Wor. Scott Mitchell’s closing remarks for the 2010 Masonic Year:
Brothers, friends and guests, I believe that leadership consists of four components. First is having a vision of what you want to accomplish, then finding a path to follow in order to obtain that vision, third is inspiring others to follow, and lastly and most important, getting out of the way and letting everyone do their part. During 2010 all of you have definitely done your part. Thank you for helping make 2010 a successful year for our lodge. A little over a year ago I stood before you and outlined our four objectives for this past year. They were: engage our membership; develop a non-Masonic income source for the lodge; further develop the planned giving program that was initiated by Worshipful Bob Morgan; and continue to educate our members. I am pleased to say that we accomplished our objectives for this year. Although, to be fair, the second and third objectives are multi-year projects and still have a way to go, but our compass is working and we are most definitely on the right path.
Although we have fallen short of engaging all of our members on a regular basis, we are definitely engaging more now than we have in the past few years. I believe there are two key components to our success. First, our Junior Warden Bryan Cupps and his family have prepared epicurean meals for us to enjoy during our monthly dinners. These meals have been enhanced by the place settings and minor touches he has provided with the various themed decorations throughout the year. This is no minor undertaking. On average each dinner has required approximately two days to prepare and serve. This time does not include the time required to prepare the menu and procure the ingredients. We have done this every month, but Bryan, his family and the kitchen staff , otherwise known as the youth groups, deserve our sincerest appreciation for the effort they have given this endeavor during this past year.
In addition to the splendid food, we have enjoyed a variety of speakers each month.
Starting in January, Santa Cruz County Treasurer Fred Keeley presented his thoughts on, “California in the 21st Century” and his participation in the California Forward organization. Mr. Keeley captured the attention of all who participated and set the bar for the remainder of the year.
County Supervisor Mark Stone followed and delivered an audio visual presentation of his open ocean swim across the English Channel. Mark did a wonderful job of engaging us which enabled us to feel that we were in the boat and observing first hand his successful swim.
District Attorney Bob Lee showed up and said he could only give us thirty minutes and he ended up talking about his personal life and the dedicated work the DA’s office performs for Santa Cruz County for an hour and a half.
Sheriff Phil Wowak gave an insightful talk about the sheriff’s office and his plans to consolidate and relocate the Sheriff’s office to a more centralized location in the county.
We also were fortunate to hear from Superintendant Michael Watkins from the County Board of Education, Editor Don Miller of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Author Robert Nelson of the County Museum of Art and History, Ms. Martina O’Sullivan from Dominican Hospital, County Clerk Gail Pellerin and lastly, Mr. Jack Roberts who shared with us an insightful story about two men who were the first to fly non-stop across the Pacific Ocean prior to World War II in which was essentially a very small “flying gas tank.”
There are numerous opportunities for other speakers and the lodge looks forward to hearing them. Our membership has shown they appreciate the speaker series and it is my hope that future Masters and Junior Wardens will continue this trend.
It is also no surprise that in order to engage our members they must also be informed about what is occurring in the lodge. In most years past, this was primarily done through the trestle board. We made some significant changes to how we communicate with our members and friends this past year. We still use the trestle board, but in order to save costs, we only mail the calendar now. Every member that has provided us with an e-mail address receives an e-mail announcing that the full trestle board is available on the lodge website. It has taken some time for this new format to catch on; however, change takes time and this particular change is for the betterment of the lodge both financially and informationally.
Additionally, the lodge website has improved dramatically during this past year as well. Besides the lodge calendar, which is continuously updated, there are available pages on the history of our lodge, the trestle board, Temple Board, Lodge development, presentations, photographs of lodge activities and various other items.
If we are going to attract new and younger members, it is imperative that we have a regularly updated lodge website. The internet is where most 20 and 30 year old citizens go when they want to find information, and it is very disheartening when they can’t locate it. In today’s world, a current and informative website shows us as being relevant and informative.
Masonry in general has re-discovered the obligation of educating its members, and during this past year, we have provided two additional forms of education in addition to the speaker series. During our stated meetings, we rotated the responsibility of delivering a short talk on a Masonic topic among the officers of the lodge. It took us a while to figure out what to talk about. Some of the initial talks were fairly esoteric and extremely boring; however, as the year progressed they became more informative and less esoteric. In the monthly trestle board we also included an article entitled “Masonic Formation.” Many of these articles were excerpted from Albert Mackey’s, “History of Freemasonry” in addition to stories on the U.S. Capitol cornerstone as well as famous Masons.
Not all of our members appreciate the Masonic education portion of the monthly stated meetings, and in support of the their position, the leadership of the lodge has the responsibility to continue to find topics that are current and relevant to the Mason of today; however, in defense of some claims that this just adds more time to the stated meeting, we have shown, several times this year that a successful meeting can be conducted in one hour from opening to closing. I know I speak for our Grand Lodge and our inspector that I hope the practice of “Masonic Education” continues and shorter meetings as well.
It should be no surprise to anyone by now that the Lodge Development Committee has been my personal project this year. Our lodge has experienced significant changes in membership, preservation of our temple building and income during the past twenty years. At the beginning of this year, the lodge established a new committee which was charged with, “developing a non-Masonic outside source of monthly income that will sustain the lodge’s annual operating budget in the short term and provide for long-term financial growth to meet its scholarship and charitable objectives.”
This committee has met several times during the year, and on November 13th delivered its first presentation to the membership on the nine options available to us. The committee is still working and its present goal is to have the lodge vote on one or two options no later than the end of March 2011. Depending upon the decision of the lodge, the committee will then develop a plan of execution. Change is difficult and it takes time. Nobody should be disheartened that this is a long process; rather we should be thrilled that we are diligently working to ensure our lodge continues to thrive in Santa Cruz County.
A thriving lodge is effective in its community. The members make a difference in the lives of everyone around them. Sometimes it is necessary to use financial means to effect change. Three years ago, Worshipful Bob Morgan instituted a planned giving program for this lodge, and during 2010 we have continued to remind our members of this program in the monthly trestle board. Although this plan has not been a financial success, it is important to remember that this type of objective also takes time to take hold and grow. This program is a great way to support the lodge for years to come and I ask that you consider it when reviewing your financial plan.
A lodge is not a building but rather a group of men of like mind who desire to associate with one another and affect change in their community. In order for a lodge to grow it must continue to accept and develop new members. To this end our lodge has been very active this year. Since January we have performed twenty degrees; five firsts, seven seconds and eight third degrees. We have also heard nineteen proficiencies. In addition to the degree work, we also found time to present the Hiram Award to Worshipful Neil Splain, PM. the Scottish Rite Mason of the Year Award was awarded to Worshipful Ray Hoffman, PM, and in May, Most Worshipful Ken Nagel, Grand Master of Masons in California, visited our lodge and participated in delivering one of our third degrees! We were dark during the month of August and no degree work will happen in December, so all of the above work was performed during only ten months of the year.
None of these successes would have been possible without the dedication of our 2010 lodge officers. I have received many kind words this year from all of you regarding the workings of the lodge and various lodge activities; however, all I have done is guide the ship. Most of the heavy work has been performed by the other lodge officers and if you will indulge me for a few minutes I would like to say a few kind words about each of them.
As most of you know, our Senior Warden Ted Keller suffered a stroke about this time last year, and he decided to continue in the line only a few weeks after that major event in his life. For most of this year, Ted has done his best to support the lodge and deal with the limitations of his health. I appreciated Ted’s warm smile during lodge events. Ted recently suffered a couple of setbacks and he is recuperating. I look forward to seeing him in lodge again when his health permits.
In addition to the tremendous work our Junior Warden Bryan Cupps has performed in the kitchen, he has also prepared refreshments and special cakes for each of our third degree recipients as well as the memorial services we held earlier this year. Bryan is presently working on his plan for his year as master and based on his “all-in” attitude, I am sure 2012 will be a great year for our lodge.
George Moyer was our Lodge Secretary for several years and for the first few months of this year until his health declined. George was a tremendous asset to me last year as I prepared my plans for this year. His knowledge of the lodge members and its history enabled me to be fully prepared for my year as master.
Todd Williams has been a friend since I joined this lodge. We don’t always agree but we work well together and I value his opinion. When George resigned as Secretary, Todd was the natural fit to fill the vacancy. He has been an excellent executive officer and has not once declined to do anything I asked. He has offered insight and perspective on several of the challenging issues we have dealt with this year. Todd, I am looking forward to continuing to work with you in my new office as Lodge Treasurer.
James Helton has done an exemplary job as our Senior Deacon this year. He was consistent and always thoroughly prepared in his ritual work and never declined a request by me to assist the lodge in other matters.
David Olsen, Mark Zevanove and Mark James respectively filled the offices of Junior Deacon, Senior and Junior Stewards. All three of these men have busy schedules outside of the lodge, either with education or work and they made time to fulfill their office obligations. Their degree work was also exemplary and I appreciate Mark Zevanove assisting me with the third degree lectures. This single task allowed me to focus more of my time on managing the lodge.
Our officer coaches, Earl Keiser and Bill Rodden, were a significant help to me this year. Early in the year, a vacancy developed in the Chaplain’s chair and Earl agreed to fill that position for the remainder of the term. As you know, Earl has been physically challenged with his foot surgery, and I appreciate, very much, that he made the effort every week to attend lodge.
Bill Rodden, has been there every week as well. He has regularly filled a position on a moment’s notice, from Marshal to Worshipful Master. He is well suited to being Master of this lodge again and I look forward to supporting him next year.
Tim Heer, Dick Lovelace, and Dan Macdonald have also contributed to the success of our lodge this year. Although their participation was limited, there is no doubt in my mind that we could not have performed all the degrees we did without their assistance.
Worshipful Bob Morgan has been a steady influence on matters related to running the lodge. Our styles are quite different and I am sure I have caused him some consternation at times this past year; however, his consistency and steady style has allowed me to fully understand his position even when I disagreed with him. I can’t thank him enough for his support and guidance.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not thank these four special people; Jim More, Ray Hoffman, John Yost and Virginia Williams. Jim agreed to fill the office of Lodge Treasurer when Todd moved to Lodge Secretary. There have been some interesting moments in Lodge with Jim as Treasurer but his dedication to this lodge should never be questioned. He did not hesitate to say yes, when I asked for his help. As far as Ray goes, I didn’t even ask him to fill in as Tiler when our appointed Tiler resigned. He saw a need in the lodge and filled it. Ray is the epitome of what it means to be a Mason. John Yost was my first connection with this lodge. He was my coach for all three degrees and although he has not been at lodge all of the time, his music was much appreciated by everyone when he did attend and he is someone I can count on for sound guidance. Virginia Williams has served as the editor of the trestle board for several years now. The majority of the words in the trestle board are provided by the principle officers of the lodge; however, the art work, photographs, formatting, editing and publishing are all done by Virginia. On the few occasions when I was late, she made time to make sure the trestle board still was published in a timely manner.
Finally, I cannot leave without recognizing Frank Young. Frank has served as assistant lodge secretary for the past two years. Beginning in 2009 and continuing through early 2010, as George Moyer’s health was declining, Frank was a tremendous asset to the lodge. He worked very hard behind the scene to ensure that our lodge continued to run smoothly while George was suffering. Frank has agreed to continue to serve as assistant secretary through 2011, where he will continue to be a brother our lodge can rely upon for assistance and guidance.
My year as master is almost over. I have mixed emotions about that. I am looking forward to spending more time with my family. I am not going to miss all of the degree work and coordinating schedules; however, I am going to miss guiding the lodge. This year has been very fulfilling to me. None of it would have been possible without your support. I thank you for allowing me this opportunity to make a difference in the history of Santa Cruz-San Lorenzo Valley Lodge 38.