February 2010 Trestleboard Robert Burns #243

Join me in a belated thank you to Brother Mark Goldberg, Worshipful Brothers John Sutton, Bob Wallinger, Scott Wallinger and Steve Wandel. On a very wet and chilly Monday, they got together and constructed a wheelchair ramp for Bro. Bob Miles. This work helped Bro. Bob be at home for Christmas.

We are now a few months into 2010. Each year seems to go faster than the last. This year I would like our Lodge to plan for the future. As we heard in the Charge to the Lodge at the Installation of Officers, "…may your children’s children celebrate, with joy and gratitude, the annual recurrence of this auspicious solemnity." In order help assure the continuance of our Lodge, we need to know what we want to do, where we are going and how we are going to get there.

Organizations that do not plan, do not define their purpose, do not state their goals and do not lay out a road map on how to get to where they want to go, have little chance of success. We can choose to survive or to succeed. We can decide if we get together each month for just good fellowship or if we want to grow and share our tenets with others. Whatever we decide, we need to do it do it by choice not by doing what we always do just because we always done it.

I have no allusion that our plan can be completed in one short year, hopefully those that follow will also see the benefit to this and continue with the process. We are not starting from scratch; Grand Lodge has a Long Range Plan. Please take time to read this document, available on the Grand Lodge website.

“The architect began to design; and the plans which he laid down, being improved by time and experience, produced works which have been the admiration of every age.”

In attempting to organize a meeting of the Long Range Planning Committee, I have noticed how busy we all are. I know that I have trouble attending meetings more at certain times of the year (usually in the lead up to a tax deadline, my wife is a tax accountant, and apparently one cannot leave a 6 and 3 year-old home alone) and I am always impressed at those who have the time and energy to devote to the Craft.

There seems to be a discussion that arises frequently, "why don't we do (insert your favorite activity here) more often (often followed by "...like we used to")?" I would have to say that if we are going to rely on the efforts of a small fraction of our membership to organize everything that then we are going to be limited to what they can organize. Also, the flip side of having an event every night is that those twenty or so Brothers who attend activities must chose, and cannot make everything. I know of more than one Brother who has spread himself very thinly, and has to choose between many equally worthy activities as to where he should go on any given night.

One of the benefits of being Trestleboard editor is that I can read the other articles and reflect on them before writing my own. I would encourage you to thoroughly read the submissions that appear before and after this one. Jim says above that we all need to help in planning for the Lodge's future. Below Mark says that he wants to see more activities to build the bonds of Brotherly Love and Affection between us. I agree wholeheartedly with both ideas. I applaud the Junior Warden for organizing a camping trip, and think that that is the kind of initiative that we need. I know WB John Hart organizes poker nights at his house with both members of this Lodge and his other friends invited. These are great examples. If you have an idea for something you would like to see us do or include in the long range plan, please let Jim, Mark, or myself know. Just don't be surprised if we ask you to organize it...