Monday, March 18, 2024

The Minnesota Miracle - Three Links Odd Cast Appearance

I am absolutely excited to announce that Noble Grand Gary, PGM Ace, Sister Sunny, and I were on the latest episode of the Three Links Odd Cast. The title of that episode is the Minnesota Miracle. We got to discuss what we are doing in Northfield to spread Odd Fellowship back into the community. It also discusses our origin story and the "Ace Masonic Bus Tour." Thank you Toby, Ainslie, and Mike for having us on and we can't wait to continue to share our story of hope, growth, and revitalization. 

I was also glad to make the case for why Freemasonry and Odd Fellowship are complementary and why I have found my time in the Odd Fellows to be so rewarding and fun. And I even mentioned my petition addiction (and the hosts didn't disappoint in getting me to want to sign even more petitions). All in all, it was a great experience.

If you aren't listening to the Three Links Odd Cast, you absolutely should. You can find the link here.

And just have to say it: "I AM AN ODDFELLOW and PROUD of it!!!!"

Sunday, March 17, 2024

The New Registrar/Treasurer of Good Samaritan Tabernacle № XXXVI - Heaven Help Me!


Please address your prayers to succor whatever troubles I will experience. Oh, I forgot to tell anyone; I'm the new Registrar/Treasurer of Good Samaritan Tabernacle № XXXVI. Now, for the great news, I'm following in the footsteps of KC Dave who did a masterful job as our previous Registrar. 

What I have in mind for the job is to improve our paraphernalia and to get things that no longer fit our Tabernacle out. I'm actually excited. The HRAKTP has become my new passion project. I love what it represents, how beautiful the degree work is, and the change in every Past Commander as he goes through the Order. It's a life altering experience.

I want to thank the Knights Priest for their support and I will endeavor to do the best job I can do. 

Thursday, February 29, 2024

To Improve Your Ritual...


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Since I jumped in with both feet into yet another fraternal organization, I am again having to build up my memorization mind muscle. And since I have really been thinking of ways to memorize my new Odd Fellows work, I wanted to give a tip to all those brothers and sisters who are learning ritual. 

I start by using a method of listen and repeat; here's how it works. I begin this process by recording a very short part of the line. Then I go further in a very special way, I add a space between those short portions of the same length as the proceeding one. I continue through this process until I have completed the portion that I am attempting to memorize. If the lines are a part of a dialogue, I repeat the other portion in full and then leave a space for when I am to come in. It can be tedious to set this up but once it has, the real process begins.

I start the process from the very beginning. I then add a portion, bit by bit, until I am able to repeat that portion without the tape. I continue to do this until I have the entirety of the dialogue completed. It's the idea of chunking, building in those cues into the mind until they become second nature. And that's where the magic occurs. Once you have lines down, you can add the most important thing that most ritual I've seen is missing in just about every fraternal ritual I've seen, drama. We have such beautiful drama but without the actual drama, it's hollow.

I know this seems silly and I'm sure my readers with acting experience are probably already aware but for so many brothers and sisters, we are not trained dramatists. I truly want us to do whatever we can do to make our Art an art form!

Sunday, February 25, 2024

The Support Structure of Odd Fellowship and Why It Works

Some of you probably already know but I'm a sucker for signing petitions. You put one in front of me and I... just... can't... stop my hand from signing it. All of a sudden, I'm Dr. Strangelove, gnawing on my palm to stop from getting another dues card. This petition addiction finally led me to the Odd Fellows. The tale of how I joined can be found here (and yes, I did gain a nickname already, Two Chainz). I'm very proud of my IOOF Lodge, Friendship Lodge No. 50 in Northfield Minnesota.

As I continue my journey through Odd Fellowship, I am always struck by how well designed the system really is. Unlike so many other fraternal orders, Odd Fellowship has a clear mission statement, our Order’s valedictation and Order’s motto, a clear leadership structure, and an incredibly solid lodge officer strategy.

Odd Fellowship’s leadership structure is designed with individual support and mutual aid. In the Masonic world, of which I have spent most of my fraternal time, the officers line is a straight progression, where you are brought through a conveyor belt and once completed, you are proverbially dumped into a box labeled “Past tense”; a fact you are reminded of constantly. Unless a lodge is recycling past masters, which is rarely a welcome sight, there is no desire to keep past officers in the body except to be a warm body. This is not the case in Odd Fellowship. 

 

And just a note, this “past tensing” of previous Masonic leaders is not prevalent everywhere. Lodges under the UGLE Constitution and most lodges of that progeny, have an officer, the Immediate Past Master, that is still a must have officer.

 

In Odd Fellowship, the past presiding officer, the past grand is expected to remain active as a supporter, literally sitting on the left or right of each principal officer. These supporters are hand selected by the Noble Grand and Vice Grand, each principal officer getting to select her or his own brain trust. All I can say is what an incredibly insightful idea that Odd Fellowship has! Mutual aid is in the framework of the officers themselves. 

 

This supporter model, that of servant leader, is very unique. In a functioning Odd Fellows lodge, a Noble or Vice Grand can expect to have good counsel whispered to her or him by other knowledgeable Odd Fellows. No one is ever left alone to struggle in the shifting sands of leadership. Servant leadership is the name of the game with the power of the lodge shared amongst the sisters and brothers and the Noble Grand really there to serve his lodge in mutual aid.

 

Certainly there can be some drawbacks to having past grands serving so close to current leadership. There may be decisions made or not made because “we’ve always done it that way” but having served as a principal officer in more than a dozen fraternal organizations, I really appreciated those times I had a past officer there to offer advice or support. 

 

I keep finding myself impressed by the novel approach to Fraternalism that Odd Fellowship offers. Having such an effective leadership structure, where you can find support from past principal officers, on your left and right sides, is a shining jewel. Mutual aid and support is our ultimate goal and is so deeply embedded in our love for each other and love of Odd Fellowship. Makes me proud to proclaim: I AM AN ODD FELLOW.

Monday, October 18, 2021

UCCofE - the thing I never knew I needed... till now



Masonry is a funny thing. We tell the new Master Mason that this is the highest degree and then, it's like that scene in Airplane! when Robert Stack is walking through the airport.



Thing is that while Masons pretend that the blue lodge is the end all, be all, we all know that this is never going to satisfy the brethren. We are seekers of further light. And since light diffuses so widely, it shouldn't surprise anyone that there are so many Masonic adjacent bodies. Case in point, the Universal Craftsman Council of Engineers, a body I am now proud to call myself a member. 

My day started like any other, it was a beautiful autumn day in Minnesota. Not to hot, not too cold. I was heading out to the meeting of my very first invitational body, Minnesota Council No. 34, Knight Masons. It was at this particular meeting that I was also elected as its presiding officer, Excellent Chief. It was just so exciting. We are back in person, the brothers excitedly meeting and seeing each other to confer the degrees. I am so thankful to them to entrust me with this position for the year. 

Because I attended the meeting with one of my really good friends, MW Bro. Joe G., who was kind enough to drive down with, I got to have great conversation and great fellowship. But since he was the driver, I stayed longer than I would have otherwise. We ate and Joe remembered he was a member of a group. 

"No problem, Joe, you go to your meeting. I can just hang out."

Little did I know that I was going to be a candidate. 

"Hey, Nick! Go over to the prep room!"



I had never heard of the Universal Craftsman Council of Engineers, which is usually abbreviated UCCofE. I was really happy that I was able to join this body.

To explain, UCCofE is a Masonic body founded in 1902 in the state of Ohio by Bros. Pomeroy and Dettleback, who were engineers in factories in the rust belt. This organization was founded to bring together other engineers who were also Master Masons. Because we, as Masons, love meeting together, this body grew and grew and became so popular that even non-engineer Master Masons who also were craftsmen (what we would think of as blue collar today) wanted to join. At first, the UCCofE encouraged those MMs to start their own councils aimed at their own crafts, e.g., electricians, but as is always the case, the first mover has the advantage and UCCofE ultimately started allowing non-craftsmen and laborers to join.



The ritual was fascinating because it is so different from what I recognize yet so similar. It was really fun to experience the role of candidate and to hear something different but familiar. The main reason I recognized the ritual is because it was similar to so many rituals used by unions throughout history. 

I am not a blue collar worker but I come from a long line of railroad workers and heavy machinery guys (my brother is the next in that long, long line of railroadcers). I've never been a factory worker, laborer, blue collar worker nor really had a job that would be considered that. However, I have spent many years researching the many rituals that unions used in their meetings because of the number of union members in my family. Union fraternal rituals are a subject that needs far more scholastic research than it currently does and I hope that whatever contributions I can make will be helpful.

Thank you to everyone in Minnesota Council No. 79, UCCofE for admitting me as a member of this august and fascinating body. I really look forward to all the many years of research and participation I hope to dedicate to the Council. 

If you are interested in joining, click the link.