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.