End of August

Many lodges are dark now, so I have been able to do some personal fun things, like photo shoots lately.  As I said in my last post, I was able to photograph a Make A Wish presentation party for 4 year old JoJo.  Sometimes the term "life changing" is over used, and in this case I may not say it was life changing, but it certainly was "path affirming", if that makes sense?  It has helped us see that the path we have chosen is certainly one that makes life a little better for people, and greatly increases the joy in my life to be able to provide the little bit of happiness to others.

After the Make A Wish party, we headed to Bellingham to do some photos at Larrabee State Park.  We met up with Past Grand Worthy Advisor Taylor and headed to the park for some golden hour time.  I love finding new locations and the fact that I can usually find a Rainbow Girl, majority or active, nearby to test the location out is a huge bonus!

Monday was a day off from work, so what do we do?  We grab another majority Rainbow Girl and head to a new location to see what we can do!  Sophie joined us on this day and we headed to Rattlesnake Lake!  Stunning location and great model made for some amazing photographs.

Tuesday was back to Lodge in Sultan-Monroe and being still the summer "dark" season attendance was limited, but we got some important work done with the group we had.  As always, the conversations at Sultan-Monroe were extremely interesting and educational.  We discussed some Masonic topics in Lodge, then continued those conversations in our after hours discussions.

Wednesday I attended a meeting with the District 8 Resource team where we learned about the direction the VWB Larry Foley wanted to go and provided input and recommendations for the future of the resource team.  Looking forward to great things from our Deputy!

Friday night was time for us.  Robin and I attended the Mariner game and cheered them on to victory!  There was music and fireworks after the game.  With all we do, we do try and do things for us too, that is so very important.

Saturday off to Leavenworth for a Cornerstone at the Peshastin-Dryden Elementary School.  What a great facility this is.  Remodeled are renovated to bring education to a new level.   After the cornerstone we returned to Everett for the Scottish Rite night at the Aquasox.  It was great time for fellowship, brotherhood, and FIREWORKS!  The Sox unfortunately gave up 6 runs in the 9th inning and lost, but it was still a great night!

The last event of the weekend was off to the East side of the mountains on Sudnay for a wedding!  Congratulations to Majority Rainbow Girl Khatya on a beautiful lakeside ceremony.  Bonus of the day, we got to see her sisters Ahnja and Rhya who now live in Arizona but were back for the wedding.

I so look forward to all of these, but like I said, no matter how much good you are doing, no matter what you are doing to make a difference in the world in your little ways, always remember to take time to take care of you!  All too often I will forget to put things on the calendar and someone will call and ask about a Masonic event or a Photography shoot, and I didn't put the special day for us on the calendar so I fill it with something else.  If you are always busy like us, schedule that time for yourselves and don't forget to put it in writing on the calendar!

Until Next Time!  Be ALL In!

Bikers for JoJo

Pretty quiet time for Masonry since the last post. 

Saturday started with a trip down to Chehalis for a train ride with Brothers and their spouses hosted by Karl E Warren Railroad Lodge in Skykomish.  The weather was nice and the train ride had some beautiful scenery.

I then drove north and attended the Torchlight Fellowcraft Degree at the Masonic Park in Granite Falls.  If you have never been, I highly recommend it.  All done by torchlight after the sun goes down and then excellent fellowship at the park afterwards.

I had the honor and privilege to photograph a Make-A-Wish presentation and it is an incredible reminder of how precious life is.

You can learn more about JoJo here.  https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/about-us/hd-news/2019/share-your-motorcycle-travels-with-girl-with-rare-disease.html

To all my Widows Sons rider brothers, maybe you can help out and post some #Bikers4JoJo photos.

Life is precious brothers, make the most of it!

Grand Lecturer 2019-20

Greetings Brethren All!

I decided to create a blog for my year as Grand Lecturer to document my travels throughout our Grand Jurisdiction and maybe remember some of it in the process!

Right after Grand Lodge I attended the Annual Strawberry feed in Auburn, YUM!

Since Grand Lodge I have attended OES Grand Chapter and Rainbow Girls Grand Assembly

Robin and I attended a corner stone ceremony in Sequim for the Sequim Museum & Arts.  It was a beautiful day and attended by many masons and local citizens.  The history of Sequim is extremely well represented at the Museum and will be a treasure for years to come.  We got to hear from Matt Dryke, who is a Sequim Pioneer family member and Gold Medalist from the 1984 Olympics.

We took off for Spokane to a corner stone ceremony at the Hutton Settlement, a place for Children to live and Grow, providing a safe and healthy living opportunity for children in need of long term housing.  I was able to participate as Acting Senior Grand Warden and had the privilege of delivering the Oration from VWB Jimmy Norton.  It was a very moving day.

I attended the open air degree in Granite Falls and served as the Secretary for opening, the Senior Deacon for the Conferral, and the 1st Ruffian in the Drama.  The degree was attended by approximately 150 brothers and it was a very well done degree.  The day was a great success!  Congratulations to Bros. Will Lorenzini, Larry Jaquot, and Mike Fee on being raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason.

This year I am revitalizing the ritual competition.  We will have the standard SW competition open to all first time Senior Wardens.  There will be a team competition consisting of the WM, SW, and JW which is open to any Master Mason, as long as all three are members of the same lodge.  Finally, we will have an individual lecture competition with the participant doing the Apron Lecture, and the Geometry Lecture.  This competition is open to any Fellowcraft Mason or Master Mason.

In order for the Fraternity to survive, we must be committed and find reasons to be involved, rather than reasons to sit by.  We must provide Masonic education in all things, from ritual and esoteric, to fraternalism and family, to the administration of our lodges.  All of these are important to thrive.  I like to use the 5-4-3 for the 47th problem of Euclid.  The 5 being the foundation of it all and the ritual and esoteric, the 4 being the brotherhood and family, and the 3 being the administrative side of things.  It can be argued that 5 and 4 could be switched, and I can live with that too!  Find reasons to be involved, instead of reasons to stay away, Be All In!

Until Next Time!

Fraternally,
Steve Martin
Grand Lecturer