Sunday With The Secretary #12

[Daniel Giacomelli]

Good Morning Brethren-

Hope you are doing well on this beautiful Sunday morning..

I’m very happy to report that we had our first stated meeting this past Wednesday and while the attendance was light, there was an abundance of Masonic fellowship to be had. It felt good to be able to conduct a full business meeting together and the Grand Lodge did an outstanding job in taking necessary precautions. We even had visiting Brethren attend including our DDGM, Br. Sam Freeman.. who came out on his birthday!

Br. Sam reviewed several things related to reopening as well as conferring Degrees which were as follows…

1. 8/9 District C Lodges reopened in September.. one temporarily relocating from the Masonic Village in Lafayette Hill to the Masonic Temple in Norristown (Palestine-Roxborough). This will continue until the end of the year.
2. The Masonic Temple in Philly will hopefully begin serving meals in October. It will not be an open buffet.. food will be served to us and there will be Plexiglas shields for the food. We will only be able to seat so many at a table, etc.
3. We are able to confer 1st and 2nd Degrees beginning immediately, however there have been some modifications in the ritual which are common sense things related to the pandemic..
4. The Grand Lodge is still developing protocols for the conferral of the 3rd Degree.

This is good news as we do have 2 candidates in the pipeline waiting to get their Degrees so I will be contacting them this week and as long as they are comfortable, I feel we should proceed with an Extra Meeting in October.. thoughts???

We have been given a directive that anyone who has not paid their dues for 2020 must be suspended no later than our October Stated Meeting. There are 2 exceptions to this.

1. A Brother who has been impacted by the pandemic in such a way they are not able to financially cover their dues.
2. A Brother nearing his 50 years of service.

If you are reading this and have not paid your dues, please either pay it now or contact me. A separate correspondence will be forthcoming as well to all those currently NPD.

I am working on getting dues cards out to those who paid dues online during the months we were not operating and should have that caught up this week. My new Home Office is finally coming together in Bala Cynwyd and finally got the new printer installed!!

The dues portal for 2021 is set up so you are free to start paying your 2021 dues if you so desire understanding the deadline is still December 31st.!

The message I wish to convey is that we need to get back to work and to see our Brethren face to face. Your Temple has done an outstanding job cleaning, sanitizing and overall ensuring your safety while we are meeting and eventually dining. As a health care executive who has lived this pandemic at work every day since it started, I felt very comfortable this past Wednesday and felt all necessary infection control practices were in place as I did when I attended my other Lodge in Jenkintown the following night. My hope is that we can increase our numbers in October and also get back to the work of bringing new members into our amazing Fraternity.

Brethren, have a great week and above all.. stay safe!

Frats- Jim

James T. Clancy, P.M., Secretary
St. Alban Lodge No. 529

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