# Greetings from Iva, South Carolina!



## Jim Barr (Aug 25, 2016)

Hi!

I'm Jim Barr, and I'm a Chicago native transplanted into the _beautiful_ Upstate of South Carolina on 15 1/2 acres of farmland with cattle and horses, and I work in Anderson, SC as an IT professional.

I was raised a Master Mason at Divver Lodge #349 AFM in Anderson, SC, and am very active in Freemasonry, particularly the York Rite. I am currently honored to have been elected the R.I. Deputy Grand Master for the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of South Carolina, and am looking forward to a very busy year next year!

Membership in all aspects of the Craft (at least in South Carolina) is waning, and we face many challenges to increase membership, promote attendance, improve retention, and generally to just ensure that we will survive as an organization. Sadly these are all things that I'm sure many lodges and Masonic bodies face.

I love frequenting Masonic forums to see how Freemasonry is practiced around the country and around the world, so I hope to be active here.


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## Bloke (Aug 25, 2016)

Greetings from Australia and welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the great bio, and congrats on leading RSM!

Been in South Carolina long: sounds like years ?


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## mrpierce17 (Aug 25, 2016)

Jim Barr said:


> Hi!
> 
> I'm Jim Barr, and I'm a Chicago native transplanted into the _beautiful_ Upstate of South Carolina on 15 1/2 acres of farmland with cattle and horses, and I work in Anderson, SC as an IT professional.
> 
> ...



Greetings and welcome to the forum


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## Jim Barr (Aug 26, 2016)

Bloke said:


> Been in South Carolina long: sounds like years ?



I've been here just over 12 years. To a certain extent, I was "railroaded" through a couple officer lines. For example, a month after I was raised a Master Mason, I was appointed Steward, then the next year (due to some unforeseen vacancies) I was elected Jr Warden of our lodge and served as Master 2 years after that. I do regret never being able to serve as Sr. Deacon, so someday, I plan to volunteer. But in any case, I've been very, VERY active, and am enjoying the heck out of it.


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## Bloke (Aug 26, 2016)

Jim Barr said:


> I've been here just over 12 years. To a certain extent, I was "railroaded" through a couple officer lines. For example, a month after I was raised a Master Mason, I was appointed Steward, then the next year (due to some unforeseen vacancies) I was elected Jr Warden of our lodge and served as Master 2 years after that. I do regret never being able to serve as Sr. Deacon, so someday, I plan to volunteer. But in any case, I've been very, VERY active, and am enjoying the heck out of it.



I was lucky: experiencing a culture of passing through each progressive office before taking the chair, despite some PMs enthusiasm fot me to skip some. Glad i did not skip because i was well positioned for the chair and my current role as a DC. I too enjoy the heck out of it all


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## Warrior1256 (Aug 26, 2016)

Greetings from Kentucky Brother. Welcome to the forum.


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## KSigMason (Aug 27, 2016)

Welcome Jim! Good to see you on this forum!


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## Kenneth NC Mason (Aug 27, 2016)

Welcome brother

As a NC Mason I've had the pleasure of sitting in lodge with many brothers from SC and they've always treated me right when they have visited my lodge

My brother lives in  Mount Pleasant so I'd love to come see the way you guys do ritual/degree work as I hear it's a we bit different 


Sent from my iPad using My Freemasonry Pro


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## Blake Bowden (Aug 28, 2016)

Welcome Brother!


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