Thursday, October 25, 2012

Cornerstone Laying for Newest Masonic Building in Minnesota

I have received a message from Rich Hervieux, the current Master of Minnesota River Valley No. 6, concerning a very rare event in the state of Minnesota. Minnesota River Valley will be moving to a new building. As we are a society of builders, there will be a cornerstone laying ceremony to kick off the renovation. Here's the message from Rich:

Attention all Minnesota Masonic Lodges, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Jobs Daughters and other Masonic bodies and friends.
I am proud to announce a cornerstone ceremony for Minnesota River Valley Lodge # 6 A.F.& A.M. it is being held on October 27th at 11:00 am at the new building, directly beside the American Legion Post on 124th St. between Princeton and Ottawa Ave's. in Savage Minnesota
All are encouraged to attend. This is a historic event as we do not get to build new masonic lodges very often. Your presence will be most appreciated.
Please share this message with all of your masonic friends and lodges here.
Fraternally
Rich Hervieux, Master
MNRV #6 A.F.& A.M
From what WM Rich told me, the cornerstone laying will be performed by the Grand Master and Grand Lodge Officers. There will also be a time capsule. Local media outlets will likely be there as well. As Rich says in the announcement, this is not a common occurrence. Please attend if you can.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Hello Knight Masons, Thanks For Inviting Me


I received something quite interesting in the mail recently. Minnesota Council #34, Knight Masons of Rochester Minnesota had invited me to join their venerated organization. For those of you who don't know about the York Rite invitational bodies, the York Rite has a number of different related and associated Masonic bodies. These bodies are only accessible through an invitation. As you can probably guess, I am honored and humbled by my brothers.

The Knight Masons are a set of degrees, known as the Green Degrees because of their Irish origins. The degrees were historically worked in either lodges or more commonly, in preceptories in Ireland. You can read more about the Knight Masons at the main site or for a real great local body site, check out the Chicago-area Council, Saint Bridget Council No. 23's site.

My day started with my best impression of James Bond (this degree is tux required). I don't get to travel to the city of Rochester very often. It's a beautiful town, most famous for two brothers, who were also brother Masons, the Mayos, founders of the world famous Mayo Clinic.


When we arrived, I had no idea what to expect. My first honorary degree was actually a chair degree, the Order of High Priesthood. The Order of High Priesthood is a very interesting degree that provides many lessons for the Past High Priest. I really enjoyed myself at that one. But again, it was a chair degree; this was invitational.

There were many Masons there I knew so I was in good hands. The degrees were very interesting to me. They added more to my understanding of the previous degrees I had seen in Masonry, particularly the Royal Arch. Plus, the swag was pretty cool too.

From what I've learned, we refer to each other as "Cousin." I've also learned that "Cuz" is not an acceptable replacement. I'm honored that my Cuzz... Cousins have accepted me into this venerable institution. I hope to serve as best I can.

Sorry for the lack of information. I'm still trying to understand and add these degrees to the pantheon of Masonic degrees that I have seen. I want to thank all the brothers who were at the meeting. It was fun and interesting.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Movember 2012


The Masons of Australia, led by the brothers of the South Australian Constitution, are looking to do something huge. I hope some of you have heard of Movember but if you haven't here's a short explanation from the Grand Master of South Australia:


Movember

Since its humble beginnings in Melbourne Australia, Movember has grown to become a truly global movement, inspiring more than 1.9 Million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate with formal campaigns in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Ireland and many more.

Movember is already an established fundraiser at an international level and popular with men of all ages.

Last year, over 854,000 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas around the world got on board, raising $124 million and Movember is now recognized as the largest advocate and fund raiser for research and support programs for men’s health issues.

Movember is our major focus for the next couple of months with a video already shot, used to 'rally' the troops and gain increased involvement from our members. Interstate jurisdictions are all on board as are several overseas, so this year could well be a very big promotional November for Freemasonry.

As registrations are soon able to be made on the Movember website, our efforts will accordingly gradually increase.

This is a truly national Masonic effort, ensuring that our reach is even greater than last year. We all operate in different jurisdictions with different members, different circumstances, different Grand Lodge officers and different agendas - but in this instance we can all work together towards one goal and I commend this project to you all.

To view the above mentioned video and registration page, go to the Movember section below and click on the pictures.

MW Bro Bob Parsons

The money raised within Australia will be used for two major health concerns for men, prostate cancer and mental health. Here's some more great information

The Movember Effect: Awareness & Education, Survivorship, Research

The funds raised in Australia support equally the two biggest health issues men face – prostate cancer and male mental health. The funds raised are directed to programs run directly by Movember and our men’s health partners, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue: the national depression initiative. Together, the three channels work together to ensure that Movember funds are supporting a broad range of innovative, world-class programs in line with our strategic goals, in the areas of awareness and education, survivorship and research.



Let's support our brothers in Australia and get the word out. Visit the Movember.com Freemasons global site. What a great idea brothers. Now to find some face Rogaine.