Last night was the Dinner for the Master Mason Rookie Award Association. Every Master Mason who receives the Rookie Award is invited to dinner with the Grand Master at the Grand Lodge in Boston. There were about 125 of us there last night. The meal was fabulous and the Grand Master spoke about his experiences and travels. He took questions and finally brought up his views on increasing both Grand Lodge dues and the minimum initiation fee. There was some discussion about the initiation fees, both sides offering compelling arguments. We lined up for pictures after dinner and received the Grand Master's lapel pin as a gift. We all signed a card for an ailing brother Rookie and parted on the Square as friends and brothers. A wonderful evening of meeting other men who have sown the same dedication to the Craft.
Very cool. Mine is attending our installation, however he has to head off to another installation after our's so no hanging or dinner for him.
That sounds like a really fun night. It is great to start relationships with those from different areas. This year I have had a meal with the GM from 2 different states (NC and TN). I also met the PHA GM for NC as well as a couple PGMs. They are the same as the rest of us.
All GMs have gone through the same rituals all Masons have, they choose to move up the ranks to become the symbolic head of the Fraternity in each jurisdiction. I applaude their dedication to Masonry and their choice to become leaders of Masonry in their jurisdictions. I have a good relationship with the last 8 or 10 GMs of NE and they have attended our Friendship Nights and even attended regular Lodge Communications. I had a brother from another lodge ask me why our Lodge was "brown-nosing" the Grand Lodge officers by having them attend our events. I replied that I didn't consider inviting all area lodges and the GL officers to our events to be "brown-nosing". IMHO it is building fraternal relationships by doing this and that the GMs have always told all the lodges to invite them (GL officers) and if at all possible the GL officers would attend.
I wonder what makes a man want to spend all the time, money and energy to become GM. He can't do anything that everyone will agree on. His life is not his own while he is in office as there are so many demands on his time and attention. It must be the cool cuffs, hat and apron I sympathize with the current Grand Master's plight. Those that came before him have made decisions that he has to deal with. The Ben Franklin ad campaign was very expensive and had to be paid for with deficit spending. If we did nothing, we would squander our Lewis' future and make the problem worse. That's why I have no objection to raising Grand Lodge dues. My issue remains with the mandatory increase in initiation fees. The Grand Master explained that he feels we are "Cheapening our brand" with such low initiation fees. He has gotten feedback that the fees are too low. The committee he formed returned a recommendation of increasing the minimum initiation fee to $300 from the current $50 based on that being one week's pay for a minimum wage worker. My issue with that reasoning is that the economy is in worse shape today than the 1930s and even men like me who make a decent living would have to think long and hard before writing a check for $300 to join a club. I wonder if I would be a Mason today if the initiation fee was that high when I joined. The Grand Lodge doesn't get anything from initiation fees other than what they are getting today, so why take that decision away from the local lodge? Initiation fees in Massachusetts range from the minimum $50 to $625 for one lodge. The average is $100 which is right about where my lodge falls. So, what do you think?
I think "Initiation" fees should be left up to the Lodge to decide.... As for dues, well if a Lodge has a hefty bank account and can keep the fees low enough and maybe just pay the per capita is entirely up to the lodges. As long as the fees are known up front and a petitioner can decide if the lodge is to expensive for him or not then it is OK. I think those in the GL must operate in the limits their budgets will allow..... does per capita need to go up???? Sure.... how much??? Thats a tough decision ..... maybe do some state wide surveys to see what the body wants and what they feel it will take to accopmplish this and operate within specific boundaries...... subduing some passions at the GL level just might need to happen.
For one, I will be mailing my 'Perfect Ashlar' Award paper work in the next week or two. No dinner here I dont believe. I got to experience quite a bit doing it. As far as dues? I noticed lodge dues vary, our GL dues are 55 a year. I dont think its that bad. Instead of jumping to 300, could they raise it in steps? so it doesnt hit as hard?
I couldn't agree more. I also agree, but in their defense, over $100,000 was cut from this year's GL budget. They say they have trimmed away all they can.
There are 18 things to do on the list. You have to complete at least ten of. For example.... 1. Sit as a subsitute officer (JS, Marshall) 2. Give the Lecture/catachism/Q&A of a degree(sitting as a JS is when I did this) 3. Visit 2 Lodges outside of my District 4. Attend a GL seminar I can get you my whole list if you want. See if your GL does this. Its a great deal of fun and traveling and learning
