|
R:.W:. Joseph R. Leo
District Deputy
Grand Master
e-mail
R:.W:. David L. Blasch
Grand Director
of Ceremonies
e-mail
V:.W:. John W. Cola
Assistant Grand
Lecturer
e-mail
V:.W:. Scott A. Klein
Assistant Grand
Lecturer
Lodges of the
Orange-Rockland
District
Athelstane
No. 839
Pearl River
web
site
Cornerstone
No. 711
Monroe
web
site
Goshen
No. 365
Goshen
contact
Hoffman
No. 412
Middletown
web
site
Hudson River
No. 309
Newburgh
web
site
Jerusalem Temple
No. 721
Mountainville
web
site
Naurashank
No. 589
Pearl River
contact
Port Jervis
No. 328
Port Jervis
contact
Stony Point-Wawayanda
No. 313
Sparkill
contact
Wallkill
No. 627
Walden
web
site
Warwick
No. 544
Warwick
contact
West Point
No. 877
Highland Falls
contact
|
The February 26th meeting of ORDMA, scheduled to be held at Port Jervis Lodge, has been cancelled due to the weather.
We'll see you at the dinner dance on March 17th!
It’s been another incredibly busy week in our District and things are ramping up to get busier. Most of our Lodges have begun new Degree cycles, and several require assistance. Masters and Wardens, please remember to attend the Masters and Wardens meetings to discuss your needs and don’t forget to list the assistance that you require in our Help Wanted area of this e-newsletter. Many of our Lodges require assistance with the Hiramic Drama and it is the Masters responsibilities to put together Drama teams. If you need help identifying people who can help you with specific parts, please feel free to call on myself or our AGLs for a list of names, but do NOT wait until the last minute. You should be assigning parts to the members of your Lodges to learn for April and May Third Degrees now, this way there are no excuses about Brothers not having enough time to learn parts.
On that same subject, I hope that some of you are planning to attend the Celebration of Ritual which will be held down at Grand Lodge tomorrow (Saturday) morning. Coffee will be served at 8:00 a.m. followed by an exemplification of the Hiramic Drama and a lecture about our ritual at 9:00 a.m. I hope that Brothers from our District will travel down to represent us and share in this wonderful experience.
On the subject of wonderful experiences, we would like to congratulate R:.W:. Hank Stoveland and W:. Bob Adams whose sons Carl and Robert Jr. were Raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason last Saturday in a wonderful Degree conferred for Hudson River Lodge by the Royal Arch ‘Red Jackets’ degree team. It’s wonderful to see our Craft communicated so effectively from generation to generation, and we also welcome all of the new Brothers Raised… and don’t forget, all newly Raised Brothers have their first year’s membership dues in ORDMA waived.. that’s right, it’s free!
Speaking of ORDMA, we’re coming down to the deadline for ads for the ORDMA Dinner Dance journal. If you have not yet purchased an ad for your Lodge or business, or even a personal ad or booster from you and your family, please take a moment to download the form in the ORDMA section below. ORDMA has earmarked the funds from the journal ad profits toward our District’s Child ID program, for which we are extremely grateful, and I encourage each of you to buy your ads and tickets for the dinner on March 17th today!
Finally, a note about mentoring. I can’t begin to express how important the mentoring of new brothers is to their Masonic Experience. Mentors should be working with every new Brother from his candidacy, though his Degrees, and into his first year in our Craft. The education of a new Brother is a one to one process, not a classroom session. This critical first year is all about building new, life-long relationships. PLEASE make sure that every Brother taking Degrees in your Lodge has a mentor who he can call on, with a back-up in case he has immediate questions and his primary mentor is unavailable. Don’t forget the Masonic Development Course (MDC), which mentors can, and should, take with the new brothers, and should be offered to every class in every Lodge. Let’s start the new year off right with a concerted resolution not to wrong, cheat, nor defraud our new Brothers of the Light in Masonry that they are entitled to. For more information about the MDC Course, please contact our Grand Director of Ceremonies, R:.W:. Dave Blasch.
Well, that’s it for this week. As some of you may have heard, I started a new job on Wall Street and my cable tow has shortened considerably. That makes effective communication between our Lodges that much more important as I can no longer be the conduit for every issue that arises. I look to the officers of our lodges to use the skills that they have learned in our Craft to reach out to one another, express your needs and programs effectively, and continue to help each other out. I’ll still be here to grease the wheels, no worries, but this is your chance to grab the reins, exercise your leadership, and help save the District from badly mixed metaphors. See you next week!
DISTRICT NEWS
Drama Exemplification in NYC
Our Grand Lecturer, R:. W:. James E. Sullivan, asked me to remind
everyone that the Drama Section of the 3rd Degree will be presented
on February 24th in the Grand Lodge auditorium. We will begin at approx.
8:30 a.m. with the Drama to start at 9:00 a.m. We encourage the Brothers
to make every effort to attend and we would like to see a good delegation
from our Distract in attendance. Please contact the DDGM
or one of the Assistant Grand Lecturers
for more information.
Masters and Wardens Meeting
The Masters and Wardens will meet at Hoffman Lodge on Monday
March 12th at 7:00 p.m. Please note this is a special
meeting location. The meeting will be held prior to the School of
Instruction which will convene at 8:00 p.m. and will be a rehearsal for our
Grand Lecturer's Convention, which will be held on Tuesday April 10th. We hope
to see everyone there!
Blood Drive Cancelled
The Blood Drive at Port Jervis Lodge scheduled for February 24, 2007
has been cancelled. We will let you know when it may be rescheduled.
Library Dinner Dance
The Chancellor Robert R Livingston Library of Grand Lodge will hold its annual Dinner Dance, honoring
Past Grand Master Bruce Widger, will be held on Sunday, March 25th at Leonard's of Great Neck beginning at noon.
There will be an open bar, cocktail hour, dinner and dancing with the proceeds benefiting the Library. Tickets
are $80 per person. More information is available in the NY NETNEWS.
Grand Lecturer's Convention
Don't forget our own Grand Lecturer's Convention which will be held
on Tuesday April 10th at Hoffman Lodge in Middletown. We expect all
of our Lodges to attend with their complete line of officers and as
many Brothers as you can bring! Please... make plans, not excuses!
2007-2008 Individual Development Course (iDC)
Registration for next year’s Individual Development Course
will be available soon. This course provides skills useful in every
aspect of our lives and helps to develop us in our roles at work,
our homes, our communities, and our Craft. The course focuses on personal
skills such as time management, goal setting, and self-discipline;
interpersonal skills such as public speaking, e-mail and written materials,
dealing with difficult people, running effective meetings, and the
group process; and other important skills such as problem and data
analysis, brainstorming, surveys, and project management. These are
skills that apply to all areas of our lives and next year’s
course, scheduled to begin in September and run one Saturday a month
for six months, will be open to spouses as well as Masons. We hope
to see many of you take advantage of this important and very valuable
opportunity. For more information, please contact the DDGM.
Orange-Rockland Central Chapter, Order of DeMolay
DeMolay is a Masonic youth program for boys ages 12-21, which teaches
leadership within a fun, moral framework in line with our own principles
and tenets. The local Chapter, which meets at Wallkill Lodge in Walden,
is in desperate need of advisors, Brothers willing to give up a few
hours a month to mentor and work with these inspiring young men. There’s
no commitment required to obtain information, give us a call and see
what it’s all about. For more information, please contact R:.W:.
Hank Stoveland.
ORDMA NEWS
 ORDMA Dinner Dance
Mark your calendars! The annual ORDMA Dinner Dance will be held on
Saturday March 17th at Anthony's Pier Nine in New Windsor. The evening,
which will feature a full cocktail hour, dinner, live music, and dancing
is only $55 per person. We are supplementing the price with journal
ads to make it easier for people to attend, and hope you will encourage
your Lodge and local businesses to support ORDMA's charitable projects
by purchasing an ad. For more information on tickets or ads, please
contact Wor. Bob Morlang or Bro.
John Gebbia.
Download the ORDMA
Dinner Dance Ad Form
ORDMA Calendars Now Available!
When we said 'mark your calendars' just now, did you have to stop
to remember where yours is? Well, look no further, the 2006-2007 ORDMA
Calendars are here! These handy pocket calendars contain all of our
District's Lodge and Concordant Bodies meetings, important events,
Lodge and District officers, and directions to our Lodges. The calendars
cost $5 each and the proceeds go to support our District's community
service and charitable efforts, including our new District child ID
system. To obtain a calendar, contact any of ORDMA's officers. They
make great stocking stuffers for your Brothers!
DATES TO REMEMBER
| Celebration of Ritual - Grand Lodge |
Saturday February 24th, 2007 |
contact |
| Stony Point-Wawayanda Lodge Entered Apprentice Degree |
Wednesday February 28th, 2007 |
contact |
| Cornerstone Lodge Fellowcraft Degree (#2!) |
Wednesday February 28th, 2007 |
contact |
| Hoffman Lodge Entered Apprentice Degree |
Tuesday March 6th, 2007 |
contact |
| Wallkill Lodge Fellowcraft Degree |
Wednesday March 7th, 2007 |
contact |
| Port Jervis Lodge Entered Apprentice Degree |
Friday March 9th, 2007* |
contact |
| Jerusalem Temple Lodge Entered Apprentice Degree |
Saturday March 10th, 2007 |
contact |
| Masters and Wardens Planning Meeting (Mountainville) |
Monday March 12th at 7:00 pm |
contact |
| District School of Instruction (Mountainville) |
Monday March 12th at 8:00 pm |
contact |
| ORDMA Dinner Dance |
Saturday March 17th, 2007 |
contact |
| Livingston Library Dinner Dance |
Sunday March 25th, 2007 |
contact |
| Wallkill Lodge Master Mason Degree |
Wednesday April 4th, 2007 |
contact |
| Grand Lecturer's Convention |
Tuesday April 10th, 2007 |
contact |
| Cornerstone Lodge Master Mason Degree |
Wednesday April 11th, 2007 |
contact |
| Jerusalem Temple Lodge Fellowcraft Degree |
Saturday April 14, 2007 |
contact |
| Hoffman Lodge 150th Rededication |
Saturday April 21st, 2007 |
contact |
| Cornerstone Lodge Master Mason Degree (#2!) |
Wednesday April 25th, 2007 |
contact |
| Jerusalem Temple Lodge Master Mason Degree |
Saturday May 24th, 2007 |
contact |
| Cornerstone Lodge Rededication |
Saturday October 14th, 2007 |
contact |
| * Denotes a dinner will precede or
follow the meeting or event. Please check with the contact for
details. |
SCHOOL OF INSTRUCTION
The Orange-Rockland School of Masonic Instruction will convene on
the second Monday of each month, at locations around the District.
Instruction will rotate on a monthly basis between Ritual, Grand Lodge
educational programs, and seminars on topics like Leadership and Communication.
Our next School will be held on Monday March 12th at Jerusalem Temple
Lodge at 8:00 p.m. The trestleboard for the School will be the Entered
Apprentice Degree. Please bring your Entered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts
for this informative evening .A brief Masters and Wardens meeting
will precede the School at 7:00 p.m.
If you have any questions, please contact the DDGM.
We'll see you there!
The Beat of the Drum
The Beat of the Drum
by Brother Gordon T. Hallmark
Each life has a beat that it follows; We call it
the beat of the drum,
And once the rhythm has started, The melody's sure to come.
It may be the beat of another, It may be a beat of our own,
It may be a high pitched frequency, Or it may be a lower tone.
And all through our lives we must follow the beat which has come to
our mind,
To give our lives cadence and meaning, Our purpose in life so to find.
For our purpose is life's direction, Our life's goal it would be for
some;
So listen as soul and you'll hear it, The beat, beat, beat of the
drum.
HELP WANTED
Restoration Help Wanted
Cornerstone Lodge would like to announce to the District that the
restoration of McGarrah's Stagecoach Tavern is underway. We are looking
for volunteers to assist in the historic preservation of our building
which houses the oldest surviving Masonic lodge room in New York State
and the third oldest in the nation. Freemasons who donate two weekends
of labor or a cash donation of the equivalent to the project will
have their names permanently inscribed on a commemorative stone as
contributors. The official dedication of our Museum and Historic site
will be October 14, 2007 when the M:.W:. Neal I Bidnick, Grand Master
of Masons, will perform the opening ceremonies. This will be a few
days shy of the 190th Anniversary of the first Masonic meeting in
the building. We expect many visitors from the local historic community
to attend. Brothers, please mark this date on your calendars. There
will be much food and celebration.
Copyright 2006-2007 Orange-Rockland District,
GLNY F&AM. All rights reserved. |
