2008 Germanfest Report

Germania Lodge held its first Germanfest since Katrina devastated our lodge on August 29, 2005.
Repairs, renovation and paint have been completed downstairs, including our Custodian’s apartment. This allowed us to host a Germanfest Saturday, November 1, 2008. The main purpose was to fund the complete renovation of the 2nd floor of our lodge, which is about 60% complete.
We no longer have an “OKTOBERFEST”, in October, so as not to compete with our friends at the Deutches Haus. We now call our annual party a “GERMANFEST”, which is the same as an Oktoberfest, except it is in November.
The Germanfest was a SUCCESS in every measure! All 120 chairs and all tables were filled inside AND outside under the tents! Plenty of guests were standing. EVERYONE I spoke with afterwards said they thoroughly enjoyed it and had a great time! Lotsa kids attended and were all well behaved. Chicken Dances were dominated by these enthusiastic children (of ALL ages!).
Many brothers from other lodges who could not attend sent in donations. The spirit of brotherly love and comradeship prevailed. There was LOTS of visiting going on!
My daughters and their families (including 3 of my grandchildren) came in from Mandeville and Abita Springs, which made it even more fun for Betty & I. We spent the night in Abita and drove home to Wilson Sunday night.
WB Joe Kueck has informed that we PROFITED over $4000 from this event! Way to go, guys!
If you have not been to our lodge recently . . . PLEASE come see the progress. You will be very proud of your lodge and the hard working brothers who made the renovation a reality!
Fraternally, Glenn Cupit S.W.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Message from the East Well the time is flying by. We have only 2 more meetings before the end of my term as Master and I am hopping to make them a blast. It looks like the first meeting in November will be a business meeting so we can close up some issues as well as talk about what is left to do upstairs. We need you and your ideas! We will also talk about the success of the Germanfest and how we can continue to create some income for the lodge. The second meeting of November will be an open meeting for the whole family! I am inviting a good friend and brother down from the Louisiana Ren Festival with his some of his Birds of prey. Come so you can see these wonderful animals up close and personal as well as to be able to ask a professional falconer about their birds. This meeting is also a pot luck dinner so bring your best dish for everyone to try. Remember this is the meeting before Thanksgiving which is the day after. Things at the lodge have been going strong over the past month. The rafters are up and looks like it almost ready for sheetrock on the ceiling! Meeting upstairs again is coming soon. I would like to thank all those who have been involved with the rebuilding of the upstairs and remind those who have not had the chance that there is still time to get involved. Work parties are set for every Saturday for the rest of the year. If you have an hour to donate to the lodge be it 9am in the morning or 5pm at night just come on by and we can find something that needs doing. –Wilson Revelle W.M.   AN OPEN LETTER FROM W. BRO. BOBBY BARTH I am writing this note to you, with the hope that a few of these ideas, may be of help in planning the future direction of the Lodge. I will not lay claim to being a Masonic authority, but because of my travels and being based in several different major and minor cities during my Masonic tenure, I have seen a few traditions and some regulations that really make sense for keeping a lodge healthy and happy. Over the last 20 years there has been a trend to ask less and less from the officers. As long as someone can perform a lecture or a degree, whatever job. Little pressure is put on lower officers to learn those jobs. In some states this is avoided by having a list of jobs that officers or brethren must complete before they can move forward. Example, the junior steward must learn the working tools of each degree and is expected to perform that duty in the degrees. It is not hard since he will have learned it when he does his proficiency. The senior steward is expected to learn the charges and perform them. And has we get into the higher officers, the actual lectures and the degrees themselves should be learned. I remember distinctly, the talk the master had with me, when I started the chairs. He told me that it would be a several year commitment and that I would be required to learn several lectures and help pass them on. I would be required to stand for a test to insure that I was capable of sitting in any chair during a meeting or a degree. This was broken into two sections. Appointed officers and elected officers. As an appointed officer I was expected to be able to fill any chair from JS to SD on any night and on any degree. When we voted into the final chairs, before I could take my place as JW, I had to show the DL, I could open and close in all three chairs in all three degrees. As luck would have it. I took that test and the very same day was my first meeting as a JW, both the master and the SW had the flu and I stepped up to the east. I know this seems like a huge commitment for men to make, it only seems that way because, year after year, we require less and less from our newer officers and rely more and more upon our past masters to do the heavy lifting. If we don't start to teach and demand better from our younger officers, we will someday find ourselves unable to field a degree team and will have to go begging for someone else to make our masons. Don't get me wrong, it is wonderful that we have some members who can do it all, but they should be teaching not carrying the load. I guess its all in the way you see your job as an officer. As WM mine was explained to me thus. Since I had already given many if not all the lectures, and I had already raised my fair share of masters, made EA's and fellows, it was now my job to make sure those below me did the same and were prepared as well as I was. This was not a bold new experiment, it was the way the lodge had functioned for over 140 years. We should not be afraid to ask more of our officers, as we all know raising to the occasion is almost a Masonic virtue. Share this or not, up to you. Bobby Barth P.M. Home • Guestbook • Officers • Contacts • Location

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BY-LAWS VOTE

There was a motion accepted and passed at the October 22nd meeting to change the meetings to start at 7:30 p.m. instead of the present 7:00 p.m. In accordance with our Grand Lodge by-laws we will vote up or down for the amendment at the November 12 meeting. Please come express your right to vote.

 

 

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