# if i came to you lodge on a stated what would ..



## MasterBulldawg (Feb 6, 2014)

..I find

ok Brothers 

a few more questions,

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks?

2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress?

3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors?

4- Does you lodge recognize past masters?


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## MasterBulldawg (Feb 6, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks? *dinner a hour before the meeting*

 2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress? *casual dress*

 3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors? *We give a little gift*

 4- Does you lodge recognize past masters? *The Past Masters are recognized*


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## brother josh (Feb 6, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

Dinner one hour before dress how ever as long as it is not offensive we give a pin with lodge name on it during special degree work like MM and the year I'm master we will recognize PM I think that Is a very important tittle and I respect all PM for doing what they do


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## goomba (Feb 6, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks?  We serve dinner.

2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress?  Both.  Some of us wear coat and tie.  Others wear jeans.

3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors?  Just a warm welcome.

4- Does you lodge recognize past masters?  Not during the lodge meeting.  I am trying to get a past master night set up yearly.


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## Bro Darren (Feb 6, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks? We have a 2 corse dinner plus light snacks and a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages after every stated meeting. 

2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress? Full Tux (bow tie/tie) but during summer we don't wear the coat. 

3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors? A very warm welcome. 

4- Does you lodge recognize past masters? We sure do! 



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## CuAllaidh (Feb 6, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks? A snack or meal after the meeting

2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress? Dress up as you can but casual is fine too

3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors? Not really sure, haven't seen that happen yet.

4- Does you lodge recognize past masters? Nothing specific


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## MarkR (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would*

1. On degree nights, we put on a dinner in the lodge dining room.  Often barbecue, because our immediate past master loves to barbecue.  On non-degree nights we meet in a restaurant about a block from the lodge.
2. We're a very casual lodge; most wear open-collar shirts and jeans, but some choose to wear coat and tie.
3. Other than introduce them?  No.
4. I don't know what you mean by "recognize" in this context.  We are referred to as "worshipful brother," but that's about it.  Do we get introduced at each meeting, or sit in the east?  No.


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## rfuller (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1. We have a meal.  For years this was just bulk baskets from KFC, or sandwiches with generic deli meat.  This year our Senior Steward has taken it seriously and has made some excellent meals.  We also did pot lucks at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  
2. Texas is pretty casual in general, and we're pretty casual even for Texas.  We're working on that, though.  T-shirt and Jeans is fairly common in my lodge.  Officers have been dressing up somewhat lately.  Worshipful Master wears a suit, but he's a detective and comes straight from work.  Sr Deacon also comes straight from work, wearing his blue collar shirt and worn out jeans.  And that's fine with use because we're more concerned with what's inside a man than how he's dressed.  *I guess the short answer is we've got suits and work boots and everything in between.* 
3. We great them with a hearty hand shake, and give them a prime spot in the dinner line, right behind the wives and girlfriends.  Good meal, great view.
4. We have a past masters night.  Ours is coming up in March I believe.  We don't really use the term "Worshipful" as much, but we do use "Right Worshipful" for our DDGM who sits in the South at our Lodge.  Typically when we address the lodge, we leave out the "Right Worshipful, Worshipfuls" in the line of things you're technically supposed to say.  We just use the abbrieviated "WM, W, & B".  So, we have a Past Master Night, generally no use of the term "Worshipful" to denote a Past Master.

I will be giving my next lecture on Lodge Etiquette, so hopefully some of the brethren will start dressing a little nicer (if they have nicer things), and start being more respectful with the way they address our Past Masters.


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## Brandon Smith (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1. We have a home cooked meal every meeting including dessert
2. We are fairly casual, we have polos shirts with our lodge name and the S&C and most brothers tend to wear that with khakis 
3. We only introduce and welcome visitors 
4. We have a Past Masters night once a year, but do not do anything at our regular meetings.


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## Companion Joe (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

We have sandwiches, cookies, chips, coffee, etc. from time to time after stated meetings. We used to have them after every stated meeting, but the brother who made them and the one who brought them have both since died. We save our meals for degree nights.

Our dress code is come as you are, and as rfuller said, it's suits to work boots and everything in between. We have business professionals and preachers sitting next to mechanics and factory workers - as it should be. The only line that is unofficially drawn is shorts. I can think of a couple of times where a new member showed up in shorts during the summer months, and they were quietly taken aside and told it looked better if they wore pants from here on out.

The only thing we really do for visitors is recognize them. If it's their first time, they are usually called upon to introduce themselves and where they are from, which is generally followed by a round of applause.

We don't do anything for PMs at regular meetings. Half of the Lodge is a PM. The only reason I could see doing anything special is if it's uncommon to have a PM in attendance, and then the question to that is why aren't PMs coming to the Lodge on a regular basis.


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## JJones (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks?

Something between the two.  We had sloppy joes for dinner for our last stated meeting.


2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress?

Senior officers usually dress nice.  The WM and I wore suits for the last meeting.  Most of the other brethren wear whatever they had on most the day.

3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors?

We give them a warm welcome and recognize them.

4- Does you lodge recognize past masters?

Yes/no.  We don't get many visitors to our lodge so we don't get many visiting past masters to recognize.  We do recognize every few months or so regardless but I never did it while I was in the East since everyone knows who's a past master in our small lodge already.


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## rpbrown (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would*

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks? We normally serve dinner, even on practice nights

2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress? Casual. Most of us are blur collar workers and come straight from work

3- Do you do anything special for first time visitor? We are having some chips made to present to visitors

4- Does you lodge recognize past masters? Always


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## MasterBulldawg (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

When I said recognize I mean like at my lodge every past master , PDDGM etc. is introduced at every meeting. Also as far as first time visitors we give a glow in the dark keychange w/ the S&C and our lodge name on it. Its given with a joke the you can prove where you been if you need to your wife or girlfriend.

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## Thegentlesoldier (Feb 7, 2014)

1. We do have a dinner about an hour before our meeting usually provided by the JW. 
2. We do dress casual except for the officers. Officers either wear dress shirts button-down or polo shirts with our Lodge logo.
3. We always recognize visitors and guests. First time visitors and distinguished guests usually receive our Masters Coin.
4. We do recognize Pastasters as well as District Representatives and Grand Representatives


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## cacarter (Feb 7, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1- Catered dinner from a local restaurant owned by a brother.

2- Like rfuller mentioned, this is Texas so it's a bit of everything. Officers are usually in a shirt and tie. Other times we wear lodge shirts. T-shirts are a pretty rare thing at stated meetings. 

3- Just a warm welcome.

4- The worshipful master asks the senior deacon to introduce the past masters at every meeting. 


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## ThanatosTA (Feb 9, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks? Dinner before and our JW brings dessert for after the meeting.

2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress? Dress Code allows everything except shorts and sandals.

3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors? Visitors are escorted to the West of the Altar and presented with a gift.

4- Does you lodge recognize past masters?  The WM introduces all Past Masters.


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## Brother_Steve (Feb 10, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *



> 1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks?


Our two stewards cook dinner.



> 2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress?


suit, jacket and tie.



> 3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors?


We recognize visiting brethren and introduce them after the gavels sounds to be seated after all purple aprons are introduced.



> 4- Does you lodge recognize past masters?


See 3.


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## dfreybur (Feb 10, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *



MasterBulldawg said:


> 1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks?



Two and two among my lodges.



> 2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress?



One dressy, three causal among my lodges.



> 3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors?



One of my lodges gives a lodge pen.  If they have run out yet there was a stock of cufflinks ready to go as the next commemorative knickknack.  I think there was a stock of coins before they started giving out pens.



> 4- Does you lodge recognize past masters?



Two do, one doesn't, one is not consistent letting that year's WM decide month to month.  In the two I'm a not a PM by installation I tend to get skipped.  Sometimes there's a "psst" and an introduction.


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## Daniel Mosmeyer (Feb 11, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would*

1- Does you lodge serve dinner of light snacks? Stated Meeting night-Dinner is served by the local OES ladies. Practice nights-meal or snack by our Jr Steward.

 2- Is it dress up coat n ties or casual dress? You'll see everything from suit & tie to greasy coveralls.

 3- Do you do anything special for first time visitors? "Howdy!"

 4- Does you lodge recognize past masters?  "Could all past masters stand and introduce themselves and give us the lodge and year you served?"


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## Brother_Steve (Feb 11, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would*



dfreybur said:


> Two do, one doesn't, one is not consistent letting that year's WM decide month to month.  In the two I'm a not a PM by installation I tend to get skipped.  Sometimes there's a "psst" and an introduction.


Our Senior Decon does the introductions in my jurisdiction and he is tasked with seeking out all who need to be introduced prior to the lodge opening. You would not get looked over here.


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## BryanMaloney (Feb 16, 2014)

*Re: if i came to you lodge on a stated what would *

1. Dinner hour.
2. More casual than casual.
3. Personal recognition during stated meeting.
4. Everybody is either a Past Master or a new guy. (Small lodge, older membership)


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