2nd Annual Cannon Valley Cancer Ride
Red Wing Lodge No. 8 and Oriental Lodge No. 34 from Cannon Falls will be hosting the 2nd Annual Cannon Valley Cancer Ride, on Saturday, September 20. The event will begin at Riverside Park in Cannon Falls and go to Welch and back, using the Cannon Valley Trail. Lunch will be served at Riverside Park and there will be a water and snack station in Welch. The cost of the event is $35.00 for ages 12 and up, and $20.00 for riders under 12. All money raised will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Minnesota Masonic Charities!
To make your reservation please complete the registration form. For questions and other details, contact W. Master Gary Thomas.
June 2008 Plumbline from the Grand Master
It's St. John's Day, brothers, one of twin annual remembrances where we honor the two eminent patrons of the Craft, the holy Saints John: St. John the Baptist (today, June 24) and St. John the Evangelist (Dec 27th). Thus it is an auspicious day for a short Plumbline with tidings from the Grand East.
So far we’ve dodged the worst of the weather that has plagued our neighbors to the south and to the west, and have had a pretty easy start to the summer. May the Grand Architect bless you and your lodges in the days and weeks ahead, and continue to favor this marvelous enterprise of ours, Freemasonry, thriving here in Minnesota.
Special Projects - if you were in a college fraternity any time and at any school, please read and respond to the note below. Also, if you have a significant connection to a foreign nation or another state, please also respond to the note below…
First to a topic of charitable urgency. Iowa Flood Relief. Our Junior Grand Warden, Tom Hendrickson and Area Deputies are organizing a work crew to travel to Iowa for one or two days of hard but immensely rewarding work, planned for as early as this Saturday, June 28th. Depending on volunteer availability, they may wait another week or so to depart. IF YOU WISH TO HELP, send your contact information to your Area Deputy, co-copying Grand Secretary Doug Campbell at the Grand Lodge office. Contact info follows this paragraph. Let them know when you can help. We'll provide transportation and food and they are working out potential lodging. We have confirmed that several lodge halls were flooded badly, and that a number of brothers and widows have major losses. May I add, it is comforting to see Iowans rally to help their friends and neighbors, a reminder that charity and community begin at home. There have been NO reports of looting in Cedar Rapids. Just strangers lending a hand. Hmmm.
Doug Campbell grandlodge@qwest.net 952-948-6700
Area Deputies see http://www.mn-masons.org/page1007.aspx
If you don't know which one is your Area Deputy, write to Doug.
And one more topic of charitable urgency: The Brothers of Newport Lodge No. 118 in St. Paul Park have organized a benefit fund raiser for W. Brother Neil Hexum and his family. The benefit for the Hexum family is to help with their ever increasing medical bills. Even with insurance, the expenses just keep mounting Neil has been in the ICU at Regions Hospital since Memorial Day Weekend. He has cancer and the prognosis is not good. The benefit will be at O'Malley's Pub in Woodbury on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 12: noon. They are planning a silent auction and other fun activities. Osman/Zuhrah Pipe band will play at 3:00 pm. They are also looking for items for the silent auction in case you can help out that way. Please contact W. Brother John G Hawthorne - jghawthorne@comcast.net for more details or if you want to help in some way.
Recruitment and raising activity is at a rapid pace in many lodges. I tell you, one thing this One-Day-to-Masonry experiment has done is to remind many, many lodges of what really good degree work looks like, and I'm pleased to see individual lodges raising candidates themselves or with a couple of neighboring lodges, whereas a few years ago they wouldn't have thought it possible anymore. Bravo to you, for stepping up.
Kudos as well to the following lodges that are ahead of their recruitment pace already this year:
Minneapolis Lodge No. 19, Corinthian Lodge No. 67, Braden Lodge No. 168. If your lodge should be listed here and it is not, be sure that your new members have been submitted to the Grand Lodge office for inclusion in the Grand Lodge database.
One pleasant event has happened more than once already this year. Sons are raising their fathers, men who until now have not thought to join the Fraternity. Or who have always thought that he had to be asked... Times have changed, and interest and awareness in the Fraternity is way up. One such example is Pete and Chuck Reinert of Star in the East Lodge No. 33 in Owatonna. Are there others? Please let us know as we might want to do a little feature on this phenomenon in an upcoming issue of the Minnesota Mason Newspaper.
Owatonna lodge is sponsoring another One Day Class on October 11th. Time to get those petitions in NOW! Details to follow as forthcoming, but you can contact Doug Campbell in the Grand Lodge office for information or see the Grand Lodge website.
Once again we are hosting Tickets for Troops, a nice tradition begun by MWB Steve Johnson several years back. We provide the families of active servicemen and women free tickets to a Minnesota Gophers football game, along with vouchers for a game day t-shirt. This year the game is Saturday, September 13th. As sponsors, the game day tent on the pavilion is ours, so Masons and their families can mingle with the families of the brave military men and women who join us. The Grand Lodge has developed a significant partnership with our veterans and current servicemen these past few years, with scholarships and other support. This is just one example. Many are now considering membership in the Fraternity. Join us, and meet these fine future brothers and their families! There is a special price for Masons who wish to join us in the fun, and enjoy the game day pavilion tent to the north of the Dome that day. Call Doug Campbell for tickets at 952-948-6700, or write to him at the address above. Cost again this year is just $30.00 and that includes the ticket, a fabulous pregame brunch, the game day t-shirt and a round trip pass on the light rail from Fort Snelling so you do not have to pay to park downtown.
October also brings another milestone, the 50th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone for our Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota. We will mark that milestone with a re-dedication on that same date, October 4th. The plan is to invite Masons from around the state to join with the Grand Lodge officers in a public celebration of this historic event. Look to the Grand Lodge website for more details, at www.mn-masons.org
News In Minnesota Masonry
KidsID at the 2008 Great Minnesota Get Together
Come join us at the Great Minnesota Get Together.
The KidsID booth will be running at the Education Building on thge State Fairgrounds again this year, and we expect thousands of children to need our services. Our booth needs eight people per shift (spouses, family and friends) and with three shifts per day we need volunteers. Shift 1, 9am-1pm , shift 2, 1pm-5pm, and shift 3, 5pm-9pm. We need to get our schedule set for the season, and times are on a first come basis. Come join with our good work. Please check the calendar page on the Grand Lodge website for the up to date list of shifts needed.
Bruce L. Clarke, Cell 651-398-3005
Sr. Warden, Saint Johns Lodge No. 1