# Waco Bound



## BroBill (Dec 1, 2015)

Will I be seeing some of my "forum brethren" in Waco this Friday? I'll be arriving between 4:00 - 5:00 Thursday afternoon from San Antonio.

Hope to meet and greet you guys!


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## Classical (Dec 1, 2015)

Our lodge secretary will be there. Wave to him for me.


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## Bill Lins (Dec 2, 2015)

Planning on making it.


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## relapse98 (Dec 2, 2015)

I'll be there, along with about 6 others from our lodge. Hope to be there around 1:30pm tomorrow so I can watch our immediate Past Master receive the Vanguard Award for our lodge.


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## JJones (Dec 2, 2015)

I plan to attend this Friday.


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## Bro. Stewart P.M. (Dec 3, 2015)

Heading down this morning to get all registered, and staying for the Vanguard presentation. I will also be down Friday and Saturday.

Not staying, driving back and forth from DFW...


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## BroBill (Dec 3, 2015)

Bro. Stewart P.M. said:


> Heading down this morning to get all registered, and staying for the Vanguard presentation. I will also be down Friday and Saturday.
> 
> Not staying, driving back and forth from DFW...


Lots of driving, to be sure! I'll be there until noonish on Saturday.  Hope to run into you!


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## BroBill (Dec 3, 2015)

Sounds like a good turnout of forum brethren! I hope to see you all!


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## Warrior1256 (Dec 3, 2015)

Have a great time brother.


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## crono782 (Dec 3, 2015)

I'm driving both Friday and Saturday. I'll be there early tomorrow morning for the 64th district breakfast.


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## JJones (Dec 4, 2015)

Just ran into Bro. Steward this morning.


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## crono782 (Dec 4, 2015)

Correction. The 64th district breakfast is tomorrow. I am still driving down now


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## BroBill (Dec 4, 2015)

JJones said:


> Just ran into Bro. Steward this morning.


I'm sitting in the front row on the balcony, straight behind the west (corrected).


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## Bill Lins (Dec 5, 2015)

Well, I saw Bro's. Kenneth Lottman, H.K. Tidwell, & Bruce Hammond from the forums.


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## BroBill (Dec 5, 2015)

I was disappointed that I didn't get a chance to "mill about" more; car pooled on Friday and I was tied to the driver and his schedule, and Friday I took off just after Orville was elected Secretary because I didn't want to get caught trying to get on IH-35 as the Baylor game let out. 

To me it was a very "trying" GL Communication; it seemed a little dis-organized and the team that ran the new electronic voting didn't seem practiced or prepared. 

On the good side, I was glad to see Orville O'Neill elected Grand Secretary. Orville is a great guy who was a critical connection when I did my year as District Deputy for the Royal Arch Chapter. I think he's going to do great things for us as our Grand Secretary. On a personal note, when our Secretary/Recorder for our Chapter and Council retired here in San Antonio, Orville drove all the way down from Waco to thank him for his service and companionship. I think the brethren will be very pleased with Bro. Orville as our Grand Secretary! (Since the election is over, this isn't really "electioneering", just personal thoughts). 

I also learned that Jake's has the best burgers in Texas.... worth waiting until 12:50 for a table to eat when GL was calling back to labor at 1:30 (my schedule was _THAT _hectic!) 

I hope at the next major gathering I can organize my time better to meet more brethren- ironic since it was me that started this thread.... sigh...  

I hope everyone made it home safely!


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## JJones (Dec 6, 2015)

I carpooled on Friday so I didn't get to linger around either. I'll also agree that it was somewhat disorganized and frustrating enough that I had no interest in returning Sat.

I had a gut feeling that the building repairs were going to be brought up again.  Everyone wants to keep the building, it seems, but nobody wants to pay for it.  Hopefully we'll find a way to have our cake and eat it too before the structure is too far gone to repair. Or maybe we can find a means to build a newer GL that's more sustainable with smaller membership...which would be smarter in the long run, IMO.

The only forum member I came across was Bro. Stewart, he was literally one of the first people I saw when I arrived in fact.


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## chrmc (Dec 6, 2015)

Anyone have the results of the votes on the various propositions they can share?


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## Bro. Stewart P.M. (Dec 6, 2015)

JJones said:


> I carpooled on Friday so I didn't get to linger around either. I'll also agree that it was somewhat disorganized and frustrating enough that I had no interest in returning Sat.
> 
> I had a gut feeling that the building repairs were going to be brought up again.  Everyone wants to keep the building, it seems, but nobody wants to pay for it.  Hopefully we'll find a way to have our cake and eat it too before the structure is too far gone to repair. Or maybe we can find a means to build a newer GL that's more sustainable with smaller membership...which would be smarter in the long run, IMO.
> 
> The only forum member I came across was Bro. Stewart, he was literally one of the first people I saw when I arrived in fact.




It was my pleasure to meet you, even if for a short while!

I drove down and back each day so I also didn't linger long after closing the first days. I was also frustrated with the lack of composure of some in the GL line. I don't think sarcastic statements and jokes belong in a meeting format with other dignitaries present. -- I did not return Saturday for this very reason.

I also felt like the building issue wasn't finished after Friday's vote. The issue is important I agree, however not brought before the membership in the right way or fashion. The membership made a statement to the GL at this point Friday during the first of many electronic ballots.

On a positive note, the electronic balloting is going to make for a greater accuracy in voting. I believe that too much discretion has been levied in the past for "hand ballots". I also believe we learned that no matter what is being discussed, 300 are voting against! LOL!!

Now if the handful of Brethren that can't timely cast electronic votes could just speed up a bit...


See y'all next year!


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## BroBill (Dec 6, 2015)

chrmc said:


> Anyone have the results of the votes on the various propositions they can share?


I may be able to help, but I have to dig into my notes and organize them for my Stated Meeting on Tuesday.  I don't think I'm going to do a laundry list of "adopted" or "not adopted"; I'm inclined to address the topics & discussions so my lodge knows the points/counter-points. I'll see if I can put together a pass - fail list.


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## crono782 (Dec 6, 2015)

From my notes:

HO19 pass
HO8 pass
PP10 amended, pass
PP11 amended, pass
PP18 withdrawn
1 pass
2 fail
3 pass
4 fail 
5 pass
6 amended, fail
7 pass
8 fail
9 pass
10 fail
11 amended, pass
12 withdrawn
13 fail
14 amended, pass
15 pass
16 pass
17 pass
GMR1 amended, pass
GMR2 pass
GMR3 pass
GMR4 pass


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## Bro. Stewart P.M. (Dec 6, 2015)

Bill_Lins77488 said:


> Well, I saw Bro's. Kenneth Lottman, H.K. Tidwell, & Bruce Hammond from the forums.



I didn't catch your earlier post until well too late. I was seated in the balcony directly behind the South (corrected).


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## BroBill (Dec 6, 2015)

crono782 said:


> From my notes:
> 
> HO19 pass
> HO8 pass
> ...


That's awesome!  Thank you brother!


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## Bill Lins (Dec 6, 2015)

BroBill said:


> To me it was a very "trying" GL Communication; it seemed a little dis-organized and the team that ran the new electronic voting didn't seem practiced or prepared.


AMEN!


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## Bill Lins (Dec 6, 2015)

JJones said:


> it was somewhat disorganized and frustrating enough that I had no interest in returning Sat.


Agreed!



JJones said:


> I had a gut feeling that the building repairs were going to be brought up again.  Everyone wants to keep the building, it seems, but nobody wants to pay for it.


No, not everyone. There's a thread in the archives dealing with this topic- quite a few Brethren agree that the current building is an albatross around our necks.



JJones said:


> maybe we can find a means to build a newer GL that's more sustainable with smaller membership...which would be smarter in the long run, IMO.



Precisely what we need to do, IMHO.


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## Bloke (Dec 9, 2015)

(I've been siting back reading this thread... strange to see so many votes fail - very unusual here.... but we dont get many, maybe 1 or 2 votes every quarter.... the building issue sounds interesting, I'm always keen to hear ideas... UGLQ has a vote on for theirs - to transfer to a charitable trust, detail here, just realized it has been held and following up the outcome now)..

It sounds like a big event, can someone give a quick overview - process, activities, dress, voting system, is the GM elected there, how long people stay, if there is a crazy night of fun, can any MM attend, who votes, are there presentations from any non-freemasons, are there socials for the ladies  ?


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## relapse98 (Dec 9, 2015)

Our Pre-opening (read non tyled) is on Thursday. The current Grand Lodge officers march in along with representatives from other Grand Lodges, other Masonic organizations, Masonic youth organizations etc. The youth groups, certainly, do their presentations that day along with as many of the others as they can squeeze in. They also present various awards including our Vanguard Awards (lodges that meet a set list of criteria each year - in my experience most lodges already do the stuff, they just don't fill out the paperwork).

Grand Lodge officially opens at 9am Friday. There is a 1.5 hour break for lunch and usually ends before 5pm. Picks up again on Saturday at 8am and everything has to be done by 2pm because that's when the installation is set in stone.

Dress.. don't get me started. Its about 50% coat and tie, and the rest are button down, polo, overalls, etc.

Any MM can attend. I think our registration cost is $10.

One thing I HATE about Grand Lodge is how casual it is. People do things they won't do in their normal lodge. I get the needing to go to the bathroom and that's fine, but there are people that get up and start leaving when the GM is attempting to close. GIVE ME A BREAK. It takes 2 minutes to call from labor, sit on your ass and wait.

Voting system.. we submit resolutions early in the year, they go through the committees and before Grand Lodge a book is sent out to the lodges with all the Resolutions and Grand Master's recommendations. In my lodge, we discuss these with the brothers to see how they want to vote. At GL, each item is brought up and discussed. Sometimes amendeded. And we now have electronic voting which didn't work quite as well as planned but it sure made voting for GL officers quicker. Sometimes there's a lot of discussion on things you thought would pass with flying colors. 

There are programs for the ladies, they go on shopping trips etc. The ladies that come from our lodge do their own thing.

There was a fancy banquet on Friday night this year, we did not go. Usually we get together with other lodges in our district and go out to dinner. We have our set restaurants that we hit.. the mexican place in front of our hotel, Mi Ranchito, Heitmiller. We stay in the same hotel every year.. its 2 miles from GL and a dump, but its cheap and easy to get to. 

Yes, the GM and all other GL officers are elected there. This year, we had to vote for a new Grand Secretary as our awesome one that's served for 12 years retired. So that took up a lot of time. Last year, we had to vote for a new Grand Treasurer as our long time one retired.  Usually the only really contested spot is for Grand Junior Warden.

The Grand Lodge of Texas has an extensive museum in the building. Its always nice to go look at that stuff. The quietest place in our building is the memorial chapel on the main floor. And on the lower level the various masonic bodies have displays and stuff set up. You can also purchase stuff from the merchandise people.


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## Bloke (Dec 9, 2015)

Thanks for that detailed response !



relapse98 said:


> Usually the only really contested spot is for Grand Junior Warden..



Hmm... is that because GJW is a feed position into GM ? Or does has have some duties folk want ?

Here, we have an electoral college system for the GM  (often debated!), prior to it, the MWGM was elected by the floor of GL. Basically, we the college elected the Deputy GM and then he will become GM. Our GMs do a two year term.


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## relapse98 (Dec 9, 2015)

Bloke said:


> is that because GJW is a feed position into GM ?



Yep, that's the start of the elected line. GJW, GSW, DGM, GM. I guess one could nominate someone else for one of the spots above GJW, but that would be very strange. Our officers serve for 1 year, the new GM will actually serve for 13 months because we just moved the Annual Communication from the 1st Friday in December to the 2nd Friday in January because of an excuse that Baylor football games are using up the rooms and driving up costs.


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## JJones (Dec 11, 2015)

relapse98 said:


> One thing I HATE about Grand Lodge is how casual it is. People do things they won't do in their normal lodge. I get the needing to go to the bathroom and that's fine, but there are people that get up and start leaving when the GM is attempting to close. GIVE ME A BREAK. It takes 2 minutes to call from labor, sit on your ass and wait



This peeved me a lot this year. People were moving all over the place, even when the GM would ask them to remain seated  for a few more minutes. I found it rude and disrespectful. 

You dont have to respect the man, but have some respect for the position he holds.


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