Last night we held our first Stated Communications of the year. This is one of our busiest meetings of the year as we had a lot of business to tend to; lots of minutes and correspondence to catch-up on, an EA proficiency examination, one EA petition to accept, a review of the audit for 2008, a review and passage of the budget for 2009, several motions to attend to for the new year, and some Masonic education. It was quite busy. Nonetheless, both the Secretary and myself kept things moving along and we ended at 8:45pm (which I do not consider too bad). Nor do I think we put anyone to sleep.
We also had over 50 Brothers in attendance which is considered a good night. We also had four first time visitors who I was pleased to welcome on the level and presented them with first time visitor cards. To me, it is very important to make our first time visitors feel welcome in the Lodge so they will come back to visit us and speak well of our Lodge.
Just prior to the meeting, the Dunedin Brothers paused to pose for our annual class photo (which has become a tradition with us in recent years). This is simply a snapshot of the Brethren which is used on the cover of our web site to welcome visitors to our Lodge. To see the photo, please see our web site as listed below.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Brothers from two Lodges tried to lay claim to the Traveling Gavel in our possession. The gavel, which is sponsored by our local Masters & Wardens Association, is used to promote inter-Lodge visitation. The Lodge with the most Brothers gets the gavel. However, on this occasion both Lodges had ten members each. I thereby had to break the deadlock. To this end, I selected the Lodge with the most officers in attendance. The other Lodge accepted defeat graciously, but I'm sure they will secure the gavel soon. We posted a photo from the event on our web site (see the "News" section).
I tried something different for Masonic Education. Instead of staying behind my podium, I came down to the floor and talked to the Craft about what was going on in the district. I also read some recent news clippings about Freemasonry from around the world. My intent is to cause the Craft to think about the fraternity from a global perspective, not just local. Hopefully my talk was well received.
One last note; prior to the meeting, our Junior Warden and Stewards put on an excellent dinner which everyone seemed to enjoy. The camaraderie from the dinner set the stage for a very productive meeting. We covered a lot of ground. Thanks to everyone for their efforts and attendance.
Until next time.
All the Best,
Tim Bryce, PM, MPS, MMBBFMN
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
http:/www.dunedin192.org/
Dunedin, FL, USA
"For the Good of the Order"
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