THE BILLBOARD JUNE 2015 For The Valley of Billings, Orient of Montana - serving Eastern Montana Scottish Rite Members Special points of interest: Message from PR Bob Hanson 33° Page 1 Message from VM Jason M. Smith, 32° Page 2 Message From Deputy in Montana David L. Nielsen 33° Page 3 PICNIC Page 4 Officers 2014 Page 2 To The Celestial Lodge: Harold L. Davidson 1928—2015 S. Verne Cooper, Jr. 1921 - 2015 A FEW WORDS FROM YOUR PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE I want to remind everyone that June, July and August meeting nights are casual dress, no ties are needed. Our chef Bob Snow has put together a dinner that rivals the best restaurants in Montana, and the price is right! I want to thank Michael Welton also for going the extra mile on our new projectors, he has worked tirelessly getting them set up and when you see the results you will be amazed. During our last reunion you could see the results of Michaels efforts. The room lit up with brighter slide quality and much clearer graphics, what a difference it made for the candidates. Dave Armstrong copied the slides and put them in digital format so we now have them on computer. They will always be available for our reunions without worrying if the old slide projector will work, plus the quality is much improved. PLEASE LET THE OFFICE KNOW IF YOU MOVE. Billboard costs 13 Cents to mail out and when it is returned it is 49 Cents This goes for the Snow Birds too. we all know that the food will be outstanding. The last thing I have this month is a plea to every member. Please send an e -mail to the office at [email protected]. He will add you on our e-mail list. He will send you notices of upcoming events and will always keep you informed about meetings and any news that we have. All you have to put in the subject line is “put me on the list”. We always want to keep everyone informed so do it today before you forget. You will be glad you did it. The Scottish Rite picnic will be on July Bob Hanson 18th (11:30 to 1:30) so make a note in Personal Representative your calendar because this year will be the best picnic that we have ever had. Our Venerable Master has made plans for the whole family to enjoy, so let's all get together and have a great day. By the way, every one is invited including your friends and relatives. This is not for just Scottish Rite members, it is for everyone. The clowns will entertain the kids and 1 Message from The Venerable Master It is that time again. The time where I get to try and figure out how to express my feelings of what good and great things we as Scottish Rite Masons are accomplishing. In the past months the Billings Valley had three major events in addition to our normal meetings. These were our Spring Reunion, Mother's Day Brunch, and the Celebrating the Craft event. I am going to elaborate why I feel that the end of April and early May were, to me, one of the most important periods that our Valley has had since I was elected to serve as your Venerable Master. The fancy phone I have allows me to search for definitions of certain words. a REUNION is defined as "A social gathering attended by members of a certain group of people who have not seen each other for some time." Obviously, the current officer line and I did not properly communicate this definition to most of our members. I firmly believe that our reunions are to be a celebration! Let us all take a moment and remember why the Supreme Council has authorized the verbiage in naming this event. It might be a self gratification thing on my part, but seeing ALL of our Brethren attend our future reunions would be a most pleasant experience. One of the great honors that we incorporate in this event is making new Scottish Rite Brothers, and indeed we did so. Brother Mark Williamson is a valuable asset to the Craft and I encourage everyone to welcome him accordingly. I guarantee that the Officers elected and appointed that serve the Billings Valley will make the Fall Reunion something you will not soon forget. Please plan on attending it in September. Onward and forward... No biscuits and gravy. No cinnamon rolls. Whoops! We will endeavor to persevere next year! The Knights of Saint Andrew took the task over of cooking our Mother's Day Brunch this year. There was not one professional chef that helped out, yet we dished out 37 dozen eggs, 60lbs of hash browns, 18lbs of sausage, 24lbs of bacon, 25lbs of ham, 60 plus custom made omelets, pastries, fruit and more. We had over 150 people in attendance and I consider it a GREAT success! I need to personally thank Michael Welton, Adam Johnson, Sean McDuffee, the entire Aasterud family, and Jillian Smith. Without all of you, this would have been a day that would be remembered as the worst ever. Instead it was one of our best Mother’s Day meals with $543.15 going to the Building/Kitchen Fund. I am forever in your debt. Last on the list was our Celebrating the Craft event held on May 16th. For the uninformed, this was an event that provided free live streaming of the MAJOR event of raising money for the House of the Temple. In addition, a FREE taco bar was offered to everyone in attendance. I must say that I enjoyed the tacos and the fellowship that was served up that night. We raised $315 for our Billings Valley donation. The Association paid for the food. This event was advertised in our SR Bulletin Board, the SR Chirp app, on Facebook and by word of mouth at our last two Stated meetings. We had a rather small attendance, yet it was a great night with those that did show up. weight. The current officer line is no exception, and I would expect that all officers would attend as many events as possible within the Rite. We send Brothers to leadership conferences, membership meetings and schools to learn more about the Scottish Rite. I wonder what would happen if we took the time to reach out and embrace the Brothers that have gone astray instead of doing nothing? Let us remember why we are here, and whom we are here for. I challenge you all to each call a Brother you haven't seen for a while. I certainly know I am. In closing, July 18th is our KSA Picnic (11:30 to 13:30) where the Knights will be cooking a wonderful meal for everyone to partake in. This event is open to the public, so don’t hesitate to bring family and friends! It is my firm belief that if a group wants their club to succeed, the SALVE FRATER! members ALL need to pull their Jason M. Smith VM 2 Back to Index THE RITE CORNER “House of the Temple” David L. Nielsen, Deputy in Montana As the brothers of the Billings Valley know, four of your members took in a road trip this last March to visit the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C. As is described in Brother Jason Smith’s article in the May-June edition of the Scottish Rite Journal, the trip was described as life changing. My sincere congratulations to Brothers Smith, Ronny Aasterud, Lewie Fletcher and Sean McDuffee for taking such an unprecedented trip. In the relatively short time of the trip they immersed themselves in Masonry—from the Blue Lodge to the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite to the Shrine. expanded beyond Montana and the United States and my interest in seeing Masonry in action in other states, provinces, and countries only made my desire for extended Masonic comradery and learning more addictive. I suspect that a simple out of town trip for these brothers to Portland last April for the Scottish Rite Regional Leadership Conference planted the seed for more Masonic experience and these brothers are hooked. I think the Voodoo doughnuts in Portland were the icing on the cake for Masonic experiences. From the description of their trip, I hope their message is clear that it is okay to travel beyond the walls of the lodge and temple to experience Masonry with newly met brothers. Not only is it okay, you will be very glad that you did. Remember being a Master Masons entitles you to travel in foreign countries. This year is the 100th Anniversary of Temple—October 18, 1915. The SGIG from Montana at the time was Ill. Brother Edward C. Day, who was a prominent attorney and Mason in Helena and Livingston. At the Biennial Session this year—August 23-25, 2015—the House of the Temple will be used for the Conferral of the 33rd Degree. This is a first in many years. There will be tours of our House of the Temple, including ghost tours in the evening. (Apparently not just the CIA or FBI have spooks, the House of the Temple has some as well.) There will be a dedication reenactment, Garden Party and Banquet on the August 22. This is a historic time for Scottish Rite Freemasonry and our House of the Temple. If you feel adventurous and would like to see the Supreme Council in action, this would be the premier event. Too many times as Masons we find a comfort zone in our local lodge, Valley or Temple that does not encourage us to go outside and explore the new and novel. These four brothers found the courage and determination to leave Billings and Montana and explore the wonderful world of Masonry in Washington, D.C. I understand personally very well the magnetism of staying put in a local lodge. For many years I was content in going to lodge as sideliner, taking an occasional Enjoy the fruits of our labors and part, and going to the monthly visit Masonry in a new place and at a Shrine Club meeting, which had different time. the best steaks and cinnamon rolls. As I took positions in the line, I found that I would even travel out of town for annual district meetings and once to Regina, Saskatchewan for a Canadian-American Masonic Exchange. Later in my Grand Lodge experience, my travels 3 the dedication of the House of the MIC’S PICKS WHAT REALLY MAKES A SUCCESSFUL LODGE By Frederic L. Milliken “This Model is the one that makes a successful Lodge. Let me expound on that some more. The knowledge of who you are and exactly what that means and how it affects you is vital to the pride, enthusiasm and workings of an organization. When an individual is part of a group that feeds on the interaction of its philosophy it creates an aura of appeal and a group identity that cannot be artificially created. The camaraderie comes as a result of the knowledge – the light – and is not an equal partner in the process. The camaraderie does not create the thirst for knowledge; the thirst for knowledge creates the camaraderie. The perks and amenities flow from the light and the camaraderie, as a result of them not the other way around. When the light of your raising makes you born again into a new life, and what Masonry has imparted is so awesome and earth shaking that it has transformed you into something so wonderful that you will never forget it – well then such a group, a Lodge will never die. It will always grow and be successful. But when a Lodge downplays the importance of the Light and the education to sustain it and turns the Lodge into a social Lodge or a Service Club, then the Lodge no longer has the real transforming power to sustain success.” FOOD FOR THOUGHT Back to Index PICNIC e t i R h s i t t c o i c n S c i e P u c e b r Ba or f s u Join q b b l a u n n a our ! y t r a p July 18th 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM 514 14th St West, Billings, MT 4 Back to Index SCOTTISH RITE LANGUAGE CLINIC www.ritecarebillings.org Coverage continues for 14 Children. We have completed treatment support for one child. Our maximum support per month is $4000 total. We have agreements with three Clinics and now we have completed the paperwork to work with Easter Seals of Billings. Clinic Board: Will now meet on the first Tuesday of the Month at Dos Machos, 12 Noon even if that falls after the Normal Scottish Rite meeting. Banquet is the 10 October at the Big Horn Resort. Pumpkin Patch is 09th of October at the Shrine Reserve these dates on your calendar. Welcome to our newest Scottish Rite member Mark Allen Williamson pictured here with the Deputy of Montana David Nielson and Venerable Master Jason Smith.. Per the VM our Fall Reunion should be very interesting for he is taking a very active interest to make it an event to remember. “Koffee Klatch” Every Thursday 7:30 AM to 9 AM Just a $1.00 Money goes to Put September 25th and 26th on your calendar “Fall Reunion” Be there. Library A Message from the Clan of the Knights of St. Andrew On May 20th @ 18:00 the movie Arn the Knights Templar was played. Only 2 members showed up and no guests. Next KSA meetings: Class I: June 17th at 18:00 and again attempt to present a movie about Masonic roots, in order to underline the purpose of education within our group. The movie is about the conflict between the Muslims and Christians during early medieval times (Knights Templars). Set aside 2 hours. Class II: June 19th at 17:00 and again attempt to present a movie about Masonic roots, in order to underline the purpose of education within our group. The movie is about the conflict between the Muslims and Christians during early medieval times (Knights Templars). Set aside 2 hours. Will order Pizza if enough show up. ALL BROTHERS ARE WELCOME Each KSA group (I & II) will progress learning thru all the degrees independently, so each group is on same level of learning and understanding as they progress within each group. 5 Come support your DeMolay Magic City Chapter - Order of DeMolay DeMolay is finishing out the school year with an End of the Year Bash at the Scottish Rite. We plan on doing some community service in the morning and then having a BBQ in the afternoon, which may lead to a trip out to the drive in Movie Theater and then a lock-in. It’s going to be quite the event. Come on out to the BBQ if you are available around 1:00 on Jun 6, 2015. We are in the final stages of preparing for the Month of June. As you all know, June is a busy month with all the Masonic Activities going on. I hope we make it. In the Order of DeMolay, the sixth candle is symbolic of cleanness, not only the bodily cleanness we all practice but cleanness of every thought, word and deed. What the Psalmist was thinking when he wrote “Create in me a clean heart, O God?” There are times when we are so focused on outward appearance and looking clean and neat but what we need to have is a clean heart. A heart that is pure, with kindness, compassion and a willingness to practice good habits. In our world today, the lessons of developing good habits are so important in the teenage years. Everywhere you look there is presence of unclean practices such as drugs, smoking, and violence. These are the difficult activities that many teenagers succumb to through peer pressure. When one gives into these, it leads to the consequences that destroy the mind and the body. DeMolay gives young men the opportunity to develop good habits in thoughts, words and deeds. While combating the negative effects of unclean living. Our ritual work helps us to focus and sharpen our minds. The recognitions and awards give us opportunities to reward upright acts and deeds. We have advisors and parents that are there to guide and be role models to help young men grow into great citizens. Each day, a DeMolay makes the choice to live and practice cleanness in every way. Thanks, Dan Massey Chapter Advisor 100 YEAR CELEBRATION - Lavina Temple Lodge 101 The Brethren of Lavina-Temple Lodge No. 101 would like to invite you to join us in celebration of 100 years of Masonry in Broadview, Lavina and Ryegate area. Temple Lodge No. 101 was founded on September 15, 1915 and Lavina Lodge No. 1 07 founded on August 30, 1916. The two Lodges consolidated on January 1, 1996 as Lavina-Temple Lodge No. 101 located at 101 Main, Lavina, Montana. The Celebration will be on Saturday, August 22, 2015. We plan to start the celebration at 10:00 AM at the Lavina High School gymnasium featuring speakers, music and entertainment. The program will last until noon when lunch will be available at a reasonable cost. After lunch there will be a parade down main street and conclude with a concert at the park on Main Street. The Lodge which is located in the historical Bank Building at 101 Main Street and the historical Slayton Mercantile Building will be open for visitors to enjoy in the afternoon. Come to Lavina on August 22nd and enjoy a day in the history of Masonry in Montana. Thank you, Brother Francis Rose, Secretary of Lavina Temple Lodge No. 101 406-690-8215, [email protected] 6 Back to Index MEAL MENU BY RED FEZ CATERING BUFFET STYLE CONTRIBUTIONS Tossed Salad with French Dressing MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO CONTRIBUTE TO SCOTTISH RITE PROGRAMS Grilled Chicken Breast and BBQ Pork Spareribs Baked Beans Included with Membership Fees Clinic—Ronald R. Boyd T.A. Morrison Scottish Rite Language Clinic General Fund TRUIST/CostCo United Way In Honor of Larraine Marsh EUM/United Methodist Women Grand Park LLC Assisted Living Baked Potato Buttermilk Biscuits Relishes Sour Cream Rhubarb Cake With Whipped Topping Coffee or Hot Tea Language Clinic Endowment Fund In Memory of Edna Hein Clarence Hein RESERVATIONS REQUIRED 259-6683 New Language Clinic Building Fund Transportation Van . Building/Kitchen Fund None Shoes for Kids Fund Library Fund In Memory of Harold L. Davidson Jered H. Scherer CTC HOT Fund Raiser at the Rite Total raised was $315 Jack & Pat Rehberg Bob Hanson Plus various Cash donations during the event. . MAKE OR CANCEL By MONDAY AT 10:30 AM before Dinner WE HAVE TO PAY FOR ALL RESERVATIONS Breakfast. 13 June THANK YOU Western Emporium On King Ave West Get up and come on down and have a bit with a Brother. MEAL PRICE NOW 7:30 AM THAT YOU MAKE $11.00 NO SHOWS WILL BE BILLED If not Cancelled by 10 AM The Monday before 7 Back to Index U.S. Postage Paid Non Profit Org Billings, MT Permit No. 724 Billings Scottish Rite Bodies 514 14th Street West Billings, MT 59102-5216 Tel: (406) 259-6683 Fax: (406) 256-0695 PR: [email protected] PR: [email protected] SEC: : [email protected] Return Service Requested ________________________ We’re on the Web at www. Billingsscottishrite.com Or send an email to SEC above to be added to our Auto Email listing Need to Know Information CALENDAR OF EVENTS Times: 6:00 6:30 7:30 7:30 PM Executive Meeting PM Meal PM Stated Meeting/Program AM Monthly Breakfast (2nd Sat) 03 Jun Stated Meeting—Ladies Welcome 13 Jun Breakfast at Western Emporium on King Lodge of Perfection Venerable Master Jason M. Smith, 32º Chapter of Rose Croix Wise Master Tim Hert 32° Council of Kadosh Commander Daniel Massey 32° Consistory Master of Kadosh David Schantz,32° 01 Jul 11 Jul State Meeting—Ladies welcome Breakfast at Western Emporium on King 18 Jul BBQ/Picnic by Knights of St Andrew 31 July Honormen's Luncheon 05 Aug Stated Meeting—Ladies Welcome 08 Aug Breakfast at Western Emporium on King. NOTE: NO BILLBOARD IN AUGUST , MICHAEL IS OUT OF TOWN. 8 Visit the Supreme Council www.scottishrite.org 1733 16th Street, NW, in Washington, D.C.
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