Trustee Report

by R.W.B. Timothy J. Best, Deputy Grand Master

The Trustees of the Grand Lodge of Oregon per the Code Sec. 18 are as follows: The Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master, Senior Grand Warden, Junior Grand Warden, and Immediate Past Grand Master. Listed in the Code Sec. 128 are 28 Powers and Duties of the Trustees that I will not take the time to list. One of those important duties is to hold monthly meetings. For the past 6 months, all our meetings have been in person at the Grand Lodge headquarters in Forest Grove, even with some of the crazy winter weather that we experienced this year. Your Trustees drove to Forest Grove from Union, Hermiston, Prairie City, Eugene, and Dallas so we get the full experience of winter on the Oregon roads. Also, our Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer, and Senior Grand Deacon join us.

At a typical monthly meeting the agenda we follow includes the minutes from the previous meeting, a report from the Junior Grand Warden on the review of bills and Grand Lodge Officer expenses. A report from the Grand Treasurer/Financial Controller’s report. The Senior Grand Warden will report on Educational Assistance as we review and vote on the cases to be approved for that month. We have a report on the Creating A Partnership program and applications for the Lodge Repair Grants. One of the most important areas of discussion is under Lodges: where we talk about issues that some of our Lodges are having and how we can assist them. Ideally it is nice to have this list be rather short, but some months we have had as many as 11 or more to work through. We do not take this lightly and monitor them closely as we help to resolve pending issues. Our typical committee reports are the Lodge Management and Advisory, Long Range Planning, and Information and Education. Then we move on to communications, unfi nished business, new business, miscellaneous and policy.

Aside from the monthly meetings, your Trustees are busy during the rest of the months attending Lodges and Masonic functions as we are committed to engaging with the broader Masonic community. To highlight a few, in the month of December, I assisted the Grand Master with seven Officer Installations in Lodges in Eastern Oregon. It was a real blessing to be part of these celebrations. We ended the month with an Occasional Grand Lodge in Medford for the Southern region that was well attended. In January, we attended the Al Kadar Shrine Officer Installation in Wilsonville and attended the Secretary Training in Forest Grove. In February, we attended the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Alaska in Anchorage. Yes, it was cold as we experienced -38°F in Fairbanks! Th at made -14°F in Anchorage seem like a heat wave! We also attended the Conference of Grand Masters of North America and the Western Conference of Grand Masters in Seattle, Wash.. We kicked off the month of March with an Occasional Grand Lodge in Salem, attended Portland Valley of the Scottish Rite for a Town Hall meeting with the Illustrious James D. Cole, 33° S.G.I.G. of the Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction, and held a Statewide Training Day from the Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. We closed out the month with an Occasional Grand Lodge in La Grande. In April we attended the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Hawaii, and the Baker Valley Scottish Rite Reunion in Baker City. During the month of May we had the Cornerstone rededication at McKenzie River No. 195 in Eugene and wrapped up the month with the DeMolay Convention in Welches. The list is much more extensive as these are just some of the highlights. Although we have been very busy, it is an honor to serve the craft for Oregon Freemasonry.