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January 3, 2008

 

Printed Reflections

Reflected News

From the EO
80 in 08
Congress 08
Naples Trip
Speech Contest
Kach Essay
 
 
 
 
 
 

From the Executive Officer

NEW PROGRAMS
The start of the New Year is here and Maryland DeMolay has some exciting new programs.  The first program we like to introduce is the DeMolay Month Award.
   This award will be given to the chapter that has the best DeMolay Month Program during March of each year. Your chapter must recap activities and programs it did in recognition of DeMolay month and submit this report to Maryland DeMolay by the 20th of April. The winner will receive the Galloping Gavel which is a 4ft - 15lb gavel, to display in your chapter for one year.
   The next program is the Chapter of Excellence.  This program will replace the current Chapter of the Year program and will run from January 1st to December 31st of each year.
   The Chapter of Excellence program has a list of ten requirements that need to be met for the year. All chapters meeting these requirements will be considered a Chapter of Excellence and will receive a recognition streamer to be placed on their chapter banner and also receive a monetary award.  All of the Chapter of Excellence reports will be judged in order to pick an overall winner, and that winner will receive the Homer Carroll Trophy and extra prize money. The awards will be presented at the semi-annual meeting held at Congress each year.
   We made one program change. The Dad Harpole Membership program will run from January 1st to December 31st of each year. This change will enable the chapters to track their membership standing easier than in years passed.  This trophy will be presented at the semi-annual meeting held at Congress.
   It is our hope that these new programs will help our chapters grow and help their members have an exciting and fulfilling year.  

-"Dad" Bill Eppig, Executive Officer
 

80 in 08

Over the last number of years, many of our members and a few advisors have been asking, "when can we bring back the office of State Junior Councilor?"  State Junior Councilor was removed a number of years ago due to the low membership in Maryland DeMolay.  It was hard to find qualified candidates to fill all three State Officer positions every year, so State Junior was dropped, and we went with two State Officers since then.  It is my belief, we can have a better membership year in 2008 then in 2007. This will enable Maryland DeMolay to grow and have the members necessary to fill 3 State Officer positions.  So here is my challenge to you, WHEN YOU BRING IN 80 NEW MEMBERS BY THE END OF 2008, THE POSITION OF STATE JUNIOR COUNCILOR WILL BE RETURN IN 2009.  Notice I said, when you bring in 80 new members.  I have that much confidence in all of our members and chapters that this will happen. We have 7 chapters in Maryland, if each one brought in its DeMolay International membership goal of 12, we would have 84 new members in DeMolay!  You have been asking for it, now you can have it.  Go out, live, breath, and talk DeMolay and your chapter will grow and so will the State Association.   -"Dad" Bill Eppig, Executive Officer

Congress 2008
DeMolays from Delaware and Maryland enjoyed a fun weekend packed with awesomeness!  From selecting cabin leaders, making cabin banners and cheers, enjoying great grub served up by the State Staff, to learning to make a YouTube Video, to a "who dun it?" Murder Mystery, and a question and answer with the Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master of Masons in Maryland Tom Velvin all had FUN!  Most importantly it was all done in the Brotherhood of DeMolay.  The "Murders" took place through out the weekend and finally Sergeant Mario and Detective Luigi were called in to sum up the clues and arrest the one responsible.  A full set the clues and evidence as well as the Nostrodamus Quatrain can be found by clicking the respective links.  The RWDGM Tom Velvin was even caught up in the killer's rampage but was soon miraculously restored to full health by our resident magician/State Marshall, Alex Matthews who used a "restore" spell to bring the RWDGM back to life.  Dad Randy Watson taught DeMolays how to make the most of it by only using materials that one could scrounge up to make costumes for the DeMolay Degree.  Dad Sterling DeBold Taught DeMolays the finer details of our webpage and we can better use it, and Dad Todd Duehring put the DeMolays to work on brainstorming on ideas for YouTube videos for DeMolay.  Each cabin was given the responsibility of sketching, recording, and editing their own video presentation.  This exercise taught us all, that it is really easy to make a video that can be put on YouTube and help get DeMolay known better and increase public awareness.  For details make your very own DeMolay YouTube video click here for a few resources and pointers.
NAPLES TRIP CONGRATULATIONS!!! to Brother Tyler Dibble of Berlin Chapter, Berlin, MD.  He and a guardian will be flown to sunny, much warmer than Maryland right now, Tropical Florida.  Brother Dibble brought in 5 new members.  Great job to Brother Dibble and all who competed for the trip !

'07-'08 DeMolay National Youth Speech Contest
Do you have something to say? Would you like to stand up and be heard? Here is your chance to sharpen your public speaking skills and compete with the best. Announcing the DeMolay National Youth Speech Contest. Local speech contest winners will be invited to compete against others from their Region. Regional winners will be invited to compete against the best of the best from across the country at next year's DeMolay International Session! What do I have to speak about?  The theme is “What’s right about America?”

Here's what you need to do to get involved:

The date for Judging will be April 20th, starting at 9:00am at the Grand Lodge.   We will be videotaping all speeches that they can be forwarded to DeMolay International.  This is so the winner/s are not required to be in person for the Regional and International Competitions.  For more information please contact the Ritual Director Dad Randy Watson at ritual@mddemolay.org or phone at 443-429-4091.

  1. Download and fill out the entry form and return it to your jurisdiction's Executive Officer or the person he designates.
  2. Speak with or without notes on the topic “What’s right about America?” at the Maryland DeMolay Speech Contest event.

You are expected to research the topic, and you may consult teachers, parents, Masonic leaders, Advisors or others about your speech. You should review the information packet to become familiar with the rules and judging criteria. Here are the complete contest rules and judging criteria.
 

Speech Contest
 
 

www.mddemolay.org is the official website of the Maryland State Association of DeMolay Chapters and acknowledges the authority of and yields allegiance to DeMolay International, of which Frank S. Land was founder.  Copyright © MD DeMolay 1996-2008 

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