First Lodge Meeting of the New Year Goes Well…?
DeKalb Lodge No. 144 kicked off the new Masonic year this past Tuesday with mostly new corps of Officers. While plans were to open 1-2-3 in form, the warmly welcomed appearance of a couple of new Entered Apprentices forced us to just open the Lodge on the First Degree. Opening went very well, except new Worshipful Master, Jim Tome, forgot the Pledge of Allegiance (a quick “rewind” got it back in).
In an effort to streamline the business portion of our meetings, minutes from the previous meeting will be both e-mailed to Brothers who provide their e-mail address to Brother Secretary Scott Bellis, as well as be posted near the sign-in register and near the refreshment table. Brothers are encouraged to read and review the minutes — not only for omissions and corrections, but also so they’ll know what’s new and planned for our Lodge.
As the meeting progressed, new Master Masons — of which we had two from the weekend’s Grand Master’s Class — as well as other Brothers around the Lodge asked questions and discussed new issues (i.e. raising the Tyler’s salary from $2 per meeting to $3). Worshipful Master Tome spoke about the Planning Meeting the Officers held two weeks before and about the vision the corps of Officers have for the year.
This includes:
- A family trip to a local minor league baseball game
- A planned family Masonic picnic
- A bowling night for all Brothers
- A Masonic trip to Washington, D.C. either next year or the one thereafter
The Master also spoke about having speakers and presenters at upcoming meetings (including the Worshipful Master of Geneva Lodge, showing his slides from his recent trip to Washington, D.C.), holding degree work for two or more Candidates at scheduled times as opposed to every meeting and keeping better track of the Award of Excellence Program as well as members attending each meeting.
In all, the meeting went well, our Brother Steward provided pie as a refreshment and the Master counted a total of 20 Brothers in attendance — up from recent meetings.
