Fraternal Correspondent

Fraternal Correspondent

OES JEOPARDYRULES &

REGULATIONSIRREGULARITYEXCELLENCEGOLDEN

MOMENTSDÉJÀ VU

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DÉJÀ VU

Members of this GJ collected puzzle pieces as attendance incentives and brought those pieces to the “Friendship and

Southern Hospitality Session” in Birmingham.

The WGM of the 118th “Simple Pleasures of Life” session meeting urged the 1198 members attending

to BELIEVE in Miracles. She used a bee hive as her emblem, and their Grand excursion was a bus trip to

northwestern NY, including the Finger Lakes, a winery, and the

Corning Museum of Glass. (I’ll bet Lisa Davis knows this one!)

The motto for our neighbor to the west was “WE THE

PEOPLE.” When asked, “HOOSIER presiding

officer?” the answer was WGM Debby Thomas.

While addressing the State adult youth leaders at the 110th

“Treasured Memories” Session, the WGP advised to “Do all the good you can, by all the means

you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all

the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you

ever can.”

The program of the 110th “Hands of Service” session

of this Tri-State Friend boasts an illustration of the

Rob Morris home on the cover.

GOLDEN MOMENTS

In this Canadian jurisdiction, 50- and 60-year

presentations were done with non-OES members of the family invited into the

Chapter Room if at an event other than a Chapter

meeting.

Something happened at the 121 “Stars of Love” session that had

NEVER happened in the 127 years that OES has been in the state. For the first only time, a PGM and PGP who served together 50 years ago were able to celebrate the golden

anniversary of their session. Sister Jeanne Johnson of Superior and

Brother Curtis Lang of Milwaukee.

There were 7 70-year members, 1 75-year

member, and 1 80-year member at the 123rd

“Random Acts of Kindness” session held in Pierre in this

Grand Jurisdiction.

At the 137th “Let There Be Light” Session held in Lincoln, 142 50-year members were honored by

the WGM and WGP at a luncheon. When the WGM

asked a 74-year member if she was coming to the session, she

replied, “Oh no! I’m on the clean-up committee.”

138 50-year members were recognized by the WGM during her official visits,

including 82-year member Dorothy Burgess, 102 years young during her “Canopy of

Stars” year.

EXCELLENCE

The Ritual competition in this SUNNY state is not

individuals, but complete teams who present the

initiatory work. Teams may be from one Chapter or

many different Chapters. Six teams compete at Grand Chapter for recognition.

This West Coast Grand Chapter held its first Ritual

Competition at its 123rd “Dreams, Devotion, Direction” session in

Pendleton. The competition included the WM, AP, Star Points, and Signet Work.

This southern Grand Jurisdiction recently held its

113th “Faith, Hope, Joy, Love” session in Alexandria and

presents “Purr”fect Personal Achievement Awards to

members.

Two awards presented at the 108th session held in Roanoke were the

Maintenance Plus award for increasing membership (13 Chapters

were recognized) and the Cardinal Club award for member who

attended every official visit. The WGM said there are no dues, but it is one of the most expensive clubs

you can join.

During the 120th “Let Our Star Shine” session, the

WGM of our most northeastern state presented

116 Travel Club ribbons to members who visited other

Chapters, attended events of another fraternal body, and

helped with a Chapter Service Project.

IRREGULARITY

It may seem “CORNY” to you, but an irregularity for

poor attendance at Schools of Instruction was given in

the Cornhusker State which boasts 94 Chapters with

8,139 members.

Porch book being signed long before the start of the meeting was an irregularity, but posting the Canadian

flag before the American flag was not in this GJ to the

north, whose Grand Chapter was held in Kamloops.

The WGM of the 122nd “Celebration of Life” Session

held in Manchester had to give an irregularity (and ultimatum) to a Chapter refusing to pay

per capita fees.

Some irregularities noted by the WGM of the 115th “Stars in My Heart” session held in Casper

included the Conductress using her left hand to exemplify the

signs, a WP joining the Circle of Prayer, and a Chaplain giving the closing prayer during the

opening.

Eating in the Chapter room must not be an irregularity as

pre-ordered box lunches were delivered and eaten

during the business session of the Grand Chapter at the 118th “Simple Pleasures of Life” session held in the

Keystone State.

RULES &REGULATIONS

In this Grand Chapter, which participates in Hands across the Border with Quebec, all requests for dispensations are forwarded to the WGP. Last year there were 33.

At the 107th Building the Future” session held in

Reno, any fundraising that competes with local gaming

in illegal.

Annual Reports went electronic the year of the 118th “Precious Moments” session. The many

of the Roughrider state’s Chapter minutes are stored at

the office of the Grand Secretary (whose first name is Roberta). She is

encouraging them to investigate other available options.

Legislation in this Land of Lincoln Jurisdiction included

prohibiting School of Instruction on Sundays.

Suggestions to reduce the # of long form openings required, for Grand Officers to serve

two-year terms, and to translate the Ritual into French

were made in this Grand Jurisdiction—the only one that

rhymes with (Alex) Trebek.

DOUBLE JEOPARDYJUST SAYIN’GOING TO THE DOGSAll in the

GRAND FAMILYFaith, Hope, &

CHARITIESDÉJÀ VU

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The emblems of WGM Jean Chance at the 113th “Wings of Friendship” session in Ocean

City were butterflies and puzzles. And, the last name of their Grand Ruth was difficult

for many to pronounce: Sylvia Spriesterbach.

(What do you think of that, Linda Prochazka?)

WGM Eleanor Tesch, presiding at the 123rd

“Beacon of Hope” session held in Great Falls in this

BIG SKY state, has a sister in Findlay, Ohio, and a

brother in Athens, Ohio. The AGP is Clint Frank (not

Frank Clifton).

Member RON KELLER was presented a check for $50 on

behalf of DeMolay in this FIRST STATE’s 91st Session.

The WGM of the 122nd “Celebration of Life” session held in Manchester used bee hives and honeybees as her

emblem. For entertainment, a beekeeper (the husband of the

Grand Organist), brought 6 pounds of bees and let gave an

informational presentation. BTW, there are 60,000 bees in 6

pounds!

The 65th “Reflections of Love and Music” Session was held July 3, 4, and 5, as it is not a

national holiday in this jurisdiction. The WGM’s

emblem was the forget-me-not, honoring “faithful members of all

our Chapters who regularly attend meetings even though

they do not hold an office.”

Faith, Hope, &CHARITIES

WGM organized a murder mystery dinner based on the

board game CLUE, giving one clue at each Grand

Visitation during the year. The finale dinner in Salt Lake City raised $2365 for Breast

Cancer research.

At the 118th “Simple Pleasures of Life” session of this Grand Jurisdiction, held in York, it was announced that WGM’s special project for MS raised $98,031.64.

At the 113th “Wings of Friendship” session in Ocean

City, $27,622.84 was raised for their special project of

therapeutic riding. The money was donated to Horses for

Hope, and Horses for Heroes, assisting veterans.

The WGM special project for the WGM of the 138th Sym-PHONE-y of Love” session

held in Springfield was “Cells for Soldiers.” 675 donated

cell phones were sold to buy 40,000+ minutes for military

members.

The Pantomime Committee had three performances this year, raising nearly $9000 for the OES Home, Education, and Youth Day. The committee

chairman even got the WGM to gather props, make tickets,

programs, and contacts. The chairman was her husband.

ALL IN THE GRAND FAMILY

This jurisdiction just held their 14th biennial session.

Because GC meets every other year “Down Under,”

everyone in this Grand Family holds his or her respective

Grand office for two years.

At the 107th Building the Future” session held in

Reno, the WGP Richard Sidford was the husband of

Grand Conductress Elizabeth Sidford.

In the 138th Symphony of Love” Session in the Land of Lincoln, The Grand Officers

were Golden Notes, the Grand Representatives were Silver Notes, and the Grand Escorts were Totin’ Notes!

At the 65th “Reflections of Love and Music” session held in Charlottetown, the WGP Fred Lipskey and

Grand Esther Peg Lipskey were husband and wife.

It was “ALL in the FAMILY” as WGM Mary Heskett and WGP Gerald Busch served with their spouses Grand Warder Gerry

Heskett and Grand Ruth Bonnie Busch.

The 96th “A Moment in Time” session of this Northern Province was held in North Battlefield (not

Saskatoon.)

GOING TO THE

DOGS

This west coast jurisdiction meeting in Fresno raised

$80,000 for Paws for Purple Hearts, enough to train 5

assistance dogs for military members.

Wife and husband Hazel and Martin Bless were the WGM and WGP presiding at the 118th “Precious

Moments” session held in Mandan. They endorsed “Denim for Dogs” to raise funds for their Grand Project for service dogs. For a donation,

members could attend two meetings wearing denim—including JEANS!

($6700 was donated.)

The 44 chapters of this Grand Jurisdiction sponsored 5

service dogs for children with diabetes. Dog Casey and boy Tyler met for the first time at

Grand Chapter in the mile-high city.

Paws for Patriots raised over $10,000 for service animals for our veterans in this SUNSHINE

state. Corporal Michael Jernigan (USMC retired)

presented the Marine Corps flag during the informal pre-

opening with the assistance of his guide dog Brittany.

At the 146th “Nature’s Beauty” Session of the oldest Grand Jurisdiction in the World, the

WGM promised to dye her hair purple and green, and WGP

promised to shave his head if the goal of $90,000 was raised for Paws for a Cause. They kept their word when $90,050 was

donated.

JUST SAYIN’

Fraternal correspondents are two GRs in this jurisdiction

that boasts chapters named Mesa Starlight, Saguaro,

Casa Grande, Grand Canyon, and Desert Star.

The idea of fraternal correspondents was conceived

in this New England state in 1876--there were only 8 Grand

Jurisdictions at the time. It helped keep us “CONNECT”-ed.

The fraternal correspondent for the 111th “Soaring Eagles”

session was a PGM. I wonder if she

VOLUNTEERed?

The Empire state has only one fraternal correspondent.

However, she reports only on 10 jurisdictions. Just sayin’

 There was one HEAD fraternal correspondent plus

17 assistant fraternal correspondents giving the report the 142nd “Winter

Wonderland” session held in Atlantic City of this

Jurisdiction.

FINAL JEOPARDY

GRANDEST JURISDICTION

 This Grand Jurisdiction is celebrating 125 years of charity, truth, and loving-

kindness. They have learned that in the journey of life,

love is the key.

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