“… 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….” *

My Brothers, ladies and friends:

A recent poll of citizens in thirty-four countries around the world found the United States at number one in terms of patriotism. An Associated Press story states, “The U.S. ranked highest overall and in five categories: pride in its democracy, political influence, economy, science and military.”

This is a bit strange. National pride would seem to be a comprehensive feeling; I'm not sure many people break it down into these survey categories—which include sports, arts and literature, history, and fair treatment of all groups—when they consider the degree of their patriotism. We don’t try to analyze why we get a tear in the eye when we sing the National Anthem, when our athletes do well in the Olympics, when we watch the majestic Blue Angels. Regardless of political party we all cheered when President Bush showed his leadership with the rescue workers at Ground Zero. Music and images of our country and stirring rhetoric can touch that patriotic spirit that lives in our souls. It is a beautiful thing.

For Masons, who revere the great history and traditions of the Craft, it is a small step to venerate the history and achievements of America and Americans. That so many of our Masonic fathers were active as Founding Fathers is no accident. Warriors, philosophers, creators and leaders, they built our government on sound principles and our nation on a foundation of faith. We hold that same faith and believe in the same principles.

When this country does it right, America exhibits those principles. Patriotism is the reflection of our pride and satisfaction. It’s the recognition: Yes! That’s who we are. It is a sense of belonging to something that is good. It is a feeling that the Great Architect approves.

On this July 4th weekend take time to appreciate this country. Give thanks for those who have given much to preserve it. Fly your flag.

My wish for you and your family is that you be struck by an overwhelming sense of patriotism and that you welcome it. And I remind you that the Grand Lodge of New York is only five years younger than the Declaration of Independence.

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Neal I. Bidnick
Grand Master

* Excerpt from the Masonic Compact

New Grand Lodge Web Site
It is our pleasure to announce that the Grand Lodge web site has undergone some major changes! Brethren are invited to log onto the newly updated, user friendly and secure web site at www.nymasons.org at their earliest convenience. The new web site is still a work in progress, but we are sure you will find it of interest and a terrific resource for Masonic information. We hope you will visit the site often. Please be sure to share this announcement with your Lodge.

Many of you have already subscribed to the NETNEWS mailing list. You can access the most current edition of the NETNEWS through the link on the main page of the new Grand Lodge web site (www.nymasons.org). If you bookmarked this page previously, you will need to do this again, linking to the new page. You can also encourage your friends to sign up for NETNEWS announcements on the same page.

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2007 Individual Development Course (iDC) Deadline Extended!
Several brothers have asked if they can still submit the "Request for Application" back page of the iDC 2007 Brochure, and if the Program is still open for students to enroll. Good news! The program is still open and the Request form will be honored through the end of next week, July 7th. Brochures have been sent to every Master and Secretary, your District Leaders, and you can also download a copy of the iDC brochure in pdf format by clicking here.

For those who have already completed the interest application on the brochure, the full iDC 2007 Application will be available both online (encouraged) and by snail mail in the next week to 10 days.

As a reminder the first regional training session will take place on September 16 with the following five sessions on the third Saturday of each month following through February, 2007. If there are any questions, or wish to submit an application, please contact the District Deputy Grand Master ASAP.

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District Staff Meeting
The staff of the District Deputy Grand Master will meet at (air conditioned!) Jerusalem Temple Lodge on Thursday July 6th at 7:30 p.m. to begin planning our Fall visits and programs. If you would like to work with us, please contact the District Deputy Grand Master. We'll have dinner before the meeting at 6:30 p.m., so please RSVP.

We also need representatives from each of the Lodges to act as Lodge Chairmen and Liaisons for Communications, Fellowship and Family Involvement, Community Service, Awards, Youth, and the Brotherhood Fund. If you'd like to get involved at the Lodge or District level, please let us know!

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Masters and Wardens Meeting
The Masters and Wardens will meet at (air conditioned!) Jerusalem Temple Lodge on Monday July 10th at 7:00 p.m., prior to the School of Instruction which will convene at 8:00 p.m. The trestleboard for the School will be an hour of tips on memorizing and teaching ritual, followed by a social hour with cards and refreshments. We hope to see everyone there!

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2006 DDGM Visits
The District Deputy Grand Master, RW Joe Leo, and the Masters and Wardens met on Monday June 12th and set the schedule for his Official Visits. To view the schedule, please click here.

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The Masonic Compact
You can still view the Masonic Compact as a pdf file by clicking here. Please remember to share this important document with your family and friends. When someone asks you what Masonry is about, you now have the new membership info cards to give them from the new Empire State Mason magazine but, more importantly, you can discuss the points of the Masonic Compact and how being a Freemason has affected your life. Give it another read!

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An Invitation to the Masters of Lodges
The Masters of the Orange-Rockland District and their Ladies are cordially invited to meet our Grand Master and members of the Grand Line on Saturday August 12th at noon. This will be a free barbecue with Masters of several surrounding Districts also in attendance. The location will be announced shortly, but please mark your calendars now. We hope that all of the Masters of our District will make every effort to attend.

District Staff Meeting (JTL)	Thursday July 6th at 7:30 p.m.	contact
Goshen Lodge Master Mason Degree	Saturday July 8th at 9:00 am*	contact
Masters and Wardens Planning Meeting (Mountainville)	Monday July 10th at 7:00 pm	contact
District School of Instruction (Mountainville)	Monday July 10th at 8:00 pm	contact
Jerusalem Temple Lodge Coffee House	Saturday July 15th at 7:30 pm*	contact
Wallkill Lodge Chicken Barbecue	Saturday August 5th 1:00 pm	info | contact
Masonic Family Day at Camp Turk	Saturday August 5th	contact
General Montgomery Day Parade (Wallkill Lodge)	Saturday September 9th 10:00 am	contact
Grand Line Reception for the Masters	Saturday August 12th 12:00 pm	contact
Hudson River Lodge Annual Pig Roast	Saturday September 16th 12:00 pm	info | contact
Walden Day Parade (Wallkill Lodge)	Saturday September 16th 10:00 am	contact
Masonic Family Day at Tappan	Sunday September 17th	contact
DDGM Visit to Hudson River Lodge	Wednesday September 27, 2006	contact
Connecticut FC Degree Exemplification (West Point Lodge)	Friday September 29th at 7:30 pm	contact
Masonic Family Day at West Point	Saturday September 30th	contact
District Leaders Apron Presentations	Sunday October 1st at 12:00 pm*	contact
DDGM Visit to West Point Lodge	Thursday October 5, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Cornerstone Lodge	Wednesday October 11, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Athelstane Lodge	Tuesday October 17, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Warwick Lodge	Tuesday October 24, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Port Jervis Lodge	Friday October 27, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Stony Point-Wawayanda Lodge	Wednesday November 1, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Goshen Lodge	Monday November 6, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Naurashank Lodge	Friday November 10, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Wallkill Lodge	Wednesday November 15, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Hoffman Lodge	Tuesday November 21, 2006	contact
DDGM Visit to Jerusalem Temple Lodge	Saturday December 9, 2006	contact
* Denotes a dinner will precede or follow the meeting or event. Please check with the contact for details.

Wallkill Lodge invites the Brethren of our District to join them in marching in the General Montgomery Day Parade in Montgomery, NY on September 9, 2006, and the Walden Day Parade in Walden, NY on September 16, 2006. For more information, please contact the Master, Wor. Robert Schroeder.

Masonic Family Days are Coming
Masonic Family Day at Tappan will be held on Sunday September 17th and Masonic Family Day at West Point will be held on Saturday September 30th. Both of these events, sponsored by our Grand Lodge, will take place in the Orange-Rockland District and we are looking for volunteers to help with them. Both afford opportunities to socialize with your Brethren, and to introduce family and friends to the Craft. If you can help with either, please contact the DDGM.

The Orange-Rockland School of Masonic Instruction has returned! The School 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 July 10th at Jerusalem Temple Lodge at 8:00 p.m. The work on the trestleboard will be a short program on memorization and learning ritual followed by a social hour with cards and refreshments. 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!

It is with heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of R:.W:. William Cocks, Past District Deputy Grand Master of the Orange-Rockland District. He passed into the hands of the Great Architect of the Universe on Monday June 26th after a recent illness. The Orange-Rockland District expresses its deepest condolences to Bill's family and the Brothers of Wallkill Lodge.

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It is our sad duty to inform you of the passing of Mrs. Christina J. Knice, beloved wife of Bro. Robert Knice of Port Jervis Lodge. We know that the Brothers of the Orange-Rockland District join us in extending our heartfelt condolences to Bro. Bob and his family and wish them solace at this difficult time.

Who Said This?
Match the quote to its author. Answers next week!

1. "The secret of Masonry, like the secret of life, can be known only by those who seek it, serve it, live it. It cannot be uttered; it can only be felt and acted. It is, in fact, an open secret, and each man knows it according to his quest and capacity. Like all things worth knowing, no one can know it for another and no man can know it alone." 2. "Give the brethren a chance to do something, anything, no matter how small or unimportant. A brother convinced that he is helpful is enthusiastic." 3. "There is a certain grave beauty in the practice of Masonic etiquette. The Masonic life as it is lived out in our assemblies is a conscious work of art, with each and every part coordinated to every other, and instinct with the feeling of the whole; if a man enters into that system without preparation or forethought, and trusting only his instincts, his manner will strike an awkward note, like a discord jangling across a strain of music; but if he has trained himself in his part and caught the spirit of the whole, the genius of Freemasonry will shine through his actions, will express itself through ritual, symbol, law, philosophy, fellowship and daily deed. To have one's self thus become a part of a great and living whole is a kind of satisfying pleasure nothing else can give, a participation in the very life of beauty, appreciated as much by the beholders as by the actor. This ability to confer pleasure upon one's fellows when gathered in communication or in ceremony is not the least of etiquette's rewards." 4. ""What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others, and the world, remains and is immortal." 5. "Freemasonry has no dogma or theology. It offers no sacraments. It teaches that it is important for every man to have a religion of his own choice and to be faithful to it in thought and action. As a result, men of different religions meet in fellowship and brotherhood under the fatherhood of God. I think that a good Mason is made even more faithful to the tenets of his faith by his membership in the Lodge. "

A. Henry G. Meacham B. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale C. Carl H. Claudy D. Dr. Joseph Fort Newton E. Albert Pike

Last week's puzzle: It is better that no workman be added to the rolls than one unworthy be allowed to cross the threshold of the Lodge