Taking Reunions on the Road
 

Photograph taken by Brother Richard Kretz, 32°

I attended the Spring Reunion of the Valley of Roanoke, Orient of Virginia, in 2004. I live in a very small, rural town located in the Southwest corner of the state. The drive to Roanoke is a 334 mile round trip. Candidates traveling from Rose Hill, VA (in the far western corner of the state) would have to travel 452 miles round trip to attend a Reunion. A solution to this distance, was to take our Reunions “on the road.” This would make it easier for candidates to attend and alleviate distance traveled due to the large geographic area covered by our Valley.

Plans were made to have the Fall Reunion that year at Suthers Lodge No. 259 located in Norton, VA (183 miles from Roanoke). The first try was a resounding success with 27 candidates. Leadership of the Orient, including our SGIG, Grand Lodge officers and Scottish Rite Masons from across the state made the journey to bring Scottish Rite Masonry to us. Particular credit goes to Most Worshipful and Illustrious James Milton Scearce, Jr., 33°, Grand Master of Masons in Virginia 2004, who worked this event into an already full schedule and to Illustrious Brother Donnie Ratliff, 32° KCCH, who was the Potentate of Kazim Shrine that year and brought the Shrine Ceremonial to us that same day. A friendly and smooth working relationship with the Shrine has proven most helpful in scheduling “on the road” events that have benefited both Masonic bodies. The program was so successful that our SGIG made a commitment to try and have at least one Reunion in our part of the state each year. We’ve had five Reunions located at different sites over the past six years.  Reunions were also held in Marion, VA (106 miles from Roanoke), and our latest one was held November 21, 2009 at Abingdon Lodge No. 48 located in Abingdon, VA (134 miles from Roanoke). The Reunion in Abingdon was our most successful one to date with 37 Master Masons becoming Masters of the Royal Secret. We had over 80 Scottish Rite Masons in attendance!

What are you waiting for?  If you want to cultivate interest and membership in Scottish Rite, consider taking your Scottish Rite reunions on the road!  Our Valley has had a total of 108 candidates in five reunions after implementing this successful process.

Submitted by Jonathan Mark Mills, 32° KCCH, Orient of Virginia, Valley of Roanoke

(Reprinted with permission of the Scottish Rite Journal, February 2010)