News from the Grand Lodge of Maine

The Grand Lodge candidates are invited to attend an informal candidates’ forum at St. Croix Lodge in Calais on Sat. April 12, 2008 Time is at 10:00am. Breakfast will be served by the brethren of St. Croix Lodge to benefit the Rainbow girls of Calais.

Later that same day is the 26th annual International meeting between the 2nd Dist of Maine and the 5th Dist. of New Brunswick at Victoria Lodge in St. Stephen, NB at 12:00 noon. Ladies are invited.

The Grand Masters from both Grand Lodges will be in attendance at the International Meeting.

Hollis G. Dixon, Grand Secretary

Due to the forecast of potentially poor travel weather, the Grand Master has postponed
the consolidation of Hancock and Rising Star Lodges until next
Wednesday, March 26th.

A Special Communication of the Grand Lodge of Maine, A.F. & A.M. will be held at Rising Star Lodge No. 177 of Penobscot, ME on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 7:30 P.M. for the purpose of conducting a ceremony of consolidation between Hancock Lodge No. 4 of Castine and Rising Star Lodge No. 177 of Penobscot.

The Semi-public meeting will be held at the lodge hall with a supper at 6:30 p.m. at the Methodist Church (the church is located diagonally to the lodge hall - about 100 yards).

The Grand Master, M.W. Gerald S. Leighton, will be pleased to have all Past and Present Grand Lodge Officers in attendance.

All Grand Lodge Officers should plan to arrive at the lodge hall by 5:30 P.M. for a brief rehearsal. Dress for the evening, for present Grand Lodge Officers, will be Tuxedo white gloves and full Regalia.

By Order of:  M.W. Gerald S. Leighton Grand Master

Attest:  Hollis G. Dixon

Grand Secretary

The following is a list of schools that have been scheduled for lodge Secretaries throughout the state.  By providing you with a list of all the schools that have been scheduled from March 1st through the month of April, we hope to give you an opportunity to find one that fits your schedule. If you have not yet attended one of these schools to be certified to access the Grand Lodge Computer for your record keeping, please make every effort to do so now. Please notify me which school you plan to attend so that I will have your email address in the event that we have to cancel a class for some reason.

• Saturday, March 15, 2008 – Hosted by Lygonia Lodge No. 40 – Ellsworth, Maine
• Saturday, March 22, 2008 – Hosted by Star In The East Lodge No. 60 – Old Town, Me.
• Saturday, March 29, 2008 – Hosted by Union Lodge No. 31 – Union, Maine.
• Saturday, April 5, 2008 – Hosted by Ancient York Lodge No. 155 – Lisbon Falls, Maine.
• Saturday, April 19, 2008 – Hosted by Blue Mountain Lodge No. 67 – Phillips, Maine.
• Saturday, April 26, 2008 – Hosted by Harmony Lodge No. 38 – Gorham, Maine.

Each of these schools will provide Coffee and Donuts between 8:00 a. m. and 9:00 a.m. Each school will start at 9:00 a. m. and will generally conclude at 12:00 p. m.  If you attend one of these training sessions, you will be certified to access the Grand Lodge Server via the Internet. You will be able to maintain your lodge’s membership data on the server and perform many other functions that a Secretary is called on to perform. 

Grand Secretary

Hartford Agency has moved to a new location in Auburn due to the buyout by Northeast Bank. The questionnaire form for lodges to use for a quote regarding insurance coverage on the Master Policy has been changed to accomodate the new address as well as some minor clarifications. Download it now.

Walter Kyllonen, Insurance Committee

Office of the Grand Secretary

A Special Communication of the Grand Lodge of Maine, A.F. & A.M. will be held at Lygonia Lodge No. 40, Ellsworth, ME on Saturday, December 15, 2007, at 1:00 P.M. for the purpose of holding a Cornerstone Laying Ceremony.  This will be followed by a Dedication of the new Lodge Hall at 2:00 P.M.  

The Grand Master, M.W. Gerald S. Leighton, will be pleased to have all Past and Present Grand Lodge Officers in attendance.

All Grand Lodge Officers should plan to arrive at the lodge hall by 11:30 A.M. for a brief rehearsal.  Dress for the day, for present Grand Lodge Officers, will be Tuxedo white gloves, and full Regalia.

Light refreshments will be served following the dedication.

  By Order of:                                      

M.W. Gerald S. Leighton
Grand Master

Attest:                                                

Hollis G. Dixon
Grand Secretary

From Lygonia’s Web Page:

The new location will be on the Bucksport Road at the top of Bridge Hill located across from the end of the Christian Ridge Road.

Grand Secretary

The Grand Master earlier today sent an email to all of those who are on the Grand Lodge mailing list about the recent news stories involving an embezzlement of funds from Portland lodges. A copy of that message can be found here.

Webmaster

GRAND LODGE OF MAINE  ANCIENT FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS

Office of the Grand Secretary

A Special Communication of the Grand Lodge of Maine, A.F. & A.M. will be held at the Veterans Hospital, Togus, ME on Sunday, November 25, 2007, at 10:00 A.M. for the Grand Lodge Annual Visitation.

The Grand Master, M.W. Gerald S. Leighton, will be pleased to have all Past and Present Grand Lodge Officers in attendance.

All Grand Lodge Officers should plan to arrive at the hospital by 9:00 A.M. Dress for the day, for present Grand Lodge Officers, will be Business Suit, and full Regalia.

Lunch will be served following the service.

By Order of:

  M.W. Gerald S. Leighton
  Grand Master

Attest:

  Hollis G. Dixon
  Grand Secretary

Hollis G. Dixon, Grand Secretary

November 6 , 2007:  In order to prepare for some future developments, we are changing the mainemasonrytoday.com web site. 

The portal page will remain the same.

The current news site will remain as http://www.mainemasonrytoday.com/news

The biggest change will be the location of the Historical Documents. The new web address will be:

http://www.mainemasonrytoday.com/history

We hope to have some major changes in place before the end of the year.

Webmaster

We will be holding another Secretaries School at Euclid Lodge No. 194 in Madison on Saturday, November 17th at 9:00 a. m.  Coffee and donuts will be available from 8:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m.  Invitations have gone out to several Districts in that area of the state. 

A second Secretaries School will be held at Pioneer Lodge No. 72 at Ashland on Saturday, December 1, 2007. Coffee and donuts will be available at 8:00 a. m.  The school will start at 9:00 a. m. and should be over at approximately 12:00 noon.

Wor. Brother Tom Heath has made additional improvements to the membership database and the program is being well received. Secretaries attending these schools will be certified to access the Grand Lodge server via the Internet to maintain their lodge records.

Hollis Dixon, Grand Secretar

New to the website is a "Master Policy Eligibility Questionnaire" for insurance under the Grand Lodge of Maine Liability Insurance Policy. You will recall that the new policy adopted at Grand Lodge made provisions for local Lodges to obtain property and premises liability coverage at reduced rates under the Master policy.The Building Trustees of each Lodge need to fill out and submit a copy of this Questionnaire to the Hartford Agency in order to obtain a quote for either or both premises liability and property coverage.

This is a one time requirement to determine eligibility for property coverage. We know there may be Lodges that will not qualify for property coverage and perhaps do not now qualify with any company, but these lodges can at least secure premises liability for a flat fee of $125. The Insurance Committee understands that Lodges applying have seen savings between about $400 and $800, so it's to your advantage to follow up on this NOW! It's an opportunity to possibly save money and get better coverage but certainly not a requirement. 

The Questionnaire in Adobe PDF format can be downloaded from this page.

Webmaster

Please be advised that we have scheduled a second Secretaries Workshop for the fall season:

• Date: Saturday, October 13, 2007
• Time: 8:00 a. m. Coffee and Donuts, 9:00 a. m. Workshop for Secretaries
• Location: Ocean Lodge No. 142 Route 109 - Wells, Maine

This will be a special workshop for lodge secretaries. They will be taught to access the Grand Lodge database via the Internet for their particular lodge. They will be taught the proper procedure for updating membership data and for generating reports, mailing labels or other information from their lodge files. New Secretaries are urged to attend. We hope to reach Secretaries from the Fourteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Masonic Districts.

Hollis Dixon, Grand Secretary