc. (we’ll have a program for them while we’re in our meeting).  The rest of the time, just plan on lite fair for after the meetings – not just pie & ice cream like we’ve been having.  He’s all on board with it.  I look forward to working with Bro Corey in his new role and am sure he’ll do really well!

 We’re currently charging $9 but am told it could go up a buck.  We only get about 10-12 of “the regulars” out for the dinners…they don’t really attract added attendees like they used to (of course way back it was free or by donation, and then $5 and the lodge would pick up the rest-but these days we can’t afford to foot the bill).  I think someone could go to a local restaurant and get about the same quality of meal (maybe better from what I’ve heard about the food lately) for $10…so why rush to get to lodge by 6 for that?  Scottish Rite picks up part of the tab on their dinners, plus they get about 129 out for a meal…so quantity helps.  I’d like to see a good number come out for a meal before meeting, but given the current situation it just doesn’t seem worth the work to do it every month…so in keeping with my plans for next year, we’ll be mixing things up a bit – to add some interest and eliminate the same old, same old.

What are your thoughts on meals before lodge meetings?  How does your lodge handle it?  Does it increase attendance or cater mainly to “the regulars?”  I’d be interested to know.

The Lost Symbol Review

I recently finished reading Dan Brown’s latest Robert Langdon thriller, “The Lost Symbol.”  I found it a real page turner as I did Brown’s other works (it helps that the chapters are short – short chapters match my usually short attention span).  However, with this latest thriller, I had no problem paying attention.

Symbologist Robert Langdon in this novel find himself once again embroiled in a mystery, but now he’s right here on American soil in our nation’s capital.  The focus of his search, of course, symbols – in this case, Masonic symbols.

In a past novel, Langdon survived an antimatter explosion at the Vatican, and again, here in Washington DC, he experiences another near death experience in his quest.  Along the way, he encounters a nemesis who is seeking a pyramid, and a code that will give him transformational powers beyond belief.  Langdon wades through this quest with what appears to be quite a good understanding of Masonic symbols, places and landmarks for a non-mason.  I am convinced that, when it comes to symbols, Robert Langdon has got to be the smartest person in the world!  Though he does not always immediately get the connections between them, he pretty well interprets most of the symbols he encounters.  He has a brush with the esoteric study of Noetics, which is real – and seems quite fascinating.  Ultimately with the help of a high ranking CIA official (a creepy character named Inoue Sato), the blind Dean of the National Cathedral(a well connected Freemason), the Architect of the Capitol building (a well connected Freemason), his missing friend Peter(a well connected Freemason) and Peter’s equally brilliant Noetic scientist sister Katherine, Langdon races around DC in a whirlwind tour of Masonic sites and symbols in a thriller that sees him once again prevail – this time over a sinister, oddball bad guy named Mal’akh (that’s “angel” in Hebrew).  Mal’akh is a creep in the style of Silas from “The Da Vinci Code.”

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest Langdon installment, though I did find the final few chapters to drag out a bit.  It helps, I suppose, that I enjoy reading Masonic-related stories and fiction, even if many are way off-base.  This work however, is not always so far afield, and does not portray the Masons in a negative light.  It is not a typical bandwagon, know-nothing hit piece on Freemasonry playing to the many misguided folks out there who assume our focus is on ruling the world, when in fact, we’re focused on attracting members in order to stave off declining membership since many of the “Greatest Generation”  in our ranks are dying off).  Oh there are some obvious miscues throughout the story, such as “the double headed Phoenix”….the symbol for the Scottish Rite is actually a double headed Eagle, and there are a few  flights of real imagination along the way, but overall, I think it gives a true reflection of Masonry in that it repeatedly shows the unanymity among members of the craft – how Freemasons support, help, aid and assist one another – extending that generosity even to non-Masons (in this case, Langdon and Katherine).  And light being a central goal of the search in this thriller, of course, relates to the Freemasons quest for light, that is, self-improvement and knowledge (Freemasonry “makes good men better” as the trite saying goes in our circles – but if a Brother pays attention and lives what Freemasonry preaches and stands for, it truly can do that).

I was not sure what to expect from this novel after Brown stirred up a hornets nest with the Church in his previous work surrounding the Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene.  All in all, I found this to be well researched, exciting, and fair (as if “fair” should even be a factor when reading a work of fiction).  In fact, in an AP  interview, Dan Brown discussed the Freemasons, saying, “I have enormous respect for the Masons. In the most fundamental terms, with different cultures killing each other over whose version of God is correct, here is a worldwide organization that essentially says, `We don’t care what you call God, or what you think about God, only that you believe in a god and let’s all stand together as brothers and look in the same direction.’   Plus, hear his views on Freemasonry in this Today Show interview when the book was released.

I highly recommend “The Lost Symbol” to your earnest consideration – give it a read, I’m sure you will enjoy it.

Oh, I also would suggest you try to catch “Hunting The Lost Symbol” on Discovery.  I saw it and they break down many of the elements of this novel and weigh in on the facts vs the fiction.  I found it a very informative , fair and enlightening show.

Brother Franklin

The Valley of Reading held its Stated Meeting of all four bodies last night.  First the Lodge of Perfection meets, then Council, Chapter and finally Consistory.  All in all it takes about an hour to an hour and a half. 

During the Consistory meeting, in recognition of my efforts as Editor of Valley Notice, I was fortunate to have been presented with the Supreme Council’s Brother Franklin Award for excellence in publications for Valleys with membership between 2,500 – 5,000.  It’s the first time our Valley has received the top honor.  I had been presented with honorable mention awards before which is still a nice recognition considering we are in a category with some pretty large Valleys in larger cities.  Some of their publications are actually more like magazines – full color, glossy – the works!  Our little black and white publication comes out six times a year and what I’ve tried to accomplish during my time as Editor is to show the Scottish Rite for what it is: an active organization, charitable and fun with events and activites organized throughout the year for members, families, children, and friends.  Our own Ill. Bro. Russell Baker, 33rd degree who is the Active for PA presented me with this award last night. 

The credit for this award and many thanks truly go to our Office Manager Lois, the Valley Secretary, Ill. Bro. Chris Tecklenberg, 33, MSA, all the presiding officers, the officers of the County Clubs, the 32 degree Masonic Learning Center for Children, the Ladies Auxilliary, and all the other club and department members who provide me with the content.  They are the people who get involved, get active and make the Scottish Rite a fun, family organization.  Sure, they could do like too many others and sit home and watch TV or whatever, but they choose to use their time to not only perform a service to this organization, but they then take a little extra time to send me information on upcoming events and information on past activities so I have content for the newletter.  This year it paid off and all our efforts were rewarded.  As I said last night in my remarks, “Thanks everyone!”

AASR Ramps Up

Rehearsals have begun at Scottish Rite again.  Preparations are being made and degrees are being honed for the upcoming Fall Reunion.  The Reunion will take place on Friday Night, November 13 and then on Saturday, November 14 until early afternoon across much of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.  Time will be allotted after the degrees are portrayed specifically for socializing and fraternalism.  The Valley of Reading will host an Octoberfest  in the Scottish Rite Cathedral in West Reading - including dancers and entertainment from the Reading Liederkranz (the local German Club).  It should be quite different and definitely in keeping with the Sovereign Grand Commander’s  determination to see that Scottish Rite turns to “ICE” (inspiration, convenience, enjoyment).

Here are some pics of tonight’s rehearsal…It takes alot of work and time from a good number of members to hold these Reunions for new candidates.  Getting to know other members and participating in the degrees and rehearsals has always been great fun….I highly recommend you give it a try.  You need not be an actor, believe me.  In fact, many roles have no lines to memorize.  We are fortunate in this degree that our Director is Bro. Bruce McLean…he’s got years of REAL theater experience, and luckily for us…a great deal of patience!

That's Bruce in the foreground(I think he nodded off)

I’m BAAAACK!

Sorry for the long hiatus. Mom’s illness and subsequent passing over the summer, losing my job (if you know someone needs a good Marketing Manager – PLEASE let me know), and various and sundry other life events, I had to cool it on the blog for a while.
But now as we near 2010, and preparations are under way to have an eventful year, I’m back in the saddle and ready to go….so going forward, look for posts and updates from brotherjon or Masonic Ed about everything from going through the chairs in Blue Lodge for the second time, to Scottish Rite events to upcoming events among Masonic affiliations around the Berks County. Oh, and quite possibly reviews and comment – my take on this wonderful fraternity of ours.
Sorry it’s been a while….but glad to be back. Look for new stuff on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Supreme Architect willing, I’ll be here.
S&F,
brotherjon
(I usually just use my initials at the end of emails…but in this case, I suppose the initials for “brotherjon” would be “BJ”- and we’ll have none of that going on here!)

Goin’ Old School

Thursday Night, June 4 was Amateur Night, um…sorry…Past Master’s Night at St. John’s Lodge.  That wonderful night each year when we pause to recognize and show appreciation for the Brethren who’ve made the time, and put in the effort to keep the Lodge running all these years. 

Past Master’s Night takes all forms – official looking ceremonies, special dinners, sometimes a Past Master degree team conferring a degree on a new initiate.  I’ve seen it handled any number of ways.  Last night it was run like this; we have no candidates coming through right now, so instead, we assembled a team of Past Masters to EXEMPLIFY an Entered Apprentice Mason’s Degree.  I made the contacts and asked for help with this.  I didn’t want to go too far back to bring somebody out of mothballs just to exemplify a degree, and what do you know – aside from the Past Master’s I called who were able to attend and agreed to help out by taking part, there was but one other Past Master present for this meeting.  Where were all the others?  No idea. 

Anyway, if I go down that road it opens a whole other series of rants we need not get into now.  Here is the Trestle Board for the degree:

 

We had a good time doing it – and while we were not letter perfect, we were pretty darn good.  And we looked good as well.  Everyone showed up in their tails (at least those who were still able to fit into them).  I am not convinced that the brethren attending enjoyed it as much as we did – seems degrees at Stated Meetings never really draw a big crowd.

Next year, my plan for Past Master’s Night would be to provide the entertainment rather than BE the entertainment.

Ol’ 62 Visitation

Well, sorry – since AASR reunion life’s been a bit of a whirl.  Haven’t had the chance to post regularly as I would like.  My intention going forward is to Post regularly – shall we say, Monday, Wednesday and Friday?  That way I have a deadline to hit and you have a time to check in on Brotherjon. 

Monday Night was official visitation at Lodge 62 in West Reading.  THat’s it….no name.  Just Lodge No. 62.  They’re the oldest Lodge in the district.  You can tell by the number.    It was a fine time, well attended.  Worshipful Master Larry L. Leisey, PM did a terrific job.  He was well at ease in the East, kept things moving and had things under control.  One aspect I thought was novel and hadn’t seen done that way was at one point in the meeting, he just said “We’re going to take a break for 5 or 10 minutes for you to socialize”  Or words to that effect – what a great idea!  And everyone got up, walked around shot the breeze and met some new friends.  Bravo Larry!

As the Worshipful Masters tend to do, they had a gag when they entered the meeting. (Like previously on May 5 at Chandler Lodge No. 227’s visitation, they showed up in sombreros for Cinco de Mayo)  Well Monday in tribute to the districts OLDEST Lodge – they (and the DDGM) showed up in long gray beards. 

What a fun group.  What a good meeting.

News Flash!  Some of the Brethren from Vaux Lodge must have missed the bus – they didn’t have enough members present to win the travelling gavel (for a change).  But the one’s who did show all had their little inflatable gavels to wave around.

Oh – and of course with it being June…STRAWBERRIES AND ICE CREAM!!!!!  I had seconds – no surprise there.  Here’s St. John’s No. 435’s Worshipful Master Michael P Light, PM chowing down:

Don’t let his expression fool you  -  the Strawbs & Ice Cream were delicious – he always looks like that.

Next visitation?  The last one for the year….Thursday June 11 in West Reading for Reading Lodge No. 549.

AASR Reunion On The Way!

Our Spring Reunion is on the way – May 16.

I am slated to be in 4 degrees: 4th, 23rd, 31st, and 32nd. Three of the four are pretty big parts – oh boy do I hope I remember all the words!  We have two rehearsals Monday Night and another on Thursday Night, then Saturday….SHOWTIME!  Wish us luck!

As for the guest and speaker for the Reunion – should be good, check it out:

    Our honored guest, his Honor and Illustrious Jeffrey K. Sprecher, 33°, will address the class of candidates and the brethren at the Spring Reunion of the Valley of Reading.  Illustrious Brother Sprecher was first elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County in 1992.  He graduated from Kutztown University in 1972 and received a Master of Public Administration from Marywood College in 1976 and a Jurist Doctorate from Widener University in 1982. He served as a research planner on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Justice Commission from 1972 through 1975.  He teaches courses in Criminology and Business Law at Albright College, Alvernia College, St. Joseph’s University and Reading Area Community College.  He is the Chairman of the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Berks County Bar Association.  He is a member of the American Judicature Society, the Berks County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Kutztown Chamber of Commerce, the Berks County Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Fleetwood Rotary.  In his spare time he is a Big Brother with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Berks County.

    In 1970, Illustrious Brother Sprecher married Jane L. Shade and together they have one son and two daughters.  The family attends St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fleetwood where Illustrious Brother Sprecher teaches Sunday school. 

    Illustrious Brother Sprecher was raised a Master Mason in Isaac Hiester Lodge No. 660 on April 26, 1983.  He was knighted a Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret, 32°, by Reading Consistory on November 23, 1991, and coroneted a Sovereign Grand Inspector General, 33°, Honorary Member of the Scottish Rite Supreme Council on September 26, 2000, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

    The Valley of Reading is pleased to welcome our own Ill. Jeffrey K. Sprecher, 33°, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County, as our speaker.

JOIN US BRETHREN!

What the World Needs Now

At the annual visitation at Union Lodge in Birdsboro last week, the Worshipful Master held a re-dedication ceremony during which all in attendance too a vow of re-dedication to Freemasonry.  Oh, Bro. Bill Herz, WM of Union Lodge did a terrific job and his officers were right on the mark, which reflects well on Bill and the Lodge – GOOD JOB BRETHREN! 

Anyway, as is customary, the DDGM, Bro Ed Stein stood up to extend greetings from the RWGM and make his own remarks (usually while wandering around the Lodge room).  His message hit the mark!

He acknowledged the re-dedication ceremony and further commented on the need we each have to re-dedicate ourselves to the fraternity.  His main theme was that right now, the world needs Freemasonry, and we as Freemasons need to seize the opportunity, step up and make a difference.  Couldn’t agree more.

If you happen to be a casual mason, then maybe you’ll get around to it after you watch the next repeat of Law & Order, or when baseball season is over, or….frankly there are innumerable reasons not to do anything.  If, however, you are a more serious mason (defined as one who knows, understands and believes in what Freemasonry represents) and take your membership in the world’s oldest and largest fraternity to heart, you know that the time to do something is NOW!   

Think about it… our urban areas are a shambles, people are losing jobs (maybe you’re one of them, I am), crime and gang violence is increasing, people are hurting, only negative issues are portrayed in the media (or at least, spun that way).  So what does this country need?  A magic bullet?  A miraculous president? Divine intervention?  Just ignore it and it’ll all go away? A “well it’s not affecting me” sort of attitude?  No, what is needed is Freemasonry!  Freemasonry teaches the value of the individual, the strength of common purpose, the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God.  Faith, hope, charity, brotherly love, good works are all basic concepts in Freemasonry. 

Tell me the world doesn’t need more of that.

So what can I do you ask?  Get involved!  Visit your Lodge, your Scottish Rite Valley, your Shrine – whatever, and get involved in something.  There are many charitable works Freemasons involve themselves in every day.  There are bonds to be made with others at meetings and events.  Another idea as long as you are connecting with Brethren is to find them in the social media realm like Twitter, Facebook, Blogs like this and so on – make comments, join the discussion and proudly spread the word that you are a Freemason and proud of it (assuming you are).  Advertise Freemasonry:  Wear a ring or lapel pin, put an emblem on your car, I knew a Brother who had a small wooden sign with his street number on it emblazoned with the square & compasses, this lets everyone know to what you belong and for what you stand.  People generally want to be a part of something good.  If we as an organization and as individuals keep ourselves under wraps, nothing will happen – who cares about an organization that doesn’t take pride in themselves? 

So, spot on Bro. Ed, you nailed it.  Who needs Freemasonry?  The World needs Freemasonry.