Episode 182 - Bro. Mike McKee P.M.

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_01]: From the new recording lair located deep beneath the wine and spirit store in Ephrata, Pennsylvania

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_00]: You're listening to the Masonic Lite Podcast

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Studio 665 presents a sonic light podcast

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_01]: The show is recorded by Masons for Masons. It is for entertainment purposes only

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And please no wait

[00:00:31] [SPEAKER_00]: This podcast is not endorsed by any grand launch and the ridiculous ramblings of the hosts are their own

[00:00:41] [SPEAKER_00]: And now here's your house

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_12]: Hey everybody it is the Masonic Lite Podcast

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Every week Larry gets better and better at playing that bass part

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_04]: We found it but it's the best buffer music ever we can never change it

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_11]: We can never change those tapes outside that said smoker

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_12]: So the sonic light podcast this is episode number 182

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_07]: 182 that's like and you'll miss it. You should remember blink 182. That's the episode you were on

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_12]: Blink 182

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_12]: Probably I think it's a country channel and

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_07]: I know there's a guy who believed he was abducted by aliens. Well, that would be the guy. Yeah. Yeah, was that us?

[00:01:42] [SPEAKER_07]: All right continue Tim. All right

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_12]: We're already off the rails tonight's episode is brought to you by our sponsors George J. Grove and son

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, Hyrum and Solomon cigars. Yeah home construction. Yeah, and we're really enjoying this one tonight

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_12]: Intermezzo by Stephanie

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_12]: We're having some slow burn tonight. You had some slow burn tonight

[00:02:03] [SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, we did have some slow burn. Tell us about slow burn time where slow burn is freaking amazing

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_07]: Before you get any crazy ideas that is chocolate

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_07]: So intermezzo by Stephanie is my wife's chocolate business and she is amazing. She's a chocolate artist

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_07]: So yeah, we're gonna find that on the webs that would be intermezzo with two Z's met so like pizza

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_07]: Intermezzo by Stephanie all one word

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_11]: calm you won't be disappointed it is definitely culinary delight the measure of

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_07]: When when we do when we do like markets, you know makers markets and things like that

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_07]: I kind of walk people through the experience of that chocolate. Yeah, and it's it's called slow burn

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_07]: I'm taking an ad right bill me for it. I don't care

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_07]: So

[00:02:56] [SPEAKER_07]: You give somebody a piece of this and you go, okay. Give it one two three

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_07]: Okay now the salt you're getting the salt right now and then and then

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_07]: Okay, just about now is the cinnamon

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_07]: Okay, and their eyes like light up

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_07]: And the pepper right there and they go boom like that and it's very fun. I love doing shows

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_03]: You're listening to the chocolate light podcast with check. There's nothing light about this

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_12]: We still have some more hot sponsors to thank well, please thank them Tim two pillars apparel

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Two pillars apparel it's got to end a pair of them. Yes

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_07]: Okay, that's one for Jake, okay

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_12]: We also want to thank our fantastic patreon supporters

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_07]: The patreon tell us more about patreon Tim, yeah, what's that you too can be a patreon supporter

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_12]: How can we do that for as little as how much how much one dollar?

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_12]: It's actually like a dollar just 72 cents just tell them one dollar and for less than the price of a cup of coffee

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_11]: Anybody listening from Philadelphia? That's a buck 82

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_12]: Go to patreon.com slash Masonic light podcast

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_12]: And there you can become one of our patreon and we really

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_07]: Appreciate the patreon. We really do. I mean we have we never thought that that people would think

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_07]: To help us out with the expenses and stuff and we really do we just uh this month in fact

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_07]: Yesterday at our stated meeting at 665

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_07]: received a donation from the podcast for

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_07]: For the use of the space and that kind of thing and just an appreciation for

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_07]: We have to upgrade equipment for effort a lot of 665 and we're always buying equipment and microphones and stands and

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_07]: This stuff does wear out bentleys and things like that lines and tigers Larry choose to his bridle

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_12]: exactly

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_12]: You can also reach us anytime at masonic light podcast at gmail.com

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_12]: If you dare on x and threads at masonic light

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_12]: And on facebook and instagram as well, you can follow us there

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_12]: so

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_12]: In studio tonight, you've already heard from most of us tonight

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_12]: I'm tim i'm here with jack josh larry and jake and our special guest tonight is brother michael d mckee

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_12]: Executive director for the masonic library and museum of pennsylvania

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_11]: It's a big title. I like that

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_11]: That's a big title. My son told me the longer the title the stupor you are so that's that's how that's the moral support

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_07]: It's how much does your key key ring weigh?

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_07]: That's

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_07]: I feel naked without it

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_12]: All right, we're gonna have trouble keeping this on the rails tonight I can see all right, which is great

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_12]: Those are the best episodes absolutely. Sorry. So before we get into our discussion with our guest

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_12]: Let's see what we've been doing masonicly since our last episode larry maris. I asked you

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_12]: jeez wrong

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_07]: Okay move along

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_07]: Last night we had stated meeting at our lodge. We uh, we approved a transfer

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_07]: member and

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_07]: a

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_07]: um

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_07]: committee of investigation on one member and a petition a committee of inquiry

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_07]: and uh, whatever and um

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, so and and a third that was uh balloted on and approved and you'll have some food

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_07]: So and yeah, we had a sort of a semi table lodge. It was very fun

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_07]: It's a different format that i'm i'm accustomed to we had dinner and then we there was a short meeting

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_07]: Where they did the business of the lodge and they came back downstairs for dessert toasts

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_07]: and uh and masonic fellowship, so it's a little different format than more of a

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_07]: Uh, what did you call it more of a festive board that's the table lodge, right? Yeah, because table is usually done

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_07]: During dinner, right? I thought you were gonna eat the table

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_07]: No, it's a little dry

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_07]: but anyway, so

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Great

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_03]: I was at an impromptu gathering not masonic in nature, but well populated by masons last sunday

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I think I saw all of you there. Um, yes

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Remember it's well talk about it. Uh memorial unrun

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, we set a new record for covering 0.0 miles

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, it was a good time. It's had by all good barbecue was had some beer was drank some

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_12]: Larry did have to go to the medical tent afterwards. Larry did have to go to the medical tent. Yes

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_12]: Yes, he did. He does. He had that herpes treatment. So you have to check our

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_12]: It's medical facebook live stream and you can see penicillin for all

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, so it's all fun and games until somebody puts their eye out right exactly the same

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, it was a great time mike anything masonicly recently you want to share

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_11]: Well, it's upcoming events i'm pretty excited about is uh, we'll hold off on those. Yeah. All right in the um

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_11]: You know just getting together with some some guys that have

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Come to know over the last

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_11]: I guess 20 years in masonry. We're all different ages and just kind of hanging out and insulting each other like good masons do

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_11]: That's always the best yeah as you should

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah

[00:08:23] [SPEAKER_11]: I would say if the first words that like when somebody calls them to the office and somebody else picks up the phone

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_11]: I say the first words out of their mouth is i like mike a lot

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_11]: They're liars and they're not friends. They're spies

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_11]: If the first thing out of their mouth is i'm sorry you have to work with this guy. They're my friends

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_11]: Oh, that's that's tim kong and john john

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_12]: My condolences that's that's the true sign of uh love absolutely jake or jake i already went to jake josh

[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, thanks bob

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Um

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_02]: As jake said i went to the the unrun

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_02]: We did the unrun, uh for pete. Um, and we raised some money

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm just glad you were there to pace me josh. I I was worried

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yeah

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And then you know i'm not much of a runner but josh was there to pace me in it really

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_07]: It took larry seven steps to get across

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER_04]: I counted the video

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_12]: I counted five

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_12]: What and then he had to proceed to the medical tent

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_03]: In his defense that was some very loose mulch

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Go ahead josh. Oh that's that's about it. Okay. I didn't I didn't I miss lodge

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_12]: All right, so for me just a couple things uh, urico west shore lodge number 302 have a stated meeting

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_12]: And an extra meeting where we conferred a third degree. It's awesome

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_12]: Um

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_12]: amazingly

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_12]: Um, usually the worst meetings in my opinion are january and september

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_12]: uh january because you've got new guys in and they're nervous in september because

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_12]: people have gone brain dead for two months and

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_07]: Nobody's looked at the ritual. We call that the um, does my tuxedo still fit right?

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but everybody did a great job. And so yeah, we're we're moving on

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_12]: The uh, you mentioned the unrun obviously I was there too. Uh, we have the entire

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_07]: Masonic light podcast team there. That was great from about four different video standpoints by the way

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah. Yeah, you almost construct a 3d model of this whole

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Exactly still photo which is good because larry maris running is something best experienced

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_05]: It's also amazing about when you did the live broadcast or whatever you call that

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_05]: We had 300 at the time I looked at a 350 views

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_12]: I mean, that's freaking amazing. That's great. It is awesome

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_12]: The other thing is on uh friday september the sixth

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_12]: Uh valley of pittsburgh held its monthly

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_12]: Cigar gathering and I had the honor of transporting the grand smoke

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_12]: From central pennsylvania out there who's eating a car seat. Uh, we did we had to strap him in

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_12]: Um, and so um, seriously we had a great time. I'll never hear this

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_06]: He's colicky

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_10]: He's not gonna hear it

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_12]: So, uh, we had a lot of you had love you uncle eddie. We had a great time and of course, um,

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_12]: You know eddie never meets a stranger

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_12]: No, my favorite story was the next morning, you know

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_12]: We we stay over so we get up the next morning and we're going to breakfast and

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_12]: You know, we're getting ready to head back the three and a half hour trip and uh

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_12]: The grand smoke goes I better go to the men's room. That's a good idea

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_12]: So at least once i'm standing at the door

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_12]: And like 15 minutes passes and i'm like what the heck happened to him. Did he fall in no?

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_12]: He's wandering the restaurant talking to people

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_10]: No, I thought he was looking for a ladder. No, he was

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_12]: Wandering the restroom or what the restaurant talking to people and i'm like

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_12]: He knows no one out here

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_12]: He just he's the most friendly person in the world. He's great

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_11]: He you know if you see uncle eddie, I call him uncle eddie. That's a story

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, I can make a short story. Yeah, get up on that. I'm sorry. I can make a short story long. So

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_11]: The abbreviated version is I call him uncle eddie because

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_11]: I was with my son and he was d malle. We were up at elizabeth ham when they had the autumn days

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_11]: and um

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER_11]: I I

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_11]: My i'm with my I guess he was about he had to be 12 because he was in d malle

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_11]: So I see eddie. I said uncle eddie. How you doing? And my son looks at me with a dead face and says

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_11]: What wait, there's uncle tom craig gister all my eyes. He says there's no uncle eddie

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_11]: And then he looks at him and says no, they don't talk about me

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_11]: So my son goes home we don't talk about

[00:12:55] [SPEAKER_11]: Bruno

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_11]: So my son goes home to

[00:12:59] [SPEAKER_11]: To my wife and says I met uncle eddie today

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_11]: And she's like you don't have an uncle eddie. I'm like and I looked at her

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm like how long have we been married like 25 years now?

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_11]: You haven't figured out that i'm an idiot

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_11]: Oh my

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_11]: There's so many you could do a whole program on we have we've had he's he's a frequent

[00:13:19] [SPEAKER_07]: Well, he was a frequent guest. We haven't seen him for a while. We need to get him back

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_11]: So if you ever

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_11]: Are at a big gathering with with eddie stone uncle eddie

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_11]: He has a gift that I hope to achieve in my life

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_11]: is

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_11]: You can be in a room with

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_11]: 100 tables

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_11]: As soon as people make eye contact with him from 10 tables away. They start laughing

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_11]: They start they know that he's just bringing he just brings happiness. He's about to bring joy to this table. Yeah

[00:13:50] [SPEAKER_11]: It's like elfin magic

[00:13:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Elfin effin yeah elfin

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Efforda all right

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_05]: I have talked to him about coming back on the show and he has agreed to do so. We just haven't set a date up

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_05]: Because you know ed long enough. He's like a full-time job again

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_05]: For some strange reason which jeff moyer tells me what it's all about but I won't mention it here

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_07]: Okay, hey don't believe the word more says before we go ever right ever

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_12]: Before we go to a break larry we kind of skipped you earlier

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_12]: Um, did you have anything that you wanted to share that you had been up to recently? Well, other than the unrun

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_05]: Ghosting gridiron. Yeah miss lodge meeting you got it all

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_12]: Well, you talked to us earlier about a little problem you were having with what moving your pickles

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_05]: That's not my sonic. Oh, okay. Yeah, it was the brine

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_05]: I have a problem things belong in certain spaces. Okay

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_05]: We had a movie shelf

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_03]: At your age, it's okay. The pickle wanders a bit, you know

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_07]: Larry's wondering up in strange places belong on a certain

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_07]: We need a cartoonist to drop larry's wandering pickles label on on our

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And the turn it next week for a new segment. Where is larry's pickle now?

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_12]: All right, we're gonna take a quick break and we're gonna come back with our guest mike mckee

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[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_12]: And we're back

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_07]: I love you. Oh, you don't have any idea how ironic that comeback was

[00:16:45] [SPEAKER_12]: Yes, go we're back and tonight's guest is brother michael d. Mckee the executive director of

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_12]: Wait a minute. I'm biofocals for the masonic library and museum of pennsylvania

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_12]: Welcome it's great to have you here. Thank you. It's an honor to be here

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_12]: So please my ego needs me before we get into your job

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_12]: Your current job, yes, um you have held a whole host of jobs within the grand lodge structure

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_12]: over

[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_11]: However many years my name change my name plate changed at least once every two years

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_12]: Talk to us about some of the jobs that you have held previously

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Well, I started out with a friend of mine

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_11]: named dave tansy was

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_11]: Being interviewed to be district deputy grand master and then he got selected for district masonic district d

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_11]: He is a missile mechanical switch in other words if he can't fix it, it's definitely broke great guy true mason helps people out

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_11]: But he knew nothing about accounting. So he says how am I going to do the audits? I'm like david

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm a part-time accounting professor. I can help you out brother

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_11]: So and like we've he he was my guide like two months before he came in or after he came in

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_11]: That would be odd before but after he came in he was my guide

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_11]: And you know, we just just friendship blossomed our kids were the same age and all that stuff

[00:18:09] [SPEAKER_11]: So

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_11]: First round of audits came up and you know my background in forensic accounting. I flipped through it

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm like something's wrong here something odd and I got permission

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_11]: To I get permission from

[00:18:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Mark haynes who I had no clue like I was frightened by having to speak to a right worship directly

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_11]: I was a young mason. So I got permission to work on it and we discovered somebody

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_11]: took about

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_11]: 109,000 hours that was my first experience and

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_11]: From a lodge and uh, yeah you can i'll catch you

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_11]: I don't do that anymore. But um, and then that started sort of

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_11]: I I worked directly across the street for the city of philadelphia as a director of fraud unit and

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_11]: Because there's no fraud in philadelphia. I had time on my hands. Yeah, so

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_11]: Um, I started just helping lodges out some lodges. It just it was just

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_11]: People weren't organized, you know, because you know you asked for help and like yeah

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_11]: If you're a secretary or treasurer, especially secretary like yeah, we'll get you help. No, they won't

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_11]: It's universal. I think um

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_11]: and uh, I was

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_11]: I kind of work with the different lodges obviously the people who

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[00:19:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Were taking the money for whatever purpose

[00:19:27] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, I'd look into it and then figure out you know what was going on like I said most of the time it was

[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_11]: It was just dumb errors, but nobody

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_11]: You know so I could I could put out a spreadsheet or something easy to trace things

[00:19:41] [SPEAKER_11]: And then part of that start turning into

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_11]: Looking at masonic trials, which is unfortunate because I probably have been involved in more masonic trials than anybody I know

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_11]: And um, but in that where you found innocent I was multiple times

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_07]: I have a very good lawyer. Don't think that's what he meant. My client did not come here today to be harassed

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, yes, he did

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_11]: So uh what what I what um without going through all that i'll tell you my

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_11]: One of the things that really made me feel happy one of the things that we we

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_11]: Hardly do not discuss religion and politics and is it it and uh, it

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_11]: brings us to harmony

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_11]: And um, you know, I mean apparently there's something going on with elections in the country

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_11]: But you know over the last three election cycles

[00:20:34] [SPEAKER_11]: we only had to

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_11]: Remove one mason from the fraternity because he could not separate our masonic principles

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_11]: From that one thing and I thought wow

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_11]: 90,000 men

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_11]: One person that is a testament to uh the craft. I mean as you know, we all have our our friends

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_11]: But we can all agree that um, whether people are a cup of tea or not. They're all good men, you know, I mean

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_11]: You know some people just don't like fat irish guys and for them i'm not their cup of tea

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_11]: But you know, it's it's like I got to see the best of the fraternity. I got to see

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_11]: You know working at the at the grand lodge is of course an honor

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_11]: But then they go out and see every lodge this lodge as I spoke about earlier such a beautiful lodge

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_11]: There's lodges in the state that are

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Converted railroad stations. There's so many

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_11]: Amazing things and every lodge has its own personality and generally has its own like

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_11]: Culture, you know whoopie pies here pecan pies there

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_11]: Ice cream and strawberries. They call it the strawberry fest

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_11]: I was like if you told me it was ice cream out of it came out two weeks ago

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_11]: So, uh needless to say I like eating

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_11]: But um, it is you know, that's sort of developed into

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_11]: This job and I I was doing this on my time off. So what I would do is I worked across the street

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_11]: Um, the grand secretary would get the records and then I would come over pick up the records work for maybe half hour

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_11]: Sorting what I need what I can handle for a night. I was literally

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_11]: Worked right across the street worked at this little circle little two chair table

[00:22:14] [SPEAKER_11]: um in the grand

[00:22:16] [SPEAKER_11]: Treasures office jeff koi at the time was grand treasurer

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_11]: And I was definitely afraid to go anywhere near his desk relevant for later part of the story

[00:22:26] [SPEAKER_11]: So I've been doing this for a couple years volunteering and and this involved travel to pittsburgh and you know

[00:22:31] [SPEAKER_11]: The first time I went out west they said you have to go out to butler. I said where's butlers and

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_11]: They said it's next to um cranberry. I'm like, where's cranberry right by mars. I'm like you gotta be more specific

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_11]: You do arise i'm a filly kid i've been to more countries than counties at this time

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_11]: They said you idiots between pittsburgh and eerie. I'm like, okay, i'll just drive straight

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_11]: The grand lodge of pittsburgh is over there. It's over there about it

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_11]: Um, and then you know, um, and then there was something I you know

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_11]: To go to different places for different things again mostly, uh, not misconduct just to help people out which nobody actually talks about

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_11]: And um and then they said they realized they needed that sort of function because

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_11]: Because of uh, you know

[00:23:22] [SPEAKER_11]: we're not you know, uh, we're a

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Um fraternal organization, um unincorporated fraternal organization. Wow, I get this 501 c7

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh c7 c10. I don't know. I don't do that anymore

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_11]: Something like that. I don't know. It's one of those numbers. See you senor. I don't know

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_11]: we

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_11]: Sit in fact this evening. Sorry. That was for the french group. Oh

[00:23:46] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, so so you know, um

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_11]: it did consume quite a bit of time and uh

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_11]: But it was my passion because you know you get to meet

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_11]: The the genius of freemasonry in every part of this commonwealth, which is wonderful

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_11]: and then they they

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_11]: Said well would you work here? And I thought they were joking. I'm like, yeah, whatever

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_11]: And then they asked me about again

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_11]: a couple months later

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_11]: and

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_11]: I said if you're serious, I will go and take my

[00:24:20] like

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_11]: Degrees off the wall or across the street because when I worked for the city you had to show that you had an education

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_11]: Which I thought was completely insane

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_11]: Because my father was six grade education world war two veteran. My mother graduated high school. I didn't put a value on

[00:24:34] [SPEAKER_11]: pieces of paper

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_11]: So they never appeared in the grand nage office and uh, and that was it and then I started working

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_11]: And I did compliance for about five years

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_11]: And the opportunity came up to work

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_11]: To become the executive director library museum

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_11]: Which of course and that's that's amazing. Um, and that's that's how it got started and um

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_11]: It was uh

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_11]: 10

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_11]: 12 18 because we called our we called the team at that time 10 12

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_11]: uh, there's been some retirement since then but referring back to the date

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_11]: and um

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_11]: We got together and set up some goals for ourselves. We're like we want to have like big goals

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_11]: We want to have royalty specific measurable

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Another rider's goals. I just made stuff up and then I figured you know leprechauns would come and help me

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_11]: And they did so we um, you know

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_11]: I listened to you know, I

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_11]: I

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_11]: Did what? I mean i'd been a manager for many years what what I did was I listened to the workmen of the temple

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_11]: We've heard that phrase before

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_11]: Like the masonic focus I have to say that what?

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_11]: and um, you know, there's billy boharzik and um, he fantastic director maintenance and um

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_11]: He just gave me a bunch of ideas

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_11]: And I attributed the ideas to him because I can't explain them

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER_11]: But all I had to do was implement them. Yeah

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_11]: Speak I don't know, you know

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_11]: And billy would explain different things to me and um about the building and we adopted things like you know

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_11]: When you have 8 000 light bulbs led conversion is a big thing. Oh, man. That must have been huge

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_11]: I mean good investment, but we we pulled our electricity

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_11]: Bill in half. Oh

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, and this is and what the team was challenged with the challenge was to the team is

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_11]: What do you really want to do?

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_11]: In the building. What is your what is your pet project? What really you know get your who is the team?

[00:26:42] [SPEAKER_11]: How how so what are we talking about?

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_11]: 28 people on the whole team about 12 of those

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_07]: Um, does that include like docents that do the tours and things like it does. We're very small

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_11]: um, we have about 12 to 14 depending because getting

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_11]: Good employees is hard to find

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_11]: um and um, give me a couple months

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_11]: That's the whole employment so that we can do a whole session of employment so um

[00:27:12] um

[00:27:13] [SPEAKER_11]: The you know, we I I appealed to what they wanted to do now

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_11]: Obviously changing light bulb was something that that billy said this is something that's going to save us money. Absolutely

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Um, and one of our guys that worked at the overnight chef says I really don't like that our yellow

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_11]: the paint

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_11]: on our floors

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_11]: It's gray and yellow yellow for safety on steps and things like that

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_11]: He goes that that's that doesn't it doesn't match the respect of this building. It looks bad

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_11]: It's not generally an area where anybody sees but that's our building

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_11]: It doesn't really matter because the building behind the scenes is almost fascinating maybe even more fascinating. Yeah

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_11]: I believe it's more fascinating than so that's what he did

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_11]: And everybody contributed and were proud of their own project now

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_11]: And it's the same thing with the library museum staff

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_11]: Library museum same thing. What do you want to see?

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_11]: Now the challenge there is you know, if we put out

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh on display a whole entire

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh museum area full of aprons

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_11]: How's that? How is that spreading?

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, right masonic knowledge

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_11]: and uh, so we we started to do themed stories like we uh, september 28th this um, just this month

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh marquis de lafayette returned to philadelphia on that day

[00:28:32] [SPEAKER_11]: We connected with the american friends of lafayette and we're having a ball there

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_11]: And I mean it's a high ticket thing but this and there's no it's like 250 dollars a ticket

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_11]: And there's no we're not making any money. Neither of us are making any money off it

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_07]: Well, we're talking about lafayette

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_07]: um tons tons tavern

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_07]: ton tavern or

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_07]: What's what's the grand lodge's involvement in the ton tavern project? Because a lot of listeners may not know

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_07]: That the the first grand lodge of pennsylvania

[00:29:03] [SPEAKER_07]: In pennsylvania

[00:29:04] [SPEAKER_07]: Was founded at a bar in on the waterfront in in philadelphia called ton tavern waterfront witter front

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_07]: My wife's from baltimore. I got that

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_07]: but

[00:29:18] [SPEAKER_07]: Also was the united states marine corps. Yes in the same place

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_07]: No coincidence probably it wasn't but um, but the the the idea is that the marine corps is rebuilding ton tavern

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_07]: Near very near the site correct

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_07]: Um is the grand lodge involved in that at all?

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_11]: Yes and no, so um our um

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_11]: right worshipal

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_11]: Deputy grand master brother rob brink

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, this is a passion he's never served but he appreciates the marine corps and it's not really a it's not a um

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_11]: Grand lodge

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_11]: Initiative initiative per se, okay. However, he's involved myself i'm involved and then and then one of our

[00:30:04] [SPEAKER_11]: events people

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_11]: Is involved in the process so i'm on the board there

[00:30:10] [SPEAKER_11]: And we were able to and for all our marines out there. This is sacred to them

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm an air force guy. I mean, there's still people alive for my service was created

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_11]: But you know god bless the marines god bless all the military but the marines have it, you know, yeah, you know

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_11]: They're they're special in our hearts as americans like absolutely and um

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_11]: we're able to

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_11]: Secure the land. Uh, I think we've got our first million dollar donation and our second

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_11]: I think million which was a match if we raised 500 they raised 500 for the for the whole project for the whole project

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_11]: so we purchased the land which was difficult and you know the

[00:30:51] [SPEAKER_11]: Navigating with the city of philadelphia is a task just like most cities and townships

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_11]: but this is a worthy project and

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_11]: The the folks on the border some of the I mean you talk about patriots are just such a built-in market for tourism

[00:31:06] [SPEAKER_11]: I mean, it's a perfect thing to do. It's genius. We're trying to get something up for the 250 now

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_11]: We won't have the structure built

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh by then but we will have something there. I mean because the

[00:31:17] [SPEAKER_11]: The marines have really no place to celebrate their birthday

[00:31:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Wasn't me 20 bucks right there. Let's do this. All right, wasn't me

[00:31:31] [SPEAKER_12]: Jake so the ton

[00:31:33] [SPEAKER_11]: uh the ton, uh

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_11]: The ton dot org just look up the ton

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_11]: Ton t u n so so why is it called the ton tavern because they made a ton of beer? No

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_11]: It is so two ton tavern would be two tons

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Not true we're already in trouble

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Is there any interest in getting the ton tavern a liquor license

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_11]: The ton tavern is going to be a fully operational tavern

[00:32:07] [SPEAKER_11]: obviously with modern

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_11]: accommodations for uh americans with disabilities and uh that because the the staircase is very narrow and um

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_11]: And um, you know, uh, they're going we're gonna have a restaurant

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_11]: That'll be a restaurant and the greatest thing about it is for the marines. It's home philadelphia

[00:32:27] [SPEAKER_11]: Is home our state our city, you know is home that you know the city

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_11]: And um, they're gonna have their home again

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[00:32:34] [SPEAKER_11]: So, uh, they're very proud of that

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah, I have a lot of friends especially in the lodge that are made that are marines

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_07]: And they are super proud of this project. Yeah, we we uh, I mean, um

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_11]: You know as an airman

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_11]: they uh

[00:32:52] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, they they have their fun with me

[00:32:54] [SPEAKER_11]: So I I set up a joke and I said i'm going to study see what happened before

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_11]: And see why it failed because it did fail

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_11]: So I built it up for a little while and then I say I figured out they're like, what is it?

[00:33:06] [SPEAKER_11]: I said you never had an airman on board

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_11]: And then I backed out of the room because they are still marines and i'm old in fact

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_11]: And out of shape

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, but you know, um, so this this this ton tavern project is so fundamental to us masons

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_11]: This is an identity issue. Yeah, absolutely. This is the absolute beginning of who we are

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_07]: It's the beginning of the marine corps

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_07]: But it was the ton tavern was the beginning of the modern grand lodge, right? The first original correct, correct

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_07]: So it's really not no no. Yeah our history, right?

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_11]: ish

[00:33:39] [SPEAKER_11]: ish, yeah, right

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_11]: Read the book read the last book. No, I understand. No, i'm fully aware because

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Somewhere in a dusty basement

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_03]: An ancient and a modern just sat up in their coffins

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_11]: It's it's somewhere in

[00:33:54] [SPEAKER_11]: Sullivan county that's county, right?

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_12]: Somebody could make a movie about this stuff. Whatever jack brings it up. They rise

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, you know you talk about you talk about masonic education, which is a good point is that uh everyone

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_11]: We attribute all the good people right?

[00:34:10] [SPEAKER_11]: So we say franklin but franklin is a modern and ancient and I think ron unks to actually gave

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER_11]: I was there. Yeah, so he gave him a masonic funeral and that was a couple years ago

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, I mean in history, but we'll claim anything

[00:34:24] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, I mean larry was larry was there for franklin's first funeral, right?

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_12]: You know and the thing you couldn't get ahold of the family to request a masonic service

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_11]: What i've learned studying, uh, uh just

[00:34:36] [SPEAKER_11]: Obviously from from from folks at this table and folks throughout the masonry in the world because they're attracted to the building

[00:34:44] [SPEAKER_11]: Is we hang on to these old?

[00:34:47] [SPEAKER_11]: Legends we hang on to washington, you know

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm not besmirching washington or our founding fathers, but you know how many fantastic people we have right now. No

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_11]: No, we don't know. Well, then why don't we?

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_11]: We don't have to go out and and have stories of what we have

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_11]: You know our

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_11]: system

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_11]: Has survived

[00:35:10] [SPEAKER_11]: What other system where you have a new leader every two years the continuity prevails? Yeah

[00:35:14] [SPEAKER_07]: You know where else there's secretaries that are 25 years

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_11]: That's what really what is that

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_11]: Just saying the secretaries here's the sales pitch. Oh kid, it'll only be like I don't know maybe three days a month

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_11]: Before you know it they're 95 and nobody wants to help

[00:35:34] [SPEAKER_11]: so but the beauty of the fraternity and we see it like

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_11]: It's evidenced in in our in our grand lodge now we

[00:35:44] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh not again not to speak of any other place

[00:35:47] [SPEAKER_11]: But I think our grand lodge is a flagship of freemasonry in america

[00:35:52] [SPEAKER_07]: In the western hemisphere, i'd say it's yeah

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_11]: It's and it's and it's because it's for us not only it's pennsylvania freemasons. It's our home. However

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER_11]: It is a beacon for the world as we get world visitors

[00:36:06] [SPEAKER_05]: All you uh masons in massachusetts and new york stop it. No, you can write there

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_12]: Back in your cage back in your cage don't bring massachusetts

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_11]: No, yeah, and and that's virginia for that, you know, and I think it's south carolina, right lyrick

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_11]: And and I get of course my fair share of view for that

[00:36:25] [SPEAKER_11]: But you know, of course, I don't care because i'm from pennsylvania. However, absolutely, you know

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_11]: Heated arguments over something as silliest who was first when you're part of an organization

[00:36:37] [SPEAKER_11]: that

[00:36:38] [SPEAKER_11]: Like values transcend time. So let me give you an example you go

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_11]: When you go to the grand lodge, you'll see well

[00:36:45] [SPEAKER_11]: You'll see a

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_11]: night at chapel a date and the name roslyn chapel

[00:36:52] [SPEAKER_11]: Now a person comes in and they say well, that's a beautiful piece of art

[00:36:56] [SPEAKER_11]: those folks who wanted to you know

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_11]: Get an argument which is I love arguments

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_11]: I or show if they're all

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER_11]: They say that is not accurate. That didn't exist. Those three elements didn't exist together all at once, right?

[00:37:11] [SPEAKER_11]: This is right out of uh gothic hall, which is was primarily used by commandery and scottish right but commandery

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_11]: The message in that painting

[00:37:20] [SPEAKER_11]: Is chivalry for us will never die

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Is system of morality veiled in allegory i've heard that used a lot of times but then people say that

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_11]: and quote things from books

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER_11]: and

[00:37:33] [SPEAKER_11]: again

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER_11]: Read do whatever makes you happy. However

[00:37:37] [SPEAKER_11]: It's right there the exterior of the building the walls the outside of the walls of the building are incredible. Mike

[00:37:43] [SPEAKER_11]: Can you hear me? I'm looking and talking at the same time

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_11]: So the outside of the building that's where it starts

[00:37:50] [SPEAKER_11]: You don't even have to enter the building if you're at the front of the building

[00:37:55] [SPEAKER_11]: That represents the master mason because it's it's as close to perfection as we get as you know as our story goes, right?

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_11]: Perfect stone if you look at the side the face of the church next door

[00:38:07] [SPEAKER_11]: Very rough stone

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_11]: Look at the side that faced the courthouse back a little bit smoother the side that faces city hall a little bit smoother

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_11]: And the front entrance is as perfect as we in theory can get it. So what's that?

[00:38:20] [SPEAKER_11]: That's the uninitiated mason the first degree the second degree and the third degree

[00:38:24] [SPEAKER_11]: That is very simple to explain to people

[00:38:28] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, we had uh, we had some guests some pretty high profile guests in pennsylvania in the other week and they said

[00:38:33] [SPEAKER_11]: Well, what is your mission?

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_11]: For masonry I said we simply make good men better

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_11]: And then they say well why men I said well, let's let's pause

[00:38:44] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm going to let you in on a little masonic secret. Take a look around this building. You will see statues

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_11]: Of the virtues you will see strength faith hope charity. You'll see these all represented in female form. Why?

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_11]: Because we get our values generally from our mother

[00:39:01] [SPEAKER_11]: Right. So this is this amazing

[00:39:03] [SPEAKER_11]: respect for our mothers for our wives for our daughters that's hidden in plain sight and

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_11]: You know as we're taught we're not going to bother ourselves with the snares of the insidious because we know who we are

[00:39:16] [SPEAKER_11]: And I think that going back to the point earlier is

[00:39:21] [SPEAKER_11]: Stop making things up

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_11]: I mean the fraternity and I talked about a little bit earlier. I talked about I visited

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_11]: I was in colorado

[00:39:29] [SPEAKER_07]: On something that the truth should never get in the way of a good story. That's what i'm saying

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_07]: That'll be later. Yeah

[00:39:37] [SPEAKER_03]: You're hitting on something. We were actually talking about a little earlier off the off the air

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_03]: um

[00:39:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And there's this almost

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Weird push to

[00:39:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Manufacture esotericism and a certain almost arcane level of

[00:39:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Made up hullabaloo

[00:39:57] [SPEAKER_03]: That's just nothingness and there's so much hullabaloo. I like that. Did you use arcane and hullabaloo in the same sense?

[00:40:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm trying to reach out to some of the uh, you know the hubba hubba

[00:40:09] [SPEAKER_03]: There's this this this need

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Havaluist and I don't know if it's intellectual laziness

[00:40:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't know if it's

[00:40:18] [SPEAKER_03]: A desire to make something that's novel for the sake of saying I made something up

[00:40:24] [SPEAKER_03]: but there's so much real

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_03]: esoteric and

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Hidden in plain sight knowledge

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_03]: lessons morals

[00:40:35] [SPEAKER_03]: There's there's lifetimes of study you can do just on

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_03]: What's actually there in these buildings and

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, um, I read a lot of

[00:40:45] [SPEAKER_03]: I read too many books

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think so. I know where that was going. No, I think some of the

[00:40:52] [SPEAKER_03]: I I know I know

[00:40:53] [SPEAKER_07]: I was on a I was on a tour of the grant lodge and one of the docents was leading us around there's about

[00:40:58] [SPEAKER_07]: I don't know 10 people in the group or whatever

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_07]: And there was a kid in the group. He was a young kid maybe 20

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_07]: and he said uh

[00:41:06] [SPEAKER_07]: He said well, you know secret blah blah blah secret secret. How come it's all secret?

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_07]: And and all of us there were like five of us that were mason's in the group

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_07]: And we all wanted to tell him

[00:41:18] [SPEAKER_07]: There's nothing secret here

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_07]: You can get all of this at at the self-help

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_07]: kiosk at

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_07]: Borders books or whatever, you know, whatever the bookstore is that exists now. Yes. I am that old shut up

[00:41:33] [SPEAKER_07]: So am I so

[00:41:35] [SPEAKER_07]: It was like there's nothing here that isn't everywhere else

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_07]: You just get it all in one package here and it's it's easy one one thing to supplement

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_03]: It might have been dosa was great though. Jack is still getting his cds from columbia house. Yes, I have ronco

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_11]: Get netflix on cd five cd set. It's amazing because they say it's secret. I'm like we are

[00:41:56] [SPEAKER_11]: dead center

[00:41:57] [SPEAKER_07]: Of a big metropolitan area. You can't get closer to city hall. I can't get more open than that older hyden

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_07]: I

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_07]: We have a float in the parade what yeah, we walk around we're nicely dressed

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_11]: You can pick out like I say hello brother because they most people like don't don't know

[00:42:16] [SPEAKER_11]: I dress I dress down when I come out of the building and um

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh changing my civilians, I guess you'd say but every person I walk by and they they're finally dressed and

[00:42:27] [SPEAKER_11]: And and that dignity to be a pennsylvania mason aware of tuxedo as an officer

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_11]: That is a dignity thing that is something that doesn't exist now, but back to your point about trying to make things up

[00:42:38] [SPEAKER_11]: Okay, so let's talk about plain sight. There's multiple things in plain sight, but

[00:42:43] [SPEAKER_11]: For those who study mathematics, right?

[00:42:46] [SPEAKER_11]: There's a a thing called a golden rule. It's a thing. It's a tool used in art. It's based on the

[00:42:51] [SPEAKER_11]: Italian guy

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_11]: Mathematician golden ratio the golden ratio. Yeah, the golden ratio golden mean golden ratio the gold

[00:42:57] [SPEAKER_11]: One of those two so i'm sure somebody will complain so whatever send your comments to uh, masonic light podcast at

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_11]: ancient scottish right

[00:43:08] [SPEAKER_11]: What's the kid who works at the really good guy who works at the harrisburg

[00:43:13] [SPEAKER_11]: He's the there's so many

[00:43:16] [SPEAKER_11]: Yes, there is about eric eric. Yeah send your complaints to eric. Yeah, right. I love it. He's a good guy

[00:43:22] [SPEAKER_11]: Just another good example. So I mean now but so so you're you're looking for this

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_11]: like

[00:43:29] [SPEAKER_11]: elsewhere

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_11]: outside instead of inside to your point so

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_11]: the tiles in the masonic temple have

[00:43:38] [SPEAKER_11]: fossils of

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_11]: immunites and uh, they were sea creatures

[00:43:43] [SPEAKER_11]: And they have this spiral formation

[00:43:46] [SPEAKER_11]: Fibonacci sequence it's in our tile right then you look in our rooms

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_11]: And then once you see it

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_11]: It's like when you're when you're turned on to something you never noticed before you can't unsee it

[00:43:56] [SPEAKER_11]: It's all over. Uh, I mean the cultures represented look look the alahambra spain saracenic like morris

[00:44:03] [SPEAKER_11]: These designs that came from the middle east that pay respect to where our mathematics came from

[00:44:10] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_11]: You can it just it goes on and on like one of the one of the rooms that I like

[00:44:18] [SPEAKER_11]: Illustrated for non-masons is norman hall

[00:44:21] [SPEAKER_11]: norman hall has men

[00:44:23] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh in tile it's just to give you an idea what it looks like if I give you a visual

[00:44:28] [SPEAKER_11]: It's very celtic. So it's the design come from the book of kels

[00:44:31] [SPEAKER_11]: That's now in trinity trinity college in dublin, ireland, right?

[00:44:36] [SPEAKER_11]: so

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_11]: There's men

[00:44:39] [SPEAKER_11]: They're insignificant

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_11]: Because we're all traveling upon that level of time from

[00:44:44] [SPEAKER_11]: Who's born who travel returns puzzles the will again. We stole that from shakespeare

[00:44:49] [SPEAKER_11]: Look it up. It's in

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_11]: Well, but it because it's a piece of literature that we can illustrate to our members, right?

[00:44:58] [SPEAKER_11]: So you go in this room the first the tools that they're holding is the plum and as i'm giving a tour to people I say

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_11]: Here is an explanation of hidden in plain sight

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_11]: That plum up there represents

[00:45:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Uprightness

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_11]: If I gave you a tour and I was slatching over and not looking at you

[00:45:14] [SPEAKER_11]: And not giving you the attention making an eye contact with you. I would not be upright in my character

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_11]: You would not appreciate me

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER_11]: You know fair and square

[00:45:24] [SPEAKER_11]: We've heard that term on the level on on the level the 24 inch gauge work-life balance eight hours sleep eight hours

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_11]: eight hours for god this is

[00:45:35] [SPEAKER_11]: It is so obvious that the heavy setting mall to chip off this rough part of our character become

[00:45:41] [SPEAKER_11]: better men

[00:45:43] [SPEAKER_11]: The equilateral triangle three degrees in free masonry

[00:45:46] [SPEAKER_11]: That's it three degrees in free masonry everything else all the way up to 33rd. That's nice

[00:45:51] [SPEAKER_07]: But it means it is layered on top of that image, right?

[00:45:55] [SPEAKER_07]: But in free masonry it represents a triangle, right?

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_07]: Right and and then the the esotericists

[00:46:01] [SPEAKER_07]: Slop whatever they want to see on top of that because you can put so many

[00:46:07] [SPEAKER_07]: Symbols into an equilateral triangle, right? I mean every

[00:46:12] [SPEAKER_07]: every

[00:46:12] [SPEAKER_07]: civilization ever had

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_07]: Circles with a dot in it and equilateral triangles. I mean that was yeah, that's geometry at its first

[00:46:21] [SPEAKER_11]: It's always funnier like do you know the pyramids what above is below and it makes us a wow really what?

[00:46:29] [SPEAKER_12]: I want to give a scooby snack out for that sometimes when I hear we needed to take a quick break and pay some bills

[00:46:35] [SPEAKER_12]: Uh and let larry take care of some biological. That's what we'll say we're doing. Yeah. All right, so we'll be right back

[00:46:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Looking for a way to show your masonic pride and affiliation but also want to have a relaxed look

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[00:47:18] [SPEAKER_02]: That's two

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_02]: pillars apparel.com

[00:47:26] [SPEAKER_05]: And we're back with our guest tonight

[00:47:29] [SPEAKER_05]: Mike mckee from the grand lodge. It's good having you here. Thank you. And here's here's the thing

[00:47:34] [SPEAKER_05]: A couple days ago. I contacted a dr. Heather callaway in indiana. You probably know her

[00:47:41] [SPEAKER_05]: If you don't you better

[00:47:43] [SPEAKER_05]: She is probably one of the top sonic

[00:47:46] [SPEAKER_05]: How she said archivists and so forth in the united states. Oh, wow right there on the wall. Yeah

[00:47:51] [SPEAKER_05]: She's on the wall. That's her picture. I'm gonna have to reach out to her. Yeah reach out

[00:47:56] [SPEAKER_05]: But anyway, I said to it says wanted i got mike mckee coming

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_05]: I have no idea what he does at grand lodge other than the executive director for the museum and archives and library

[00:48:06] [SPEAKER_05]: Get to a question. What can I ask him?

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER_05]: So she sent me a list of questions to ask

[00:48:12] [SPEAKER_05]: And here's the thing we haven't had to ask any of these questions tonight at all so far. We've asked one question. What's that?

[00:48:21] [SPEAKER_12]: How are you doing? Tell us about yeah

[00:48:22] [SPEAKER_12]: Tell us about the jobs other than the executive director's job. Yeah, it's been a great episode

[00:48:28] [SPEAKER_05]: So we asked so

[00:48:30] [SPEAKER_05]: And so anyway, there's a bunch of them and heather i'm sorry

[00:48:33] [SPEAKER_05]: We're probably not going to get to these but we will have him back to specifically

[00:48:38] [SPEAKER_11]: Talk about them. Maybe she can call why don't you throw him?

[00:48:41] [SPEAKER_11]: Indiana

[00:48:42] [SPEAKER_11]: So you can not ask them larry one question very hurtful my feelings

[00:48:49] [SPEAKER_07]: They're very sensitive. Just pick one very important larry

[00:48:53] [SPEAKER_09]: The first one you see

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_06]: He's gonna read them all

[00:48:58] [SPEAKER_06]: He is as cool as james ralph jones

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_05]: I think

[00:49:03] [SPEAKER_05]: Probably one of the more important ones because I know this is one of the things that she is working get to the question

[00:49:09] [SPEAKER_05]: Are any of our records being digitized?

[00:49:13] [SPEAKER_11]: Yes, so our um

[00:49:15] [SPEAKER_11]: our our our um

[00:49:18] [SPEAKER_11]: part of our membership records under um, uh, past grand master hurt

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, but we just

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm not gonna look behind me. I don't know what's going on there. What's behind me. She's another

[00:49:33] [SPEAKER_11]: But we just um

[00:49:37] [SPEAKER_11]: We just got a museum quality

[00:49:42] [SPEAKER_11]: scanner

[00:49:43] [SPEAKER_11]: And we reached out to the fell off your art museum and and the other museums and they were fantastic

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_11]: It's a nice community down there

[00:49:50] [SPEAKER_11]: And they saved quite a bit of money because when we did the research we were driven to one product

[00:49:55] [SPEAKER_11]: But then when we when we wanted to prove a product

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_11]: We found something even better. So the the goal is

[00:50:03] [SPEAKER_11]: Is to digitize everything we can now we have things like the lafayette letters the washington letters

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, the warrant constitution of the grand lodge the big things

[00:50:12] [SPEAKER_11]: But you know, there's a book from 1411 that we have in latin and it's not digitized yet

[00:50:19] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[00:50:20] [SPEAKER_11]: We we have there are so many things but that is our constant effort now that

[00:50:27] [SPEAKER_11]: One of the things where we we need help and everybody says that they can help is

[00:50:33] [SPEAKER_11]: to have volunteers come out and do a project not you know, like

[00:50:37] [SPEAKER_11]: volunteers that

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_11]: Understand that worry are

[00:50:43] [SPEAKER_11]: uh

[00:50:44] [SPEAKER_11]: I want to say this sounds a little bit melodramatic but for all those in in the library business, you're the guardians of history

[00:50:50] [SPEAKER_11]: The first thing what does the emp you know, what does the enemy do it burns your books?

[00:50:56] [SPEAKER_11]: now we we and this goes to the to why do we look to the past and the present because

[00:51:03] [SPEAKER_11]: You know

[00:51:04] [SPEAKER_11]: We aren't what george washington was he was a different person

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_11]: Um, we aren't I mean, I don't know that I could honestly be as courageous as lafayette

[00:51:15] [SPEAKER_11]: um, but the the progression in time one thing that we we are is we tell the story

[00:51:22] [SPEAKER_11]: As we know it

[00:51:24] [SPEAKER_11]: Whatever that story sounds like

[00:51:26] [SPEAKER_11]: Because you know, we heard we hear the you know, uh, we always hear history repeats itself and

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_11]: And things like that

[00:51:34] [SPEAKER_11]: But we have been trusted with books in our collection very early book of mormon

[00:51:40] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh russ crucian text. We've been we've been trusted from other organizations that go back

[00:51:45] [SPEAKER_11]: many years

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_11]: 100, you know like 100 years 150 years

[00:51:49] [SPEAKER_11]: That we were so well thought of

[00:51:52] [SPEAKER_11]: pennsylvania freemasons that they could

[00:51:55] [SPEAKER_11]: Give us their books

[00:51:58] [SPEAKER_11]: And their

[00:51:59] [SPEAKER_11]: Artifacts and we were preserved in the name of preserving history

[00:52:03] [SPEAKER_11]: And we've done that and and one of the one of the common themes of my team and I love my team

[00:52:08] [SPEAKER_11]: I kid you not we have my uh

[00:52:12] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, it's very it's it's

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_11]: I love the team that works there and they're all dedicated to pennsylvania free masonry

[00:52:19] [SPEAKER_11]: Very particular obviously for masonry throughout the world

[00:52:23] [SPEAKER_11]: They get it

[00:52:24] [SPEAKER_11]: They understand what their role is and what's upsetting to me sometimes is

[00:52:29] [SPEAKER_11]: Like we talked about earlier like we do we get it?

[00:52:33] [SPEAKER_11]: I mean in a general sense, I mean we have people from all over the world masons from all over the world

[00:52:39] [SPEAKER_11]: Reduce the tears for the beauty and the symbolism of that building

[00:52:43] [SPEAKER_11]: I you know when I first experienced I thought well, maybe there was some emotional attachment that I wasn't aware of but then I realized

[00:52:51] [SPEAKER_11]: That's the thing is when you're in another country, sometimes that's a risk

[00:52:55] [SPEAKER_11]: You know sure think about it, you know, think about it. You want to talk to your your masonic brother

[00:53:01] [SPEAKER_11]: With religion and politics out of the equation

[00:53:03] [SPEAKER_11]: You're just learning

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_11]: You know and um and you know

[00:53:09] [SPEAKER_07]: Sorry, I ramble on i'm gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna interject here and i'm gonna sound a little sappy

[00:53:14] [SPEAKER_07]: But sappy i'm happy to know

[00:53:17] [SPEAKER_07]: That there is someone at grand lodge

[00:53:20] [SPEAKER_07]: Who who appreciates so well?

[00:53:25] [SPEAKER_07]: um

[00:53:26] [SPEAKER_07]: the

[00:53:28] [SPEAKER_07]: The gravitas of your position

[00:53:31] [SPEAKER_07]: um as as as the you know as the as the

[00:53:35] [SPEAKER_07]: Archivist for all that

[00:53:38] [SPEAKER_07]: stuff, I mean

[00:53:39] [SPEAKER_07]: Just listening to you talk just sitting here across the table and seeing your face

[00:53:43] [SPEAKER_07]: You love this. I this is this is like yeah when did that happen?

[00:53:50] [SPEAKER_11]: Um

[00:53:51] [SPEAKER_11]: Initially there was two things two major masonic events. I had one was of course john monod

[00:53:56] [SPEAKER_11]: He's still a tour guide. He's uh, I think he made a deal with uh

[00:54:01] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh the devil that if he could stay alive as long as he stayed in the building if he leaves the building he's turned to dust

[00:54:06] [SPEAKER_11]: Pretty sure I saw him one of those jack niff

[00:54:10] [SPEAKER_11]: uh, but but john really piqued my curiosity because

[00:54:15] [SPEAKER_11]: When I first left the service I I didn't hadn't been to college yet and um

[00:54:20] [SPEAKER_11]: And again, I talked about earlier about my father being a war war two veteran lying to get in the service when he was 17

[00:54:27] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh sixth grade education my mother's high school education. I didn't put much value on

[00:54:33] [SPEAKER_11]: Things I put values on the person and my father

[00:54:36] [SPEAKER_11]: God bless his soul. He he has that so that with that backdrop john monod

[00:54:42] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, obviously my intellectual superior I would say at the time

[00:54:46] [SPEAKER_11]: I would say that anyway. He's just smarter in certain areas. Thank goodness

[00:54:50] [SPEAKER_11]: he doesn't know accounting or else i'd be out of a job, but he inspired me and then

[00:54:54] [SPEAKER_11]: Tom jackson passed right was so grand treasure came back a force of nature came to our lodge

[00:55:02] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[00:55:02] [SPEAKER_11]: and

[00:55:03] [SPEAKER_11]: Gave this as we're speaking about now because nobody had the courage to talk like tom jackson talk

[00:55:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Love him hate him, whatever

[00:55:11] [SPEAKER_11]: however

[00:55:12] [SPEAKER_11]: He infuriated me

[00:55:15] [SPEAKER_11]: because I thought

[00:55:16] [SPEAKER_11]: What do you mean this this?

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_11]: Organization that my my great uncle from scotland was part of my grandfather was a part of my father was not

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_11]: You're you're telling me and then he made me go and and

[00:55:30] [SPEAKER_11]: And what it did was I realized what he was saying

[00:55:33] [SPEAKER_11]: but then

[00:55:35] [SPEAKER_11]: He he made me smarter

[00:55:37] [SPEAKER_11]: He didn't make me smarter by giving me the challenge he challenged me and um

[00:55:42] [SPEAKER_11]: You know it

[00:55:44] [SPEAKER_11]: It's um, it was amazing. Uh very quick other tom jackson stories to tom jackson

[00:55:49] [SPEAKER_11]: When I was newer at the as an employee at the grand lodge. I always admired him, of course

[00:55:56] [SPEAKER_11]: and uh

[00:55:57] [SPEAKER_11]: So he calls he says

[00:55:59] [SPEAKER_11]: Hey, dylan is markin the grand secretary. No, sir. I'm sorry. He's not called him sir. That's uh

[00:56:05] [SPEAKER_11]: We call him I didn't have the courage to call him brother. Yeah, I mean yes, sir

[00:56:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Um, and he said well is danny there was the superintendent at the time. I said no, sir

[00:56:14] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm sorry. He's not here. He says well, how about harry is harry there?

[00:56:18] [SPEAKER_11]: No, sir. Harry's not here

[00:56:20] [SPEAKER_11]: Well, I just i'm I guess i'm just gonna have to go to lunch with you then

[00:56:29] [SPEAKER_09]: Um

[00:56:29] [SPEAKER_11]: And that started a really really neat friendship with him and him and larry christiansen the uh, world series picture another

[00:56:38] [SPEAKER_11]: Just phenomenal me. So I get you want to talk about i'll see i'll see he's a great guy

[00:56:41] [SPEAKER_11]: And he lives in the messiah principally. He shows up for his lodge meetings real good guy

[00:56:46] [SPEAKER_11]: But the breaking point for me was

[00:56:49] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, um, I went back to school after the military gi bill

[00:56:53] [SPEAKER_11]: You know one and and because I was afraid of school. I didn't think I was smart enough

[00:56:57] [SPEAKER_11]: So I went to school and it worked out for me

[00:57:00] [SPEAKER_11]: But then I searched for knowledge thinking that I was getting smarter. But the point that I realized that

[00:57:06] [SPEAKER_11]: There's an abyss of it. There's so much information there smart is irrelevant. It's nothing. So now being stupid

[00:57:16] [SPEAKER_11]: Uninformed I won't say because people make it this thing so if you don't form stupid but going into things

[00:57:21] [SPEAKER_11]: Openly and saying I have no idea what the word you just said boss. Could you explain that to me?

[00:57:26] [SPEAKER_11]: And and being brutally honest with it

[00:57:29] [SPEAKER_11]: It works out. I mean stick some stones

[00:57:32] [SPEAKER_11]: I mean if you want to but but I get I get better informed but the the goal of

[00:57:36] [SPEAKER_11]: Of I can tell you bill bohar's we all have we have this conversation

[00:57:40] [SPEAKER_11]: Our goal is to make sure that that building and its contents are preserved everybody forgets our name

[00:57:47] [SPEAKER_07]: I

[00:57:48] [SPEAKER_07]: Don't know that that part's necessary

[00:57:50] [SPEAKER_07]: Yes, we but you guys are doing a great job about that guy. I appreciate it

[00:57:54] [SPEAKER_07]: I think you should be recognized for the job that you're doing because it's um, I mean

[00:58:00] [SPEAKER_07]: You know, we're proud of i'm proud of this lodge

[00:58:03] [SPEAKER_07]: Um, you guys are all proud of your lodges right the building that you are responsible for the the contents of the building

[00:58:09] [SPEAKER_07]: You're not responsible for the building itself. Oh, no. Yeah, I am you are everything. Yeah

[00:58:14] [SPEAKER_07]: So I mean that's such a treasure that that to be responsible for that, you know

[00:58:19] [SPEAKER_07]: I mean, thank you

[00:58:21] [SPEAKER_07]: and your staff and everybody

[00:58:24] [SPEAKER_07]: Who's involved in keeping that building such a place of pride for all pennsylvania?

[00:58:29] [SPEAKER_11]: Thank you for your kind words. I really do appreciate that

[00:58:32] [SPEAKER_12]: So let me follow up on something you talked about the archival aspects. Oh, I can't remember that that was like 30 seconds

[00:58:38] [SPEAKER_12]: I know not good. Um, so

[00:58:41] [SPEAKER_12]: Some of this is just things i've heard for example, I know that lodges can send

[00:58:46] [SPEAKER_12]: Documents to you correct and what becomes of those documents sent to grand line?

[00:58:53] [SPEAKER_11]: So that's a really good question

[00:58:54] [SPEAKER_11]: And i'm very appreciated that you asked that because we will lodge records sometimes end up in the basement in a moldy basement

[00:59:01] [SPEAKER_11]: So what we do is we take the lodge records

[00:59:04] [SPEAKER_11]: We do a condition report on if they have mold we freeze them for a year

[00:59:08] [SPEAKER_11]: We we you know, we do everything to preserve them and that's still the lodges property. We're just making sure that it doesn't go

[00:59:14] [SPEAKER_11]: It doesn't

[00:59:16] [SPEAKER_11]: Rot our history is gone because you you know every town that we were in

[00:59:20] [SPEAKER_11]: you know

[00:59:21] [SPEAKER_11]: You look up our grand masters on the wall going back to

[00:59:25] [SPEAKER_11]: Going back to the beginning

[00:59:26] [SPEAKER_11]: And then you see pennsylvania towns. You see pennsylvania roads named after these people

[00:59:32] [SPEAKER_11]: And why don't we forget them?

[00:59:35] [SPEAKER_11]: Because somewhere there's a moldy basement that people say oh my god, we can't give it the grand lodge and never give it back

[00:59:42] [SPEAKER_11]: What doesn't matter because it's gonna it's gonna it's you're losing our

[00:59:46] [SPEAKER_11]: Identity but we so we just our goal is and it is always a lot

[00:59:51] [SPEAKER_11]: So let's say theoretically lodge comes in they have moldy books

[00:59:55] [SPEAKER_11]: We present we we freeze them. We take care of them and bring them back and they say well now

[01:00:00] [SPEAKER_11]: We have a place a humidity control place where we can store them. They're yours

[01:00:04] [SPEAKER_03]: So what um when we're talking about digitization of records

[01:00:11] [SPEAKER_03]: um

[01:00:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Are we taking steps to maintain them the digital records because that's not you know fault free storage either

[01:00:18] [SPEAKER_11]: No, we we have redundancies when we do things

[01:00:22] [SPEAKER_11]: We always have redundancies because you know

[01:00:24] [SPEAKER_11]: They say the cloud safe until the clock attacks and then they save

[01:00:27] [SPEAKER_11]: You know usb's are safe until it runs into a magnet, but we have redundant and we also have

[01:00:34] [SPEAKER_11]: obviously the paper records, but we do have digital records and um, you know, I mean it's it's

[01:00:40] [SPEAKER_11]: that we

[01:00:41] [SPEAKER_11]: We take measures to to

[01:00:44] [SPEAKER_11]: To do that and I i'll have to point I have to point out that our

[01:00:48] [SPEAKER_11]: The ceo of the masonic charity has got a name bill kingsbury. If you don't know him. He's just a good human being

[01:00:54] [SPEAKER_11]: But the but the the folks up at the elizabeth campus. They have a big campus

[01:00:58] [SPEAKER_11]: They also support us

[01:01:00] [SPEAKER_03]: So if we have to digitize things and they have something I was just checking the numbers on on this like

[01:01:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Hard hard drive. Yeah, we'll be stable for anywhere between

[01:01:09] [SPEAKER_03]: 10 to maybe 30 40 years depending on the conditions kept it right so

[01:01:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Digitization is wonderful for access of information searching indexing

[01:01:20] [SPEAKER_03]: But are what's are we taking steps to make sure we're refreshing our digital records and not just assuming that

[01:01:26] [SPEAKER_03]: The hard drive is permanent because it's it's no we

[01:01:29] [SPEAKER_11]: And i'll give you for instance. So we have we still had the 3.5 disk heads

[01:01:35] [SPEAKER_11]: With information that still had the information. We just we have one of our team

[01:01:39] [SPEAKER_11]: Take that information save it

[01:01:42] [SPEAKER_11]: We save it on a separate hard drive. Yeah, we'll save it on it, you know, because a terrible bite for 10 ter it's not that expensive

[01:01:48] [SPEAKER_11]: So we'll save it there. We'll save it in our system

[01:01:51] [SPEAKER_11]: So in theory that but in case that system fails, it's backed up on this

[01:01:55] [SPEAKER_11]: Um on the heart on these hard drives, um

[01:02:00] [SPEAKER_11]: Not connected obviously after we load the information they're not connected to the internet so we

[01:02:05] [SPEAKER_03]: We think that's a good thing. I don't know sure but like when the hard drive degrades in like 10 years

[01:02:10] [SPEAKER_11]: We have a schedule so there's so yeah, we have a schedule. So there's there's a there's an unsung hero

[01:02:15] [SPEAKER_11]: um, and I mentioned bill beharzek, but there's a

[01:02:18] [SPEAKER_11]: And it's hard to pick out

[01:02:20] [SPEAKER_11]: Each individual employees because the other ones will get jealous, but they're all fantastic

[01:02:24] [SPEAKER_11]: But there's this kid and I say kid because i'm old

[01:02:28] [SPEAKER_11]: older than him and

[01:02:30] [SPEAKER_11]: Named steven kessler. He's the maintenance supervisor

[01:02:34] [SPEAKER_11]: He goes and looks for these things so he'll go and say hey, he always says hey boss

[01:02:38] [SPEAKER_11]: which i'm always a little bit embarrassed because I

[01:02:42] [SPEAKER_11]: It's just a team effort. So I feel very strange, you know, but he says hey boss and he goes and looks at all our contracts

[01:02:49] [SPEAKER_11]: He looks at all the the blueprints all the projects have been done in the building

[01:02:53] [SPEAKER_11]: he has all the information and then he expanded that into the archives he said boss we gotta

[01:02:58] [SPEAKER_11]: We gotta get this under schedule. So we have uh, steven kessler

[01:03:02] [SPEAKER_11]: He he actively goes out and looks for this

[01:03:06] [SPEAKER_11]: And uh, we're at a point now and i'm glad you bought it up. I'm glad we have

[01:03:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Like a broad audience here because we will

[01:03:15] um

[01:03:16] [SPEAKER_11]: We have so many resources, you know, like, you know this so you're a resource in the craft

[01:03:20] [SPEAKER_11]: So when we get to a point where we save stuff, we're going to reach out and say hey

[01:03:25] [SPEAKER_11]: Can you help us with this you in this area?

[01:03:28] [SPEAKER_11]: And um, and I don't want like self-proclaimed subject matter experts. I've learned that, you know, usually the quiet guys like there's a guy

[01:03:37] [SPEAKER_11]: Ah, geez brother ken shin

[01:03:40] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, mad ken. Yeah, you know ken. Yep

[01:03:43] [SPEAKER_11]: I i'm not going to share the personal story. He is a great human being

[01:03:50] [SPEAKER_11]: just a phenomenal

[01:03:52] [SPEAKER_11]: and

[01:03:53] [SPEAKER_11]: I could go on but I won't of course

[01:03:56] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[01:03:56] [SPEAKER_11]: But there's a guy who he'll hey ken, I don't understand what this is. Can you tell me? He'll help me out

[01:04:02] [SPEAKER_11]: And well, I haven't run into this but he always says if he doesn't understand he'll find somebody you do the same thing

[01:04:09] [SPEAKER_11]: You're you're a resource

[01:04:10] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh that that kid what is that kid eric that little whipper snapper over there valley hiresburg

[01:04:17] [SPEAKER_11]: He came down, you know, or he has to come down. So this is me calling him out on air

[01:04:21] [SPEAKER_11]: To come down, but eric will take a look at our building

[01:04:25] [SPEAKER_11]: And see what I haven't seen like and and we have engineers. We have we have

[01:04:31] [SPEAKER_11]: Everything in the fraternity, but it doesn't take any of that. It just takes a fresh set of eyes

[01:04:36] [SPEAKER_11]: You know I could because I I will walk past it I I was very embarrassed on

[01:04:41] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh grand master gammon's term because I really grand master gammon is really

[01:04:47] um

[01:04:48] [SPEAKER_11]: He's just a great guy if you know, I mean they all are but I mean some just because of personal relationships is more

[01:04:56] um

[01:04:56] [SPEAKER_11]: Special than than others now. I lost my train of thought just right out of my mind

[01:05:02] [SPEAKER_11]: I hate when the hair I know it's thinking about uh

[01:05:06] [SPEAKER_11]: A good time to take a break. All right, and then i'll try to remember what I forgot

[01:05:10] [SPEAKER_11]: We've only got no no units. There's no breaks left. So now I gotta come up under pressure

[01:05:15] [SPEAKER_11]: So what is that? So you're talking about eric and coming in the building

[01:05:18] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, so so eric can come into the building and that fresh set of eyes

[01:05:21] [SPEAKER_11]: So uh, I walked past the building every day

[01:05:24] [SPEAKER_11]: And did not notice that banners in front of the building were shredded because it became part of the background

[01:05:30] [SPEAKER_11]: And grand master gammon came in he says mike what's with the banners i'm like banners

[01:05:36] [SPEAKER_11]: And I now i'm more aware. Yeah, but but any mason that comes in and sees something let us you're not going to hurt my feelings

[01:05:42] [SPEAKER_11]: If you say something

[01:05:43] [SPEAKER_11]: um thick skin

[01:05:45] [SPEAKER_11]: youngest of a you know youngest in the irish family of seven, so you know i've been insulted by

[01:05:51] [SPEAKER_11]: A better class of people is using my classic line

[01:05:55] [SPEAKER_11]: Um, but it's that fresh eyes look that every mason who comes into that building offers this and I encourage everybody to come down

[01:06:02] [SPEAKER_11]: You know give us a call we'll make it special

[01:06:04] [SPEAKER_11]: I think we've uh, I don't know if you've seen the original records from your lodge. We have the original records from the lodge

[01:06:09] [SPEAKER_07]: So I I know um, I know certain districts and certain lodges make a regular trip to grand lodge

[01:06:16] [SPEAKER_07]: and they get sort of a

[01:06:19] [SPEAKER_07]: sneak peek behind the scenes kind of

[01:06:22] [SPEAKER_11]: They will never forget if you bring if you bring

[01:06:26] [SPEAKER_07]: Go ahead. Well the question I was going to ask you was

[01:06:28] [SPEAKER_07]: How do they go about setting that up because I I know a lot of lodges would be really interested in a bus trip to philly

[01:06:36] [SPEAKER_07]: so, um

[01:06:39] [SPEAKER_11]: We have a uh, and it may also i'll send you the email temple events

[01:06:43] [SPEAKER_11]: And it that goes directly to the director of maintenance because he's

[01:06:47] [SPEAKER_11]: Very organized and then he pulls the rest of the necessary team together

[01:06:52] [SPEAKER_11]: And then we set it up we check the date on the calendar and then immediately any and this is a standing rule at the

[01:06:58] [SPEAKER_11]: At the library museum any lodge who comes in

[01:07:01] [SPEAKER_11]: You're immediately as soon as you know to go out and find what we have in the archives about that lodge

[01:07:07] [SPEAKER_11]: When a district visits you find immediately something that oh, that's fun. That's with the lodges now

[01:07:12] [SPEAKER_11]: Some some lodges we have things sometimes we don't but what we do absolutely have

[01:07:17] [SPEAKER_11]: Is the documents that that lodge sent into grand lodge and their permission to become a lodge and the original signers

[01:07:26] [SPEAKER_11]: So you see them in your lodgeness like very cool, man. I wish I knew

[01:07:30] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, can we get copies of that and they can and they can I mean it gives and this goes into the documentation

[01:07:37] [SPEAKER_11]: Digital format and that gives us the opportunity

[01:07:40] [SPEAKER_11]: To just send it send it off and and it's going to take a while

[01:07:43] [SPEAKER_11]: Like i'm not gonna kid you it's going to take a while to go through that because it costs a lot of money

[01:07:48] [SPEAKER_11]: When we got our membership records

[01:07:51] [SPEAKER_11]: Digitized, but we will continue to do that and and just it's a passion

[01:07:57] [SPEAKER_07]: I mean, it's a passion. So who would who would uh somebody who was going to put together a trip like that?

[01:08:02] [SPEAKER_07]: Who should they contact call me?

[01:08:04] [SPEAKER_11]: I mean call me and then or send me an email at m

[01:08:09] [SPEAKER_11]: Mck master mason m mck mike mck m mck

[01:08:15] [SPEAKER_11]: at

[01:08:17] [SPEAKER_11]: P.a. No, no p.a. No, okay. The song temple. Wait, I should have bought a card. Oh my you and moir

[01:08:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my god

[01:08:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, I set it up. I can't get any better than that

[01:08:31] [SPEAKER_04]: What did I tell you we needed you had one job one thing to blow you're killing me smalls

[01:08:40] [SPEAKER_12]: So while you're looking for that card, um, no it's out in the car because I

[01:08:44] [SPEAKER_11]: It is I always I always

[01:08:46] [SPEAKER_12]: Tim has it. It's a digital mckee at p a masonic temple.org

[01:08:52] [SPEAKER_12]: Yeah, we're just reading the uh, the usefulness of digital records right there

[01:08:56] [SPEAKER_11]: So for 10 years I had the extension at p day grand lodge dot org and then

[01:09:00] [SPEAKER_11]: You know to become more focused on the museum as part of masonic charities

[01:09:04] [SPEAKER_11]: They they dropped that on me and I stole I mental block and it's so easy. It's so easy

[01:09:10] [SPEAKER_05]: I'm just an idiot so the folks in massachusetts can send you an email and say the new york

[01:09:15] [SPEAKER_11]: Look, I enjoy it

[01:09:17] [SPEAKER_11]: You know what?

[01:09:18] [SPEAKER_11]: Whatever you do you want to come down and see me in philly make sure you wear the jersey of your home team

[01:09:23] [SPEAKER_12]: There you go. You'll be completely safe

[01:09:26] [SPEAKER_12]: Exactly

[01:09:27] [SPEAKER_12]: So one quick follow-up before we take that break you talked about lodges being able to send things in and you could treat the

[01:09:34] [SPEAKER_12]: Documents and so on and so forth correct. Do those

[01:09:38] [SPEAKER_12]: Become digitized or is that part of a future plan? No, that's part of future plans. So did

[01:09:43] [SPEAKER_11]: What we're doing now is what we have the financial ability to do

[01:09:48] [SPEAKER_11]: and that's the tough thing because we

[01:09:51] [SPEAKER_11]: You know

[01:09:52] [SPEAKER_11]: We live on investment

[01:09:53] [SPEAKER_11]: so it takes about three million dollars roughly to run that building and and sometimes it's

[01:09:58] [SPEAKER_11]: On a slow year. It's a million dollars worth of capital

[01:10:01] [SPEAKER_11]: And on a big year that could balloon up to 20

[01:10:05] [SPEAKER_11]: million dollars

[01:10:05] [SPEAKER_11]: Because the

[01:10:08] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm trying to say this in a nice way

[01:10:11] [SPEAKER_11]: All right. Well, I won't

[01:10:14] [SPEAKER_11]: when

[01:10:15] [SPEAKER_11]: What I mentioned is this bill behar guy I talked to I listened to him

[01:10:19] [SPEAKER_11]: and he wasn't always listening to the past and that's not the fall of the grand lodge officers because they

[01:10:25] [SPEAKER_11]: Always they'd listen to billy

[01:10:26] [SPEAKER_11]: It wasn't organized bill kingsbury has gotten this organized as a masonic charity and now we have an engineering study being done now

[01:10:34] [SPEAKER_11]: And now we can have a plan

[01:10:37] [SPEAKER_11]: So we're in this balance of a 151 year old building

[01:10:42] [SPEAKER_11]: 15700 blocks of grain 12 million bricks

[01:10:47] [SPEAKER_11]: Haven't had anybody get me mad enough to make them count them, but you know, I saw like a military

[01:10:50] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, it's coming at somebody

[01:10:54] [SPEAKER_11]: eric

[01:10:55] [SPEAKER_11]: Just going to pick on her today

[01:10:57] [SPEAKER_11]: And the challenge is we like for instance, we just got another a new chiller

[01:11:03] [SPEAKER_11]: So that controls the air temperature air quality humidity in the building and it helps in that

[01:11:07] [SPEAKER_11]: Because every you are in a museum the works of art. I mean we have you know, charles wilson peel

[01:11:13] [SPEAKER_11]: We have marines in there. We have these great

[01:11:17] Paintings

[01:11:18] [SPEAKER_11]: Now we put that new system

[01:11:20] [SPEAKER_11]: On the old pipes so guess what? We're doing now fixing the pipe fixing the pipes

[01:11:25] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, that's right. And uh, you know the the the task is it's you know

[01:11:31] [SPEAKER_11]: Hand in hand in unanimity, right we can get it done

[01:11:33] [SPEAKER_11]: but the challenge is always

[01:11:36] [SPEAKER_11]: finances because what we've

[01:11:38] [SPEAKER_11]: I think taken for we've taken for granted historically that the building will always be there

[01:11:45] [SPEAKER_11]: And that is just not it's just not gonna it's like there's no elf in magic

[01:11:50] [SPEAKER_11]: And I wasn't talking about it's really hard making it look easy

[01:11:53] [SPEAKER_11]: and um, you know, this is this is what keeps me up because the the you know

[01:11:59] [SPEAKER_11]: There are opportunities to look outside to share our message by sharing our literature

[01:12:04] [SPEAKER_11]: And sharing our artwork outside our community

[01:12:07] [SPEAKER_11]: So that is us saying again not relying on again

[01:12:12] [SPEAKER_11]: No, all respect to washington and franklin and all the founders

[01:12:17] [SPEAKER_11]: But we have these works of art that illustrate our dedication to the arts and sciences. We have these texts that are

[01:12:26] [SPEAKER_11]: And the broader world as far as donors and things like that they will support us

[01:12:34] [SPEAKER_11]: But it's not it hasn't been out there yet we've been we've been um in the past we've been too

[01:12:43] [SPEAKER_11]: Closed about how like it's the secret it's it's not this

[01:12:48] [SPEAKER_11]: Secret it's I would say

[01:12:50] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, if I were to restate that I would say it's not the secret. It's the magic

[01:12:53] [SPEAKER_11]: Like tim i've known you for I don't know how long now because there was no time start time or end time

[01:12:59] [SPEAKER_11]: First time you met you were my brother right now. We're meeting you're my brother

[01:13:02] [SPEAKER_11]: The same here at everybody's table

[01:13:05] [SPEAKER_11]: It is it is that um

[01:13:09] [SPEAKER_11]: Magic for lack of a better term

[01:13:11] [SPEAKER_11]: the invisible hand whatever you want to call it that is so

[01:13:15] [SPEAKER_11]: Beautiful about free mainstream

[01:13:18] [SPEAKER_11]: That I you know people are like well now let's talk about some old stuff

[01:13:21] [SPEAKER_11]: Now let's talk about the fact that I can go in any state in the united states of america walk in

[01:13:25] [SPEAKER_11]: And they will accept me as brother. I walked down to grand logic colorado

[01:13:28] [SPEAKER_11]: I walked in talked to a guy. I said hey brother. Hey, don't because I didn't know his name obviously

[01:13:33] [SPEAKER_11]: But he was my brother, right?

[01:13:34] [SPEAKER_11]: Took me on this really good tour really informative learned stuff which isn't hard for me that I didn't know

[01:13:41] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, and he was the grand secretary

[01:13:43] [SPEAKER_11]: Grand secretary of the grand logic colorado took time for me and my son

[01:13:47] [SPEAKER_11]: Just to show him

[01:13:50] [SPEAKER_11]: No, wait that's just that that's just masonry at its fundamental level. That's before we get into

[01:13:56] [SPEAKER_11]: You know, I mean anything else anything i'll give you i'll give you a personal story. So

[01:14:02] [SPEAKER_11]: People always ask what to get out of free mainstream

[01:14:05] [SPEAKER_11]: There was a kid who came in our lodge he's

[01:14:08] [SPEAKER_11]: Relative again term. Um, he's

[01:14:11] [SPEAKER_11]: Brother scott hilsey. He's in my lodge. He was in 506

[01:14:15] [SPEAKER_11]: um, I had served in the gulf war and uh

[01:14:18] [SPEAKER_11]: Suffered from ptsd

[01:14:21] [SPEAKER_11]: And he was able to tell me

[01:14:25] [SPEAKER_11]: That I should get help

[01:14:27] [SPEAKER_11]: Without making me feel like

[01:14:29] [SPEAKER_11]: I lost my mind

[01:14:31] [SPEAKER_11]: I don't know how he said it but then I went to the via and got help

[01:14:34] [SPEAKER_11]: And my life has been

[01:14:36] [SPEAKER_11]: a lot better for it this kid

[01:14:39] [SPEAKER_11]: That I just met relative in free masonry. He was sitting alone. So we went home grabbed a couple of mass managers

[01:14:45] [SPEAKER_11]: We're like, hey, nobody sits alone in our lodge

[01:14:48] [SPEAKER_11]: And because of that I have a fundamentally better life

[01:14:51] [SPEAKER_11]: Than I than I did for

[01:14:54] [SPEAKER_11]: 15 years out of the service

[01:14:57] [SPEAKER_11]: you know the torment of pta, you know, I won't get too far into detail but

[01:15:02] [SPEAKER_11]: Where does that happen?

[01:15:04] [SPEAKER_11]: It didn't happen anywhere else in my life

[01:15:07] [SPEAKER_11]: except for free masonry

[01:15:09] [SPEAKER_11]: So sorry, that's all right short story long again. I am an irishman gold gold bless

[01:15:14] [SPEAKER_12]: All right. Well, we need to take one more break and then we're going to come back with uh news from walter

[01:15:19] [SPEAKER_12]: And then we'll play copious dews and we'll turn larry and the chickens loose

[01:15:30] [SPEAKER_12]: As far back as the mid 1800s records exist describing the pre-meaning tradition

[01:15:36] [SPEAKER_12]: Of brethren smoking cigars during and after gatherings

[01:15:41] [SPEAKER_12]: To this day the practice of smoking cigars remains very much alive in many lodges

[01:15:46] [SPEAKER_12]: This custom is considered a time for brethren to relax

[01:15:50] [SPEAKER_12]: Exchange ideas and enjoy the simplicity and fellowship. It is the very essence of our brotherhood

[01:15:57] [SPEAKER_12]: This is what hireman solomon cigars is all about

[01:16:00] [SPEAKER_12]: Our starting principles are to bring masonic brethren together in the harmony of a good cigar

[01:16:05] [SPEAKER_12]: Pull up a chair sit back light up any of our premium cigars and enjoy the history

[01:16:12] [SPEAKER_12]: Hireman solomon cigars can be found at fine cigar retailers

[01:16:17] [SPEAKER_12]: For a complete list visit hireman solomon cigars.com

[01:16:21] [SPEAKER_12]: Or check them out on social media to find out when they'll be at a live event near you

[01:16:27] [SPEAKER_12]: Hireman solomon cigars is pleased to be the official cigar of the masonic light podcast

[01:16:45] [SPEAKER_07]: In masonic news today was announced today that the masonic light podcast

[01:16:50] [SPEAKER_07]: Was called out for misrepresenting scottish right jurisdiction

[01:16:56] [SPEAKER_07]: References to the mason dixon line dividing scottish right into two jurisdictions while partly true

[01:17:03] [SPEAKER_07]: Current divisions are not defined by the two traveling freemasons

[01:17:09] [SPEAKER_07]: Doing some surveying in a party

[01:17:13] [SPEAKER_07]: All parties maturely agreed that the other

[01:17:16] [SPEAKER_07]: Was partially correct and no masonic charges have been brought

[01:17:21] [SPEAKER_07]: That's the masonic news

[01:17:23] [SPEAKER_07]: So it was

[01:17:24] [SPEAKER_12]: Thank you brother walter for handling that very delicate situation. Well, that was great

[01:17:29] [SPEAKER_12]: Actually, I want to thank you better. I think the listener for

[01:17:32] [SPEAKER_12]: We actually got email from a listener going you guys have been misrepresenting this whole

[01:17:37] [SPEAKER_12]: Jurisdiction thing and that was not our it was never our intent to misrepresent the dress

[01:17:41] [SPEAKER_11]: We just wanted to make sure they were paying attention. Well, there's exactly

[01:17:47] [SPEAKER_12]: Wait a minute these guys are actually paying attention

[01:17:50] [SPEAKER_05]: He loves the show he listens to the show

[01:17:53] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, so by the way larry you have the best voice

[01:17:56] [SPEAKER_11]: So he's got the best voice in freemason. I know it's the greatest voice in from don't tell brian hollison

[01:18:01] [SPEAKER_11]: He has a face for radio

[01:18:03] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, yeah, you have a face for radio

[01:18:06] [SPEAKER_12]: Absolutely. Okay. Well, uh great episode tonight. Thank you brother mike for being with us

[01:18:11] [SPEAKER_12]: Thank you. Uh, we're gonna go around the horn here really quickly and talk about we're gonna do oh we got

[01:18:16] [SPEAKER_12]: We got something important to do. We got that other thing. Yeah, do it

[01:18:20] [SPEAKER_07]: It's time for something cue the music

[01:18:23] [SPEAKER_07]: It's time for

[01:18:27] [SPEAKER_07]: copious

[01:18:27] [SPEAKER_07]: Do

[01:18:29] [SPEAKER_07]: Brother mike mckee this game is all about you. We are supposed to guess

[01:18:35] [SPEAKER_07]: How much you pay every year in dues now not included are the

[01:18:43] [SPEAKER_07]: numerous banquets and travels and other things but just

[01:18:47] [SPEAKER_07]: How much your dues card?

[01:18:49] [SPEAKER_07]: costs you

[01:18:51] [SPEAKER_07]: So you have that number in your mind we're going to guess

[01:18:54] [SPEAKER_07]: Uh in the meantime our brother jake, uh had to split the recording so you are not gonna hear from jake young but

[01:19:04] [SPEAKER_07]: josh lambert killer

[01:19:07] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm going to you first because you cheat

[01:19:12] [SPEAKER_06]: What?

[01:19:14] [SPEAKER_06]: 963 dollars and 23 cents 963 and 20

[01:19:19] [SPEAKER_06]: Is this like how do I cheat i've never won was I heard I know that's is this precious right rules

[01:19:24] [SPEAKER_06]: You cheat badly. That's what i'm saying

[01:19:26] [SPEAKER_08]: All right, and next

[01:19:29] [SPEAKER_08]: Tim denden

[01:19:31] [SPEAKER_08]: How much do you think mike pays in copious dues?

[01:19:36] [SPEAKER_06]: 714 dollars 714 dollars larry baris

[01:19:43] [SPEAKER_08]: 755 dollars oh going large attaboy i'm going to say

[01:19:48] [SPEAKER_07]: that our brother mike mckee

[01:19:51] [SPEAKER_07]: pays

[01:19:51] [SPEAKER_07]: 1100 dollars in all of his various organizations

[01:19:57] [SPEAKER_07]: Nod your head when you agree with me

[01:20:03] [SPEAKER_08]: All right, the guesses are in brother mike

[01:20:08] [SPEAKER_08]: How much do you pay?

[01:20:11] [SPEAKER_08]: In copious dues probably about 550 dollars what it used to be I got a couple petitions

[01:20:24] [SPEAKER_11]: We're gonna do one dollar the reason the reason is I did pay

[01:20:29] [SPEAKER_11]: Closer to your amounts in the past, but I looked at everything faith following fraternity, right?

[01:20:36] [SPEAKER_11]: so I

[01:20:38] [SPEAKER_11]: Really kind of focused on the groups. I really enjoy, you know the scottish right I like

[01:20:43] [SPEAKER_11]: And it's not that I don't like the other bodies

[01:20:47] [SPEAKER_11]: But there's only so much time to go around and and I don't want to be a masonic widow, you know

[01:20:53] [SPEAKER_05]: Let the record know that jose lambert

[01:20:59] [SPEAKER_05]: Has actually finally won tonight wait did he go no he went over

[01:21:15] [SPEAKER_11]: Everybody

[01:21:16] [SPEAKER_11]: Everybody failed

[01:21:17] [SPEAKER_11]: That's right. All right, and and to the credit the organizations that I that I uh

[01:21:24] [SPEAKER_11]: I guess the minute from you know, there's time they left it open that if I want to go back into it at later stage in life

[01:21:30] [SPEAKER_11]: I'm sure

[01:21:31] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, but you know faith found the fraternity it was getting it's getting a bit much and

[01:21:37] [SPEAKER_11]: Not so much the money but but you know once they find out you can memorize stuff, right?

[01:21:41] [SPEAKER_11]: It's like well, you have to do this. I just walked in the door

[01:21:44] [SPEAKER_07]: See, I learned how to memorize stuff really well and 20 years later. I can't remember my zip code. So

[01:21:53] [SPEAKER_11]: The three degrees the first three degrees you just have to start me

[01:21:57] [SPEAKER_11]: I can't i'm completely blank when I get in these and they're like then it starts and i'm like, oh, yeah

[01:22:02] [SPEAKER_12]: Just two words. Yep, still don't know what I say. All right. All right. So around the horn what's coming up?

[01:22:08] [SPEAKER_12]: Masonically, I'll ask you larry maris tall cedars convention get his burg

[01:22:12] [SPEAKER_05]: Uh 19th of september through the 22nd goosing grid iron masonic center board director

[01:22:18] [SPEAKER_05]: I got 11 masonic functions to go to this month. Not not even including no more

[01:22:23] [SPEAKER_07]: All right

[01:22:25] [SPEAKER_07]: Highlights jack harley, uh big thing coming up. Uh,

[01:22:29] [SPEAKER_07]: September 21st is the oklahoma indian degree efford of masonic efford of lodge 665

[01:22:35] [SPEAKER_07]: Is hosting the uh, oklahoma indian degree team again this year and we are doing at the zembo shrine auditorium

[01:22:44] [SPEAKER_07]: Uh an oklahoma indian third degree

[01:22:47] [SPEAKER_07]: So if you'd like to see it, um just go on eventbrite.com and type in efford zembo

[01:22:54] [SPEAKER_07]: And or some combination or efford indian degree or any search engine type phrase

[01:23:02] [SPEAKER_07]: And you'll come up to the efford of lodge 665

[01:23:05] [SPEAKER_07]: Um eventbrite, uh, you can have you can either have

[01:23:09] [SPEAKER_07]: The meeting alone or lunch and the meeting so you can do tickets either way

[01:23:15] [SPEAKER_07]: Um depending on how really cheap you are

[01:23:18] [SPEAKER_07]: Um, but get your tickets soon because if you listen to this five years from now it will already have happened

[01:23:25] [SPEAKER_12]: You've never seen that time. Please do you'll you'll enjoy it's a very cool thing. It is very cool. Mike. How about you?

[01:23:30] [SPEAKER_11]: What you got coming up masonicly? Well, um the lodges are back, which is awesome

[01:23:35] [SPEAKER_11]: The building is filled with brothers and same five people complain, which is awesome

[01:23:41] [SPEAKER_12]: That's true in any masonic body exactly

[01:23:44] [SPEAKER_11]: Yeah, when it goes up to 10, I know i'm really like, you know

[01:23:48] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[01:23:49] [SPEAKER_11]: But that being back in uh, you know, uh, I was master many years ago and everybody that remembers actually passed away

[01:23:56] [SPEAKER_11]: So i'm junior warden at my home lodge filling in

[01:23:59] [SPEAKER_11]: So to drop a line interesting cycle. And uh, I mean, yeah, I love my home lodge. I mean, um

[01:24:05] [SPEAKER_11]: Is that leading your home lodge? No, uh, juruslum 506 malita tries to claim me if they listen

[01:24:10] [SPEAKER_11]: But because they try to like send my membership out i'm like no i'm a past minister juruslum 506

[01:24:16] [SPEAKER_11]: Those are guys who elected me. They're the guys who put their trust in me

[01:24:19] [SPEAKER_11]: And that's the end of story

[01:24:21] [SPEAKER_11]: but the you know, uh the ton tavern obviously is a big uh,

[01:24:25] [SPEAKER_11]: As a big part of our efforts now because again pay tribute to marine corps and is there an opportunity for masons around the state?

[01:24:32] [SPEAKER_07]: To participate in that

[01:24:34] [SPEAKER_11]: There is to go to the um the ton

[01:24:37] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh run the ton ton tavern philadelphia, you know come up with a page the ton

[01:24:41] [SPEAKER_11]: And then there's all different ways to get involved. So it's the ton.com

[01:24:46] [SPEAKER_11]: The ton dot org or just double just put the ton and philadelphia in okay with that

[01:24:51] [SPEAKER_11]: Bolin search, I think they call it. I don't know boolean boolean boolean. Yes

[01:24:56] [SPEAKER_11]: Booyah. All right. All right. And uh the lafayette events. I mean this is this is a uh,

[01:25:02] [SPEAKER_11]: With the american friends lafayette is their event

[01:25:05] [SPEAKER_11]: Uh, but we are uh, neither of us are making money off this the 28th of september

[01:25:11] [SPEAKER_11]: um

[01:25:12] [SPEAKER_11]: 200 years after lafayette came back to philadelphia and where is the masonic presence they're coming to us

[01:25:18] [SPEAKER_11]: The our building our pennsylvania mason's building to celebrate his anniversary

[01:25:25] [SPEAKER_12]: It's going to be fantastic awesome. Where did he sign our wall? Our good friend. Uh, chris roolie

[01:25:30] [SPEAKER_12]: Uh just wrote a book that was released about lafayette and

[01:25:34] [SPEAKER_12]: His life and so we encourage you to look online for that. It's great. Thank you mike. Uh, josh

[01:25:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I got the podcast of course and then uh, I have uh like a social function i'll be going to

[01:25:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, but other than that cool. That's about it. I forgot to mention the anti-social. Yes

[01:25:53] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to yeah

[01:25:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, i'm sure i'll be anti-social at the social function

[01:25:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Good

[01:26:00] [SPEAKER_12]: All right a couple things uh, eureka westerlodge

[01:26:05] [SPEAKER_12]: 168th anniversary banquet is coming up. Wow

[01:26:07] [SPEAKER_12]: Um, yeah, I think about that. I looked I was looking up some historical markers for

[01:26:14] [SPEAKER_12]: 1856 and what was going on and like franklin pierce was president

[01:26:18] [SPEAKER_12]: and six weeks after

[01:26:21] [SPEAKER_12]: Uh, we were issued our warrant of constitution

[01:26:24] [SPEAKER_12]: The district deputy grand master the first masonic district

[01:26:28] [SPEAKER_12]: Uh james bucannon was elected president. Yeah, um

[01:26:33] [SPEAKER_12]: Amongst a whole host of other things and you think about

[01:26:37] [SPEAKER_12]: When our lodge was founded it was 80 years after the declaration of independence

[01:26:42] [SPEAKER_12]: and 60

[01:26:44] [SPEAKER_12]: Some years after the constitution

[01:26:48] [SPEAKER_12]: And it really puts it into perspective when we realize that brothers born in 1957 and 1944

[01:26:54] [SPEAKER_12]: Are the same distance from the founding as we are today. Wow, that's pretty incredible

[01:27:03] [SPEAKER_12]: We'll see you were there at the signing

[01:27:07] [SPEAKER_12]: That was great

[01:27:08] [SPEAKER_12]: So we've got that district three low veil wednesday, uh september the 18th

[01:27:14] [SPEAKER_12]: Uh, you can go online find information about that district 19 low veil on friday the 20th

[01:27:18] [SPEAKER_12]: I did have the indian degree down. So they're looking forward to see folks at that and then uber grotto

[01:27:23] [SPEAKER_12]: Will be meeting on sunday september the 22nd

[01:27:27] [SPEAKER_12]: Where I hope enough people sign up that we're not paying 30 for pizza pizza patio. It's gonna be fun

[01:27:33] [SPEAKER_12]: It'll be fun. Yeah, absolutely

[01:27:35] [SPEAKER_12]: And there's more than just pizza. There is more than just pizza. Absolutely. Okay great episode guys

[01:27:41] [SPEAKER_12]: I really wish we could go longer but our listeners are probably growing tired of us at this point

[01:27:46] [SPEAKER_12]: um

[01:27:47] [SPEAKER_12]: Thanks mike for being here three of our listeners. Thank you demited in the meantime

[01:27:50] [SPEAKER_12]: Hey

[01:27:52] [SPEAKER_12]: All right, I tell you what why don't you grab your digery do

[01:27:56] [SPEAKER_12]: Ah and some exit music. We'll do some exit music. Uh as larry

[01:28:01] [SPEAKER_07]: Uh calls out the chickens brother mike is going to serenade us with uh

[01:28:07] [SPEAKER_07]: With an instrument native to his oh, he's got to be right up on the microphone recording down a little bit

[01:28:17] [SPEAKER_12]: Listeners you might want to turn the volume down just a little bit here. Yeah, here we go

[01:28:24] [SPEAKER_05]: Do it lars special thanks to efferent lodge

[01:28:28] [SPEAKER_05]: 665 for allowing us to continue

[01:28:30] [SPEAKER_05]: In this building and after tonight they might

[01:28:34] [SPEAKER_05]: They might reconsider do we have australian chickens? Do we anyhow? Uh special thanks also to our

[01:28:41] [SPEAKER_05]: producer director josh lamberton jack harley our news director

[01:28:45] [SPEAKER_05]: Tim deadman our marketing director

[01:28:49] [SPEAKER_05]: And all of our masonic like contributors austin schiffer and that was made for and

[01:28:56] [SPEAKER_05]: What's her name?

[01:28:58] [SPEAKER_05]: Oh gosh, anyway

[01:29:00] [SPEAKER_05]: This is blowing my mind

[01:29:02] [SPEAKER_05]: The chickens is this gonna play with the chickens as well. Yeah

[01:29:07] [SPEAKER_05]: This is mike with his diger in here. I mean, this is the

[01:29:09] [SPEAKER_05]: Respectable and that is the coolest sound ever. Anyway, thanks for listening and remember everybody have fun and do good

[01:29:17] [SPEAKER_05]: Good night. Goodbye everybody. Bye everybody