I received the following request from our Grand Master. Please contact me if you, or the Brothers of your Lodge, can be of assistance. This is an important program and deserves our very best efforts:

My Brothers:

As we move forward in our plans for our Military Outreach program, we will need additional local District chairmen and volunteers to look after our Veterans and their families and to stay in touch with them while they are on active duty.

"....I know that my obligation to community extends beyond my local sphere and is partly fulfilled in my patriotism: love of my country, obedience to its laws and celebration of the freedoms and opportunities it symbolizes".

Please send, to the email address below <ed: Send it to me>, the names and contact information of those Brothers who are active in your District Veterans and Military Outreach Committees or who you think will be interested in working on and with the Committee. We are looking to return to the days when our Lodges were much more active in this area.

Our initiative with the Vietnam Veterans of America and the new interest of our younger members give us an opportunity to move quickly to get the committee set up and moving forward. We will need men and women who are willing to serve as Benefit advisors (the VVA will help train and certify them), information technicians, VA hospital volunteers and local contacts for families.

The men and women who serve and those that have served our nation should never be forgotten and we should always be there for them...at all times.

I look forward to hearing from each of you with your ideas, program recommendations and names of new members for the committee.

Thank you.

Neal I. Bidnick
Grand Master

Masonic Student Assistance Training (MSAT) Comes to Our Area
The Masonic Student Assistance Training Program is about to be held in our area. For the second straight year, a three-day session will be held at Hawthorne Cedar Knolls School in Hawthorne, twenty minutes from the Tappan Zee bridge, on December 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The Program trains teams of teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, nurses, etc., (ideally a group of five or six per school) to help students "at risk". The problem may be academics, health related issues, bad attendance, attitude, drug or alcohol related, etc. What is novel -- and highly successful -- is the team approach. It is appropriate for elementary, middle and high school, public, private or parochial. We have accumulated many testimonials about the program's success. Typically, six or seven students are referred each year per each participating faculty member; that would mean thirty-six or more students who would get through their schooling and graduate.

The program is free to the school district, except to pay for any necessary substitute teachers. Our Grand Lodge pays for professional, outside counselors to run the course (Newman Stecher Associates), and we provide lunch each of the three days. Obviously, a local venue eliminates a three-day trip to Utica, where this is usually held, plus motel, etc. If a school district is interested but uncertain, we can arrange to have the responsible administrator attend for the first day, to assist in deciding to attend a later session. We encourage you, our Brothers, to make your local school districts aware of this important opportunity ASAP.

Masters and Wardens Meeting
The Masters and Wardens will meet at Jerusalem Temple Lodge on Monday December 10th at 7:30 p.m. It is important that all of our Masters and Wardens attend. Please remember that these meetings and this newsletter are the primary coordination and communication venues in this District and each Lodge is responsible for the information disseminated therein. If your Lodge is not represented, the officers are still responsible for obtaining the information from other Lodges in attendance. Thus attendance is expected of Masters and Wardens but everyone is welcome to attend and we hope to see other elected and appointed officers there!

Child ID System
The District Child ID System is available to Lodges who have two Brothers trained in its use. These Brothers may sign out the system by contacting Wor. Robert Morlang, Jr.. Please allow a month in advance to reserve the system and allow the District Committee to order the necessary supplies for your program. Please remember that all unused materials must be returned with the system, there is to be no stockpiling of supplies for future programs.

Next ORDMA Meeting
The next meeting of the Orange-Rockland District Masonic Association (ORDMA) will be held on Monday November 26th at Stony Point-Wawayanda Lodge. A light supper will be served at 6:30 p.m. followed by the meeting and program at 7:30 p.m. All Brothers of the District are invited and encouraged to attend!

ORDMA Holiday Party
You and your families are cordially invited to join ORDMA for its annual Holiday Party which will be held at Hoffman Lodge on Saturday December 30th. There will be plenty of family oriented entertainment, children's activities, and good cheer. We hope you will join us!

ORDMA Dinner Dance
The annual ORDMA Dinner Dance will be held on Saturday March 15th, 2008 at Anthony's Pier Nine in New Windsor. Ticket prices are being subsidized by journal sales again this year and will be $58 per person or $110 per couple. We encourage you to assist us in selling journal ads so that we can continue to subsidize the dinner and support our District's community service and charitable programs. Forms will be available shortly and you can direct any questions to Wor. Bruce Klein. Please mark your calendars now!