MWB Ralph L Hultquist, PGM 1987-1988

It was sad news to learn MWB Ralph L. Hultquist passed away today. MWB Ralph was Grand Master of Minnesota Masons in 1987-1988.

Our prayers go out to his wife Patricia and the rest of their family and friends.

I am posting a couple pictures I took at the Annual Grand Lodge Communication in March at St. Cloud, MN. One of the pictures was taken at the Thursday night Grand Masters Banquet and the other picture was taken when MWB Ralph was presented with his 50 year membership pin.

76th Annual Lynnhurst Turkey Dinner

I attended the 76th Annual Lynnhurst Turkey Dinner at the Double Tree last night. It was a great time for fellowship and good food. There were approximately 300 brother masons there to meet a greet our Grand Master of Minnesota Masons, John L. Cook Jr. The Lynnhurst Turkey Dinner is usually one of the first major event the Grand Master attends and gives his main address for the year after his installation.

MWB John L. Cook, Jr was well received and spoke on how planning your lodge yaer should be like planning a trip and putting in way points(points of interest) into your GPS tracking System. The points he addressed were membership, mentoring, community involvement through the MN Kids ID Program, and the Lodge Recognition Program.

2010 Masonic Cancer Center Dinner

The 2010 Masonic Cancer Center/University of Minnesota Dinner was held at the McNamara Alumni Center. The annual dinner was to celebrate the partnership between the University of MN and the Masonic Charities of the Grand Lodge of MN Masons and those individuals that have dedicated theirs lives to treating cancer and the research for finding a cure to eliminate cancer. Masonic charities has pledge $65 million to the U of M for this cause over a 15 year period.

It was a great evening with Brigadier General Dennis Schulstad (retired) as the MC. There were several speakers including Dr. Douglas Yee, Director, Masonic Cancer Center; Marty Chorzemppa, donor; Kathy Heins, Patient; MWB Eric Neetenbeek, President and CEO of MN Masonic Charities; and our MWB John L. Cook, Jr. Grand Master of MN Masons.

1st Degree at Monticello Lodge #16

A first degree was held at Monticello Lodge #16 tonight. WB Dan Starks was the presiding Master for the Degree work and he did a very nice job. WB Dan is a Past Master from Cataract Lodge #2 and the current Junior Warden at Monticello. WB Chris Zalomsky is the current Master for Monticello and sat in the South for the degree work.

Brother Joel Peterson was the new brother who was initiated tonight. He had a friend a Masonic Brother who came from Wayzata to watch him be initiated. I also asked a new brother Lee Craig to attend the meeting tonight. Lee took his first degree two weeks ago at Fraternal Lodge #92 in Princeton, MN. This gave Lee an opportunity to see the entire degree from the sidelines and have a better understanding with the proficiency work.

After the lectures were completed there was a discussion on a Mentor for Joel and Brother Tim Hester volunteered to be his mentor. Tim live only a few houses away from Joel. The they asked a brother who was raised a few months ago if he had a mentor and Brother Shawn Mortenson stated he was the mentor. That was a great sign that they were following through with the new brothers and making sure they had a mentor to help them as they continue to gain more light in masonry!

Fellowcraft Degree held at North Star #23

North Star Lodge #23 held a Fellowcraft Degree for three brothers on Monday, April 12th. Two brothers from North Star and one brother from Litchfield received more light in masonry.

Brother Curt Richter, Junior Warden for North Star sat in the east for the the degree work and did a very nice job with his part. WB Bill Ross did another fantastic job as the Senior Deacon for the Staircase lecture and WB Pete Kloskowske brought the G lecture to meaning. For the 1st Lecture there was some misunderstanding on who was going to do the lecture, so on a monments notice WB ED Halpaus, Grand Lodge LEO step in and did the questions with WB Bill Ross. Great job by both without prior notice. All of the other brothers did nice work with their parts.

The picture has the current Master of North Star, Mitch Freeman (2nd from left) and the three new Fellowcrafts.

Grand Lodge Membership Committee Seminar.

The Grand Lodge Membership Committee put on a seminar today at the MN Masonic Home Facility. The committee did a fantastic job putting it together and their hard work showed. It was a great seminar. It was ran like a profession seminar that you would have paid several hundred dollars to attend. They had speakers who were professionals in the areas the covered. They even had one guest speaker from Louisville, KY who was a brother Mason. I took several pages of notes and I hope I can pass this information on to lodges I visit. They had approximately 105 members from across the state of MN who are leaders in their own lodges. Some lodges even shared in some of their projects they do that make them success in gaining and retaining new members. The seminar covered topics on both membership and mentoring.

Again, I want to say congratulations to the Grand Lodge Membership Committee for all of their hard work and for a very successful program. Hats off to all of you!

Fraternal Lodge #92 - 1st Degree

A 1st Degree was held tonight at Fraternal Lodge #92 in Princeton, MN for two new brothers. The two new brothers were Lee Craig and Matt Ratiliff. It was a special evening for me because of a couple reasons. I had the honor of sitting in the East as Master for the degree work. Most Worshipful Brother John L. Cook was present for the meeting, so Grand Honors for receiving him was conducted and then he sat in the East next to me. What a special honor that was to have the Grand Master next to you while you conduct the degree. That was the first time I have had the privilege and honor to be in the east with any Grand Master.

Second, I work with one of the new brothers, Lee Craig. So it was very special to be his top line signer and then be the Master when he was initiated. I thank the brothers of Fraternal Lodge #92 for letting me have that privilege.

The top picture is of our Grand Master MWBJohn L. Cook. The bottom picture is as follows (l to r) WB Bob Darling,SGS; Lee Craig, new brother; WB Brian Sjoberg, Master of Fraternal Lodge #92; MWB John L. Cook, Grand Master; Matt Ratiliff, new brother; and MWB Roger Taylor, Past Grand Master and Past Master of Fraternal Lodge #92.

More sincere apology for not getting WB Dayton Berg, Area Deputy in the photo.