Is your Lodge ready for Fall

Can you believe it summer is almost over the State Fair is upon us with Labor Day and the start of school just around the corner. While we are all trying to squeeze as much as possible out of the last few days of summer it is time to start planning for fall activities in the Lodge.
Now is the time to get those petitions filled out and submitted to your Lodge secretary. With all the activity of the summer there should be several men that you know that have seen the good works that we do and the fun that we have. I don't know of a Lodge in the Southeast that wouldn't love to start the fall off by reading a petition and then having to schedule degree work.

If your Lodge doesn't currently have any petitions in the works why not schedule an open house or information night. Invite men that you feel would make a good Mason and make him feel welcome and let him see the type of men that make up our Lodges. An information night or open house is also a great way to involve the entire family in a function down at the Lodge.

I do know of several Lodges that are either scheduling degree work or open houses for this fall. There are a couple of other major upcoming events over the next month or two that with some planning could provide another way to share Masonry with a friend: on October 9th there will be a dinner and historical presentation about the Mayo brothers and Masonry, the other is the re-dedication of Corinthian Lodge in Farmington as well as the Cornerstone laying ceremony at the new University Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Any of these might be good events and activities to introduce someone to who we are and what we do.

We also have a couple of events coming up for all of the Lodges in the Southeast. On September 19th we will be holding our annual Leadership Conference. This year's conference is for the Wardens with the focus being on developing plans and preparing to become the Master of your Lodge. Then on September 29th is the third school of instruction at Pleasant Grove.

Hopefully you will find that fall will fly by with all of the Lodge activities. See you down the road.

A Great Man among his Brothers

On Sunday night Star in the East Lodge #33 presented WB Gene Miller with the Hiram Award. The festivities were held at the Owatonna Elks Club which included a social hour and a great dinner followed by the presentation. The dinner was attended by 50 guests including several members of WB Gene's family as well as a past Potentate of Zuhrah. We had guests travel many miles to help celebrate the night. During the course of the night several brothers shared stories about WB Gene and what he has meant to them. I was most impressed when WB Rick Wallace, District Representative, was explaining who Hiram was and why we give the Hiram Award. WB Rick very eloquently explained who Hiram was and compared WB Gene to those characteristics. If you had never met Gene before Sunday night you would have walked away at the end of the night fully understanding why he was selected to receive this honor.

A great night was had by all.