Brethren, Greetings from the East! Welcome to the February newsletter!
I hope all of the officers were able to attend the 10th District Instructional Meeting in January. These are required by The Grand Lodge for all Officers. Although they can be a bit mundane after you have attended a few of them, there is usually some good information that comes out of them. At the very least, your input and ability to help others is an important part of these meetings. It is helpful to others that have not yet served in these positions to gain some insight from those that have served. Sharing your experiences can be quite helpful to the new guys that have not had any experience in these positions. Please make every effort to attend these meetings. I have been to 7 or 8 so far, but I always seem to hear some thing new.
Hopefully, we will get our EA Brother back in the groove of meeting with his coaches and continue his journey. I am looking forward to putting on some Degree work soon It was great having Brother Darek McMurray back in Columbia and attending Lodge once again. Welcome back to Acacia Lodge! Your attendance is greatly appreciated!
I would be remiss if I did not give a warm Welcome Back to WB John Crane!
Our Annual Grand Lodge Communication is coming up in April. I know this seems like a ways out but it will be here before we know it! There are several issues that will come before the Grand Lodge during this session. One of those is a per capita increase that, if approved, will start in 2026.
As you all know, the cost of everything is going up. Our Grand Lodge is not exempt from these rising costs. As a member of the Grand Lodge Finance Committee, we are in the process of drafting the proposal. It will be presented by the committee during the regular session.
Thank you all for your support so far this year! We have lots to do this year with by-law changes and our annual fish fry fundraiser coming up in June. I hope to make this one bigger and better than
last year. We will, once again, ask the ladies of Columbia Chapter #59 OES to join us in this year’s event. They have been most supportive and very successful with their bake sale. They have some
wonderful sweets. I hope you will come out and bring your families and enjoy some great fellowship and some good food!
I hope you are all surviving this crazy “winter” weather. It seems we go from short pants to heavy coats at least twice a week here lately, but it’s better than Minnesota! I look forward to seeing you all in Lodge for our February Stated Communication!
As always, if I can be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I will be happy to help in any way I can.
My phone # is 803.767.1298 and my email is 10thddgm@gmail.com.
Have a great month in February and I look forward to being with you all!
Fraternally,
Jeff Hall, WM