News + Public Announcements

Spring or signs of Spring’s return are finally upon us. The icy, dark days of harsh Winter and dormancy are behind us and we begin to head into the season of renewal, warmth, and growth. Each time I have the privilege of entering one of our lodges or attending one of your lodge events, the Masons and their families that I have the honor to meet are a true joy and fill me with the brotherly love they share. During

As winter deepens it is easy to get lost in negative thoughts. The darkness seems to deepen and the light of Spring seems to be an unobtainable dream. Masonry though offers a light to that darkness. We are Stirring Up Good throughout the state. There is a new electricity in the air surrounding Freemasonry! Maybe it is the newly installed officer corps and their enthusiasm. Maybe it is all the newly made Masons. Maybe it is all the petitions going

I have read that January is named after the Roman god, Janus, the god of “doors” and the month of January is generally recognized as the “door” to the calendar year. I’ve also read that the ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4000 years ago. It has been written that early Christians adopted the use of January 1st as the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving

Greetings Brethren, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to each of you I’ve had the opportunity to meet along the way for all the courtesies and respect shown to me. I also want to say thank you to every just and upright Mason who has committed their time, talent and good character to becoming the honorable gentlemen our great Fraternity has become synonymous with. My Brothers, in an effort to be transparent and informative, this article

Leadership seems to be a very popular topic these days. Amazon offers over 100,000 books on leadership. I read that new leadership books have been coming out at a rate of more than four per day and so far this year over 1,000 books have been published with the word “leadership” in the title, to say nothing about all the magazine and internet articles. I recently “Googled” leadership articles and in just under half a second l received 426 million results. As

Several years ago I traveled to Philadelphia to attend a meeting where I found myself seated next to a stranger. In the few minutes before the program started, we struck up a conversation and discovered that we had common interests. As we only had a few minutes to talk before the program started, we exchanged business cards and agreed to email each other. In the next few months, we followed up and emailed a couple of times. The following year,

Wisconsin Freemasonry has both a proud tradition and a bright future. As we move into a new year we look back with pride, and look forward with great confidence. We look back with pride, knowing that Freemasonry has been a defining presence in our Wisconsin communities for nearly two centuries; even before Wisconsin officially became a state. This year will mark the 174th anniversary of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Wisconsin, and as we celebrate our

’Tis the season! A period when we set aside the troubles and cares of the world as we take time to celebrate, reflect gratitude, and sing songs of praise and adoration to our divine creator for the gifts he has bestowed. We renew and reinforce our ties with family and friends. We come together in our houses of worship to sing and rejoice. Then we bring in the New Year, ring out the old, and with hope and excitement we

I remember as a little boy my parents took me to Sunday school, every Sunday without fail. In Sunday school we sang songs, listened to stories, and learned Bible verses. One of the very first songs I remember learning is “This Little Light of Mine ” We sang this song in Sunday school, as far back as I can remember, back when I was learning to use a big-boy potty and tie my shoes. The little light is our faith,

A few weeks ago a Brother Mason approached me. With a welcoming smile he reached out extending his hand to me and said, “Grand Master, it’s an honor to meet you.” We gripped hands but he held the grip and didn’t let go. Instead he pulled me in closer, and mouth to ear, in a lowered and serious voice added, “but I got to tell you, I don’t like this Man to Mason business”. I continued to grip his hand

This year we have followed the “adventures” of Rough Ashlar Lodge. This final installment includes many of the thoughts that we have discussed along the way. While “perfection is not of this mortal sphere” the brothers at good old Rough Ashlar have worked hard this year to build a plan for an exciting future.  This is a somewhat ambitious plan. Lodges should feel free to borrow any, or all of these ideas and make them their own!  Good luck brothers

There is a new energy this year at Rough Ashlar Lodge! We have worked hard on our calendar of events, we are building great friendships and we’re working together to spruce up the lodge. Every year we look forward to attending the Annual Communication, but this year we are taking it to the next level. Last year we really enjoyed the Break Out sessions and we are fired up to see that there are great break outs planned again. There

When soldiers return from their tour of duty they often come home to family and spouse far different from when they left.  They carry with them the emotional stress of having faced death. Sometimes they have physical scares, but often the scares run deeper. The clinical term is Post Traumatic Stress. Some personalities can adjust to life away from battle. For those who don’t, their life is filled with anger, loneliness and desperation.  In more urban areas and near large

Rough Ashlar Lodge Friendship Even through the occasional rough patch here at “Rough Ashlar” Lodge, we have always hung in there because of the great friendships we have made through Freemasonry. As with most lodges, our Brothers have become some of our best friends. We support each other and look forward to getting together on lodge nights and on special occasions. As part of the rebirth of Rough Ashlar Lodge this year we are using Friendship as one of our

“Planning” is one of the important “4-P’s” that we have spoken about often this year. Operating a successful lodge involves solid attention to People, Planning, Programming and Proficiency. Well, our friends here at Rough Ashlar Lodge have cobbled together a calendar of events for the upcoming year. We are also taking the leap and using a “Consent Agenda” so we can move through our stated meetings quickly and not bore the bee-jeebers out of the sideliners. Now comes the work

As we enter a new Masonic year, Rough Ashlar Lodge (and every lodge) should have a calendar in place. In order to have a successful year we need to plan ahead. Every event for the year deserves to be well planned and all of our members deserve to know in advance what is happening. Here is Rough Ashlar Lodge’s simple formula for this year . . . Streamline our business meetings and add some Masonic Education Plan one event (or

  “Here!”          “Present!”     “Yo!” So many times over the years we have been part of a roll call. Typically each of our lodges has a sign-in book to track attendance. The officers in attendance are usually noted in the minutes of the lodge. There is a roll call of Fellowcrafts in the Master Mason Degree. During Masonic Memorials we mention that the roll has been called but a Brother answers not. We hope that when the roll is called “up

During the course of this year we are focusing on Rough Ashlar Lodge. Good old Rough Ashlar isn’t a real lodge, but its real challenges are shared by many lodges. We have discussed using the “4-P’s” to build a well balanced lodge. Once again the 4-P’s are People, Planning, Programming and Proficiency. Proficiency doesn’t just mean memorizing ritual, but it means that we should strive to do things well. This can extend to ritual but also includes running efficient meetings

Hopefully you are becoming more acquainted with my good friends, the Brothers of Rough Ashlar Lodge. Good old Rough Ashlar has been struggling but they are trying to pick themselves up by their bootstraps this year. The Brothers of Rough Ashlar Lodge have been working hard on learning the ritual, they have reached out to their members. The lodge has energized their stated meetings by streamlining the business and having some great and interesting discussions using the Masonic Study Series.

As you know, a rough ashlar is a stone taken from the quarry in its rude and imperfect state. It is made ready by the hands of the builder to be used in construction of the building. The stone is made perfect by removing imperfections. Nothing is added. Each stone becomes an integral and important part of the building. In Wisconsin we have 176 lodges as of this writing. Just as each stone is important to a building, each of

Several years ago, while going through a particularly rough patch in my business, I said a simple prayer at church. The simple prayer was, “Lord, show me the path.”That very day during the pastor’s sermon, he recited the words of Proverbs 3:5, which says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Later that week, I went

The 4 “P’s” People, Planning, Programming and Proficiency The Cornerstones of Successful Lodges Are you a member or officer of stumbling, bumbling old Rough Ashlar Lodge? The lodge continues to struggle with a lack of activity, programs fall flat, degree work is lacking. Membership and attendance are dwindling. We love our old lodge but it can be frustrating and depressing at times when things just don’t seem to ever improve. Maybe you are envious of Perfect Ashlar Lodge. You know

     I write this article with a sense of real optimism. PGM Jack Allord has an article in this issue speaking to the fact that there are different leadership styles. Some are effective, some are efficient, and most work if applied consistently. The one exception is the leader who attempts to micro-manage a large organization. Fortunately, I do not see any of those in our upcoming leadership. So I am optimistic about the future course of our wonderful brotherhood.

Okay, so I am not going to say I can’t believe how fast this May article came due. I am here to tell you, my Brothers, how honored I am to be serving as your Grand Master. We have tried to face up to some long term issues that have faced Grand Lodge for some time and put them behind us. We also faced some challenges and circumstances we had not been able to forecast. We met each issue head

It is now time for an April message. This is almost too easy! Mother Nature gears up to renew herself with the longer days and the refreshment of spring rains. Likewise, our Lodges begin to hit their stride now that the officers have three months under their belts. This should be the start of our Lodges’ most productive quarter. We all need to pitch in to make it so. I used to work for a General Officer named “Red” Fuller.

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity is the National Motto of France. John Adams, our Second President wrote in one of his many letters that if the new Republic was to survive it would be due to Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Over the years, I have heard several Masonic speakers draw the conclusion that Adams and the French were of course referring to our Craft. In fact, neither the French, nor Adams were talking about “the Fraternity” they were using the then preferred

  This is a special February! It is of course when we celebrate the birthday of the Father of American Freemasonry and our Country, Br George Washington. The George Washington Masonic National Memorial Association (www.gwmemorial.org) has a great little booklet out titled George Washington’s Rules of Civility. This would make a great program for Lodges. Another milestone is that this month Wisconsin will get the opportunity to host The North American Conference of Grand Masters and Grand Secretaries in Madison.

My Brothers, as we are in our season of change and are installing the last of our new Lodge Officers. May I ask each of you to consider where you want your Lodge to go. I am not asking you look ahead a year or even five years. Today’s Officers need to establish the direction of march for your lodge into the far future. Discuss with each other the direction, objectives, and what is important to your Lodge’s future. Ask

   Many religious Holy Days and celebrations show up on the calendar during these months of November, December, and January. For my wife Wendy, her big event of the year is Christmas. Clark Griswold has nothing on us. The reason we only have two Christmas trees is that there is no room for any more. After all, there is the full sized singing and dancing Santa that delights our Grandchildren. Scattered throughout the house are the fifty some battery driven

My Brothers, the math is simple. Past Grand Master Siewert had it worked out when he was in the Grand East. We need 25 thousand Master Masons in Wisconsin to make us self sufficient and we need to be able to maintain or better that number each year to be healthy as an organization. As he puts it, “We can’t keep living off of dead men’s money.” He is correct.Trying to ignore the fact does not make it go away.