VALLEY VOICE January 2018

Transcription

1 Scottish Rite Masons and their Families VALLEY VOICE January 2018 Y P P A H! R A E Y NEW THI S MONTH THE VALLEY VOICE WELCOMES THE VALLEY OF GRAND RAPIDS NEW 2018 EVENTS ANNOUNCED SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

2 Valley of Detroit VALLEY VOICE JANUARY 2018 Secretary s Scribblings Valley Voice is the official publication of Detroit Scottish Rite. The Bodies of the Scottish Rite, sitting in the Valley of Detroit, State of Michigan, acknowledge and yield allegiance to the Supreme Council, 33 o, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States of America whose Grand East is in Lexington, Massachusetts. Ill. David A. Glattly, 33 Sovereign Grand Commander Ill. Walter F. Wheeler, 33 o Deputy for Michigan Ill. David G. Boring, 33 o Active Member for Michigan Ill. William J. Dover, 33 o, MSA Active Member Emeritus Ill. Erwin W. O Dell, 33 o, MSA Active Member Emeritus Ill. Gerald F. Thorp, 33 o, MSA Active Member Emeritus 32ndDegreeMasons.org All correspondence concerning this Publication should be directed to the Executive Secretary of the Valley of Detroit, Timothey S. Marshbanks, 33 o Mailing Address 907 Monroe St. Dearborn, MI Fax valleyofdetroit@32nddegreemasons.org Editor Kim Ross VODGraphics@gmail.com Happy New Year Brothers! As we start afresh with a new year, we look forward to a new year with Scottish Rite! As mentioned last month, we are hard at work making changes for the betterment of the Rite. As you look through this month s Valley Voice, you will see we have added content from the Valley of Grand Rapids. We are excited to have them join us in this publication and we hope to expand it to include the other three Valleys in the near future. We believe that adding this content afford you the opportunity to see what is happening in our state with Scottish Rite. We also hope that maybe, in your travels, you may wish to visit the other Valleys and enjoy their events. As we move forward, there will be more changes coming. Please read the note from our Board President as he explains our new position regarding the Children s Dyslexia Center. The Valley has supported the CDC for twenty years with members on their board, running fundraisers and supporting their events. Allowing them to manage their Center on their own opens up opportunity for them to excel and allows us to concentrate on the betterment of our membership and its benefits. Stay tuned as we continue to make changes that will put your membership with the Valley of Detroit a true value and one you can be even more proud of to belong. Cover Photo by Kim Ross Permission to reprint original articles in the Valley Voice is granted to all recognized Masonic publications with credit to the author and this publication. Copyright 2017 Board of Trustees of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Detroit

3 Last Call Valley of Detroit January Meeting - 7:30 PM Tuesday, January 9, 2018 Following the Business Meeting Joel Stone Presents: Valley of Detroit LO S T TO TI ME: 20 FAMO U S DET RO I T ER S YOU VE NEV ER H EAR D O F Joel Stone is senior curator for the Detroit Historical Society, which oversees the Detroit Historical Museum, the Dossin [daw-sin] Great Lakes Museum, and a quarter million artifacts in the City of Detroit s collection. Raised in the Detroit area, he has studied journalism, history, archaeology, and archival management at the University of Detroit, Wayne State University, and the University College Cork, Ireland. He supports a number of regional history organizations and is a board member of the Association for Great Lakes Maritime History. March Meeting - 7:30 PM Tuesday, March 13, 2018 Following the Business Meeting, there will be a presentation on the Yankee Air Museum by Kevin Walsh. Reservations Please! Reserve online or call the office at CEL yankeeairmuseum.org Reservations Please! Reserve online or call the office at TE A R EB style with the Valley of Detroit Valentines Party at The Gazebo Banquet Center Mound Rd, Warren Saturday, February 10, 2018, 6:00 pm, $45/person, includes Dinner, Drinks and Dancing with the North Oakland Dixieland Band reserve online or call the office

4 T H E V A L L E Y V O I C E W E L C O M E S T H E Valley of Grand Rapids From Where I Sit.. My worthy Brothers of the Valley of Grand Rapids, I m proud to address you in this inaugural edition of our new, inter-valley publication! We have been without a regular publication for far too long. This cooperative effort comes to you through the auspices of the Michigan Council of Deliberation, spearheaded by the COD Secretary, Tim Marshbanks, 33 and our Valley s publication liaison/editor Royce Myers, 32, and all the Valleys in the State of Michigan. Illustrious Brother Tim will oversee the printing work and distribution, while Brother Royce will assemble all the information and articles provided by our Valley and you Brothers. Consider this an open invitation to share your thoughts or research with your Scottish Rite Brothers, and also a calendar for upcoming events. You will find this new publication both educational and informative. Our reboot of the Valley newsletter goes hand-in-hand with other innovations the Board of Trustees seeks to introduce. As you may know, several books and articles of research have been brought to light recently which cast a dire shadow over the future of not just the Scottish Rite but Freemasonry as a whole. Analysis of the mindsets of the Millennial, Gen X, and Boomer generations of men clearly indicate the traditional approach to our Lodge and Valley way of doing things is woefully inadequate in meeting the expectations and desires of most men both inside and outside our Craft. Many Brothers find lackluster involvement and weak fellowship, while men who could be potential candidates for the Degrees see Freemasonry as a cold, stodgy old boys club unworthy of consideration because it can t possibly provide them with anything meaningful. Freemasonry stands on the brink of enormous opportunity in our generational culture. Men of every walk of life know there is something missing in their lives. They know they ve become disconnected from truly meaningful, priceless ideals in our world. They aspire to greater things, yet are searching for where to find them. The more they seek is Freemasonry and Scottish Rite Freemasonry! We must communicate this philosophy and vision more effectively! Freemasonry has an incredible future if only we would be flexible and experimental. We must be innovative in how to move forward in the work of the Valley and our Lodges. If tradition isn t providing the results we expect, then new methods and plans must be devised. The fault isn t in the Ritual. The fault isn t in the Lodge room or the Valley amphitheater. The fault is the complacency, apathy, and fear of change we see all too often in both our membership and our leadership. We are rapidly losing the honor and exceptionalism of being a Freemason. As Freemasons, we must be willing to do more and do it differently. We need to honor the legacy and be innovative and inventive. If we don t find what we re looking for in our Valley or Lodge, we must find a way to make it, to create it. What would happen if we dared to buck the status quo? Would we fail a few times? Sure. Would we succeed a few times? Of course! And what would happen if we continued to look outside ourselves, outside the Lodge and Valley, outside our ever-shrinking sphere of compressed, internal influence to find fresh ideas, new processes, and future leaders willing to do the heavy work and shoulder our Fraternity into the 22nd century? Are we afraid to succeed in spite of failures? I say categorically we must not. My Brothers, the time is now for us to re-envision our future. My earnest desire, as your Board President, is to see these changes through fruition. The Board is revitalizing the work of the Membership Committee by recreating the Ambassadors Program, to bring the value of our Valley into the Lodges. A new Education Committee is in formation, to provide better understanding of the Scottish Rite Degrees to both our new Sublime Princes and our more seasoned ones. The Knights of Saint Andrew have increased their membership to near capacity, and the KSA Chapter has been consistently diligent in providing every manner of support the Valley is in need of.

5 The Donald Saidla 33 rd Class October 21, 2017 Front Row. Lt-rt: Anson Jaynes, Dale Kramer, Donald Saidla, Lyle Vogler, and Glenn Miller. Middle Row. Lt-rt: Bill Grew, Mike Dow, Ron Roberts, and James Lutz. Back Row. Lt-rt: James Cobianco, Sr. and Robert Aylsworth. Three new business roles have been, or will be, instituted as well. The Executive Secretary s role has been pared down into what will now be called the Business Secretary. As a result, the office will become, for lack of a better term, a hard-data point for the maintenance of records, correspondence, and other Valley business. The majority of our internal Valley communication will come in an electronic format, and office phone calls will be automatically forwarded to the appropriate staff. The Reunion Coordinator will provide a single leadership source for all matters concerning the Reunion planning and functions. The Reunion Committee will include the deputy (2nd in line) officers in each of the four Scottish Rite Bodies: Moriah Lodge of Perfection, Cyrus Council Princes of Jerusalem, Robinson Chapter of Knights Rose Croix, and DeWitt Clinton Consistory. We do this to nurture leadership and to develop an understanding of Valley administration. A Casting Director is also in the works. The responsibility of the Casting Director will be two-fold: First, to fulfill all cast requirements in the Degrees scheduled to be presented at any given Reunion; Second, to see where our Brothers would like to be engaged and involved, such as wardrobe, the stage crew, manning the lighting/sound booth, or taking roles in the cast (both speaking and non-speaking). The Degree Director would no longer carry the burden for being solely responsible for both casting and staging his Degree. The ultimate success of all this work, and all our future endeavors, is to achieve one goal to make the Valley of Grand Rapids, A.A.S.R. the premier Masonic experience for all our Brothers. By extension, the successes we have in the Valley of Grand Rapids will be brought into our Blue Lodges. Together, we will unite in building our Craft into the most noble, inspiring, caring, and inclusive Freemasonic institution. I have faith in every one of you to be successful as we move forward, and I admire you all as the best of men and Masons! Most fraternally, and always at your service - Bro. Todd M. Schmitz, 32 President, Board of Trustees Valley of Grand Rapids, A.A.S.R.

6 Upcoming Reunions Grand Rapids Detroit Save the Date Spring Reunion APRIL 28, 2018 DEGREES TO BE PRESENTED: Get Involved! Are you interested in getting more involved in Scottish Rite? The Valley has several opportunities to participate in! Contact the Office or any Presiding Officer to find out more! THERE IS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE IN THE VALLEY OF DETROIT Stage Actors Stage Crew Ambassadors Robing Knights of St Andrew Membership Benefits THE VALLEY OFFICE: NDDEGREEMASONS.ORG

7 2018 College Scholarships Available MICHIGAN SCOTTISH RITE FUND SCHOLARSHIP THE VALLEY S CHARITABLE AND EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIP THE ABBOTT SCHOLARSHIP It s time again to apply for the Scottish Rite College Scholarships. Each year the Valley of Detroit provides thousands of dollars to deserving college students from all over our jurisdiction. The scholarships are awarded to Masonic affiliated applicants and are based on academic achievement, participation in worthwhile activities, financial need, and/ or self-help. Minimum requirements are GPA 3.0, ACT 22, SAT In addition, the scholarships are available for not only entering freshmen, but also students who have already started their undergraduate studies. If you know of any deserving student who could benefit from these scholarships, please encourage them to contact the Valley Office. The deadline to return an application is February 26, 2018, and the student must request an application by to: ValleyofDetroit@32nddegreemasons.org Brothers, SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT It should be no surprise that Masonry has been struggling with a steady decline in membership for years. As a data point, Valley of Detroit has seen a nearly 50% reduction in membership over the last 10 years. While our membership numbers have been declining, the number of jobs around the Valley, and Masonry as a whole, have remained relatively consistent. Requiring many of our Brothers to take on multiple responsibilities, in multiple organizations, in order to keep things moving. In an effort to more effectively manage the priorities of our membership, the Valley of Detroit Board of Trustees has elected for the Children s Dyslexia Center located within the Valley of Detroit the autonomy to self-manage itself as an independent organization. The Director of the CDC, Ann Randall, is an exceptional leader, who is passionate about the mission of the CDC and committed to tackling the challenges of dyslexia head-on. The Valley of Detroit Board of Trustees is confident that by allowing Ann the autonomy to run the CDC, she will be better poised for success. While this means that the Valley of Detroit s membership on the CDC Board of Directors will no longer be required, the Learning Center will always have a home with us at 907 Monroe. We wish Ann and the CDC nothing but long term success, and if you are interested in volunteering with the CDC I encourage you to contact the Center at or at clc_detroit@yahoo.com. Fraternally, Mark Lazar President Valley of Detroit Board of Trustees

8 The Board of Trustees of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley of Detroit 32 o Masons and Their Families 907 Monroe Street Dearborn, MI NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID ROYAL OAK, MI PERMIT#95 Dated Material - Please Do Not Delay MARK YOUR CALENDAR Valley of Detroit January Valley Meeting Joel Stone Presents: 20 Famous Detroiters You ve Never Heard Of. February Mardi Gras Party (Tickets still available) 13 No Valley Meeting March Valley Meeting Kevin Walsh Presents the Yankee Air Museum April Spring Reunion MARK YOUR CALENDAR Valley of Grand rapids Febuary Winter Reunion & Festive Board March Feast of the Paschal Lamb MAY /5 Spring Reunion