OMN - 2022 January

The Grand Master’s Message: An Occasional Grand Lodge to Remember

The Grand Lodge of AF & AM of Oregon will be in Alexandria, Virginia, April 19-26 to hold an Occasional Grand Lodge meeting at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial as the Oregon Jurisdiction will be showcased in the Memorial for the month of April. You are invited to be part of the celebration, visit the Scottish Rite House of the Temple, and tour Washington D. C. Plans are being made to visit Arlington National Cemetery and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington.as well as visiting Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s home, to lay a wreath at his tomb. Guided historic civil war battlefield sites are an option if enough interest is had. There are 74 museums to visit in the Washington D.C. area. Most are in the Capital area and accessible by taking the subway. There is so much to see and a short time to do it in.

Masonic Leadership

Many of you will serve your Masonic lodge in a leaderhip role. Whether it is as Master of your lodge, Grand Master of your jurisdiction, or as an officer in your local Grand Lodge, there are many ways you can fulfill the role of a leader. The opportunity to serve includes the responsibility to make a difference for your lodge and our Masonic fraternity.

Masonry made an impact upon our lives, otherwise we wouldn’t continue to be involved. We can never forget that we have accepted the respnosibility to conduct our lives according to the tenets of Freemasonry - a value-based organization that sets us apart from other men.

M.W.B. Gregory A. Jenkins Grand Master

It is a great honor to be able to hold an Occasional Grand Lodge meeting in the Memorial as the historic Lodge rooms and paraphernalia take you back in time. There is so much information about our Founding Fathers and their part in our nation’s history on display in this building. Taking the elevator to the top and viewing the surrounding area, you take in a view of history and remember you, as a Mason, have helped build and maintain this Memorial. We are excited to be taking a guided tour of the Scottish Rite Headquarters. This building is beautiful and beyond words. The architecture and artwork is beautiful and has one of the best Masonic libraries and museums that I know of. Plan on spending some time here.

There are hotel rooms blocked out in Alexandria just a few blocks from the Memorial. It is a short walk to the subway station where you can purchase a pass for the train which will get you almost any where you would like to visit.

For those interested in traveling with the Grand Lodge members, please email gjenkins@masonic-oregon.com.

The development of solid Masonic leadership is important. In order to continue the success of an organization, one of the prime focuses must be on the leaders of tomorrow. We must continue to share the qualities of leadserhip with young Masons and DeMolay to shape our future positively.

Leadership is a quality that can be taught. Leaders must take a close look at the needs of their members to fulfill those

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IN THIS ISSUE

Grand Master’s Message

Leadership

Report of Lodge Officers Reminder

Did you Know?

Seminar

Beginning”

of the Month

from

Master’s

Lodges

Fraternally, M.W.B. Gregory A. Jenkins, Grand Master, A.F. & A.M. of Oregon

OUR CABLE TOW

~by George B. Staff

Sometimes we hardly know its there, Our guiding cable tow; If we go down the paths of right, Its hold we never know; But if we start the way that’s wrong, It has a sudden way that’s strong, And makes us heed its strength to lead Down paths we ought to go. And yet how good a thing to feel, How fine a thing to know, Then when the baser actions seek To wreck and overthrow, When worldly appetites deprave, Or lower passions would enslave, We can feel, like gripping steel, Our guiding cable tow.

Form 70.5 Reminder Report of Lodge Officers

Congratulations to the newly elected Lodge officers. As Lodges prepare for Installation night, the Grand Lodge would like to send a friendly reminder to the Lodge Secretary to transmit to the Grand Secretary, the names and addresses of the newly Elective Officers and the names of the Appointive Officers. Form 70.5 has been updated and can be found by logging into Grand View at www.or.gvsoftware.com. Click on “My Portal” and then “Resources.” It is imperative that the information is filled out completely and sent to the Grand Lodge office as soon as possible to ensure the Directory of Lodges is printed and distributed in a timely manner for the new year!

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needs and solidify a future. Although men often resist changing the way things have been done in the past, we must consider change as beneficial for our organization.

Negative comments often come about when a new idea or a different approach is suggested, but Freemasonry needs to generate a culture that is receptive to changes that are innovative and utilize creative imagination. This new environment instills enthusiasm for interesting programs, and enables us to think and plan better.

With those changes, we can move forward and motivate men through effective Masonic leadership. We must establish goals to enable our lodges to move forward with a renewed purpose. We are challenged to move men’s hearts to take bold steps toward a new vision. We need to ask ourselves, “Where do we want to be in five years? How will we get there? How are we going to mobilize our resources and talents to make a difference?”

These are important questions that deserve our earnest attention. The answers will establish our vision for the future. Vision isn’t forecasting the future, it is creating the future.

The future revolves around leadership. A leader takes the innitiative to get the job done and is one who plans, organizes, and implements. This clearly reflects the principles of leadership: plannning, goal setting, organizing, personnel, and communicating. The characteristic of a true leader is the ability to have a vision of the future and the will to make it happen. A good leader must have the right vision to succeed. Masonic leaders must possess these essential skills to make things happen and, as leaders, we must have courage and conviction to lead.

Masonic Leadership... continued on page three

Masonic Leadership

People ask me why there is not a Unified Grand Lodge of the United States, similar to the United Grand Lodge of England. There are many historical and philosophical reasons why that is not the case here, dating back hundreds of years. However, we do have a formal mechanism for meeting with our Brethren outside Oregon, known as the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America. As you might guess by the name, it covers more than 60 Grand Lodges: the Grand Lodges of the Provinces of Canada, the States of the United States (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico), the York Grand Lodge in Mexico, and the American-Canadian Grand Lodge of Germany. Its Grand Masters represent some 2 million Freemasons throughout North America.

The Conference conducts an Annual Meeting beginning the third Sunday of February and lasting several days. This year the conference will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and will include Grand Masters from many countries throughout the world, making it the largest international gathering of Grand Masters. Other attendees at the Annual Meeting will be the Masonic Service Association, the National Masonic Foundation for Children, Masonic Renewal, the George Washington National Masonic Memorial, the Commission on Information for Registration, and the Conference of Grand Secretaries.

Your Grand Lodge trustees will attend next month’s Annual Meeting in Milwaukee. Future meeting sites include Arlington, Virginia (2023), Seattle, Washington (2024), and Guadalajara, Jalisco (2025).

Submitted by R.W.B. Mark Phillips Grand Secretary

Did You Know? Have questions?

Email info@masonicoregon.com

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If we share these responsibilities, those who follow will become the best leaders they can be. Through our younger Masons and our youth organizations, we can create future leaders around the world.

Leadership isn’t easy. Being a leader is not a responsibility one should take lightly as it offers many challanges. Those challenges are often rewarded with opportunity.

Implement these traits to serve the entire Masonic fraternity. Learn from the past, live in the present, and build a better future by exhibiting effective leadership so Freemasonry will make a difference in the world.

~excerpt from The Short Talk Bulletin, Vol. 95, July, 2017, No. 7

We want to hear from you! Please share stories from your Lodge to be featured in the Oregon Masonic News!

Email stories to KS@masonic-oregon.com

Looking to make the most of your time serving your Lodge as Secretary? Attend the 2022 Virtual Secretary Seminar being held over Zoom, Saturday, January 22nd from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to learn more about how you can best serve in this leadership role!

The Grand Lodge invites all Master Masons to attend but strongly recommends the attendance of each Secretary as the presentations and shared information is pivotal to the role. Please register and submit any supply orders to the Grand Secretary’s office no later than one week prior to the event. There is no fee for attending; simply have a current copy of the Oregon Masonic Code and the Secretary’s Handbook on hand. Register today at www.masonic-oregon.com/secretary-seminar/ or call the Grand Lodge at (503) 357-3158 to reserve your spot.

The Grand Lodge of Oregon’s Library and Museum Committee is excited to announce the first EVER Annual Rotation of historical items in the Oregon Masonic Museum’s collection. This first Rotation is called, “The Beginning”. The beginning of Freemasonry within the Oregon Territory. The Exhibit will be ready for the public viewing in January of 2022.

The Annual Rotation this year will include pieces of history that were in one way or another a part of creating what we now know as the Grand Lodge of Oregon.

The Robert M. Richmond Memorial Library and Museum is open by appointment on Mondays. Please call the Grand Lodge of Oregon at (503)357-3158 prior to visiting to make sure Library and Museum Volunteers are in the day you wish to visit.

Home Runs and Touchdowns

As Editor of the Oregon Masonic News, and as a pround parent, I’d like to take a moment to share this lovely friendship between my son, Jake, and residents from the Jennings McCall Center.

Jake is a waitstaff employee at JMC and Senior at the Forest Grove High School. Brother Evan Nelson, a 55-year Mason, and his wife, Roma, are residents of JMC.

After striking up some conversation at lunch, it turns out the Nelsons are big sports fans! When able to, they show up to watch Jake’s baseball, football, and basketball games.

My family wasn’t able to make it to an away football game in the Dalles. Jake was thrilled to look up in the stands and see the Nelsons cheering him on.

It brings my husband and I such joy to see the amazing friendship that has developed between this trio.

Go Vikings!

Online or in the Classroom, Masons Continue to Support Students

Freemasonry’s legacy of supporting education will continue, despite the variety of learning styles currently in schools. Through independent support, collective effort as a Lodge, or through the matchingfunds available through the Creating-A-Partnership program - students will continue to benefit from the generosity of our fraternity.

Additionally, we will continue our FOX12 News partnership in presenting the Classroom of the Month. Across digital and television platforms, FOX12 will invite the public to nominate classrooms around the state that need supplies or support. To nominate a classroom in need, visit www.KPTV.com/classroom. Each month of the school year, a classroom is selected to receive $1,000 in supplies! That’s a lot of glue sticks!

The Lodge nearest each winning classroom will be invited to help present the supplies via Zoom and share a bit about why supporting students is important to Freemasonry. These presentations will be filmed and aired on the daily MORE Good Day Oregon segment to share the news of our great organization!

The goal of this opportunity is to illustrate a clear connection between Freemasonry and its support of the educational success of youth. This partnership will benefit Lodges by exposing the good works of the Craft within our communities statewide. Look for social media posts to share across your own network - one of your local classrooms might be a winner!

Happy New Year to our Masonic Family!

NEWS FROM OUR LODGES —

Holbrook No. 30

On Saturday, October 30th, Holbrook Lodge No. 30 joined the Forest Grove merchants by participating in the annual Trick or Treat event downtown. Holbrook set up in the front entrance of the Lodge and handed out copious amounts of apples. A special thanks goes out to W.B. Bob Landauer for providing the apples. Thanks also to the ladies and our anonymous Dalmatian who assisted throughout the day. We were able to answer questions about Masonry, our Lodge building and pique some parents' interest. All in all a great day, a great time and a great event allowing Holbrook Lodge to put the face of Masonry into the public eye.

~submitted by W.B. Jay Carey, Junior Warden

Union No. 3

Cornerstone No. 157

Thank you to everyone that attended our annual installation of officers for the 2022 year on December 18th. Congratulations to our new officers with best wishes for the coming year.

December7th, Worshipful Master Scott Rassbach was given his Past Master’s certificate, membership card and pin for the last two years of serving as the Worshipful Master of Union Lodge No.3.

Congratulations to the newly elected and installed Lodge Officers of 2022!

Scio No. 39

W.B. Gene Pilcher was presented his 70-year Jewel and plaque for his 70 years of dedication to our Lodge. He was raised in 1951. Thanks W.B. for your years of faithful work.

GRAND MASTER’S TENTATIVE ITINERARY

January 2022

5 — Willamette No. 2, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

6

— Salem Scottish Rite Honors the Grand Master; reception & dinner, 6:30 p.m. - S, L

8 — MESH/Trustee Meeting; Forest Grove, 8 a.m. - W, L

10 — Multnomah No. 1, Portland, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

12 — Washington No. 46, Portland, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

13 — Kenton No. 145, Portland, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

15 — Salem Scottish Rite Reception for Louie Sansing; 5 p.m. - S, L

17 — Medford Valley Scottish Rite Honors the Grand Master; 5:30 p.m. - S, L

19 — Molalla No. 178, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

20

22

— Clatskanie No. 133, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

— Secretary Seminar; Forest Grove

Tigard-Orenomah No. 207

On December 18th, Tigard-Orenomah No. 207 had our installation for the 2022 Masonic year. The event was well attended and a good time was had by all. Thank you to all of the brethren and family that were in attendance.

23 — Al Kader Shrine Oriental Band Crab Feed; Al Kader Shrine Center, Wilsonville, 5:30 p.m. - W, L

February 2022

3 ~6 Grand Lodge of Alaska - W, S, T, L

8 — Newport No. 85, Official Visit; dinner, 6 p.m.; Lodge, 7 p.m. - S, L

9 — Eugene No. 11, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

10 — Silverton No. 45, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S,L

12 — MESH/Trustee Meeting; Forest Grove, 8 a.m. - W, L

14 — Marys River No. 221, Corvallis, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

15 — Rainier No. 24, Official Visit; dinner, 6:30 p.m.; Lodge, 7:30 p.m. - S, L

19 ~23 Conference of Grand Masters of North America, Milwaukiee, WI - K, S, L

25 — DeMolay Crab Feed; Al Kader Shrine Center, 5 p.m. - W, L

L = Ladies; S = Suit; T = Tuxedo; K = Khakis; W = Wrangler Jeans

OREGON MASONIC NEWS

The Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M. of OR 2150 Masonic Way Forest Grove, OR 97116

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Oregon Masonic News

The Oregon Masonic News is published monthly (except July and August) by authority of the trustees of The Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M., of Oregon. Editors are the trustees of the Grand Lodge. Deadline for copy is the fifth of the month preceding the publication date. Example: May 5 for the June issue. High resolution photos, along with story submissions, may be sent electronically to the Grand Secretary. Photos should not be reduced in size. Printed photos are also acceptable. If you scan your own photos, they should be at least 300 dpi. Photocopies are NOT acceptable.

The Oregon Masonic News is a publication of the Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M., of Oregon and unauthorized duplication is strictly forbidden. Proprietary rights to all articles published in the Oregon Masonic News are the sole property of the author and cannot be reproduced without express permission of the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M., of Oregon.

“News of Lodges” is solicited. Rights are reserved to edit all submitted material, and views expressed in articles may not necessarily be the official position of the Grand Lodge nor an endorsement thereof. Non-members’ domesticsubscription rate is $5 per year. PLEASE

NOTE: The mailing address is Oregon Masonic News, 2150 Masonic Way, Forest Grove, OR 97116. Phone: 503357-3158; outside the Portland-area, 800-970-9920. Fax: 503-357-1815. Website: www.masonic-oregon.com

Email: grandsecretary@masonic-oregon.com

With the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that many members may find themselves in need. In order to help Master Masons impacted by this, the Grand Lodge has created a special relief fund under the management of MasonicAid. Public programs may help with unemployment and some financial assistance, but we’re here to help fill in the gaps!

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU!

This relief is available for hardships caused by the pandemic and could include COVID-related medical needs, rent, groceries, and utility payments. Learn more or request assistance at www.masonic-oregon.com/RELIEF

RICHMOND