Hello, Brethren. I am greatly honored to have been elected Worshipful Master of our Lodge. I plan to give my best effort and ability to this endeavor. I want to thank WM Doug Russell, under whom I learned many useful things about being a Master. And I want to start by sharing with all of you three main themes that I would like to develop in our Lodge during this year.
First, the Lodge is an Oasis of Peace and Fellowship.
We are all Brothers and should meet, act and part as such. Attending the Lodge is something to look forward to—not a punishment. An environment of respect and collegiality is necessary if we want to achieve it. Bickering should be left at the door. We will have inexpensive meals either before or after sessions. Officers will take turns preparing them. Your Master will cook for our first Lodge meeting, the Official Visit, which will be on September 17. Hopefully, such activities will help increase Lodge attendance.
Secondly, Lodge sessions will end by 10 p.m. at latest.
Many Brothers have problems with our sessions ending later, as we have to wake up early to go to work, or our significant others do. Arriving home late is not conducive to creating a home-support atmosphere. This hurts Lodge attendance and perhaps leads to leaving the Lodge. This is especially crucial during Degree work. Degrees will end by 10:30 at the latest. We have already changed our By-Laws to start earlier on Degree nights and make this possible.
Thirdly, we come to Lodge to do Masonry.
Hence, every session will include some form of instruction: a program or a short presentation or reading.
And to enable the participation of our newly Initiated Brothers, the Lodge will be lowered to the First, and then Second Degree as these Brothers progress in Masonry. This year we will have only one round of Degrees, two months apart, starting in December. Such an interval between Degrees allows our new Brothers the time to assimilate and learn the concepts and the information received in the Degrees.
On October 1, to honor our Veterans and Sojourners, we will have an open meeting with a catered dinner. Our Keynote Speaker will be RW John Fuller.
I want to end by inviting all our Lodge Brothers to contact me with their ideas, suggestions, criticisms, etc. And come to Lodge, join a committee and participate actively in our work.
Jorge Romeu