Since our calender is not working, I will tell you what is on tap for the rest of the month. We will be holding a Master Mason Degree practice on Monday, May 21st at 7:30pm. Please be there as you know it takes a lot of people to put on this wonderful degree. Plus, our candidate will appreciate it more if he sees a bunch of Brothers there and not just a handful. This strengthens the bond between the new Brother and gives them a sense of want and need in our Fraternity. Plus, we always have some awesome food afterwards in our dining hall! That alone should get you out to the Lodge!!!

We have moved into the 21st Century and are now on Facebook.

Please look us up and Like the page!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Salem-Masonic-Lodge-398/82423787529

As we all go dark for the summer, I like to catch up on my reading. I love to read positive books about Freemasonry but I am drawn mostly to those who bash our fraternity, and believe me, there are many out there to choose from. One in particular that seems to call the Masons out for being satan worshippers is “Masonry: Beyond The Light” by William Schnoebelen (1991). Not only is the author a former Mason, but also a former Mormon and 16 year Witch. He loves quoting Albert Pike as the supreme authoritative person on Masonry and twists our rituals into subverse satanic rituals, all at the expense of the unknown Christian Mason. He also attacks the Order of the Eastern Star as well as the youth organizations associated with Freemasonry. I strongly encourage you to pick up a copy of this book, but don’t pay the five bucks that I did. Look for it in your local library. I say this only to help those who are constantly questioned about our craft so that they may find their own answers to these crazy accusations put forth in this book. Good luck and happy reading!

This is shaping up to be a great year for the Brothers here at West Salem Lodge #398. Currently, we have two candidates that we’re putting through and plans for after Inspection season is over to hold a Lodge/Eastern Star Spaghetti Dinner/Movie Night for our district lodges. We appreciate any support our Lodge members can provide. So, if you’ve been attending forever or haven’t gone to a meeting in a while, your help is greatly appeciated. We have a lot of new faces as officers and always welcome any and all suggestions. Please come visit our Lodge as we feel this is just the beginning to a wonderful 2010 year!

November 16th was our Annual Installation of Officers. Please take a moment to go to the Officers Tab and take a look at the Brothers who will be working diligently to produce another record year for the Lodge!

     The 200th Annual Masonic Conference was held October 16th-17th in Toledo with eight pieces of legislation on the docket. The first piece of legislation regarded moving the age acceptance to join the Freemasons from 19 to 18 years of age. From a show of cards, it could not be determined whether it had passed or failed. A paper ballot was taken and the votes were Yes: 769 and No: 651. Because you have to have a two thirds vote to pass any written legislation, the proposal was defeated.
     The second proposal didn’t even meet with a vote and was thrown out because it was determined to conflict with many other points of rules and legislation. The proposal dealt with a member at the age of 80 years old but in good standing, not being suspended for non-payment of dues. I assume this will come up on the docket next year, just reworded.
     The third proposed legislation, and a hot button topic at this year’s conference, was an appointment of a board of directors to oversee the affairs of the Grand Lodge and its Grand Master. It was overwhelmingly voted down.
     The fourth proposal garnered another lengthy discussion and points were heard from both camps. It dealt with the annual Grand Lodge dues for a candidate to increase it by $1.25 from $10.00 to $11.25 the following years and so on into years 2012-2013 to cap at $15.00. The demands of programs and upkeep from the Grand Lodge were the driving force which helped pass this legislation.
The fifth piece of legislation called for a smaller wait of six months as opposed to a year of waiting for a person to reside in a different jurisdiction before he can petition to join another Lodge. It was passed without discussion.
     The last three proposals were not voted upon due to the immediate consideration failing before discussion could take place. This included the sixth proposal which allowed the Associate Grand Chaplains and the Past Grand Tylers to vote. The seventh piece of legislation involved gambling within the lodges for games of chance and raffles for charitable considerations. The final legislative proposal allowed a member to be reinstated by submitting his dues, but to any lodge under the Grand Lodge and not the one he was originally suspended from. Obviously, these last three never made it to the table as I stated before with immediate consideration failing on all three counts.