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Scottish Rite Valley
News
From the Representative
THE VALLEY OF FT MYERS SCOTTISH
RITE NOW HAS ITS OWN WEBSITE. TYPE (SCOTTISHRITEFTM.ORG) AND
GO FROM THERE…..
Give it a try and you will find
out just about everything about the Valley. J.P. Terrasi, 32nd
Degree from our last class is the Webmaster and has done a
wonderful job collecting all the information and putting this
together. It will grow even more in the future with your help.
Please check it out and I think that you will find the answers
to most of your questions as to meetings, reunions, clubs, etc.
We have a Reunion coming up and
according to the Secretary, we have no Petitions as of this date
so get out there and ask any Master Masons that you know and I
am sure that you can pick up a few Petitions. Have them go on
the Website and learn what it is all about. Remember that the
Blue Lodge takes good men and makes them better but the Scottish
Rite teaches them what the true meaning of Masonry is all about
and gives them an education on the history, etc, etc. There is
much for them to learn and all they have to do is watch, listen
and learn what to read to clear up anything they don’t
understand. The ladies are also included in our meetings and
form
friendships with the other ladies
and understand what it is all about.
We are still selling tickets on
the two Wave
Runners and a trailer. The
tickets are only $5 each or 5 for $20. They are easy to sell
and all the money goes to help the children and there is no
overhead. We are not selling them as we should be so please
pick up some tickets and do your share to help these
children.
The drawing will be at the Shell
Factory in Ft. Myers, Labor Day September 7, 2009 and you need
not be there to win. Lets renew our efforts as this is an easy
way to do your share to help the children with Language
Disorders. I have plenty of tickets or you can get them from
the Secretaries Office.
Our Clubs are all dark for the
summer except Myakka in Englewood. They meet on the fourth
Friday each month and you are all welcome. Call if you need any
information. The rest of the Clubs will start meeting in
September or October and I would suggest that you try to attend
any Club that you can. The food and fellowship are great and
the Ladies are a big part of the meetings. If you need any
information on anything call me at 239-694-5565 or my cell at
239-851-5195.
Al Jones 33˚,
Personal Representative
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Greetings From the Secretaries
Desk
Petitions, Petitions,
Petitions!!!!. I have secured from the Grand Lodge of Florida,
a list of all the newly raised Master Masons from the last three
years in Districts 28 and 29. I found out about this opportunity
from Mike Cribbet, the Secretary of Lake Worth Valley. He did so
in his Valley and wrote a letter to each of these Masons
inviting them to become members of the Scottish Rite. As a
result of his efforts, he had 42 paid responses for their Spring
Reunion, 36 of which showed up. Now that would be a really nice
class for us, right? Since the work load in the office is
slower than normal right now, I am in the process of writing
each of these brothers from Districts 28 and 29 inviting them to
become members of our Valley.
The letters will be going out on
July 1st
so let’s see if that is a reasonable approach to getting
petitions.
I know that several of the Blue
Lodges in our Valley have raised a great number of new Masons,
most of which are not on the list I obtained, so I am hoping
each of you will get one or more of these new Master Masons to
petition our Valley for the Fall reunion. The Reunion will be
held on SEPTEMBER 26 and 27, 2009. If you are even an
occasional visitor to your area Blue Lodge, perhaps you can let
the new Master Masons know that are more than welcome.
I want to join the Personal
Representative in expressing the appreciation of the entire
Executive Committee as well as my own personal appreciation for
the efforts of J.P. Terrasi our new “Web Master”. We talked
about doing it for a long time, and now that we have, it has
been done right. And it isn’t finished yet. Give us your
feedback please.
The 2010 dues cards will be out in
August and you will notice the increase in the dues amount. We
hope you all will understand that we are operating in the red
and have been forced to raise the dues from $55 to $75. For now,
the initiation fee will remain at $230. As for the fees for
Perpetual Membership, We feel Ill. Goldsmith will allow us to
keep them as they are. By the way, we have 584 Perpetual Members
of which 207 have passed away.
Brethren, as the Personal
Representative has said many times, you can us help us greatly
with the tickets for the Wave Runners which Galae Grotto is
selling. All the monies we receive from the Scottish Rite
members will go to the Foundation. When I say ALL, I mean 100%
of that money goes directly to our Foundation. We are doing this
through the Grotto Humanitarian foundation and they are allowing
us to share in the proceeds for our Foundation. The tickets are
$5.00 each or 5 for $20. Send your check made out to GALAE
GROTTO and send it to me at the office and I will fill out the
tickets and return the stubs to you. The drawing will be on
Labor Day at the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers.
Please always remember to notify
the office with address changes and any deaths that you are
aware of. This is the most frustrating part of the secretaries
job, keeping up with all of our members. The address of the
office is P.O. Box 1133----Fort Myers, FL 33902. The phone
number is 239-332-2311 and my Cell number is 863-558-1654. Linda
and I wish everyone a great summer and we look forward to
hearing from you.
Fraternally,
Gordy
Fore 33
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Valley News
DeMolay is starting up again in
Southwest Florida.
Terry Beard and J P Terrasi are working to reactivate our
Chapter and have started in with Seabring to form a group of
members and resume the Charter. If you know on interested boys
and parents, contact the Office here or Tropical Lodge. We
thought you all might enjoy the following announcement forwarded
by the Valley of Reading, PA.
To all Chapter Advisors and
Chairmen:
From the New Grand Master of
DeMolay, "Dad" Robert W. Cockerham, of Missouri.
Please check out the notice,
below, and pass it along to your Chapter Members and Advisors.
Country music, and country rock may not be your, or your
members' favorite thing-- but this is significant! I think the
last time anyone wrote a song about DeMolay was in the 1930's!
Howie Damron has a unique ability to create memorable lyrics and
a nice country/rock sound that provides a good image of DeMolay
as a family-oriented organization. He is committed to
Freemasonry and to DeMolay, and in such a way that he had a
custom-made one of a kind guitar made just to perform for us!
Take a look at the attached photo! This guy has been on the
tour circuit and found, through Freemasonry, that there was more
to life than just "the road" and all its trappings. He's a
great person, and an inspiration to our members. Let's share
this and get it some play time!
Enjoy the new DeMolay song at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti8nJZtt0XI
A “Thank You” Dinner
for Degree Directors, Cast members
and sideliners of the past 2 reunions was held at Tropical
Lodge on Saturday the 27th of June. About 2 dozen of our hard
working crew were able to make it. Even Harold and Rich had the
evening off as Carlos Arroyo did the cooking with help from John
Cavada. After the meal, we had the opportunity to talk about
how we are doing, what we are doing well, and how we can
improve. Everyone was in agreement that we are indeed improving
in our work. It is apparent in the number of new Masters of the
Royal Secret who have stayed, become active, joined casts, and
joined the Knights of St. Andrew. We spent some time talking
about the resurgence of interest in Blue Lodge and the
opportunity we have in the Rites and other organizations to
enjoy the interest and contributions that new Master Masons can
make. The interest and enthusiasm we all have for our Scottish
Rite and the Degree Work we do is reflected in the interest
shown by new men. And we talked a bit about the increasing
interest in Consistory monthly meetings as well as the Clubs.
This is our future—our love for Scottish Rite, our respect for
the Work, and our enjoyment of each other is and will continue
to attract younger, newer Masons who seek the same things.
Reminder
Degree Directors need to get their new cast lists to Jim Record
for the September Program. Practice sessions and rehearsals
need to be scheduled well in advance—there is a lot of
competition for space now at the Masonic Center. And most of
all, we need to make ourselves known at all of our Blue
Lodges—that’s where Scottish Rite Masons come from.
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Summer 2009
Scottish Rite Newsletter
(Click on the image below to
download the full PDF)
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Spring 2009
Scottish Rite Newsletter
(Click on the image below to
download the full PDF)
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