Comments on The North Eastern Corner: When Do You Guys Have Fun?

Thanks for the music tip Steve I'll check them out...

2008-10-23T18:55:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the music tip Steve I'll check them out and there is only one Shane MacGowan (thank God!).

MMM - way off topic.

I am just finding out ...

2008-10-23T18:33:00.000-04:00

MMM - way off topic.

I am just finding out about these Masonic blogs, and I saw your bio - if you like the Pogues and BNL, I would urge you to give a listen to Great Big Sea. The lead singers look nothing like Shane MacGowan, and neither sound like BNL, but the music is truly infectious and FUN!

Now, back to topic: Fun is where you make it. I enjoy the humor of the guys in my lodge, but even when the subject of the night is serious, there is a sense of 'order' in lodge that I find as my wages. (Nick's Table Lodges aside;) ).

The fun is just icing on the cake!

Our lodge is active enough not to have repeated a ...

2008-10-23T12:03:00.000-04:00

Our lodge is active enough not to have repeated a PM in 30 years... but that's not to say that we've always had the best WMs. We've had holes in the line from sickness, job transfers, and personal issues, but have usually patched them by forcing everybody up, rather than by putting a PM in a seat. That's not necessarily the best way to handle it.

However, we had two holes the year that I joined - and we moved people up, and everybody did a great job. Which way is the best? Hopefully the lodge members (or the senior officers or the PMs) can best decide that.

Paul, I touched on this on my own blog. If you ran...

2008-10-23T04:06:00.000-04:00

Paul, I touched on this on my own blog. If you ran a business which changed middle managers because of a calendar, you'd be nuts. But we do this in Freemasonry. And the problem with changing it is human nature.
I know of a Lodge which just installed officers; everyone moved up a chair. Two weeks later, the SD announced he was moving away for good. It was suggested a Bro. who had been SD and dropped out for awhile due to work but was active again be placed back in his old chair. This annoyed a new Mason who felt he was entitled to jump another chair.
Another Lodge had a situation where the Deacons are now out of the jurisidiction. A recent affiliate had agreed to serve as JW if he were to be elected. He wasn't; he admitted before the election it might cause work and home problems and interfere with his duties in his Mother Lodge. But when he wasn't elected he was ready to quit in a huff.
You see, everyone's in a big hurry to be WM. They want their turn. And they get angry when someone puts the brakes on it.
It makes sense to keep a good leader when you've got one; you simply are not going to get one every year no matter how many chairs someone sits in. But our system's not designed that way and too many noses would get bent out of joint to change it now.

A little bit of a tangent but....you talked about ...

2008-10-22T19:42:00.000-04:00

A little bit of a tangent but....you talked about progressive lines and officers, etc.......

As I am finishing my time in a progressive line in a few months I have been debating a similar question; what is better recycling good leaders or developing new ones. While we all recognize the need to develop new leaders, often we simply fill the sits with who ever is willing. As you touched on there is nothing worse than poor leadership especially in a volunteer organization. Blog on my friend.

Touché Justa! And thanks for pointing out my horri...

2008-10-15T10:07:00.000-04:00

Touché Justa! And thanks for pointing out my horrible spelling problem! I can't live without spellcheck.

Hi MMM. You mentioned:
I understand the mea...

2008-10-15T10:01:00.000-04:00
Hi MMM. You mentioned:
I understand the meaning and self improvement of the degrees but you can get stuff like that from countless sources.

You can get fun from countless sources if you want to use that logic. Why join at all then?

But back to a Lodge itself. You hit it right here:
The degrees can't be the end all of the lodge existance [sic] there has to be brotherhood to go through the degrees for.

At every installation in most Lodges from BC to Quebec, the words are heard that "The object of meeting in a Lodge is of a two-fold nature: moral instruction and social intercourse." There has to be a balance of the two. Not too much of one or the other.

In your original post, you mentioned leadership by a certain officer. The guys in my Lodge don't need the WM to get them together outside Lodge. They do it on their own. They communicate via e-mail and Facebook. If one is doing something, like watching the baseball playoffs, he'll fire off a note to everyone else to meet him at X pub. Sometimes, it's even to say he's visiting a Lodge and invites anyone to go with him. None of this takes a Lodge meeting or even a lot of organisation. It's just simple communication. Someone has an idea and gets word out to the other guys.

Does your Lodge have a phoning/e-mail list the members receive?

Justa

Bro. Nick,
I agree the Table Lodge is without a...

2008-10-15T09:32:00.000-04:00
Bro. Nick,
I agree the Table Lodge is without a doubt my favorite Masonic thing to do, but they take so much planning and preparation that they can only occur once in a while.
Bro. Justa,
My lodge stopped doing dinner after the meetings because "the old dudes" didn't like eating so late and wanted to go home after meetings that is probably the main reason us American do it that way. As for your second point, I understand the meaning and self improvement of the degrees but you can get stuff like that from countless sources. The degrees can't be the end all of the lodge existance there has to be brotherhood to go through the degrees for.
MMM

There are actually two subjects in your post. One ...

2008-10-15T04:46:00.000-04:00
There are actually two subjects in your post. One is social and the other is philosophical. Let me address the easy one first.

Fun. What do your guys like to do? What are they into? If there's some kind of comment interest, then why doesn't someone put an event together?

This month, one of my Lodges has a hockey night; they're getting together to watch the game on the big screen. Next month, they're doing the same thing with the Grey Cup. Next month, there's a Christmas thing with families and the widows.

If your members are moaning they don't do anything, it's simple. Do something. All they have they have to do is make the commitment to organise and follow through. What's stopping them?

Btw, I've never understood why American Lodges insist on having dinner before meetings. Our festive board is after the meeting.

Now, you commented:
It was put to me by a dear friend and Brother who is wondering to what end do all of these degrees lead.

They lead to, one hopes, self-improvement through contemplation of symbols and stories, that's what. Isn't that why they joined?

One of the things I explain to each petitioner is the novelty will wear off. Business meetings are a dull routine by nature. There are only three degrees so they won't see ten or 12, they'll see the same three. One thing they can do is learn two or three parts in a degree; it will help them understand the ritual and make the degrees less monotonous, if that's how they feel about them.

Justa

I have to concur with Tom. I think what really sho...

2008-10-14T19:13:00.000-04:00
I have to concur with Tom. I think what really should happen in Lodge is to make friends. It is those connections between brothers that make Lodge a good place to meet.

One of the best Lodge activities to increase Fraternal ties is a Table Lodge. In my Lodge, the mixture of alcohol and celebration makes for an enjoyable evening. No one gets drunk, but it is the toasts that make brothers have fun. When you go through 7 toasts with brothers charging their cannons, etc., everyone leaves having fun.

I love Table Lodges. You can even have them before meetings, during non business meetings, even during a weekend. Just a lot of fun.

Nick

I generally don't meet up with the bros outside of...

2008-10-14T15:42:00.000-04:00
I generally don't meet up with the bros outside of lodge, nor do we have dinner together or go to ball games.

I do, however, have a lot of fun at my lodge when we are together. We laugh, joke, swap stories, plan events, and poke fun at GL officers. For some reason, this works for us.

But several of the guys do get together quite often outside of lodge. For them, it works.

I guess it depends on what you want to get out of lodge.

Excellent Post. Someone once said to me: "If it ...

2008-10-14T13:51:00.000-04:00
Excellent Post. Someone once said to me: "If it isn't fun, why do it?" It wasn't so I soon got out of that position.
To me Lodge is fun. I belong to two lodges. At one of them we hold stated meetings (limited to about 30 minutes) and the go out to eat and listen to a paper or have a Masonic discussion. It is very satisfying and a lot of fun.
In the other we have gone to the Theater and the movie, held family picnics and other events and even stop by a local watering hole to continue the conversations begun at Lodge. All this and we still do degree work, and the necessary business. I am secretary for both Lodges and I don't run either of them. I think you have hit the proverbial nail on the heat. We should be having fun. That said perhaps your lodge members define fun differently than you and I do. j

Comments on The North Eastern Corner: When Do You Guys Have Fun?

Thanks for the music tip Steve I'll check them out...

MMM - way off topic.I am just finding out ...

Our lodge is active enough not to have repeated a ...

Paul, I touched on this on my own blog. If you ran...

A little bit of a tangent but....you talked about ...

Touché Justa! And thanks for pointing out my horri...

Hi MMM. You mentioned: I understand the mea...

Bro. Nick,I agree the Table Lodge is without a...

There are actually two subjects in your post. One ...

I have to concur with Tom. I think what really sho...

I generally don't meet up with the bros outside of...

Excellent Post. Someone once said to me: "If it ...

MMM - way off topic.

I am just finding out ...

Hi MMM. You mentioned:
I understand the mea...

Bro. Nick,
I agree the Table Lodge is without a...