Grand Master's Message
Br. Richard S. Sokoll, MWGM
September 2008
Greetings Brethren,
Every year our summer season
seems to pass much too quickly, it
seems like yesterday that we were
looking forward to the warm weather
and all the activities that occupy our
lives in July and August. As the days of
this summer are just about over, our
thoughts now turn to the reopening of
all of the Lodges in this jurisdiction
and I congratulate those Lodges which
chose to remain open all summer and
confer degrees on candidates.
For me, summer has been a
whirlwind of Masonic activity. Since
our Annual Communication I have
attended and represented The Grand
Lodge of Rhode Island at the annual
meetings of The Grand Lodge of
Quebec, the Grand Lodge of Vermont
and the Grand Lodge of Canada (in the
Province of Ontario.) I also had the
pleasure of accompanying Illustrious
Frank DiMascio, Potentate of the
Rhode Island Shriners to the Imperial
Session in St. Louis, Missouri,
attended the Annual meeting of the
Supreme Council for the Northern
Masonic Jurisdiction which this year
was held in Providence, and attended
the annual meeting of The Royal Order
of Scotland, which for the first time
was also held in Providence.
Additionally, for the first time, Grand
Lodge was invited to join the Shriners
and march in the Bristol 4th of July
Parade. I wish to thank Brother
DiMascio for his invitation and it is
our hope that further joint events will
become the norm and not the
exception. To the Brethren who joined
me to march in the parade, thank you
for all of your support and patience in
waiting to step off. I had a great time
and look forward to this becoming an
annual event.
Our last major event of the summer
was the annual Masonic Family picnic.
This was held on Sunday August 10th at
Buttonwoods Masonic Youth Center. As
always it was a day of fun, food and
fellowship. I congratulate Brother Leon
C. Knudsen, Right Worshipful Junior
Grand Warden and his staff of helpers
from our Lodges and the Order of
Eastern Star for a well orchestrated
picnic. I would also like to thank all
of our lodges for their contribution
to the various children’s
activities held during the course of
the day. And to the Shrine Clowns
who entertained us in the afternoon.
This annual picnic is truly an
example of Brothers coming
together to accomplish a common
goal.
In my address to you at the
Annual Communication , I
mentioned that we would be
focusing on Officer Education this
year. In order to further enhance our
Masonic education program, the
Officer Forums will be held in the
Districts. Brother Paul J. Kokolsky,
our Right Worshipful Director of
Masonic Education has spent many
hours revamping the forums with
new material provided by the
Masonic Renewal Committee of
North America.
He has five different topics which
will be discussed during the course
of the year. Each District Deputy
Grand Master has agreed to host an
Officer Forum at one of his Official
Visitations in his District. The
schedule of these Forums is printed
on page 4 of this Freemason. We
will also post these dates on our web
site and are requesting that every
Lodge publish the upcoming date in
their Trestle-board. This new
schedule for the forums is in
response to your requests for a more
convenient time and place. All
officers will be required to attend the
forum in their District and are more
than welcome at any of the other
forums in this jurisdiction. We will also
provide additional
Forums to any District upon there
request. Let us not forget, today’s Line
Officers are tomorrow’s potential
Worshipful Master’s, as such we must
ensure that all of our members who
assume positions of leadership are as
prepared as possible for that role.
Brethren, as we are about to embark
on a new Masonic year, please take a
moment and reflect on the fact that we
are the oldest and greatest Fraternity
in the world. That in and of itself is a
fact we should be proud of. We
contribute hundreds of millions of
dollars worldwide on an annual basis,
to a variety of very worthwhile causes
and in our own way attempt to make the world a
better place to live by making good men better.
This is quite an achievement and something we
should all be very proud to relate to a potential
new member. Interest in our fraternity is at a
level we have not seen for a long time, we must
capitalize on this opportunity and continue to
add to the membership to ensure future
generations we be able to bear the fruits of our
labors. Your Grand Lodge is working on a new
public relations campaign for this year, to once
again create public awareness of Freemasonry
and assist the Lodges in attracting new members.
Further details of this year’s campaign will be
available in mid September and I will be
addressing this topic in my message in the next
issue of the Freemason.
In closing my Brothers, please support your
Lodge and attend their meetings, for we are all
but players on the team. If one is absent the team
will suffer, it is only the entire team working in
concert that is the true champion.
Fraternally,
Richard S. Sokoll
GRAND MASTER
