Summer Newsletter

​My Brothers,

I am excited to finally be writing to you during warm weather.  It’s been a busy start to summer.  First, the Grand Master’s One Day Class was a success and Findlay raised more candidates than any other Lodge in the district.  Next, I would like to thank all of you that participated in our fundraiser at Chipotle.  We raised $331.43 for the special athletes of Hancock County.  Less than a week later was our annual Table Lodge, a great success and I would like to thank our JD Jim Klausing for the impressive presentation and our SD Casey Zechman for an excellent feast.

Finally, I wanted to inform you of some important upcoming Lodge business. Earlier this year I assigned a committee to review the finances of the lodge. They have done an extensive review of our finances including a review of our income, expenditures, and investments, and have prepared a report that will be shared in Lodge July 19. The report includes recommendations including proposed standing resolutions as well as an amendment to our bylaws concerning our dues structure.

Many of you will recall that the last increase in dues was in the mid 1990’s. At that time dues were raised from $20 to $30.  However, since that time the value of our dues has been eroded by inflation such that our annual $30 dues are now worth $19.25 in 1995 dollars, making our current dues effectively less than what they were nearly 25 years ago. At the same time, Grand Lodge and the district have raised the per capita from $10 to $18.20.

In conjunction with these proposed standing resolutions and bylaws amendments, I have asked our Senior and Junior Warden, along with myself, to review our current bylaws and make any necessary changes to them so that they conform to the subordinate lodge bylaws as set forth in the Grand Lodge Code. It is my intent to present the finance committee report on July 19, where we will discuss the report and the recommended changes. As required by our bylaws, any proposed resolutions or bylaws amendments will be read into the minutes on August 2nd and will be held over until August 16th, at which time the members present will vote on these changes.  Please join us for these important discussions if you are able.

Wishing you a happy summer,
Fraternally Yours,  
Jason Pontious
Worshipful Master