2021 is going to be our second severely limited Annual Communication. Much more open and accessible than 2020, but certainly not close to normal. That’s sad, but let’s look ahead. Let’s look ahead because 2022 will most certainly be a normal Annual Communication.
Looking ahead to 2022, I think that there are some interesting things that we can discuss.
Does your Lodge read the resolutions in full, in a stated meeting, prior to the Annual Communication?
Does your Lodge vote on each of them to get a sense of how the Lodge feels about them?
If your Lodge does vote, does it expect the Officers to vote in keeping with the Lodge’s wishes?
If you are attending the Annual Communication do you view it as your duty to vote in accordance with your Lodge’s desires, or do you feel it is your duty to vote as your own conscience dictates?
Does your Lodge consider it a duty that the Wardens and Master attend?
Does your Lodge encourage it’s Past Masters to attend?
Finally, does your Lodge do anything to help defray the potentially high costs of attendance for the Lodge officers or even members?
I’m aware of Lodges that go both ways on each of these questions, so I know that every Lodge handles these items differently. I think it would be very interesting to read everyone’s various experiences and perspectives.
Let’s chat about voting at Annual Communications.
We will be having our weekly Live Open Thread today for those with a paid subscription to Emeth. The email opening the thread will go out at 8:00 AM, and I’ll remain on the thread until 6:00 PM. Like always, I think we will have a great discussion.
If you would like to participate in our future Live Open Threads, please just upgrade your subscription, and you’ll be included in the future.
I should point out that since Emeth started Day 1 with no content, paid subscriptions have been discounted 20% since that date, while everything got up and running. That discount ends at the end of April, so if you have wanted to upgrade to a paid subscription, but haven’t gotten around to it yet, doing it right now will result in a savings for you.
Grand lodge annual communications is one of those extremely boring things that detracts from education and fellowship. It should be handled in a business meeting separate from a regular fellowship/education lodge by those brethren interested in it or obligated to it, but not to the lodge in general.
Grand lodge is essentially a republic form of governance. Representatives are chosen by the lodge in the form of masters and wardens to represent them but also to have wisdom to know when the rank and file are inadequately knowledgeable about the subject to make an informed decision and thus have the authority to vote differently than their lodge consensus. This could cost them their office the following year, But that's only really an issue in a properly functioning lodge that doesn't use progressive line and has the best man serving in each office not the guy whose "turn" it was.
Compensation for service to the lodge is absolutely necessary.
"Grand lodge annual communications is one of those extremely boring things that detracts from education and fellowship." If you're talking about the main part of the event, there is some truth to that. Business meetings can indeed be tedious. However, I'm telling you, Jack, the fellowship before and after the business is TREMENDOUS. That's one of the key highlights of the Annual Communication. It's like a huge family reunion for the entire state.
Education? Likely not; this is indeed a business meeting, and an excellent opportunity for fellowship (should the Brethren elect to participate in that manner.) However, the Lodge Leadership retreat offers both the fellowship AND the education in spades. You'd love to attend that event, although the education is oriented towards leadership skills, which I found very important when I attended. It doesn't contain the esoteric material you're interested in, but that doesn't mean a group of Masons, or the hypothetical Lodge you're envisioning (and could very well become a reality) can't host such an event in the future! I think such a meeting would start small, but grow pretty quickly.
I also recognize your other two points. Both are good, in my opinion.
Okay. I think the topic Cameron's speaking about is the "apples," with the "oranges" being the first part. Hence my confusion with what you meant.
As for your reading resolutions in open blue lodge, I agree that there's a better way of doing this other than the Secretary reading them, word-by-word, in a Stated Communication. It is a blatant waste of time. I think a Brother mentioned it to me that this happened in his Lodge, and someone, about 2/3 of the way through, put a solid stop to it. The Secretary thought it was his duty to read them in this manner; however, there is NOTHING in the WMC to that effect. Sec. 5.01 D B.L. does mention that the Grand Lodge shall distribute them "to the Constituent Lodges for reading and discussion..." but it doesn't state how they shall be read or discussed. I think reading this section of the Code, which would take less than a minute, would alleviate a lot of the headaches that arise during this time of the year with the resolutions.
They did it all 3 years I was active in Chehalis lodge. What an absolute drudge. Then they would all argue about them for 15 minutes per resolution. Horrible.
Interesting how you mention that. It's the same Lodge that went through them earlier this month that caused 3 Brothers to nod off on Zoom. Old habits die hard. But still, a ship can be turned around. Like a previous Grand Master stated, it might be like an aircraft carrier, but it's still turnable. You just have to be persistent and patient. It's succeeded with other Lodges.
Our best chance to fix Chehalis died with Matt. I'm hoping to start a new lodge. Rather than wait 30 years to finally fix an old one. Of course, I'm not sure if I can garner enough interest in new lodge. I'm a bit of a pessimist.
I think that the Lodge in question can still be saved, if its members decide to save it. Now that the building is no longer an albatross hanging around its neck, discussions, concerns, and plans can range far beyond the building and the stress caused by the building.
I don't know if there is desire to save the Lodge though. Since the building has been sold by that Lodge, its members have brought up killing the Lodge through merger at every single zoom meeting of surrounding Lodges that I've attended.
>>"However, I'm telling you, Jack, the fellowship before and after the business is >>TREMENDOUS. That's one of the key highlights of the Annual Communication. It's like a >>huge family reunion for the entire state."
Yep. I agree. I've loved attending every Annual Communication I've ever attended, and there have been a lot, for exactly this reason.
I'm with you. Reading the resolutions is the absolute, most horrible, make me want to hang myself from the chandelier, thing that a Lodge ever does.
What a Lodge should do is email them to their members, and print out and post a couple copies for the guys who don't use email. Easy, and would keep the DGM from dreaming murderous thoughts as his brain grows ever more numb.
I also have always felt that it was my responsibility to vote as my own conscience dictates, not what the Lodge as a whole thinks to be correct. Very often, I've decided how to vote while at the AC, talking with men I respect from around the state and getting their perspective. None of that can happen if a Lodge somehow binds a man's vote in advance.
My lodge typically reads through all the resolutions prior to Grand Lodge’s Annual Communication. We have discussions about them but, to the best of my recollection, have never voted on them as a lodge. The Master and Wardens have been able to vote as they see fit, as well as any PMs that attend. Perhaps the resolutions should be voted on in the local lodges prior to the Annual Communication and the results of those ballots forwarded to GL and the results shared at the AC. It would save a lot of time for other things. I imagine this years voting on all the items may take the better part of a day. The Master and Wardens are encouraged to attend but are not re-imbursed for expenses that are incurred. I’ve not attended an Annual Communication personally other than the virtual event that was held last year, which I think is something GL should consider incorporating. Whether voting is incorporated into virtual attendance or not, it would allow more brothers to participate. I was looking forward to attending in person last year until everything changed. I believe it’s an opportunity to network, meet brothers from other lodges and renew friendships.
I truly enjoy the social aspects of Grand Lodge. Seeing and talking with old friends. Going out to Lunch with the members of my Lodge, going out to a superb dinner with District 8, going to middle of the night dinner with men found wandering the halls. It is wholly superb in that respect.
Traditionally, the business goes by fairly quick in my view, but what can get tedious is the early morning, more ceremonial stuff. Never been much of a fan of those traditions. Perhaps they will change some.
Years ago, I made it a point to sleep in to miss that early stuff, just showing up for the business and the social activities. Imagine my surprise years ago when I was sleeping away and my cell phone started ringing because the then Grand Master was calling me up to the East. Alas, that had to be put off till the afternoon session, but I learned my lesson and started showing up for the early morning bits as well.
--Does your Lodge read the resolutions in full, in a stated meeting, prior to the Annual Communication?
Yes, we distribute copies of the resolutions to everyone attending the meeting after we receive them.
--Does your Lodge vote on each of them to get a sense of how the Lodge feels about them?
If the discussion was lively we would vote, otherwise it's usually just nodding of heads one way or the other.
--If your Lodge does vote, does it expect the Officers to vote in keeping with the Lodge’s wishes?
Yes, although each one may change his mind when presented with arguments at the AC. They should report how they voted back to their brothers.
--If you are attending the Annual Communication do you view it as your duty to vote in accordance with your Lodge’s desires, or do you feel it is your duty to vote as your own conscience dictates?
See above.
--Does your Lodge consider it a duty that the Wardens and Master attend?
For this I can't speak for the lodge, but we always have at least one (with proxies) there.
--Does your Lodge encourage it’s Past Masters to attend?
We don't discourage it. Each PM knows they can attend, it's up to them to decide if they will or not. A few do.
--Finally, does your Lodge do anything to help defray the potentially high costs of attendance for the Lodge officers or even members?
Our lodge per bylaws (or practices and procedures) pays for three members (and their significant others) to attend the warden's conference, but I can't remember if they do the same for the AC. I think we usually will vote to give a per diem or something to help defray costs.
As a side note, I loved the warden's conference, I managed to weasel my way to at least five of them while moving up the chairs when brothers who were eligible to go declined for whatever reason. I loved the Red Lion Inn, I loved how we were treated there, and I found it to be a great value, especially considering how poorly we're treated at the AC. I paid $25 dollars for a side salad and a bowl of shitty soup for lunch my first time going to Wenatchee, after that, I skipped the rip off meals and ate at taco bell, or a local restaurant that gave us a decent meal for half the cost. When you talk about meals at lodge, grand lodge needs to step up it's own game.
You are right. Meals at the Annual Communication are generally not great, and are never a reasonable value for the high cost.
In my present position, and for quite a few years now, I've needed to attend them all. Prior to that though, I never did. I greatly enjoy going out with a band of Brothers. Someplace casual for lunch (I remember one year parking was a bugger, so we didn't want to move a bunch of cars and lose our spots, so we crammed about ten of us fat guys into a Brother'a Lincoln) and someplace nice for dinner. Plus middle of the night dinner, one can't forget middle of the night dinner!
I've met a lot of Brothers through the years doing that, and have built good friendships from those beginnings.
Having thought about this today, I think that I may have an idea as to how to improve the value of the meals, but I need to check with some folks to make sure that I'm thinking about it correctly.
Honestly, I've never attended a convention type event where I thought that the meals were both superb and a good value, except when the event was held in a casino. My hunch is that they are more used to cooking for huge groups, and that the profits are subsidised by gaming.
The buffet styles that most casino's use is also a fairly efficient way of serving a large number of people at low cost. It's true that the quality of food at casino's is usually pretty good. I don't game, so I don't go to them often except when I'm invited. My wife's work had a function at a casino a while ago that I got to attend. I ate too much and gave myself indigestion. HA HA!
I've often wondered, especially a couple of years ago when it was so cold outside that ice was growing inside of the hotel's doors, why the Conference of Grand Masters doesn't just decide that it's permanent home will be in Las Vegas.
It is very easy to get to from anywhere. One does not risk freezing to death in February. And, all of the major conference facilities are expert at pulling such things off.
"Does your Lodge read the resolutions in full, in a stated meeting, prior to the Annual Communication?" Some do. One of my Lodges did that a couple of weeks ago; problem is, it knocked out 3 of the members who were at the Zoom meeting. One of them almost fell out of his chair. And I'm not exaggerating. Therefore, you know what I think about doing this. There are always better ways to accomplish this without a lengthy recitation by the Lodge Secretary.
"Does your Lodge vote on each of them to get a sense of how the Lodge feels about them?" Some Lodges, yes. But mostly, the resolutions are read for information. Often times, it's one half at one Communication, and the other half at the next Communication. Occasionally, one of the resolutions sparks a debate in the meeting. And when it happens, that's cool, as long as the Worshipful Master keeps it focused and civil, which can be a challenge at times.
"If your Lodge does vote, does it expect the Officers to vote in keeping with the Lodge’s wishes?" Difficult to enforce. Therefore, it doesn't really happen in my Lodges. Although many of the Principal officers to keep the Lodge opinion in mind when they vote.
"If you are attending the Annual Communication do you view it as your duty to vote in accordance with your Lodge’s desires, or do you feel it is your duty to vote as your own conscience dictates?" I've only attended two Annual Communications where I wasn't a member of the Grand Lodge team. Those two times, I was simply a Past Master, and I was never put under obligation to vote according to Lodge consensus, nor did I carry proxies. As a Grand Lodge Team member, I also haven't been beholden to the Lodges I'm a member of, since their officers had the proxies and the responsibilities that go with them.
"Does your Lodge consider it a duty that the Wardens and Master attend?" One of them does, but all three place a more important emphasis on making sure the Lodge is represented. One year, Centralia Lodge didn't get represented, because about 5 Brothers all thought the others were going to attend, and none of them did. When they received the notice from the Grand Secretary, they considered it a serious egg in their face, and vowed it'd never happen again. And it hasn't.
"Does your Lodge encourage it’s Past Masters to attend?" I have never heard any Lodge encouraging any specific person to attend (other than the Principal Officers).
"Finally, does your Lodge do anything to help defray the potentially high costs of attendance for the Lodge officers or even members?" Just one of them, and I think that was one or two years. My Lodges are more inclined to subsidize a new Warden to attend the LLR, which also has a potentially high cost of attendance. However, all three of the Lodges are prepared to assign whatever monetary amount needed to assure their Lodge gets represented.
As a member, I find the Annual Communication to be a great event, primarily for the fellowship, but I admit, also for the pomp and circumstance. Many think it's silly, but our world has had big ceremonies for its leadership for thousands of years. It's definitely not a new development. And now, in my newer duties, I have responsibilities that change my perspective of the Annual Communication. And I like it even more. It is great to be able to assist in making this event the best it can be for all involved.
>>"One of my Lodges did that a couple of weeks ago; problem is, it knocked out 3 of the >>members who were at the Zoom meeting. One of them almost fell out of his chair. And I'm >>not exaggerating."
I know that I am preaching to the choir here, but this, exactly, is the biggest reason we have retention problems. Men so bored that they almost fall out of their chairs.
Now, if we started furnishing our Lodges with recliners, I could see doing things like reading the resolutions as a good way to get a nap in, but our seating is generally kind of hard and formal. Not at all nap worthy.
Our Lodge has always read the resolutions in a Stated meeting......never again. Unfortunately we were in out Stated meeting when that was brought up at the GM forum. I encouraged conversation about the resolutions at our special Zoom night and told the Brothers to call if they thought of anything later. We don't vote on them,but there has been quality discussion in the past.
I do feel each Lodge should be equally represented with the same number of votes. So only the Master and Wardens should be allowed to represent the Lodge as a voting member. There could be a PM that has moved away but inside WA and doesn't know how a particular item will affect his old Lodge.
We haven't defrayed the cost in the past, only for the Leadership retreat is paid in full.
>>"I do feel each Lodge should be equally represented with the same number of votes. So only >>the Master and Wardens should be allowed to represent the Lodge as a voting member."
I hope that some others will jump in and give their thoughts about this. It is, in my view, a very interesting question.
Let me give it a crack. Now, this is an educated guess...
I'll use Centralia No. 63 as an example. It was chartered in 1890. Up until about World War I, the Lodge had a handful of Worshipful Masters who had presided more than once. A couple of them, more than twice. Since World War, the number of "repeats" had quickly dwindled, and until the late 1980's, a repeat Worshipful Master was extremely rare. Over the last 30 years, there had been more repeats, some more than twice. Similar to the beginning years. I challenge any Brother reading this to look at your Lodge's wall of Past Masters. It's likely you'll find a similar pattern.
As such, the number of reruns might be slightly higher in a small Lodge than a large one, but not even close to the ratio of members, of which a large Lodge might be 2-3 times larger than a smaller one. Or an even wider ratio.
My bottom line is that each Lodge would have roughly the same number of surviving Past Masters, on average. A small Lodge could even have more, if more of their older Past Masters from 40-50 years ago are alive than a Larger Lodge. This could translate into the Equal Representation of each Lodge, with, on average, roughly the same number of votes, and the discrepancy isn't necessarily correlated to the size of the Lodge.
Grand lodge annual communications is one of those extremely boring things that detracts from education and fellowship. It should be handled in a business meeting separate from a regular fellowship/education lodge by those brethren interested in it or obligated to it, but not to the lodge in general.
Grand lodge is essentially a republic form of governance. Representatives are chosen by the lodge in the form of masters and wardens to represent them but also to have wisdom to know when the rank and file are inadequately knowledgeable about the subject to make an informed decision and thus have the authority to vote differently than their lodge consensus. This could cost them their office the following year, But that's only really an issue in a properly functioning lodge that doesn't use progressive line and has the best man serving in each office not the guy whose "turn" it was.
Compensation for service to the lodge is absolutely necessary.
"Grand lodge annual communications is one of those extremely boring things that detracts from education and fellowship." If you're talking about the main part of the event, there is some truth to that. Business meetings can indeed be tedious. However, I'm telling you, Jack, the fellowship before and after the business is TREMENDOUS. That's one of the key highlights of the Annual Communication. It's like a huge family reunion for the entire state.
Education? Likely not; this is indeed a business meeting, and an excellent opportunity for fellowship (should the Brethren elect to participate in that manner.) However, the Lodge Leadership retreat offers both the fellowship AND the education in spades. You'd love to attend that event, although the education is oriented towards leadership skills, which I found very important when I attended. It doesn't contain the esoteric material you're interested in, but that doesn't mean a group of Masons, or the hypothetical Lodge you're envisioning (and could very well become a reality) can't host such an event in the future! I think such a meeting would start small, but grow pretty quickly.
I also recognize your other two points. Both are good, in my opinion.
I believe you are comparing the apples of grand lodge fellowship to my oranges of reading resolutions in open blue lodge.
Okay. I think the topic Cameron's speaking about is the "apples," with the "oranges" being the first part. Hence my confusion with what you meant.
As for your reading resolutions in open blue lodge, I agree that there's a better way of doing this other than the Secretary reading them, word-by-word, in a Stated Communication. It is a blatant waste of time. I think a Brother mentioned it to me that this happened in his Lodge, and someone, about 2/3 of the way through, put a solid stop to it. The Secretary thought it was his duty to read them in this manner; however, there is NOTHING in the WMC to that effect. Sec. 5.01 D B.L. does mention that the Grand Lodge shall distribute them "to the Constituent Lodges for reading and discussion..." but it doesn't state how they shall be read or discussed. I think reading this section of the Code, which would take less than a minute, would alleviate a lot of the headaches that arise during this time of the year with the resolutions.
>>"The Secretary thought it was his duty to read them in this manner; however, >>there is NOTHING in the WMC to that effect."
Thank you for pointing this out.
It is a huge myth that these things are required to be read, aloud, at a Stated Meeting. I've heard guys say that for years.
Your clarification here, should help
They did it all 3 years I was active in Chehalis lodge. What an absolute drudge. Then they would all argue about them for 15 minutes per resolution. Horrible.
Interesting how you mention that. It's the same Lodge that went through them earlier this month that caused 3 Brothers to nod off on Zoom. Old habits die hard. But still, a ship can be turned around. Like a previous Grand Master stated, it might be like an aircraft carrier, but it's still turnable. You just have to be persistent and patient. It's succeeded with other Lodges.
Our best chance to fix Chehalis died with Matt. I'm hoping to start a new lodge. Rather than wait 30 years to finally fix an old one. Of course, I'm not sure if I can garner enough interest in new lodge. I'm a bit of a pessimist.
I think that the Lodge in question can still be saved, if its members decide to save it. Now that the building is no longer an albatross hanging around its neck, discussions, concerns, and plans can range far beyond the building and the stress caused by the building.
I don't know if there is desire to save the Lodge though. Since the building has been sold by that Lodge, its members have brought up killing the Lodge through merger at every single zoom meeting of surrounding Lodges that I've attended.
Yep. I sat through at least one of those. As I recall, in the East, where one can't try to fall asleep!
>>"However, I'm telling you, Jack, the fellowship before and after the business is >>TREMENDOUS. That's one of the key highlights of the Annual Communication. It's like a >>huge family reunion for the entire state."
Yep. I agree. I've loved attending every Annual Communication I've ever attended, and there have been a lot, for exactly this reason.
I'm with you. Reading the resolutions is the absolute, most horrible, make me want to hang myself from the chandelier, thing that a Lodge ever does.
What a Lodge should do is email them to their members, and print out and post a couple copies for the guys who don't use email. Easy, and would keep the DGM from dreaming murderous thoughts as his brain grows ever more numb.
I also have always felt that it was my responsibility to vote as my own conscience dictates, not what the Lodge as a whole thinks to be correct. Very often, I've decided how to vote while at the AC, talking with men I respect from around the state and getting their perspective. None of that can happen if a Lodge somehow binds a man's vote in advance.
My lodge typically reads through all the resolutions prior to Grand Lodge’s Annual Communication. We have discussions about them but, to the best of my recollection, have never voted on them as a lodge. The Master and Wardens have been able to vote as they see fit, as well as any PMs that attend. Perhaps the resolutions should be voted on in the local lodges prior to the Annual Communication and the results of those ballots forwarded to GL and the results shared at the AC. It would save a lot of time for other things. I imagine this years voting on all the items may take the better part of a day. The Master and Wardens are encouraged to attend but are not re-imbursed for expenses that are incurred. I’ve not attended an Annual Communication personally other than the virtual event that was held last year, which I think is something GL should consider incorporating. Whether voting is incorporated into virtual attendance or not, it would allow more brothers to participate. I was looking forward to attending in person last year until everything changed. I believe it’s an opportunity to network, meet brothers from other lodges and renew friendships.
I truly enjoy the social aspects of Grand Lodge. Seeing and talking with old friends. Going out to Lunch with the members of my Lodge, going out to a superb dinner with District 8, going to middle of the night dinner with men found wandering the halls. It is wholly superb in that respect.
Traditionally, the business goes by fairly quick in my view, but what can get tedious is the early morning, more ceremonial stuff. Never been much of a fan of those traditions. Perhaps they will change some.
Years ago, I made it a point to sleep in to miss that early stuff, just showing up for the business and the social activities. Imagine my surprise years ago when I was sleeping away and my cell phone started ringing because the then Grand Master was calling me up to the East. Alas, that had to be put off till the afternoon session, but I learned my lesson and started showing up for the early morning bits as well.
--Does your Lodge read the resolutions in full, in a stated meeting, prior to the Annual Communication?
Yes, we distribute copies of the resolutions to everyone attending the meeting after we receive them.
--Does your Lodge vote on each of them to get a sense of how the Lodge feels about them?
If the discussion was lively we would vote, otherwise it's usually just nodding of heads one way or the other.
--If your Lodge does vote, does it expect the Officers to vote in keeping with the Lodge’s wishes?
Yes, although each one may change his mind when presented with arguments at the AC. They should report how they voted back to their brothers.
--If you are attending the Annual Communication do you view it as your duty to vote in accordance with your Lodge’s desires, or do you feel it is your duty to vote as your own conscience dictates?
See above.
--Does your Lodge consider it a duty that the Wardens and Master attend?
For this I can't speak for the lodge, but we always have at least one (with proxies) there.
--Does your Lodge encourage it’s Past Masters to attend?
We don't discourage it. Each PM knows they can attend, it's up to them to decide if they will or not. A few do.
--Finally, does your Lodge do anything to help defray the potentially high costs of attendance for the Lodge officers or even members?
Our lodge per bylaws (or practices and procedures) pays for three members (and their significant others) to attend the warden's conference, but I can't remember if they do the same for the AC. I think we usually will vote to give a per diem or something to help defray costs.
As a side note, I loved the warden's conference, I managed to weasel my way to at least five of them while moving up the chairs when brothers who were eligible to go declined for whatever reason. I loved the Red Lion Inn, I loved how we were treated there, and I found it to be a great value, especially considering how poorly we're treated at the AC. I paid $25 dollars for a side salad and a bowl of shitty soup for lunch my first time going to Wenatchee, after that, I skipped the rip off meals and ate at taco bell, or a local restaurant that gave us a decent meal for half the cost. When you talk about meals at lodge, grand lodge needs to step up it's own game.
You are right. Meals at the Annual Communication are generally not great, and are never a reasonable value for the high cost.
In my present position, and for quite a few years now, I've needed to attend them all. Prior to that though, I never did. I greatly enjoy going out with a band of Brothers. Someplace casual for lunch (I remember one year parking was a bugger, so we didn't want to move a bunch of cars and lose our spots, so we crammed about ten of us fat guys into a Brother'a Lincoln) and someplace nice for dinner. Plus middle of the night dinner, one can't forget middle of the night dinner!
I've met a lot of Brothers through the years doing that, and have built good friendships from those beginnings.
Having thought about this today, I think that I may have an idea as to how to improve the value of the meals, but I need to check with some folks to make sure that I'm thinking about it correctly.
Honestly, I've never attended a convention type event where I thought that the meals were both superb and a good value, except when the event was held in a casino. My hunch is that they are more used to cooking for huge groups, and that the profits are subsidised by gaming.
The buffet styles that most casino's use is also a fairly efficient way of serving a large number of people at low cost. It's true that the quality of food at casino's is usually pretty good. I don't game, so I don't go to them often except when I'm invited. My wife's work had a function at a casino a while ago that I got to attend. I ate too much and gave myself indigestion. HA HA!
Glenn, Cameron and Jack:
This is what the Clarion did at the 2007 LLR (Warden's Conference) for the breakfasts. Indeed, that DID work.
I've often wondered, especially a couple of years ago when it was so cold outside that ice was growing inside of the hotel's doors, why the Conference of Grand Masters doesn't just decide that it's permanent home will be in Las Vegas.
It is very easy to get to from anywhere. One does not risk freezing to death in February. And, all of the major conference facilities are expert at pulling such things off.
Kind of like the Super Bowl. They rotated it throughout stadiums in the warmer climates.
"Does your Lodge read the resolutions in full, in a stated meeting, prior to the Annual Communication?" Some do. One of my Lodges did that a couple of weeks ago; problem is, it knocked out 3 of the members who were at the Zoom meeting. One of them almost fell out of his chair. And I'm not exaggerating. Therefore, you know what I think about doing this. There are always better ways to accomplish this without a lengthy recitation by the Lodge Secretary.
"Does your Lodge vote on each of them to get a sense of how the Lodge feels about them?" Some Lodges, yes. But mostly, the resolutions are read for information. Often times, it's one half at one Communication, and the other half at the next Communication. Occasionally, one of the resolutions sparks a debate in the meeting. And when it happens, that's cool, as long as the Worshipful Master keeps it focused and civil, which can be a challenge at times.
"If your Lodge does vote, does it expect the Officers to vote in keeping with the Lodge’s wishes?" Difficult to enforce. Therefore, it doesn't really happen in my Lodges. Although many of the Principal officers to keep the Lodge opinion in mind when they vote.
"If you are attending the Annual Communication do you view it as your duty to vote in accordance with your Lodge’s desires, or do you feel it is your duty to vote as your own conscience dictates?" I've only attended two Annual Communications where I wasn't a member of the Grand Lodge team. Those two times, I was simply a Past Master, and I was never put under obligation to vote according to Lodge consensus, nor did I carry proxies. As a Grand Lodge Team member, I also haven't been beholden to the Lodges I'm a member of, since their officers had the proxies and the responsibilities that go with them.
"Does your Lodge consider it a duty that the Wardens and Master attend?" One of them does, but all three place a more important emphasis on making sure the Lodge is represented. One year, Centralia Lodge didn't get represented, because about 5 Brothers all thought the others were going to attend, and none of them did. When they received the notice from the Grand Secretary, they considered it a serious egg in their face, and vowed it'd never happen again. And it hasn't.
"Does your Lodge encourage it’s Past Masters to attend?" I have never heard any Lodge encouraging any specific person to attend (other than the Principal Officers).
"Finally, does your Lodge do anything to help defray the potentially high costs of attendance for the Lodge officers or even members?" Just one of them, and I think that was one or two years. My Lodges are more inclined to subsidize a new Warden to attend the LLR, which also has a potentially high cost of attendance. However, all three of the Lodges are prepared to assign whatever monetary amount needed to assure their Lodge gets represented.
As a member, I find the Annual Communication to be a great event, primarily for the fellowship, but I admit, also for the pomp and circumstance. Many think it's silly, but our world has had big ceremonies for its leadership for thousands of years. It's definitely not a new development. And now, in my newer duties, I have responsibilities that change my perspective of the Annual Communication. And I like it even more. It is great to be able to assist in making this event the best it can be for all involved.
>>"One of my Lodges did that a couple of weeks ago; problem is, it knocked out 3 of the >>members who were at the Zoom meeting. One of them almost fell out of his chair. And I'm >>not exaggerating."
I know that I am preaching to the choir here, but this, exactly, is the biggest reason we have retention problems. Men so bored that they almost fall out of their chairs.
Now, if we started furnishing our Lodges with recliners, I could see doing things like reading the resolutions as a good way to get a nap in, but our seating is generally kind of hard and formal. Not at all nap worthy.
Our Lodge has always read the resolutions in a Stated meeting......never again. Unfortunately we were in out Stated meeting when that was brought up at the GM forum. I encouraged conversation about the resolutions at our special Zoom night and told the Brothers to call if they thought of anything later. We don't vote on them,but there has been quality discussion in the past.
I do feel each Lodge should be equally represented with the same number of votes. So only the Master and Wardens should be allowed to represent the Lodge as a voting member. There could be a PM that has moved away but inside WA and doesn't know how a particular item will affect his old Lodge.
We haven't defrayed the cost in the past, only for the Leadership retreat is paid in full.
>>"I do feel each Lodge should be equally represented with the same number of votes. So only >>the Master and Wardens should be allowed to represent the Lodge as a voting member."
I hope that some others will jump in and give their thoughts about this. It is, in my view, a very interesting question.
Let me give it a crack. Now, this is an educated guess...
I'll use Centralia No. 63 as an example. It was chartered in 1890. Up until about World War I, the Lodge had a handful of Worshipful Masters who had presided more than once. A couple of them, more than twice. Since World War, the number of "repeats" had quickly dwindled, and until the late 1980's, a repeat Worshipful Master was extremely rare. Over the last 30 years, there had been more repeats, some more than twice. Similar to the beginning years. I challenge any Brother reading this to look at your Lodge's wall of Past Masters. It's likely you'll find a similar pattern.
As such, the number of reruns might be slightly higher in a small Lodge than a large one, but not even close to the ratio of members, of which a large Lodge might be 2-3 times larger than a smaller one. Or an even wider ratio.
My bottom line is that each Lodge would have roughly the same number of surviving Past Masters, on average. A small Lodge could even have more, if more of their older Past Masters from 40-50 years ago are alive than a Larger Lodge. This could translate into the Equal Representation of each Lodge, with, on average, roughly the same number of votes, and the discrepancy isn't necessarily correlated to the size of the Lodge.
Again, an educated guess.