Cortland-Madison Masonic District

Greetings, my Brothers,

The fall season is upon us, our Lodges have returned to their labors, and our Official Visits are in full swing.   As Bart, Clint, Charlie and I have begun the process of visiting our Lodges, perhaps no question has raised as much consternation as Question #58: “Is this Lodge a candidate for merger?”

The answer to this question is, or ought to be, “Yes”! Even the so-called “strong” Lodges need to see themselves as candidates for merger due to this simple, if inconvenient, truth: we don’t have enough active members in the District to fully support our eight Lodges. A number of Lodges struggle to open on a regular basis because they don’t have enough qualified Officers to fill the chairs (despite some plural members holding offices in multiple Lodges).

Facing the option of merger, some of our Lodges have had limited success in repopulating the chairs with Past Masters and other Brothers who have drifted away from the Lodge for whatever reason. This can be, at best, a temporary solution. In the absence of a comprehensive plan to both recruit new and retain existing members, this stop-gap measure will serve only to postpone the inevitable.

Some Lodges are actively considering merger with one or more other Lodges. While Grand Lodge is working to make this process easier for the Lodges, it is not without its potential pitfalls. The biggest of these is that a Lodge merger is not guaranteed to succeed.

It has been my observation that Lodge mergers fail for one of two basic reasons. The first of these is that no one brings anything to the table. If you merge two Lodges that each have no active members, no qualified and willing Officers, no candidates in the pipeline, no community connection, no Masonic education, and no activities, then the resultant Lodge is also likely to have no active members, no qualified and willing Officers, no candidates in the pipeline, no community connection, no Masonic education, and no activities. Worse yet, you are likely to see participation drop even further, as many of the remaining members will not see any benefit from their investment of additional time and fuel traveling to their new Lodge building. In short, if you merge two dying Lodges and don’t make significant changes, you’re going to eventually end up with a single dying Lodge.

The other basic reason why Lodge mergers fail is that the participating Lodges aren’t willing to put everything on the table.   In order for the consolidation process to be successful, its participants must see it for what it is – two groups of Brothers working together to form a NEW Lodge. If the new Lodge is to be successful, the groups involved must consider what will work best for the Lodge that they are creating, and not the ones they are currently in.

The probability of long-term success diminishes significantly with the addition of each item that is not up for discussion. . It doesn’t matter if you are the “stronger” or the “weaker” of the two Lodges, if you aren’t willing to change your Lodge name and number, your meeting night, where you meet, who your Officers will be, your By-Laws, and how you run the Lodge, then you aren’t ready for a merger.   Some members of the so-called “stronger” Lodges may think that they have nothing to gain by working toward consolidation with one or more of the “weaker” Lodges. I have heard comments made along the lines of, “Why should I give up anything? They came to us, right?”

If this is truly how you feel, then I would suggest you re-read your various obligations and lectures, with particular attention being paid to those portions concerning the good of the Fraternity and rendering aid to your Brothers.   Additionally, I would suggest that the so-called “weaker” Lodges, even if they seemingly have nothing else to offer, bring to the table increased fellowship, manpower, and significant Masonic knowledge and experience. These benefits to the resultant Lodge will only be realized, however, if the Brothers who bring them are made to feel that their new Lodge is truly their Lodge.   If they feel as though they are second-class citizens within the Lodge, then they won’t continue to participate, they will drift away, the merger will be a failure, and the entire Fraternity will suffer.

No one likes to consider that his Lodge may be in trouble. No one likes change, especially when it appears that it may affect (or even close) the Lodge that he has spent years building. As the leaves fall from the trees this autumn, they return precious building blocks to the soil. In the coming spring, many things will use those building blocks to grow bigger and stronger. So it is with our Lodges, and our Fraternity.

My Brothers, our Ritual teaches us that every Mason is a Builder. If we are to strengthen our Lodges and our Fraternity, we will need every skilled craftsman to put aside his own personal desires and to work toward that singular goal. I speak for all of our District Officers when I say that if we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to ask.

Scott

A number of us from the Cortland-Madison District recently had the opportunity to travel to Delhi, NY for the apron presentation of the R∴ W∴ Richard S. Morley, Senior Grand Warden, and the R ∴ W∴ Nicholas J. Paolicelli, Junior Grand Warden.   Nearly two hundred Brothers, friends, and family members traveled from across the state and country to celebrate the accomplishments of our Grand Wardens.

From the start, it was abundantly clear that perhaps the most significant of their individual accomplishments has been their respective families. They are the patriarchs of truly Masonic families who, along with their ladies Nancy and Pam, embody the Grand Master’s motto: “A Way of Life”.

I have had the pleasure, over the past couple of years, to get to know our Grand Wardens. From my experience, they are each warm, caring men who will go to any length to help a Brother, whether they have known them for a lifetime or a dinnertime. Rich and Nick are shining examples of what is great about our Fraternity. In short, they are the real deal.

It is no secret that we are undertaking a period of what will likely be great change within our Craft. Change, unfortunately, can be uncomfortable and this especially true when we are changing something, such as Masonry, which has played such a significant role in all of our lives. We are fortunate, however, to have men such as our Grand Wardens and others in our Grand Line to help guide our Fraternity through these changes. While we may not always understand the reasons for some of these changes and we might not even agree with some of them, we can be assured that they are being made with the best interests of our Fraternity, our whole Fraternity, in mind.

As Bart and I continue our visits to our Lodges in the coming weeks, we will bring you the most up to date information available. Together with Clint and Charlie, we are always just a phone call or an email away. Please do not hesitate to contact us if your Lodge needs help. Please note, also, that the Official Visit for Tri-Valley Lodge, No. 148 has been rescheduled for the evening of Thursday, November 3. We look forward to seeing you soon, as we all return to the quarries.

Scott

Brethren,

The Official Visit to Tri-Valley Lodge, No. 148 has been rescheduled for Thursday, November, 3 at 7:30 PM.  Dinner will be served at 6:30.

Menu and reservation information will be forthcoming, as the date approaches.

Sincerely & Fraternally,

Scott A. Cary, DDGM

Brethren,

I apologize for the short notice, however, due to an unfortunate and sudden illness, it will be necessary to reschedule the Official Visit to Tri-Valley Lodge, No. 148 that had been planned for tomorrow evening (Thursday, September 1, 2016).  A new date will be selected after more is known about our Brother’s condition and I have had a chance to confer with the Officers of Tri-Valley Lodge.

Please keep our stricken Brother in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely & Fraternally,

Scott A. Cary, DDGM

On July 23, Cazenovia Lodge hosted the Cortland-Madison District apron presentation. Everyone involved in this event did a fantastic job of making sure that the evening ran smoothly, that a wonderful meal was served, and that all involved basked in the warmth provided by not only by the wine, but also by friendships, new and old.

I received a number of comments from both Masons and their Ladies expressing amazement at how much fun everyone had had and how welcomed each of the guests, especially the Ladies, was made to feel. About the third or fourth time I heard this, it struck me – no one should be surprised to find out that Masons know how to have a good time. And certainly, no one should ever be surprised to discover that Masons would welcome guests, especially the family members of other Masons, into their Lodge buildings with open arms. If this surprises people, then we, my Brothers, aren’t doing Masonry right!

Let me be clear: I’m not advocating for Co-Masonry, or anything of the sort. Regular Freemasonry has always been, and should remain, strictly a fraternity. Rather, I am saying that we should include our Ladies and our families in Lodge life and Lodge events at every opportunity. And when I say “include”, I DO NOT mean allowing them the “privileges” of coming to the Lodge to cook us dinner and then cleaning up our mess…

One of the main functions of our Investigating Committees is to meet with a candidate for Masonry in his home, to explain to both him and his family what will be expected of him and them and what they can expect of the Fraternity in return. If Masonry were not meant to be a family affair, why would we seek to include a man’s family at one of the first steps in his Masonic journey? Many times, unfortunately, we open the door of Masonry to a man and, as soon as he enters, it closes behind him, leaving his family out in the cold.

It’s no secret that there are a lot of failing Lodges in our Grand Jurisdiction. While there are many excellent ideas about how to change this, I believe that one of the most important things to remember is that a successful Lodge and, by extension a successful Fraternity, will enhance (and be enhanced by) the family experience, and not compete with it. If your family doesn’t feel like it is getting anything out of your (and their) participation in Lodge, then you won’t be participating for long – and neither will that new candidate.