Initiated: 09/25/1975
Passed: 10/16/1975
Raised: 11/01/1975
Died: 12/24/2007

Our Prayers and thoughts go out to his Family

Oyster/Beef Stew and the Annual Widow Fund meeting.

9:00 AM till Noon

Breakfast 8:00 AM / Installation @ 9:30 AM

Montgomery Annual Meeting – 2007

On December 6th, Montgomery Lodge will again meet, as it does annually, to receive reports on the past year and elect officers for the year ahead. As away of preparing for that meeting, I wish to call up information that the Grand Lodge has provided to help us understand the role that an officer takes on when he accepts a place in one of the “chairs”.

“Specific duties of lodge officers are given in the “Masonic Code of Minnesota” and the “Masonic Manual”. Both of these publications should be thoroughly studied by all lodge officers.

The officers of a Lodge have been elected or appointed to serve the Lodge because of their particular talents. Some are more gifted in certain areas than others, but all of them must possess one very important characteristic, that of DEVOTION TO DUTY.

When a man accepts an office in a Masonic Lodge, he is saying to the Brethren of his Lodge that he has committed himself to Masonry and to the complete fulfillment of his office. He should, prior to acceptance of an office, study the charges which will be made to him at his installation. He should also recognize that he will have to make certain sacrifices as the job of an officer is not a “one or two” night a month obligation. There is a great deal of planning, studying, and attending involved in each of these offices. If he is not prepared to make these sacrifices then he is not being fair to his lodge brothers or to himself by accepting the office.

Every officer must work with enthusiasm, not only at his own particular job in the Lodge, but must assist all other officers in the performance of their duties. The officer, by doing his job well, is trying to earn his way to the next office in line or to some other position of responsibility in his Lodge.

A successful lodge has: good ritualistic work, a good educational program, and good lodge administration and management. It is the responsibility of every officer to see that your lodge is a successful lodge.” In the way of editorial comment, I would add that Montgomery has a long tradition of performing the ritual work in an acceptable to excellent manner. It has varied from time to time, but with few exceptions we have been able to do all of our own work. At this point, we are starting to turn over some of the responsibilities of the 3rd degree to newer members of the Lodge and this seems to be going well. The degree ritual is the primary responsibility of the officers, except that 1st section lectures are almost always reserved for our newest members to demonstrate their ritual prowess. We are very fortunate, at this time, to have officers who are most capable and have proven very proficient in performing the ritual. Every line officer has a part of the ritual for which he is responsible, from the Tyler to the Worshipful Master. The appointed officers progress in their command of ritual, culminating in performance of the “staircase “ lecture of the 2nd degree. Difficulties arise in the orderly development of ritual capability when an officer drops from the line. Jumping chairs can put an enormous burden on a brother to learn ritual on short notice. It is my fondest desire to see our officers progressing through the chairs without skipping. Much of the pleasure that an officer receives is from experience that each line position offers. I have particularly enjoyed the gusto that so many of the Brethren have shown in the kitchen.

As a final note, I must say that we now have several new members who are showing an appetite for the work and are performing at a level of excellence. Our future is at hand and it is looking pretty good!
Dave Seitz, Editor

Annual Meeting/Elections