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A Night of Transition
Just got home from the Lodge Merger Meeting. Hammatt Ocean and Seaview Lodges have subsumed themselves into Mt. Tabor Lodge. In pretty much every respect this is a good thing (certainly it was much needed), but it's an occasion for reflection.
The new Lodge is much stronger in several respects -- it has a respectable number of active members again, and enough money that we're probably not going to pay for dinner ever again. But most importantly, it has a much younger line, with only a few retreads (past Masters doing line offices again). And I'm not one of them: for the first time in the fifteen years or so that I've been a Mason, I'm not an active officer. I'm glad that we've got new guys coming up into the line -- we've got several young guys, including our new Senior Steward, who was only raised two days ago -- and it's probably better for me personally (since I'm trying to recover from my overall burnout). But it does feel damned weird being on the sidelines.
That said, I do still have one office, if not one of the official ones: I continue to be Ritualist For Life. (The deal that I made in order to never be Master of the Lodge again.) Now that that is my only office, I think it's time to focus on doing it well. Heaven knows, my SCA students have been teaching me a lot about how to teach, and while I still have a long ways to go there, I'm getting better. Time to apply some of that on the Lodge side. We've been getting sloppy in recent years, and that's hurt us in many ways. Now, I think everyone is motivated to start doing it well again, and it's going to fall substantially to me to help that happen.
Still and all, it does feel like the passing of a phase of life. I realized this morning that I was both the first and last Senior Warden of Hammatt Ocean Lodge, the way we had the same guys just changing seats so much. I suppose that, all by itself, summarizes the lodge's biggest problem. I won't be a constant officer in the new Lodge, but if that is because we have new guys coming in and taking it on, that's for the best. I can view my time as official pinch-hit officer as spent holding the door open, until someone was prepared to come in...
The new Lodge is much stronger in several respects -- it has a respectable number of active members again, and enough money that we're probably not going to pay for dinner ever again. But most importantly, it has a much younger line, with only a few retreads (past Masters doing line offices again). And I'm not one of them: for the first time in the fifteen years or so that I've been a Mason, I'm not an active officer. I'm glad that we've got new guys coming up into the line -- we've got several young guys, including our new Senior Steward, who was only raised two days ago -- and it's probably better for me personally (since I'm trying to recover from my overall burnout). But it does feel damned weird being on the sidelines.
That said, I do still have one office, if not one of the official ones: I continue to be Ritualist For Life. (The deal that I made in order to never be Master of the Lodge again.) Now that that is my only office, I think it's time to focus on doing it well. Heaven knows, my SCA students have been teaching me a lot about how to teach, and while I still have a long ways to go there, I'm getting better. Time to apply some of that on the Lodge side. We've been getting sloppy in recent years, and that's hurt us in many ways. Now, I think everyone is motivated to start doing it well again, and it's going to fall substantially to me to help that happen.
Still and all, it does feel like the passing of a phase of life. I realized this morning that I was both the first and last Senior Warden of Hammatt Ocean Lodge, the way we had the same guys just changing seats so much. I suppose that, all by itself, summarizes the lodge's biggest problem. I won't be a constant officer in the new Lodge, but if that is because we have new guys coming in and taking it on, that's for the best. I can view my time as official pinch-hit officer as spent holding the door open, until someone was prepared to come in...
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It is, and more so for me than I would have thought. But this is probably not the best venue to discuss my thoughts in depth. Still, I've experienced many of those transitions myself -- being on the sidelines after decades in line, "holding the door" for the next hotspur, etc. -- so perhaps I can offer some advice.
BTW, I've taken an application for affiliation to King Phillip in Fall River, way closer to me. Their line includes a lot of Scadians, including Master Padraig, Baron Cerdic, Lord Ceawlin (I think), Lord Robert ("Pirate Bob"), Padraig's son Louie. Maybe I'll get to do some ritual again eventually %^).
Well done, thou good and faithful Alternate Officer
I'm glad you're staying on as Ritualist. Does that include candidate instruction? I hope so. If you don't already have the complete GLMA Lodge of Instruction files (done as a set of powerpoint slides for each class, with notes and handouts) let me know. I carry them on a jump-drive, just because one never knows. The GL keeps coming out with new "programs" for recruiting and membership and who knows what-all foolishness, but if they'd simply pay some real attention to the candidates we actually do have, instead of the ones we might get next month, that would set the foundation for solving most of the problems that forced this merger in the first place.
Re: Well done, thou good and faithful Alternate Officer
Well, keep in mind that the move to Wakefield was *preferred* by many of the currently-active members -- it's a significantly shorter commute for a lot of us. The choice of location wasn't entirely casual. And of course, we had no choice about the decision to move: William Sutton is selling the Saugus lodge building, which I assume is going to be demolished. The idea of a merger had been in the air anyway, but the sale of the building basically forced the issue.
But yeah, it's a pretty different group now. Offhand, I suspect Alan is the only officer from your time who is still active. (It's disconcerting to realize that I may be the next-most-senior remaining officer from Ocean who is still active.) Guys have steadily dropped away over the years.
I'm glad you're staying on as Ritualist. Does that include candidate instruction?
Remains to be discussed, but that's likely. With any luck, when the next candidates come along, I can find the time to step up properly to that particular plate...