June 5, 2026
Good Friday morning, Brothers!
It is a sincere honor and extreme privilege to stand before you today, as Grand Master of Masons in Wisconsin, to proudly report to you that the state of Wisconsin Freemasonry is STRONG!
One year ago, I stood before this august body and told you that it was never my intention to become Grand Master. It’s not a title I ever sought — or an accolade that I ever thought I deserved. But that I also wasn’t going to waste the opportunity: your trust in me wasn’t just to add another line to my obituary.
Rather, that it was my duty to work for and serve the craft, our Lodges, and you Brethren. That I was going to seize the year and that it was my responsibility to do all that I could to continue to advance Wisconsin Freemasonry. Just as you have that same responsibility to your Lodges as Masters, Wardens and leaders.
We’ve had an incredible year together, Brothers. Here’s a quick review of some of the things that we accomplished:
√ We held seven Masonic Days of Light all throughout the state in which we brought in 92 new Brothers!
By holding more one-day opportunities and spreading them out around the state, we kept the class sizes smaller to keep the experience more personal, more meaningful, and more impactful.
Thanks to Brother Danny Bourassa for developing a set of standard operating procedures for how a Day of Light should be prepared for and run.
I attended five of them and was very impressed with the degree work. Remember: while these days are all about the candidates – they are also opportunities to give these degree teams a reason to practice and perfect their ritual – and a chance to shine in front of a large audience!
Moreover, we’ve also surveyed all of the Brothers who went through the experience and their responses have had a 100% satisfaction rate.
√ We started off the year with the Wisconsin Masonic Foundation Gala in which we raised nearly $100,000 for the Acts of Kindness Program. I choose the Acts of Kindness program because every single penny raised – every single penny – goes right back into helping our Lodges’ and our Brothers’ missions of making positive impacts in their communities.
I’m proud to announce that, thanks to your generosity, the Grand Master’s Appeal this year will raise somewhere around $180,000 for the Acts of Kindness.
That’s enough to do matching grants for 240 FSTs!
√ We were in a financial position where it became prudent and necessary to raise the yearly Acts of Kindness grant limits for Lodges by 33% – from $3,000 a year to $4,000 a year. Just as importantly, we brought down all of the spending barriers and complex rules that were in place that dictated how much you could spend on what. Now, if you’re Lodge wants to do a full $4,000 match on one project, you are able to do so! We believe that Lodges know what’s best for them and what’s best for their communities!
We continued to offer Lodges $500 security upgrade grants and $500 physical media matching grants, which many Lodges used to increase community awareness.
Don’t leave money on the table, Brothers. These funds have been budgeted and made available for you to help your Lodges. Please look into maximizing their impacts on your Lodges and communities.
√ We continue to roll out and fine-tune our electronic petition, which will greatly streamline and speed up our petition process.
√ We fully implemented our electronic dues cards, which I, myself, used to pick up my registration packet for Annual Communication yesterday. I used it last month in Michigan and Indiana. It’s on my phone – so it’s always with me and it’s always up to date.
I know some guys like the paper card – and for a small fee, we’ll send you one. But by forgoing the yearly mass mailings from Grand Lodge of the printed cards and all of the materials, postage and labor that goes into that, we save about $5,000.
There would also obviously be cost and time savings for the Blue Lodges, as well.
√ We brought back and authorized the reinstatement of the International Order of the Rainbow Girls in Wisconsin, creating another venue to help support our youth – and I’m proud to announce that Jobs Daughter just recently opened a new Bethel up in Eagle River!
√ We created the Statewide Traveling Trowel to encourage more travel between districts. It’s only half a year old and it’s already been a phenomenal success, bringing Brothers together from all over the state.
In fact, could I have Brother Corey Nowak approach the East, please?
Masons have been meeting together in Wisconsin since December 27, 1823 when a group of military sojourners assembled and met at Fort Howard in Green Bay – just like the National Sojourners we had bring out the flag this morning. Didn’t they do a nice job?
For those unfamiliar with the term, “sojourners” were men who temporarily resided in our territory because they had been deployed here by the military, in fact, many of which at Fort Howard were from New York and other states out East, which is why the Grand Lodge of New York chartered the Lodge. These Masonic pioneers met for 7 years at that Lodge before they were reassigned by the military to another base and sojourned there.
Present day Masons are not sojourners – but rather proficient travelers, as I saw many faces in this room about the state as we all travelled this past year. Brother Corey rented a 16-passenger van and drove guys clear across the state to capture the trowel.
Corey, you and the District 3 Team clearly are proficient travelers as your Team is the recipient of the first ever “Traveling Trowel Trekker Award!”
√ We’ve established a set of Emergency Procedures Protocol which helps guide Lodges through emergencies, such as break-ins, fires, or storm damage. They are available on our wimasons.org site and include a fillable form to instantly alert Grand Lodge for their awareness and assistance.
√ We had a very successful “MasoniCon” in Eau Claire – and I believe plans are in the works to host another this upcoming year.
√ We held a very successful Secretaries Conference in Rothschild where we unveiled the Lewis Lineage pins, which are available for purchase on our web site. They celebrate families with a Masonic heritage and history. 54 Lodge Secretaries attended the conference, which represented over one third of all Lodges.
√ We continue to strengthen and support our fraternal relations with our Brothers of Prince Hall — and are working towards bringing back a combined fraternal relations dinner this upcoming spring. We value our friendship and Brotherhood with you — and are so glad that you are with us today, my Brothers!
√ We have agreed to charter a new Lodge “Twilight Lodge” in Milwaukee that will meet at the Tripoli Shrine Center.
√ We saw a need of bolstering the safety and security of our Brothers and purchased an AED defibrillator for every Lodge building in the state. Emergency devices that will be in the ready should our Brothers or members of the community who use the Lodge building need them.
I should note that we did not spend any money above and beyond what we already had in our budget, but rather repurposed existing budget dollars to meet this need.
√ With the assistance of Brother Jim Giese, one of our Grand Trustees, we developed a “Lodge Trustee Handbook” and Brother Jim has travelled around the state to help educate Brothers on the responsibilities and duties of being a Lodge Trustee.
√ We established “District Education Days” lead by our Education Committee and District Education Officers.
√ We also started District Passports to incentivize more travel within your districts.
As I have traveled across this state, I can feel the increasing energy and excitement for Freemasonry. Degrees are happening all over. More Lodges are holding social or family fun activities. Community improvement and involvement is through the roof.
In fact, this Annual Communication marks my 232nd Masonic Event this Year.
I’ve travelled just under 39,000 miles – which represents one and a half times around the earth’s equator – and approximately 600 hours (or 25 solid days) of windshield time alone, not to mention the dozens of stops at Kwik Trip and Dunkin Donuts.
√ I was proud to be a part of the Officer Installations of 47 Lodges – over 30% of all Blue Lodges in the state.
√ I attended events for our appendant bodies, including a Memorial Day parade with our Beja Shrine Brothers, an incredible ride on Potentate Steve Livernash’s Steampunk Time Machine through the streets of Atlanta during Shrine Imperial Session, I spoke at Zor Shrine Officer Installation, attended Shrine picnics, a Scottish Rite Reunion, and other events.
√ I attended events for Job’s Daughters, DeMolay, Amaranth, and Eastern Star, demonstrating and underscoring our support for our entire Masonic Family.
√ I helped staff our booth at the Wisconsin State Fair.
√ I visited Brothers in the hospital, shut-ins at their homes, and Brothers in nursing homes. I held my Brother Tom Pinney’s hand and told him I loved him and how much that he meant to me and to this fraternity as he lay dying from cancer in a hospital bed in his dining room.
√ Our Team celebrated Lodge anniversary milestones at Damascus, Waterloo, Fort Winnebago in Portage, Jefferson, Smith in Monroe, and Twin Cities Lodge in Appleton.
√ We celebrated birthdays and Masonic anniversaries – and every month I traveled to our Grand Lodge Offices in Dousman to sign every single of the nearly 10,000 Masonic Anniversary cards that we sent out.
√ I helped at fundraisers — and attended more meals and table lodges than my pant size truly allows.
√ I tried to have fun this year and even donned a kilt for our treasured Robert Burns Table Lodge and a colonial outfit for a Perseverance Lodge meeting, both of which were a lot of fun.
√ I was proud to represent all of you at the Conference of Grand Masters of North America and at the Annual Communications of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, and Indiana — and was asked to address the Brethren convened in Iowa and Minnesota.
√ I’ve been to funerals of our fallen Brothers and their Ladies — and eulogized a mentor of mine at his Masonic Memorial Service in Iowa.
√ I’ve been at the raisings of at least 60 Master Masons and havebeen able to offer them my hand of friendship and our pledge as their Brothers to help them on their journeys.
I even got to fill in as Junior Steward and as a Fellowcraft in the MM degree at the Oshkosh Day of Light.
√ We held 19 Wisconsin Freemasonry Leadership Team meetings, both online and in person, in addition to our full Team quarterly staff meetings which we held in Madison, Pewaukee, and Green Bay to make sure we were working cohesively and moving forward as a Team.
√ Our Team was also involved in several community service projects from picking up trash in a park to clearing brush from nature trails to building bridges – and we also went on an extensive tour of Three Pillars, an incredible Masonic treasure and senior living community in Dousman.
Over the last 5-6 years, as you know, we have worked to increase public awareness of Freemasonry in our communities through the tireless efforts of our Membership Committee.
Our Lodges throughout the state have rolled up their sleeves and worked to both improve their communities through generous donations of FSTs, AEDs, scholarships, and partnerships with other local nonprofit organizations.
We have increased our presence in community news outlets, on our wimasons.org news blog, and have been sharing those stories and successes on social media.
People see us being active again and want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be a part of a group that cares about their families and their communities.
They want to be the good in the world.
My Brothers, our labors in the quarries have paid off.
Today, I stand here to proudly announce that so far this calendar year, we are at net positive growth for the first time in decades! Our fraternity is growing – all thanks to you!
But we’re not done. We need to continue to build on these successes and keep our momentum moving forward. I’m convinced that the best days of Wisconsin Freemasonry are yet to come!
The visits I had and the work we’ve done together this year have all been memorable and amazing thanks to our incredible Brethren across the state. Thank you for being Masons, thank you for being active Masons and good stewards of your community – and thank you for making this year our success!
Nothing this year has been or should be about me. This entire year has been about you.
√ Helping to make sure you have the tools, the strength, and the support you need to build your Lodge and have it be successful.
√ Helping to make sure you know that you are valued and appreciated, as a member, as a Brother, and as a friend.
√ And helping to make sure that you know you that you have Grand Lodge’s support throughout your endeavors – that we are your partners and not your overlords.
You, my Brothers, are the guiding light of this fraternity – and you inspire me every day.
Thank you for the honor of serving as your Grand Master. You make me proud to be a Freemason!
I move adoption of the report.
Keep being the good in the world, my Brothers!
