Two New Yorkers in top 10 of first line signers in America!

Have I told you I love e-scribe?

This database allows us to pull reports and get information on the health of DeMolay membership in a few seconds.

Now, for this I need you to go to YouTube and listen to a little bit of Joe Esposito
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p44G0U4sLCE


Today, I ran the report on top line signers in the United States and was very pleased to see two of our own make the list of top 10!




Br. Robin Santos of Knickerbocker Chapter is tied for 6th, and Br. RJ Larson of Richmond Chapter is tied for 10th! This is huge, and I cannot tell you how proud I am of both of them!

WAY TO GO AND GROW DEMOLAY!

Account Audits: A Best Practice

Dear New York DeMolay:

Among things that we are working on for DeMolay is best practices on the finance side. 


As a 501(c)3, New York DeMolay has a fiduciary responsibility to do routine audits of accounts of chapters, honor bodies, alumni accounts, etc/

 I have asked "Dad" Harry Needham III to undertake these audits. "Dad" Needham is a Past Executive Officer of Connecticut DeMolay and an Active Member of our Supreme Council. In this capacity he understands our organization thoroughly and understands how we operate. "

The basic items which need to be submitted are:
 - Bank statements for the past 24 months
- Receipts and Contracts for any expense over $250.
- Minutes showing where the expense was authorized or a signed payment voucher
- Copies of the 990 post card or confirmation email.

This is a routine best practice and I look forward to everyone's cooperation to get these done efficiently.

If you have a question on finance matters please feel free to drop me a note at PWBrusoe@gmail.com

I do want to emphasize this is merely to ensure we are following best practices and NOT because we think something is amiss.

Yours for a stronger New York DeMolay,

"Dad" Brusoe

What is your chapter doing for Winter/Christmas/Holiday Break?

Winter Break
Christmas Break
Holiday Break
End of Semester Break
Regardless of what you call it, many of our DeMolays have NO SCHOOL FOR AT LEAST A WEEK!  This is a great time for you and your chapter to have fun activities, service events, or for you to work on some DeMolay projects.

What are some things that you can do?

1. Hold a Membership Class: Winter Break is a great time to plan and schedule an induction ceremony and have your friend from English Class, or your soccer team, or your marching band join DeMolay. I am really excited that Mohawk Valley DeMolay already has one scheduled for Saturday. As a reminder we are waiving form 10 fees through 12/31/2019. (Also, true story, 12/26/1997 Patrick Filiberto called me up, asked if I was free on 12/27 to join DeMolay in Utica, and the rest they say is history.)


2. Organize a Movie Trip: There are lots of great movies out there that you can see as a chapter. Call up your DeMolay brothers, pick a film, pick a location and go out and enjoy the film as a group. Afterward you can talk about what parts you liked the best and how awesome the Ewoks are.

3. Hold an athletic event:  Maybe you go the bowling alley, or play flag football in the snow, or play basketball, it's a great time to play some sports and do some fun athletic things.  (also helps for those of us who had too many of our parents' amazing cookies!)

4. Do a service project: This is a great time to organize a service project for your chapter! Maybe you want to help shovel out sidewalks and fire plugs, visit residents in a care community, clean up a local park (please dress warmly) or make cards for the Masonic Care Community.

5. Host a winter dance or other social event: Have a speaker? Have an Iphone? you can have an awesome dance. Call up the local Rainbow or Triangle, or other young ladies you're tight with, order some sub platters, have a dance. Or bring in some video games and have a video game tournament. The sky is the limit!

6. Call a Brother you haven't heard from. A lot of our DeMolay brothers are back from college, now is a great time to call them and see how they are doing. Maybe even have them come to an event and talk about what they  have learned while in college.

7. Work on your LCCs: Maybe do it as a chapter activity, or do it on your own, but you can improve your knowledge of DeMolay. Need the tests? Contact "Dad" David Schneider dschneid7@gmail.com


8. Work on your Representative DeMolay: It was "Dad" Land's Dream that every DeMolay would be a Representative DeMolay.  It's a good self assessment program that prepares you well for college and life in general. New York has its own form, please Contact "Dad" David Schneider dschneid7@gmail.com for the form.


9. Write your Totten Essay Contest : This essay is open to all masonic youth who are seniors in High School. It's due January 21! https://nymasons.org/site/masonic-youth-contest-and-awards/

10. HELP YOUR PARENTS: The best thing we can do as DeMolays? Help our parents. Set the example to your siblings and be the son that helps them with household chores, maybe cook them breakfast, but live your DeMolay values.

A Very Merry Christmas!

Brothers, "Moms," "Dads," DeMolay families, friends, and supporters:

From my family to yours I want to wish those of you who celebrate a very Merry Christmas! Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays, filled with family, friends, faith and traditions.

I have drafted this note a couple of different times. Some were long notes, some were a trip down memory lane, others were a bit too preachy.  Finally, I came back to "What is the key message of Christmas?"

Linus Van Pelt captured it perfectly in a "Charlie Brown Christmas Special" when he read from Luke 2: 8-14. After proclaiming the birth of Jesus, the angelic host proclaimed: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards all people."

In this day and age it is easy to be cynical, it is easy to look around and see how off the world is, it is easy to be bitter and to be a NIOP.  Let us Harken to what the angels sing and remember that we are called to have good will, and called towards peace.

Thank you day in and day out for all that you do to make sure we live in a world of peace, of positivity, and are making our world a better place. Thank you for the tremendous gift you give every single day of yourself! Thank you for your belief in our core mission of providing excellent experiences to exceptional young people.

And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, every one!

Yours in the Christmas Spirit,


"Dad" Brusoe

A Chanukah Reflection

Dear Brothers, "Moms" "Dads," Friends and Supporters:

I wanted to say to everyone who celebrates Chanukah Sameach! I hope that this holiday brings to you many happy memories and quality time with your friends and family.

Why am I wishing this to you on the 3rd night and not the 1st night? DeMolay International expressed the well wishes already for us!  But it goes back to how I have best experienced the Holiday with my friend Chris and his family.

For them, the first night was the nuclear family, the second night was with their Bubbe and Zayda, the third night, however, was the night for their friends.

This was when we would join them for lighting the menorah, playing games including the dreidel , receiving gelt  (gold chocolate coins), telling the Chanukah story, as well as amazing latkes and, though out of season , ever amazing hamantaschen! Occasionally this would change depending on when other holidays fell, but more often than not it was the third night. 

Chris would always explain that the light of the menorah was meant to be shared. As DeMolays this should remind us of another set of lights that should be shared.

In DeMolay we stress the importance of respecting and understanding other people's faith traditions.
If you're not very familiar with the story of Chanukah it is well worth reading.  Chabad has a great resource here: https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102978/jewish/The-Story-of-Chanukah.htm

There is something for everyone to learn: 

The quick summary is that while being governed by the Seleucids Empire, the traditional form and practice of the Jewish religion had fallen out of practice. It was being replaced by Greek practice and tradition.  Given the huge social and political pressure most people "went along to go along."  Yet, a band of brothers called the Maccabees stood up for what they thought was right. They rebelled and led a courage campaign to return to traditional observances. 

The odds were not in their favor.

A rag tag group of farmers were taking on the premiere military force of the world at the time. Yet, the Maccabees won and they were able to restore what had been lost.  At the height of their greatest victory however, when they were going to restore and rededicate the temple there wasn't enough oil. Yet, with limited resources they pressed on and a miracle happened because they preserve and trusted their G-d.


A few things for us to think about:

1) When presented with the option to go along and do what everyone else is doing, do we go along to get along, or do we stand up for what is right?

2) When we face a challenge, like the Maccabees did of not having enough oil, how do we respond? Do we use the resource we have to do the best we can, or do we give up?

3) Do we take the time to understand people's religions? Do we show respect for their beliefs on a daily basis?

Initiation Fee Reimbursement from the Scottish Rite

Brothers, "Moms," "Dads," and Friends:

When they turn 18, many members of DeMolay, Rainbow and Triangle want to continue the great experiences they have had as a youth  by joining a Masonic Lodge or an Eastern Star Chapter. 

Yet, the cost to join a lodge or a chapter is not insignificant.

To pay my initiation fee at Master's Lodge #5 required saving a month's worth of tutoring fees. The cost to join has not gone down.

For example, the Lodge I am currently Master of charges $300 plus the cost of the Guarding the West Gate report. My Eastern Star Chapter charges $150 to join. For youth of today, when shuffling the costs of books, car insurance, gas, paying down student loans, and other expenses paying these fees may make that journey cost prohibitive.

Thank God for the Scottish Rite!


Many of you heard during LeadCon that the New York State Council of Deliberation of Scottish Rite has agreed to reimburse initiation fees up to $250 for Masonic Youth Group members joining a Blue Lodge under the Grand Lodge of New York or an Eastern Star Chapter under the Grand Chapter of New York. 

I am pleased to share with you all that the forms are now out to be able to participate in this program.
You can download the form here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1_0vMxQkkD6WMl7s0Hkj1UBfAInrGnG5X
There is some fine print:

1) You must have joined the Lodge or Eastern Star Chapter on or after August 1, 2019
2) You must have been a member in the youth group a minimum of two years
3) You must complete the degrees. For Masonry that means going through the 3rd Degree.
4) Complete the form and obtain the appropriate signatures
5) This is a reimbursement program so fees need to be paid ahead of time.

But now cost is not a prohibiting factor for a youth group member to join a Lodge or an Eastern Star Chapter.

If this is a journey that you wish to undertake please talk with your local advisors, or if you're looking for a good Lodge or Eastern Star Chapter to join let us know.


Thank you to Ill "Dad" David Spencer and the entire New York State Council of Deliberation for this investment in our youth and in the future of our Lodges and Eastern Star!


Yours,

"Dad" Brusoe

Obligations Card Policy

Obligations Card Policy


Today, we are adopting the following obligations card policy:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xQwFlAfic2F92p-u96mad0UArX4aeTcs/view?usp=sharing


This policy outlines how DeMolays earn their obligatory cards and is explicit that by June 1, 2020 all Councilors of chapters that are not new or reforming must have their obligations card.


This policy was thanks to the work of our Director of Ritual, “Dad” Craig Riha, and his team with “Dad” Tom Perry and “Dad”  Phillip Hurkala. At LeadCon you may have heard about the draft policy. It took a little longer to get this policy out so we could talk to a number of people including the SAC and SEC about it and get their feedback on it and to make some tweaks.

There have been a few questions and I want to address those:


Why are we adopting a statewide policy?
The bylaws of DeMolay International provide that each state shall adopt a policy.  It is important to me that we set a standard and we abide by that across our state.  A young man assuming the east in St. Andrew’s Chapter should meet the same minimum requirements as a young man assuming the east in Richmond, or Trinity.

Can chapters create other requirements to be Master Councilor?100%! Some chapters may require that a Master Councilor have earned a certain number of LCCs or brought in so many members to assume the East. These policies must be in the Chapter bylaws and have been voted on by the young men and approved by New York DeMolay in writing.

Why are obligations important?
Regardless if you joined in Kansas City in 1919, or a snowy day in Utica, NY in 1997 or took your obligations in an officers’ club in Taiwan in the 1960s, or you joined last month at Ridge Council, the obligations link all of us as DeMolays. These paragraphs unite us all as brothers and are at the core of what we do. How can we live as DeMolays if we cannot recall what we promised to do?  Learning your part is one of many ways that we show informal leadership in DeMolay.

Why are you not requiring obligations to vote for chapter officers or hold appointed office?
This is the question I have gotten from people who think the policy is too soft. Member involvement is critically important to us as an organization.  As soon as you join DeMolay you should be able to be involved and engaged with the activities of your chapter.

Why June 1st?
My goal is to be fair.  This policy originally said that by May 1, 2020 all councilors had to be proficient. Because it took us a little longer to finalize this policy, I am pushing the effective date from May 1 to June 1. This provides each chapter plenty of time to become complaint.   I know several chapters have not been requiring this and young men have made plans to serve as Master Councilor. By giving the better part of six months this provides time to get proficient and make things work.

Is this policy set in stone?
This is our policy. We are always welcome to feedback and evaluation.

How will you help us teach our young men ritual?We have a core team of ritual advisors at the state and region level who can help teach and will travel and do seminars. We can also work with the advisory councils to help through this process. At state events we will have opportunities to earn obligation cards.

What is a “re-forming” chapter?Some of our Chapters have long been established and therefore are chartered, but they only have a handful of young men showing up. In many ways they are just like a “new chapter.” This status may be given by the Executive Officer to a chapter upon their request.

What level of expectation of privacy is there for IEPs and 504s?This policy outlines an accommodation process.  As part of this advisors may become aware of personal information related to a DeMolay. This information should be kept confidential and on a need to know basis. Adult volunteers who violate the privacy provisions may be disciplined up to and including removal as an advisor or revocation of honors.

We do not know how to provide appropriate accommodations, what do we do?We have a number of educators in New York DeMolay and other professionals who know how to develop an accommodation plan and process. Please contact New York DeMolay and we will work to get you that help.

Dress code for DeMolays and Male Advisors

In a previous post you heard me discuss "Tribal knowledge." One of those happens to be our dress code in New York DeMolay. A quick WIWAD story: St. Andrew's had a casual dress code between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I showed up in a full suit while everyone else was rocking much cooler outfits. One of my brothers said to me "Oh didn't you know?" Clearly not.  In consultation with the State Executive Committee and the State Advisory Council we are promulgating the below dress code for DeMolays and Male Advisors. "Mom" Cook is working on one for young ladies and female advisors and should be out soon.

We also know that dress clothes are not cheap. We are working with "Mom" Draves to set up a clothes closet program. More details to come.

Dress Code For DeMolays and Male Advisors
One of the frequent questions that we get is 'What do I wear?" To help flesh this out we wanted to define dress code a bit:


The chapter members, subject to approval by the advisory council, will establish and set their own dress code for chapter meetings. Chapters should take steps to ensure that dress codes do not create undue financial hardships on the members.


No dress code may be used to prohibit a DeMolay from wearing attire that is religious in nature.


Care should be taken to ensure that clothing does not contain un-DeMolay like sayings or graphics. When visiting another chapter or another youth organization, care should be taken to observe their dress standards.  For example, if a young ladies' group is hosting an event and their rules require ties, DeMolays should wear ties. We are guests in their house.


In general, DeMolay uses the following standards for young men and male advisors:


DeMolay Casual: A pair of slacks with a polo shirt. Shorts and t-shirts are not considered casual. We will note when shorts can be worn.


DeMolay Business: A pair of slacks, with a dress shirt, tie at a minimum, jacket or blazer, or a culturally equivalent outfit such as a barong or a kilt or military uniform.


DeMolay Formal: A tuxedo or dark suit, or a culturally equivalent outfit, such as a barong or kilt or dress uniform.


DeMolay Athletic: A pair of shorts or pants with an A-Shirt, Tee Shirt, or Tank Top.



As a rule of thumb, you can always dress down if you over dressed for an event, but hard to dress up if you under dressed.



New York DeMolay does have a clothes closet to help youth secure clothing that they may need.


In addition, you may want to visit these resources:

Harvard: https://ocs.fas.harvard.edu/dress-success

The Art of Manliness https://www.artofmanliness.com/category/dress-grooming/

Winterfest Registration Form

Dear New York DeMolay:


We are moving to electronic registrations for state events.  The first event we are going to use this for is New York DeMolay Winterfest.

Here is where you will find the electronic form:
https://forms.gle/nYbBp9R3VAtJzNqH6

How this works

1) The person registering will fill out the form, this may be a parent, the DeMolay, an advisor etc.
2) Upon receipt we will be emailing a permission slip and medical release that will need to be signed by the parent or guardian of the person attending along with a copy of the insurance card that will need to be emailed back in or brought in paper form.
3) The check for the registration fee will need to be mailed to "Dad" Evarts. We are not currently enabled for online bill pay. Checks will need to be made payable to New York DeMolay.

If you have a question on registration please contact "Dad" Brusoe (PWBrusoe@gmail.com)  or "Dad" Evarts (eric@evartsct.com)

Cost: $99 per person (6 per room)
$122 per person (4 per room)
$143 per person (3 per room)
$184 per person (2 per room)
$308 per person (single occupancy)
$70 Saturday only
Family packages upon request!



We have been asked "what if we cannot fill a suite?" If you wish to have the $99 package please put down the six to a suite package. It will mean that you are with DeMolays not from your chapter.  If we are unable to fill a room with six people we will still honor the $99 price.

Questions?
Let us know!

PMC-MSA Ritual Proficiency, Merit Bars, RD things

In consultation with "Dad" Schneider we wanted to clarify a few award things:

PMC-MSA and Ritual:  The PMC-MSA requires you be proficient in the Master Councilor's portion of the ritual work. This certification is to be done by the director of ritual or  his designee within two months of taking office. This establishes a more uniform standard around the state. You should look at qualifying earlier for the ritual work. If you are a Senior Councilor and you know you are going to be Master Councilor set this up sooner rather than later.

Merit Bars: Merit Bars are a chapter level program. New York DeMolay is no longer handling merit bars for LCCs. "Dad" Schneider is working to get these out to chapters so they can use them, but your local advisory council will now handle the LCC Merit bars.

No Obligation Card for the RD: You do not need to have an obligations card to earn the Representative DeMolay. This is in accordance with DeMolay International rules and procedures. You should be working on your obligations, but it is not a statutory requirement.

You Must use the New York DeMolay RD form: There are several RD forms out there. In New York, you need to use ours. If you have any doubt about the form you are using please please please contact "Dad" Schneider.

Continuing Advisory Council Forms

Dear New York DeMolay:

I have had a few questions about advisors whose paperwork did not hit by December 1, 2019 for their change/no-change. 

I spoke with "Dad" Christian Moore our hardworking and dedicated Executive Director. If you did not finish your change/no-change paperwork by the deadline, you should complete the new advisory paperwork and fee by December 31st you will NOT need to retrain since there is no break in service as a DeMolay advisor.

I recognize that there is a difference  in fee between doing a change/no-change and doing new advisory council paperwork.  If your renewal was held up for unforeseen circumstances please send me a note and we can see what we can do about the fees.

Thank you for our time and attention to this!

Yours in the light of the 4th Candle,

"Dad" Brusoe

Lamps of Knowledge

A note from our Director of Education "Dad" David Schneider

With LCC records now up to date and in sync with DI, we are having a one time only opportunity for those of you who have completed all 5 exams (both New York and DI versions) going back as far as 2010.

If you never received your Lamp of Knowledge, you can claim it now through December 31, 2019.  We know some of you, but perhaps not all of you, have earned a Lamp and might not have received one.

This is your chance.  ALL you need to do is send me an email with your Full name and Chapter name and the year you completed all 5 exams.  Once we confirm that you did finish them, a Lamp of Knowledge will be made available to you and awarded at State Convention 2020.  If you are unable to attend convention, arrangements will be made to present it to you at another time.

After December 31, 2019 ALL past completions will be considered "fulfilled" and no longer eligible to receive a Lamp from New York DeMolay.  You or your Chapter will have the responsibility to obtain one for you.

As of January 1, 2020, ONLY those who complete all 5 LCC's between each Convention will receive a Lamp for that year.

Don't delay, let us know know if we owe you a Lamp and we will be happy to obtain one for you once your achievement has been confirmed.

Thank you.  Happy Holidays and continued success in all of your DeMolay adventures.

New York DeMolay Standard Operating Procedures

Dear New York DeMolay:

If there is a tie at the end of the football game, what do you do?
If a player tags the base at the same time the ball hits the baseman's glove is he out?
Four cars arrive at a four stop sign intersection at the same time, who goes first?
When is the  Education Obligatory Day in New York?

For each of these there is a playbook or a rule book that is followed, with the exception of the last one. Today, that changes.

In DeMolay we are governed by the statutes, rules, and regulations of DeMolay International. However, DeMolay knows that the way things work in our Great State is Perhaps different than how things would work in the State of New Mexico. Therefore there are things that are left to the discretion of the jurisdictions.  A lot of things that we do in DeMolay are based on shared common knowledge. In the workplace this is called "Tribal knowledge." (See https://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/tribal-knowledge/) . You can generally tell what is tribal knowledge when you hear people say "We have always done it this way" or "historically" or "In the past."

For the past several weeks your hardworking and dedicated State Executive Committee and State Advisory Council have been working through a document called a "Standard Operating Procedure. This is an evolving document as the needs of DeMolay change. You can find the document here for your reference and it has been emailed out to everyone.  Soon it will be on our new website!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ag9y3TkThYlO-OK0sRRe22rCQW4i6Pvm/view?usp=sharing

As always, let us know if you have questions or concerns.

Yours,
"Dad" Brusoe

It's a Snow Day, what is a DeMolay or a Sweetheart to do?

What a winter storm we are having in New York! (To the right is the view outside our back door in Montgomery County!)  As the Eastern Part of our Great State is hit with record snow falls what is a DeMolay to do?


1. Shovel for others INCLUDING HYDRANTS!:  Seriously, go out, grab a shovel, help shovel your parents out, go look in on neighbors who may not be able to shovel themselves out.  Some notes on how to safely shovel:
https://nyc.heart.org/2017/12/14/american-heart-association-warns-snow-shoveling-health-hazards/ 

Thanks to "Dad" Heyn for the recommendation on Fire Hydrants/Plugs.

2. Work on your Representative DeMolay! If you're not an RD yet, now is a great time to get it started. As a reminder, we have our own form here designed by "Dad" Schneider. Need a copy? email him at dschneid7@gmail.com for the latest and greatest. NOTE: you do not need an obligations card to become an RD.

3. Help your parents with chores. Take time today to ask your parents if there are chores that you can help with around the house. It's a great way to show the first preceptor!

4. Learn a new ritual part.  Lots of time around the house is a great chance to learn your ritual part. Maybe it's opening or closing of a chapter or a preceptor part. Don't have a ritual? Email me and we'll figure out how to get you a part. (PWBrusoe@gmail.com)

5. Do something nice for someone else: This is really easy, take out some paper and make some cards for our residents at the Masonic Care Community, or other healthcare facility.

6. Hold a Chapter Committee Meeting: Sure you may be homebound, but this may be a great chance to plan that Day of Comfort Observance, or to come up with a list of friends you can ask to join your chapter.

7. Make a Snow DeMolay or Sweetheart  The snow we have is amazing for making snow people. Never made one? The directions are really easy! https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Snowman take a picture!

8. Work on the Totten Essay Contest: If you're graduating High School this year, consider entering the Totten Essay Contest. This is open to all Masonic youth. This year's topic? “How did failure contribute to my success?” More info is here:  https://nymasons.org/site/masonic-youth-contest-and-awards/

9. Play Board Games with your family.  Snow Days at the Brusoe household means "Acquire" or "Scrabble" or "Rummy." This is a great bonding experience and a way to really build family togetherness. (It used to also be a good time for Monopoly and Risk but one of the Brusoe kids was a bit too competitive once and it got banned :) )

10. Enter the "DeMolay Merch" contest. Our State Executive Committee Team came up with the idea of having a logo designed that will be voted on at Winterfest. Reach out to our State Master Councilor for more information!

Save the Dates for Leadership Conferences

One of my goals is to make sure that every chapter sends at least one young man to attend a leadership conference. I know we're a ways off, but I wanted to put it out there now so people can save the dates and block off things.  NOTE: August 15-18 is slated for NY DeMolay Convention.


What is a Leadership Conference? It's a week of living DeMolay! You learn new skills, you meet new brothers, you help to improve your chapter.  I was lucky as a young man to be able to attend Region I LTC and the Ohio DeMolay Leaders of Excellence Conference. It transformed the way I think about DeMolay and I want to make sure you have that same experience.  They are spread throughout the summer so if one is further away from your home, but works better for your schedule let us know.

In chronological order:


Ohio DeMolay Leaders of Excellence, Medina Ohio. June 19-21* Waiting for confirmation) $125
http://www.ohiodemolay.org/state-officers?catid=12&id=70:odle


New Jersey Garden State LTC, NJ July 19th through July 25, $250, but would drop to $200 if we send five DeMolays
https://www.njdemolay.org/garden-state-leadership-training-conference/


DeMolay KeyMan University August 2-8, 2020 $350
https://keyman.pademolay.org/


Region I LTC, New Durhuam, NH August 9-15, 2020. $350
https://www.region1demolay.net/en/article_view.php?news_id=251

Rituals need to be red, not read. Need one? Let us know by 12/15/2019

Could you play lacrosse with a stick without a pocket?
Could you ride a bike without an inflated front wheel?
Could you play baseball with a glove that's too small?
Could you play a piano that's out of tune?

Sure, you could do all of that, but the results are less than ideal. 

The same is true with using an obsolete ritual. DeMolay International has established that the 15th edition of the ritual is the only one that should be used.

During LeadCon, several of our DeMolays were using 13th, 14th, 14th corrected, and in some cases MATOC judging sheets. A few had never seen the 15th edition. Going forward, the only ritual that should be used is the 15th edition, with the red cover. While the ritual is on the DeMolay app, if a ritual must be used in a chapter meeting it must be in book format. 

Though I love our Capital City of Albany, I have no love for unfunded mandates.

Thanks to a generous contribution from the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar, every DeMolay who needs one will be provided a 15th edition ritual. 

To facilitate that, please have your chapter advisor and chairman send an email to PWBrusoe@gmail.com listing the number of rituals you need by 12/15/2019.  Already have a 15th edition ritual? Great. No problem.

As a reminder, by statute 316.1 each chapter is required to have 10 (ten) copies of the ritual. The goal here is that the chapter will have these on hand in case they need it for a meeting. IF your chapter does not have 10 on hand, please let me know and we'll work something out.

You are free to keep old copies of the ritual, I have a small collection myself, however, they are not to be used for chapter meetings or to be given to the young men to learn the ritual work.

On a closing note, I love our ritual. When the DeMolai Council first met there was no ritual, but "Dad" Land saw the need for something and he had "Dad" Marshall write a ritual. The rest is history.  "Dad" Labagh wrote several interesting pieces on this that you should read:

How "Dad" Marshall wrote the ritual Part 1:
https://demolay.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Centennial-Celebration-Moment-10.pdf

Part 2:
https://demolay.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Centennial-Celebration-Moment-11.pdf

How The Ritual Has Changed(#22 - 11/30/2018)
https://demolay.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Centennial-Celebration-Moment-Final-22.pdf

Everyone Was a Ritual Expert(#23 - 12/07/2018)
https://demolay.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Centennial-Celebration-Moment-23.pdf

How to “Fix” the DeMolay Degree(#24 - 12/14/2018)
https://demolay.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Centennial-Celebration-Moment-24.pdf

Radical Ritual Changes(#25 - 12/21/2018)
https://demolay.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Centennial-Celebration-Moment-25.pdf

A Final Look at the Development of the DeMolay Ritual(#26 - 12/28/2018)

https://demolay.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Centennial-Celebration-Moment-26-REVISED.pdf

Service Learning: NY DeMolay Visits the Masonic Care Community

The 4^th Section of the DeMolay ritual speaks that the way we live DeMolay is not what they do inside the chapter room, but rather the life and service they do outside the Chapter Room.  This commitment to service is built into our state events by adding a service learning component. This past weekend as part of our LeadCon, New York DeMolay set aside time to spend with the residents of the Masonic Care Community and collected puzzles and games for the residents.

After a delicious lunch prepared by the MCC staff and an incredibly inspiring talk by “Dad” William M. Sardone, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New York and our First State Master Councilor, the young men headed over to Wiley Hall to visit with the residents. Divided up in groups of two or three with an advisor they went and spoke to the various residents. 
The conversations the youth had with the residents was amazing. One group met with Tony, a World War II Veteran who shared about his service and experience serving on the Navy in the Mediterranean. For this group of young men it was their first time meeting and talking with a WWII Veteran. Tony had a great life story how he joined the Navy at age 17. His bootcamp experience was cut short because the nation needed its young men. He started out in the laundry because that’s what needed to be done. Later he worked with the pilots.  The DeMolays have heard about youth rising up as the defender of our nation, here they met a man who at their age went and did that very thing.   

Another group met with Victor, a Mason from Wadsworth Lodge in Albany.  Victor talked to them about his fraternal experience and his family’s connections to Masonry. He shared about his experience working with the Knickerbocker News, his service to his church, the Boy Scouts and even his labor union.  Victor talked about the joy of brotherhood and what being a Mason has meant to enrich his life and make it a more special experience.

Another resident was celebrating his 50 years of being a Mason. He shared how his family had a rich masonic tradition going back generations.  His son was a PMC of one of our chapters back in the 1960s and how it positively impacted his family.  As we were finishing up he asked if the Grand Master was at the Care Community that weekend. The young men shared that “Dad” Sardone was and just finished talking to them for lunch. The man’s face lit up! Recently the Grand Master set aside time to visit with him and formally present his 50 year pin. It was a great lesson for the DeMolays because they saw what the personal touch does for a person.




Another group of young men met a Senior DeMolay, Br. Marshall from Mohawk Valley Chapter. They had a great conversation about how DeMolay has changed and what the lessons meant to Br. Marshall.

During the post-service reflection the young men were asked to reflect on the service experience. One of them shared that it made him feel happy, but it also made him feel sad. He was happy because he enjoyed visiting with the residents and learning about their lives. He was sad because the resident he visited with had not had a visitor in some time.   Other DeMolays shared that they learned more about what the Masonic fraternity does in caring for the elderly. 

We look forward to visiting with the residents in the future and engaging more with Masonic Care Community.

Pizza, Ritual Performance Class, Ice Cream, Basketball, Video Games: LeadCon Day 1 is in the books!

Day 1 of LeadCon 2019 is in the books!

What a night it was!  We welcomed DeMolays from across the Great State of New York to the Masonic Care Community for them to learn, to bond, and to improve their DeMolay knowledge.  Sure it's 2:30AM and I should be in bed but I wanted to make sure I shared with all of you - our DeMolay Brothers, our Advisors, and our amazing supporters -what a great first night this was.

As young men arrived, the Masonic Care Community rolled out the red carpet. DeMolays were able to enjoy the world class fitness facility and play basketball and socialize before the welcoming pizza party.


The Pizza Party was amazing! Thanks to the incredible generosity of Jacques DeMolay Lodge UD young men had the best pizza that Utica, NY has to offer as well as much soda (pop for you westerners)  they could enjoy. For those of us old guys we had bottled water as well. Thank you to "Dad" Larson and "Dad" Alvarado for serving.

 Frequent readers of my writing know I *really* love the 4th Preceptor. We had it in full display tonight as young men from Mohawk Valley talked with young men from Washington talked to young men from Trinity talked to young men from Knickerbocker.  It was for me a master class in RPG and strategy game theory (Like how you play the game, not the advanced modeling). We also had a discussion about the fine art of cross checking in Lacrosse.

We kicked off our opening session with State Master Councilor Austin Altman and "Dad" Schneider.  I loved how our State Master Councilor talked about being open to new ideas, learning from other people and how attending LeadCons (and LTCs!) helped to shape him as a DeMolay leader. "Dad" Schneider, who we owe a huge debt of gratitude to for all of his work on the weekend talked about the expectations for all of our participants. I *loved* the way that he did this. He talked about how well the young men did it at convention and how he expects it to be done in the future. We then had a brief chat about zero tolerance and the brotherhood contract.

We are a youth driven organization and one of the ideas of the SEC this year was for us to have an ice cream social. So what do you do? You have an ice cream social! Chocolate, Vanilla, toppings, M&Ms you name it. Thank you to "Dad" Dais, "Dad" Brandt, "Dad" Schneider and I know I am missing someone so please correct me for serving the ice cream.

Our first formal class kicked off and that was ritual.  I'm pretty excited about the team we've assembled to lead ritual in the Empire State.  Co-teaching was "Dad" Craig Riha, "Dad" Tom Perry, and "Dad" Phillip Hurkala. They talked not only about the history of the ritual and why we do it, but also went trough pedagogical learning tricks. Our goal is every LeadCon attendee will make some progress towards learning ritual this weekend. Some of our guys are learning opening parts, some obligations, and still others  the preceptors.  I couldn't ask for a better trio of guys!  Afterward I heard snippets of young men practicing their parts and cracking up the ritual books.

After that, the brothers had the chance to play basketball, play video games, enjoy some pizza, or just to hang out.  I shared this on my facebook, page, but tonight we shattered a record: Not once in the history of NY DeMolay has a PR/EO every lost to the young men in basketball. I need to work harder.

Finally, I can't say enough awesome things about the MCC staff. From the security guards, to the director of first impressions, the culinary staff, the IT staff, Kathy Contino-Turner. Everyone has been amazing.

It's now 3:10 and I should be in bed, but  I can't wait for tomorrow

!

A reflection on "Dad" Land by "Dad" Ricarte Abejuela III

A Reflection on "Dad" Land by "Dad" Ricarte Abejuela III

"To become big, we must be big" -- Dad Frank S. Land

In commemoration of Frank S. Land Day, I would like to focus on this important quote of Dad Land. As a brief background, this important piece of advice from Dad Land came on the heels of a meeting conducted in Mother Chapter several months after the Order was founded in 1919 when membership began to grow from the initial nine boys to thirty one. Membership continued to grow and the boys feared that they were growing into "too large a Club", thus someone proposed that membership should be limited to only seventy five (75). During the official meeting, the motion was quickly received, moved, seconded, and adopted. It was only then that Dad Land stood up to speak and admonished the boys that they were being selfish and that if DeMolay was good for one boy, it must be good for all the eligible boys. It was then that he reminded all that "to become big, they must be big." The motion was automatically rescinded and DeMolay was permitted to grow and develop. Today, a century hence, the Order of DeMolay is present in at least 25 countries and territories worldwide, and counting.

Based on the current membership statistics from DeMolay International, there are (as of today) currently 15,362 active members in 552 active chapters under the jurisdiction of DeMolay International. This does not count the members and chapters in the four other independent jurisdictions of DeMolay: Australia, Brazil, Canada, and the Philippines. However, also based on the statistics coming from DeMolay International, there are also a total of 138 chapters that are recently inactive and a whopping 4,003 chapters who have forfeited their charters due to loss of membership! Yes, you saw that right: four thousand and three lost chapters! Furthermore, for 2019, there is an estimated negative growth due to the new members coming in are fewer than those that the Order will lose due to reaching the age of majority. A net loss in membership growth, at our centennial year at that!

This brings me now to briefly discuss the duty of every member of the Order. We are taught that our first duty is to get involved; to jump in with both feet and to share the DeMolay experience with other deserving young men. The importance of recruitment cannot be ignored since the Order of DeMolay's active membership is limited to young men who fall within the age range of 12-21 years old. Thus, we must keep recruiting new members to replace those who move on and who have exchanged the crown of youth with the crown of manhood. That is why it has always been a goal that every DeMolay should recruit at least two new members - one for replacement, and one for growth - within the first year of your membership. (emphasis mine)

We must not rest on our laurels but continue to heed Dad Land's important words: to introduce DeMolay to other worthy boys, and continue to become big. Despite all the challenges we currently face with our society, the Order will continue to thrive as long as we believe that we have something worthwhile to contribute to today's young men. And believe me, we do. Let us not only be proud to be members of this wonderful Order but we should strive to pass membership to our friends. Let’s go out and continue to recruit worthy young men!

I end this short essay paraphrasing the wise words from the Ceremony of Light: that each of us as a DeMolay, holds within our hearts a flame, a beacon to guide us through the darkness. We should not only make this light shine upon another, but we must endeavor to reach into the innermost depths of his soul and set his flame afire, for therein lies the purpose of the Order of DeMolay. and therein lies our purpose for living.

Best fraternal regards, "Dad" Ricarte Abejuela III

Frank S. Land Day is Tomorrow!

Frank S. Land Day is Tomorrow!

 
Sixty years ago, "Dad" Frank Sherman Land died. DeMolay Chapters around the world are planning observances and events in honor of this amazing man. At the age of 28 his bold vision gave rise to the youth serving organization we all know and love.

As a reminder this is an obligatory day for our chapters to obeserve and we would love to hear what you are doing to honor the memory of "Dad" Land!

Across the world, Chevaliers will break bread together and rededicate themselves to three fold purpose of DeMolay, Love of God, Love of Home and Love of Country.

I am excited to see that there are at least three planned observances in our Great State:
Yahnundasis Court on 11/8/2019
Metro Region Court of Chevaliers on 11/8/2019
Hudson Valley Court of Chevaliers on 11/10/2019
Others will be doing observances individually to honor their obligations.

If you do not have a court near you and are interested in forming one let us know.  At a minimum we are asking that you have 10 Chevaliers who are willing to commit to being part of the court and supporting its mission!

We would love to see pictures and photos, feel free to send them into me at pwbrusoe@gmail.com and we'll get them posted.



In addition, we are asking each court to file a report with New York DeMolay on their actions and activities.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1I34GKHg-IeYl2ml2m0K6VUw60NVSIO3e

7th Cardinal Virtue Alert or Go Vote Young Man!

When the 7th Preceptor explains the virtue of patriotism, he speaks about the value of good citizenship and how every day we can be good patriots.Brothers, November 5th 2019 is a great day to be a good citizen! 

Today across the Great State of New York polls are open from 6AM to 9PM to allow voters to cast their ballots.  Many of these elections are for offices at the municipal and county level which have a huge impact on your daily lives while others are for the judiciary which has long lasting impacts on our lives.

If you are not registered to vote and you otherwise meet the qualifications to vote, please take the time today to register to vote. You can find the directions here:  https://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingRegister.html If you are too young to legally vote, take some time today to ask an older person why they voted and why voting is important to them.  Please do not ask them who they voted for or support, that is impolite. As a reminder: there is no place in DeMolay for partisan politics. 

For all of us, take time today to read the 7th Cardinal Virtue and think about how it speaks to you and how you can live it. If you're an active DeMolay and you don't have a printed version of the ritual, let us know. We'll get you one.

I want to share three other ideas with you briefly:

1. DeMolay prepares you for good citizenship by allowing you to vote:  Political Scientists have shown that the more often you do something the more small d democratic you become. For many young people the only time they vote is in the yearly school elections. In DeMolay we vote on something every month, be it spending money, ordering pizzas, or doing a social event. Each time you vote in your chapter you are building up what is termed as "social capital." So yes, today you are voting between ordering pepperoni on your pizza or pineapple, but in a few short years you will be voting on who occupies the governor's mansion in our majestic Capital of Albany.

2. September 1971 was history setting for DeMolay!

In September 1971, Active DeMolays were able to vote in public elections for the first time in history. For over half of DeMolay's history DeMolays were too young to vote. On July 1, 1971 when North Carolina ratified the 26th Amendment 18 year olds could now vote: "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age."  As a point of pride,  the Speaker of the House at the time was Senior DeMolay Carl Albert from Oklahoma.  Though the next time you see brothers from Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, or Utah ask them why their state never ratified the amendment. 

3. The DeMolay Ritual has Changed! You have probably heard "The DeMolay Ritual is the same as it has been since 1919." That's not accurate there have been a number of changes through the years. One of them relates to how we talk about patriotism. We used to say of the blessings that we *will* enjoy, it was modified to its current version to speak of the blessing which we *now* enjoy. Think about all of the great blessings we enjoy living in the United States and our Great State of New York. Excelsior!

New MATOC non-voting appointments

DeMolay International groups jurisdictions into Regions for administrative ease.

Our Great State of New York, is grouped with the Great State of New Jersey, the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Great State of Delaware, The Great State of Maryland including the federal colony, and the Great Commonwealth of Virginia. Collectively the form Region II. When I was a youth we used to say "Region II: Second to None." As an adult, we know that's still true.

Our Region hosts an annual ritual tournament called the Mid-Atlantic Tournament of Champions and is supervised by a board of directors consisting of Active DeMolays and advisors.  In our jurisdiction Brother Gavin J. of Ridge Council serves as our youth voting rep and "Dad" Craig Riha serves as our adult voting representative. I want to thank them for all of the hard work they have been doing.

MATOC also allows non-voting members to advise, guide, but not to vote.  Using that option, I have designated State Master Councilor Altman, Deputy State Master Councilor Jordan as non-voting youth reps, and "Dad" Perry, "Dad" Schoonmaker and "Dad" Hurkala as non-voting members.

I hope and trust they will ensure the MATOC Tournament Director is doing his job correctly, but also learning about how MATOC works and making sure it is the best ritual tournament it can be.

“How did failure contribute to my success?".... and help me win $1,500

Did the headline capture your attention? 

Have some thoughts on it?

Can you write 250-350 words on it?

Each year, the Grand Lodge of New York sponsors an essay contest for graduating high school seniors and this year's theme is "How did failure contribute to my success?"
You can read the full information here:
https://nymasons.org/site/masonic-youth-contest-and-awards/


I did ask RW Br. Cary Cohn and our Masonic Youth are part of the extended family and the sponsoring body of your Chapter can act as the sponsor of the essay.

The prizes range from $1,500 for first place down to $100 for 10th place. This means each word you write is worth between $4.28 to 3.5 cents depending on how you place.

I would love to see a DeMolay or Sweetheart win this year's contest!

Thank you to RW Br. Cohn and his committee, the Fifth Manhattan District Endowment Fund, Inc. for sponsoring it, and of course our amazing Grand Lodge!

Working Groups

Working Groups

As we look at what we do in New York DeMolay, we want to take stock of where we are going and where we are heading.  To help in this process, I am pleased to announce the creation of several different working groups spearheaded by advisors that will be addressing a number of different issues. 

Ritual Working Group: I have asked “Dad” Riha, Director of Ritual, and our assistant directors of ritual “Dad” Perry, “Dad” Schoonmaker, and “Dad” Hurkala to work with three appointees of our State Master Councilor to look at the state of our ritual program, examine ways we can make it better and develop a standardized obligation card policy for our state. 

Alumni Working Group: I have asked “Dad” Bob Siebold, Director of Alumni Affairs to form a group to look at the state of our alumni program and ways we can better engage and involve our alumni.

Parental and Family Engagement Working Group: I have asked “Mom” Celentano to spearhead and form a parental and family engagement working group. This will help us see how we can better engage with our parents and families of our DeMolays.

Medical and Safety Working Group: I have asked  “Dad” Truebger, “Dad” Stephen Romano,  “Dad” Michael Leonard, and “Dad” Nicholas Portera to think through medical releases and safety issues and come back to us with best practices. 

Bullying Prevention Working Group:  I have asked “Dad” Justin Cook to form up a group to look at issues related to bullying and how we can make sure we are leading in the prevention of bullying.

Sweetheart Working Group:  I have asked “Mom” Stephanie Cook to form a working group looking at how DeMolay can best serve the young ladies who are involved with our program.

I look forward to what these working groups will produce and sharing the fruits of their labors with you.  In the future as we look at other parts of our programs we will be adding other working groups! 

New Staff Appointments

 As I have shared with many of you our goal is to provide a program where young men and young women feel empowered to run activities and programs that embrace the DeMolay values while being fun and enjoyable to the youth of today, yet at the same time are challenged to grow their skill sets through the mentorship and support of caring adult volunteers.
 To do this New York DeMolay will

i.                    Create a culture where the young men and ladies are actively listened to and consulted at every level of the organization

ii.                    Provide leadership and training opportunities for young men, young ladies and their adult mentors to grow their skillsets 

III.                    Grow both the number of young men involved in the program and the number of chapters.

IV.                    Strengthen our existing chapters and programs. 

V.                    Grow our advisor ranks by reaching out to our alumni and finding places that we can engage them where they find value and meaning behind their work

VI               Promote the programs and activities of DeMolay International 

VII                  Partner actively with our Grand Lodge promoting applicable programs of the Grand Master and the Grand Lodge

VIII Partner actively with our sisters in Rainbow and Triangle

These are some pretty high goals, but luckily we have the talent and resources in the Empire State to make it happen.  From time to time I am going to announce the appointments of new staff as well as some new roles for existing staff.

Director of Parent and Family Engagement:  “Mom” Maura Celentano. Family involvement in DeMolay is critical to what we do. “Mom” Celentano is an active DeMolay advisor, and the proud mom of two of the hardest working DeMolays I knew, Michael and David. She has also done an OMGAMAZING job with the hospitality suite every year. 

We want to make sure that parents and family are welcomed, involved and informed about DeMolay.  Many years ago in a state far far away from here, I was sitting in a diner with a couple of other state officers and our advisor. We were rocking our DeMolay polos and the waitress said “DeMolay what’s that?” We gave her the information and she said “Oh, is that like sponsored by the Masons? I think my son belongs to that.” Later, it turns out the son was a councilor for the local chapter, but she never knew what they were doing or where they were going.  Let's make sure that doesn’t happen in our state.

Director of Higher Education and Career Opportunity: “Dad” Brad DeSantos. “Dad” DeSantos is a senior DeMolay from Colonial Chapter, and a past Hudson Valley Division Councilor and one of the hardest working educators I know. He has been honored with the Chevalier and the Legion of Honor. He graduated from the College of St. Rose and Johns Hopkins University. 

Our goal in DeMolay is to prepare youth for the future.  For some youth this means attending university or college. For other youth this means learning a trade, while there are some youth that do not know what they want to do yet. Regardless of what field you wish to enter we want to support your goals and make this happen. “Dad” DeSantos will be a resource for young men who may need help looking at colleges or applying to colleges, or looking for an alumni resource for a person who is in a field of interest, or pushing and promoting Masonic scholarship programs.

Director of Winterfest: “Dad” Eric Evarts. “Dad” Evarts is a Past State Master Councilor of Connecticut DeMolay, and an Honorary Member of the Supreme Council.  Winterfest is a big event for us and we are thinking through some ideas on how to make it different this year.  The plans and ideas are large enough that we want to make sure we are not taking people away from their other responsibilities. 

Director of Communications: “Dad” Anthony Cucci. We need to share and communicate ideas with people. “Dad” Cucci has extensive experience in communications and communication strategy.

Assistant State Chapter Advisors: “Dad” Tom Perry and “Dad” Peter Stokke Jr. have agreed to take on the role of Assistant State Chapter Advisors.  Both are Past State Master Councilors and have been there and “walked the walk” and “talked the talk.” They have already been helping our State Chapter Dad/Advisor “Dad” Jeph Dais.

Assistant Directors of Ritual: “Dad” Tom Perry, “Dad” Jack Schoonmaker and “Dad” Phillip Hurkala. Our ritual is an important part of the DeMolay experience. Our state is far too vast to be able to expect one person to do it all.  Looking at the best practices of not only our Grand Lodge but all of our concordant bodies, each has a Grand Lecturer and AGLs to help them, so we are adding Assistant Directors of Ritual.  These three advisors are resources for your chapter ritual advisor as well as traveling around and helping to coach and improve ritual.  Ritual is a journey and it needs to be a fun and exciting one. I am excited about this trio. “Dad” Perry and “Dad” Hurkala have a background in education that will help with learning and both were talented ritualists as active DeMolays. “Dad” Hurkala has competed several times at MATOC, winning at the Champion Level and is now a certified MATOC judge. “Dad” Schoonmaker has the experience of working with a chapter. All three of them, together with “Dad” Riha will form a potent ritual group. 

Director of the DASH (DeMolay Access to Sustainable Haberdashery) Program:  We are bringing a clothes closet to New York DeMolay and I am glad to share that “Mom” Anne Draves has agreed to spearhead this.

I want to thank each and every one of these adults for stepping forward and assuming new roles. 

In time we will be announcing other new appointments including a Director of Membership.  As always if you have ideas or suggestions please do not hesitate to let me know.