the missouri freemason
©
vol. 58 no. 3
Official Publication of the Grand Lodge of Missouri SUMMER 2013 Published and copyrighted under the direction of the Committee on Masonic Publications
contents 60-63 Your Grand Lodge Line Officers for 2013 63 Missouri Brothers Serve in the State House of Representatives 64 The Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America Meets in Kansas City, Missouri: A Story of Two Jurisdictions within the Masonic Family 65 Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America, Kansas City, Missouri, 2013 69 Missouri Freemason Deadlines 72 "The Most Valuable Masonic Record in Missouri Has Been Found" 73 We Listen … Progress as Promised … 74 Missouri DeMolay 74 Job's Daughters 75 Rainbow Girls 78 The Masonic Home of Missouri 78 Double Your Donation 78 Masonic Widows Outreach Program 79 Head Start Students Get Their Own Personal Libraries 79 Ladies Luncheons and Teas 79 Branson Hosts Masonic Home Presentation 80 The Work of our Craft 81 Masonic Service Awards
On the cover:
The Conference of Masonic Grand Secretaries of North America is shown at the top left. This conference meets annually in conjunction with the Conference of Grand Masters. At top right are the visiting dignitaries from jurisdictions outside those which are a part of the Conference of Grand Masters. The lower picture is the official photo of all of the Conference Grand Masters.
From The Editor’s Keyboard For some of us it may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity. Each year the Grand Masters from Canada, Mexico, the US and its territories meet as the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America. This year, they met in Kansas City. I don't know if I'll ever get to attend another, but when this auspicious group showed up right down the road from where I live, I knew I had to go see, in a manner of speaking, the light by which Grand Masters work. I really didn't know what to expect as I walked into the meeting hall on the first day. I found a seat in the front row where I could move around and take pictures. A Brother was already seated in the chair next to mine and I introduced myself as the editor of the Missouri Freemason. He introduced himself as the Grand Master of Serbia. Well, I could see from the beginning this wasn't going to your standard Masonic bean dinner — not that those aren't important. During the course of the proceedings, my new fraternal friend, MWB Ranko Vujačić, and I were able to compare aspects of Freemasonry in our respective countries. Take my word for it, MWB Vujačić is a very important and accomplished individual; yet he is MWB Ranko Vujačić, Grand Master of Serbia also friendly, congenial and just the kind of person you would want to be a key representative of our fraternity. In a way, for me, he set the stage for the entire meeting. Of the Grand Masters and others I met, they were all very important, very friendly and very excited about Freemasonry. The three-day session, co-hosted by the Grand Lodges of Missouri and Kansas, seemed to run without a single glitch. MWB Dave Ramsey asked every Grand Officer to be in attendance. Along with the officers, many Missouri and Kansas Brothers filled in as volunteers. Identified by medallions with yellow ribbons, the volunteers made sure people knew where the meetings were, what the schedule was and they helped to make sure equipment for presentations was available and working. I can only imagine the planning it took to host this meeting. It must have taken many hours of hard work by dedicated people, but it paid off. Then, at the end of the meeting I was privileged to go to the final luncheon with many of the members of the Missouri Grand Line. The luncheon became a celebration of sorts for the people involved in planning the meeting. Brothers at our table expressed a sense of accomplishment and also relief that the event had been successful. To cap it off, Past Grand Master Rocky Weaver, who had been a part of the planning group, added the show-stopper when he quipped, "I just don't see why anyone ever thought there might be any problems." Along with MWB Rocky, the Brothers at the table erupted in laughter; and laughter, I might add, is something I heard a lot of, as some of the most important people in Freemasonry gathered in KC to "dwell together in unity." We've added a little color to this edition of the Missouri Freemason. I hope those pictures along with RWB Ty Treutelaar's detailed account can give you some flavor for what it was like if you weren't there; and perhaps serve as a "souvenir edition" if you Steve Harrison, Editor attended.
the missouri freemason Summer 2013 59