From the Desk of the Grand Master Jim Kendall, Grand Master
Grand Master’s Musings for October 2018
October is now behind us and what a month it was. We constituted Almira Lodge No. 120, followed by the Districts 28 and 29 meeting. The next day it was off to Colville for the annual Sow Belly and Bean dinner. What a fun event and it was great to see the brothers and families gathered there. Tucked in the schedule was our walk-through at the Bremerton Convention Center as we begin to finalize arrangements for the 2019 Annual Communication. On the 13th I attended the Whatcom Lodge installation of officers. At the Stated Meeting of Wm H. Upton Naval & Military Lodge No. 206 (my home lodge) we had several guests including guests from the Honor Flight. We presented the Honor Flight volunteers the first donation of money raised by the sale of the Lansdowne portraits of George Washington. The donation was sufficient to send five veterans on the Honor Flight and we will continue to raise funds for that effort. Kudo’s to MWB Jim Mendoza who has done yeoman’s work and has sold nearly 100 portraits as of October 28th. The stories coming back about the recipients of the portraits are heart -warming and represent a very real application of the Masonic Virtues in a very public way.
District Meetings have taken us to Almira for Districts 28 and 29, District 27 at Concordia Lodge, District 26 at Waverly (and a fun one it was at that), and District 30 at Newport. While each of the District Meetings were fun, the District 30 meeting also was a sad event. DDGM in District 30, VWB Mark Okusko, suffered a fatal heart attack on Sunday. We did a certain amount of “winging it” but we accomplished the goal and once we got past our grief and sorrow, the meeting went on. Following the meeting was the annual Lumberjack dinner and meeting. And yes, I left a perfectly good (if ugly) tie there as another sacrifice on the altar of great fun. In this case a stump. With several ties stapled to it. No stray ears were nailed to the stump that I saw so I figured I was safe. Then VWB Ryan Leonard was called upon to do the duty and there was a certain amount of anxiety. He did not miss a stroke, however, nor sever an ear, or draw a drop of blood so it all ended well. Whew!
The elected officers have made it a point to get out and attend Stated Communications of Lodges who are feeling neglected. RWB Chris Coffman, RWB Charles Wood, and RWB Cameron Bailey have made it a point and a mission to attend as many lodge meetings as they are able. RWB Chris has made it his goal to visit every lodge in the Jurisdiction and he has made great progress. RWB Woody is also traveling extensively.
Since October 1 I have put 3026 miles on my car while on Grand Lodge Business. Throw in a trip to the Grand Lodge of California Annual Communication, and the miles do add up!
The Grand Officers and the Office Staff are working diligently on the business of the fraternity. With the able advice and hard work of VWB Chris Haynes and his Task Force, we are getting ever closer to the sale of the MRC.
Washington Masonic Charities continues to refine operations and is fast becoming a well-recognized resource.
Are we having fun yet? Why, yes, we are, by the buckets full! Good humor is evident at our meetings and that is very gratifying to me. There is a smile on the face and a twinkle in the eye that appears at every one of our meetings, and that helps make each one special.
We had a truly awesome DeMolay demonstration at one district meeting, and Eastern Star did a part of their ritual at another. Involving our youth and our concordant brothers and sisters is an essential element in having a very successful path moving forward. Kudos to the DeMolay young men and to our Sisters of OES. You made my day!
Fraternally,
MWB Jim Kendall
Grand Master
F&AM of WA
From the desk of the Grand Secretary RW Clinton Brown, Grand Secretary
“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
The charitable arm for the Grand Lodge of Washington is Washington Masonic Charities. The Grand Lodge office works in concert with Washington Masonic Charities to see that requests for Charitable Assistance are processed and acted upon in a timely manner. I have been working closely with Br. Byron Cregeur and VW Brother Fred Noyes III, Chairman of the Grand Lodge Charity Committee to develop a procedure to ensure that requests for Charitable Assistance are processed as quickly as possible. It is important to remember that there are multiple sources of Masonic relief available. However, there is a process that must be followed and an application that must be completed before any request can be acted upon. Below is a list of the steps that a member or Lodge must take to apply for Charitable Relief:
Fill out "Request for Masonic Relief" form, located on the Grand View website on the Home page under Resources and Master Mason. The form can also be provided by calling WA Masonic Charities 1-844-288-3531.
Have your Lodge fill out Section G on the backside of the form.
Submit the completed form to any of our WA Masonic Charities case managers or program director. (Contact information below.) Incomplete applications will be returned to the requestor.
Your WA Masonic Charities case manager will contact you to review your request and explore possible supports for long term stability.
Your case manager will forward your request to the Grand Lodge Charity Committee, which has 72 hours to approve or decline.
Your case manager will contact you with their decision. If the need is not satisfied, your case manager is available to continue working with you for relief.
The case managers for Washington Masonic Charities are listed by the Districts that they cover below: Case ManagersDistrictsPhone
Megan Johnson Western Washington 1-844-288-3531, EXT 112
megan@wa-masoniccharities.org
Online Secretary Training
I am planning to try monthly online seminars for lodge Secretaries to sign up for and ask questions including questions about Grand View and the Washington Masonic Code. The first of these will be scheduled for Thursday, November 15 at 1 pm. Please email me if you would like an invitation to this meeting. I plan on keeping the meeting to an hour or less. So if you have questions or would like some coaching on Grand View, email me at grandsecretary@freemason-wa.org or Chelsea at chelsea@freemason-wa.org and we will send you an invitation to join me on Zoom.
Election Forms
The Washington Masonic Code requires every Secretary to “(t)ransmit to the Grand Secretary, immediately after every election, the Election Form with the names and addresses of the officers to be installed” and ”(c)ertify all returns and the Election Form made to the Grand Lodge. Sec.15.21(F) and (G). With Grand View, the Lodge Secretary now can go online, go to the Elections section of your dashboard (on the left-hand side) and click on the add button located on the top of the page (next to the word Elections). You then enter the date of your election and the type of election which will be “annual election” and hit add. The election will then show under the elections header with the date of the election. Click on the date of your election and then you can enter the member number of the elected or appointed Brother or chose from the drop-down list. If there is not a proficiency date in the system, then the Brothers name will not appear in the drop-down box. You will either need to enter the date of proficiency in his history or contact the Grand Lodge office to research the proficiency date. Then you need to go back and hit the “Install” button and enter the Term Start date. I recommend not entering an end date for the term, as it will update next year when you enter your Elections. It is that easy. If you have any questions, you can call either Lynne or myself or join me on November 15 for the Online Training.
Please feel free to call me if you ever have questions. We are here to serve the Lodges and Brethren of this Grand Jurisdiction.
Everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Clint Brown
Grand Secretary
From the desk of the Assistant to the Grand Secretary VW Clayton La Vigne, Assistant to the Grand Secretary
A couple of weeks ago, I was on the phone assisting a Brother in an administrative matter. When he told me who he was, I realized I was talking with one of my counterparts from the time I was Deputy of the Grand Master in District 17. I mentioned that to him, and we had a nice chat about what we've done in Lodge since then, how our families are doing, and other things. It was a great time, and it caused me to reflect on my interactions with my other fellow Deputies during 2010 and 2011. Some have passed to the Celestial Lodge; some are still active in Grand Lodge, and still others are hard at work helping the lodges in their areas. Two of them went on to become Grand Master. I keep in touch with several of them to this day.
You can do the same thing in your Masonic journey. If you are going through the chairs, find out who is the same position in the Lodges in your area, even Lodges a little further out. Visit them, get to know them, and build a relationship with them as you progress further. There is one thing I remember from my early days in the Craft that has gone by the wayside in many Lodges, in that a principal officer can invite his counterpart from a visiting Lodge to close lodge for him. For example, if the Junior Warden has one or more visiting Junior Wardens, he can invite one of them to close lodge as a guest. If you are a Worshipful Master, you can do the same thing, or you can have one visiting Worshipful Master close, and another give the Closing Charge. It is likely that when you visit their Lodge in the future, they will return the favor by extending the courtesy to you. It's a great way to cement relations between Lodges, and it can be quite fun as well! Doing this will lead to building further on your relationships, such as working together on courtesy degrees, fundraisers, community events, and many other Lodge functions. And most importantly, you forge deeper relationships with your Brothers that last a lifetime.
As Thanksgiving approaches later this month, remember that while the turkey is great, it's a time to remember what you're thankful for. I'd like to thank you, my Brothers, for your guidance, assistance, and friendships over the last 22 years. And I look forward to meeting more of you, and forging new friendships, in the coming years.
Happy Thanksgiving!
VWB Clayton La Vigne
Assistant to the Grand Secretary
From the Accounting Department Kathleen Lau
Life Memberships Keep an eye out for information and instructions regarding the Lodge Life Membership Reports in the December 2018 newsletter.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
Per Sec. 5.06 B.L., all Resolutions which if adopted would change the Constitution or By-Laws shall be delivered to the Grand Secretary or mailed to him under postmark not later than December 1st preceding each Annual Communication.
An outline of the Proper Format is located in the Washington Masonic Code, Appendix C. (CLICK HERE to download a copy).
LODGE LEADERSHIP RETREAT: Information on the retreat will be emailed to Lodge Secretaries, Masters and Wardens later this month. Please be sure to pass this information on to anyone who may be interested in attending, the retreat is open to all. (March 15th & 16th 2019)
OUT OF JURISDICTION AFFILIATIONS: All out of Jurisdiction Affiliations need to be reported directly to the Grand Lodge office. Please send the information to be entered into the system to Lynne Blaylock (lynneb@freemason-wa.org). You will be unable to enter these into Grand View directly.
FORMS: The general Grand Lodge forms are now available on the Grand View database. To download go to the Home Page, click on Resources and then click on Master Mason.
Lodge Secretary forms are now available on the Lodge dashboard under forms.
Office Closed November 12 - Veteran's Day Happy Thanksgiving! November 22nd & 23rd Closing the office on November 21st at 1pm
Secretary,Treasurer and Temple Board Training Date: Sunday, November 4th, 2018 Time: 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM Location: Arlington Lodge No. 129, 405 N Olympic Ave., Arlington CLICK HERE to register for free training Notes:Secretaries and Treasurers need to bring their laptops to log on to Grand View.
Secretary,Treasurer and Temple Board Training
Date: Sunday, November 10th, 2018
Time: 10:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Location: Sequim Lodge No. 213, 700 S. 5th Ave., Sequim CLICK HEREto register for free training Notes:Secretaries and Treasurers need to bring their laptops to log on to Grand View.
Save the Date: Masons Legislative Day On The Hill Date: Monday, January 28, 2019
Upcoming District Meetings:
District No. 10 Meeting - November 3rd, 2018
attack on Sunday. We did a certain amount of “winging it” but we accomplished the goal and once we got past our grief and sorrow, the meeting went on. Following the meeting was the annual Lumberjack dinner and meeting. And yes, I left a perfectly good (if ugly) tie there as another sacrifice on the altar of great fun. In this case a stump. With several ties stapled to it. No stray ears were nailed to the stump that I saw so I figured I was safe. Then VWB Ryan Leonard was called upon to do the duty and there was a certain amount of anxiety. He did not miss a stroke, however, nor sever an ear, or draw a drop of blood so it all ended well. Whew!
