How quickly the days of August are passing by which is a clear indication that we will be returning to St. Johns No. 1 Providence in just a few weeks to continue our work in the Craft. While I am truly looking forward to our time together in Lodge, it does unfortunately mean that summer is coming to an end.

Speaking of summer, the St Johns 1P picnic was held on Sunday, 8/6 and we hosted a total of 160 brothers, family embers and guests. In typical St Johns 1P manner, the picnic was well planned and the execution of the event was perfect. And, once again, we were blessed with perfect weather. My sincere thanks to the Officers and Picnic Committee members whose commitment made for such a pleasurable and enjoyable day. You did not overlook or miss one detail! I was also delighted that the majority of our 2023-2024 candidate class attended the picnic. Their interest in SJ1P and the Craft is palpable and you could sense their excitement. I know that they appreciated getting to know us as well as getting to know each other. It will truly be an honor to confer the degrees of Freemasonry on this cohort and I fully intend to meet their expectations!

Over this past month the Officers and I continued meeting to review, discuss and refine plans for the upcoming year. As mentioned previously, one of our summer endeavors was participating in a book discussion using Observing the Craft by Brother Andrew Hammer. For me personally, it has been a very rewarding exercise. It has opened dialogue and helped us define ideas in our pursuit of excellence and providing experience. As the capstone to our book discussion, the Officers are holding a Zoom session with Bro. Hammer to share some thoughts and to ask some very pointed questions. As a note, Bro. Hammer will be our guest speaker for the April 2024 communication which is also our official visitation from R:W:. DDGM Eric Grist. The combination of these two events will make for a wonderful evening. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

For our September meeting on 9/20, our guest speaker will be R:.W:. Brother Nicholas Ives who is currently the Grand Junior Steward and Grand Lodge Officer for District 4 in the state of Connecticut. He is also a member of the Committee for Masonic Education in Connecticut and has been chairman since 2017. I’ve invited R:.W:. Nick to come and speak with us about the establishment of Ouroboros Lodge No. 151. Ouroboros Lodge is an observant lodge and R:.W:. Nick was its charter Master. He will share with us the story and reasons why Ouroboros No. 151 was founded and what is done differently in this observant lodge. Come learn about Masonic observance and to consider what/how we might want to (re)introduce at SJ1P as we pursue excellence. I expect that the presentation by R: .W:. Nick will be thought provoking and I have been looking forward to it for months.

At our September meeting we will also be selling SJ1P hats and polos shirts. These were so popular last year that we sold out. So, we recently placed another order but in different colors. This year the polos are navy with the SJ1P crest and the hats are khaki with the crest. For those at the picnic, Bro. Senior Deacon Bill Gouge was modeling the new polo. Currently, we have a variety of sizes available but quantities are limited. If you would like a polo or hat (or one of each), please get them while you can. The cost is $20 each.