The Silent Summons

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V:.W:. Brother Bruce Siska posted this on BAND and I always like this portrayal or story. I thought it should see a wider audience. So here it is, thank you V:W:. Siska for posting.

A member of a certain Lodge, who previously attended meetings regularly, stopped going. After a few months, the Worshipful Master decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening, and the Worshipful Master found his brother at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
Guessing the reason for the Worshipful Master’s visit, the brother welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace, and waited. The Worshipful Master made himself comfortable but said nothing.

In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After several minutes, the Worshipful Master took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember, and placed it to one side of the hearth, all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

His host watched all of this in quiet contemplation. As the one, lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow, and its fire was no more. Soon, it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Worshipful Master glanced at his watch and chose this time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember, and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately, it began to glow once more, with all the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the Worshipful Master reached the door to leave, his host said, with a tear running down his cheek, “Thank you so much for your fiery summons, my brother. I’ll be back in our Lodge next meeting.”

— Author Unknown

 

WB George Washington visits Smithtown Lodge No. 1127

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The 18th C. came alive last night at Smithtown Lodge when an unexpected guest arrived.

None other than Bro. George Washington (W:. Bill Mountzouros)! He, with the able assistance of Bro. Gary Gudzik, DSA, entertained and ENLIGHTENED the Brethren.

The topic was Civility and proper comportment, in the very words of Bro. George (see slide-in photo).

Sad Tidings – V:.W:. Boysie Singh laid down the Working Tools of Life

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Brothers,

It is with a heavy heart that I relay the news that V:.W:. Boysie Singh, Past Master of Potunk Lodge No. 1071, laid down the working tools of life and has passed upward to that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

May the GAOTU hold him in his hands. The Secretary will send out arrangements when they are available.

Please keep his wife Terry and their three daughters in your thoughts and prayers.

Demand for Events has taken off!

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As the days get longer and brighter, the demand for live events is building. New data reveals that consumers are buying tickets at a rate we haven’t seen since before the pandemic. The proof is in the numbers.

Since the start of 2022:

✔Tickets sales for entertainment events are up 176% in NYC and 127% in LA

✔Ticket sales for food and drink events are up 158% in NYC and 141% in LA

✔Ticket sales for concerts are up 100% in NYC and Boston

✔Ticket sales for health and wellness events are up 179% in Houston

The above is just a snapshot that reflects national trends.

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to kick off and explore that new event idea, now is the time to act on the attendee demand that’s sweeping the nation. Whether you are holing a small dinner or a full-fledged party or musical event, now is the time!

If you are the member of your Lodge, or in the district, that is responsible for creating and running events there are a few things to remember:

  • Plan your event far enough in the future that you can assure you will have a good pool of potential attendees and not run events on the same day at the same time as your neighbor Lodges. This takes communication with the Masters & Wardens of the Lodges in the area (District).
  • Once you have a plan and are set, begin promoting your event at least 2 or 3 months ahead of time.
  • Selling tickets is a Lodge decision on how much and how many to expect to get the planned budget right. We have found that if tickets are to be sold and pre-paid ahead of the event, when the event nears it’s a cinch to adjust the budget accordingly to for the number of attendees. As opposed to just pay at the door. We all know RSVP is a four-letter word to Masons.
  • Promote your event as widely as possible and keep up with it, send reminders and updates periodically.

The Suffolk Masonic District and the LIPMA have teamed up to bring Hiram’s Tickets to all the Lodges and appendant bodies in the area. You can sell tickets to your Lodge or appendant body event right from the suffolkmasons.com website event pages. There is a cost as the system is a professionally coded and implemented software suite. The cost is minimal, just $1.00 per ticket sold.  So, what do you get for your $1.00/ticket price?

  • No messing with online merchant accounts, LIPMA will process all PayPal, Venmo, Credit/Debit Cards for you. The Credit Debit fee is passed onto the buyer, so the Lodge or organization does not absorb that fee.
  • Automatic payouts the day of the event to a personal or business PayPal account (minus the $1.00/ticket LIPMA fee).
  • You have total control of the event from creation to updates. Logon to suffolkmasons.com and click “My Events” on the top menu and add your Lodge or Organization event, dates, times, add images, etc.
  • Add tickets, how much, then they go on sale, when to end the sale.
  • Add a ticket image to make sure the buyer knows which event it’s for.
  • Email promotion to over 500 emails addresses in our DB, growing daily. Includes announcement, ticket promotion, reminders and an after event thank you note.
  • 24/7 access to your attendee list and sales reports
  • Online check-in via the website (attendees report) or via iOS or Android smartphone app (request the phone app code from the admins prior to your event).
  • The attendees list contains a valid guest list for future event promotion.

A representative from LIPMA can come and explain more if requested.

Let’s get those events listed. At the very least you should enter your event on the Suffolk District BAND and this calendar is sync’d with the suffolkmasons.com website calendar so it will be listed tickets or no tickets and there is never a cost to add non-ticketed events. In fact, you can create RSVPs as well and there’s no fee on that either.

If you would like more information, you can check out this post for more detail -> Introducing Suffolk Masonic events tickets powered by LIPMA

Successful Venison Dinner to benefit Camp Turk

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Dear Readers,

The critics have spoken and it’s unanimous!

Thanks to all those who participated I last night’s event. Fantastic evening for everyone. Kudos to the Stokke family for all they do.  – V:.W:. Bill Debenedetto

Thats just one of the many posts since last night’s Venison Dinner. With this event canceled the last 2 years due to concerns, it was a welcome and wonderful return. I’ll just point to all the smiling faces in the images to tell you how the evening went. A big thanks to the Stokke family and Bobby Able and all those that pitched in and made this event a great success.

Below are images taken by our Brother Paparazzi – W:. Al Baker

There are lots of pics so it may take a few seconds to load…be patient.

Aid to Ukraine

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Dear Brethren and Friends, We at the Grand Lodge of New York are trying to do our part towards answering the call of the distressed in providing a source of much-needed help to those adversely affected by these unprovoked acts of violence and war against the good citizens of Ukraine. These unprecedented assaults and aggression […]

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Feb 2022 School of Instruction

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Suffolk District AGLs V:.W:. Bill Debenedetto and V:.W:. Gil Kruse came out last night to Potunk Lodge #1071 for a School of Instruction. On the agenda was to discuss and get info on the Drama of the 3rd degree.

Brothers from Potunk Lodge, Riverhead Lodge, Smithtown Lodge, Suffolk 60 and others all joined in the discussion and ritual.

All had a very enlightening evening and are looking forward to the next.

 

Is it President’s Day or Washington’s Birthday?

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Although the holiday is most often referred to as “Presidents’ Day,” the observed federal holiday is officially called “Washington’s Birthday.”

Neither Congress nor the President has ever stipulated that the name of the holiday observed as Washington’s Birthday be changed to Presidents’ Day. Additionally, Congress has never declared a national holiday that is binding in all states; each state has the freedom to determine its own legal holidays. This is why there are some calendar discrepancies when it comes to this holiday’s date.

So why is Washington’s Birthday commonly called Presidents’ Day?

In a sense, calling the holiday Presidents’ Day helps us to reflect on not just the first president, but also the founding of our nation, its values, and what Washington calls in his Farewell Address the “beloved Constitution and union, as received from the Founders.” Additionally, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday is in February (on the 12th), so by calling the holiday “Presidents’ Day,” we can include another remarkable president in our celebrations as well.

Today, many calendars list the third Monday of February as Presidents’ Day, just as quite a few U.S. states do, too. Of course, all of the 3-day retail store sales are called “Presidents’ Day” sales and this vernacular has also been influential in how we reference the holiday.

Presidents’ Day History

Historically, Americans began celebrating George Washington’s Birthday just months after his death, long before Congress declared it a federal holiday. It was not until 1879, under President Rutherford B. Hayes, that Washington’s Birthday became a legal holiday, to be observed on his birthday, February 22.

Washington’s birthday was celebrated on February 22 until well into the 20th century. In 1968, Congress passed the Monday Holiday Law to “provide uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays.” By creating more 3-day weekends, Congress hoped to “bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation.”

Today, George Washington’s Birthday is one of only eleven permanent holidays established by Congress. One of the great traditions followed for decades has been the reading by a U.S. senator of George Washington’s Farewell Address in legislative session, which remains an annual event to this day.

When Is George Washington’s Real Birthday?

Although the federal holiday is held on a Monday (the third Monday of February), George Washington’s birthday is observed on February 22. To complicate matters, Washington was actually born on February 11 in 1731! How can that be?

George Washington was originally born when the Julian calendar was in use. During Washington’s lifetime, people in Great Britain and America switched the official calendar system from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar (something that most of Europe had already done in 1582).

As a result of this calendar reform, people born before 1752 were told to add 11 days to their birth dates. Those born between January 1 and March 25, as Washington was, also had to add one year to be in sync with the new calendar.

By the time Washington became president in 1789, he celebrated his birthday on February 22 and listed his year of birth as 1732.

To summarize, Washington’s birthday changed from February 11, 1731 (Old-Style Julian calendar), to February 22, 1732 (New-Style Gregorian calendar).

 

The rest as you know dear readers is history!

Send a Kid to Camp

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Dear Brother, As we know, Camp Turk at Round Lake is a premier summer camp and one of the crown jewels of New York State Freemasonry. The past two camping seasons have been very difficult as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020 season was canceled entirely, and last season Camp Turk operated with […]

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2022 Grand Master’s Message – Camp Turk

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Dear Brother,

As we know, Camp Turk at Round Lake is a premier summer camp and one of the crown jewels of New York State Freemasonry.  The past two camping seasons have been very difficult as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The 2020 season was cancelled entirely, and last season Camp Turk operated with far fewer children than in previous years.  This was due in large part because of the continued uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 protocols and the difficulty in finding competent staff.

As we continue our plans for the 2022 camping season, we need everyone’s help in bringing the number of children attending camp to pre-Covid levels.  Therefore, I am asking that each district in our jurisdiction sponsor 2 children to camp this year.  By sponsoring these children your District is not compelled to pay the full amount of weekly tuition.  If the district is unable to pay the full amount which is $550 per week, there are scholarship monies available for families that qualify.   We also expect families to pay a portion of the tuition as well.

This is an important transition year for us as we strive to bring our “one of a kind” camping experience to as many children as possible.  This information can be shared with all our bothers, their families, neighbors and friends.

Applications are now being accepted by registering at our website at www.campturk.org .  Please contact Mollie Denslow, Camp Administrator at 315- 392-2081 or email campturk@campturk.org , with any questions or to obtain a Scholarship Application.

Thank you for your kind and generous consideration.

M:.W:. Bro. Richard J. Kessler

 

Grand Master

Grand Lodge F. & A.M. of the State of New York

71 West 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010