Br. Richard Riley, our newest Hall of Fame Member

On Saturday Night of Session DeMolay International Honored one of her outstanding sons, Br. Richard Riley of South Carolina, with admittance into the DeMolay Hall of Fame.  Br. Riley is an outstanding example of what it means to be a DeMolay.  He helped to reform the state of South Carolina and improve education for all South Carolinians.  As a Secretary of Education he helped to reform the state of national education and improve educational opportunities for all Americans.  See below for his comments:


DeMolay International

Hall of Fame Induction

Grand Rapids, Michigan

June 18, 2011

          I'm so pleased to be part of your Grand Master's Banquet this evening.  Congratulations to all who have been paid tribute. I truly am honored to be included in your Hall of Fame.

          Thank you so much, Rusty, for that kind introduction and this beautiful plaque . . . and what a wonderful video your folks put together.  It brought back many fond memories for me.   I appreciate everyone's hard work to make all of this so special.

          I am so proud to be inducted into DeMolay International's Hall of Fame.   Among other things, it is an honor to be part of a group of such distinguished honorees as Walt Disney, John Wayne, my good friend Bill Clinton, and my hero, Walter Cronkite, to name just a few.

         

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I don't know if it's planned that DeMolay holds its International Convention on Father's Day weekend . . . but I think it's entirely fitting that you do.   After all, the founding father of DeMolay, Frank Land – as well as the organization's namesake, Jacques DeMolay – possessed strong traits that we all want to see in our fathers, as well as our sons . . . and mothers and daughters.

          Not that I want to see any of us burned at the stake for it – as Christian Crusader Jacques DeMolay was – but courage, loyalty and friendship are every bit as important today as they were in his time . . . perhaps even more so in this 21^st Century age of instant communication – good and often not so good. 

          And Frank Land was a visionary who, at a young age himself, saw a need to help young boys – many of whom were without fathers due to the war and other difficulties.   He wanted to provide opportunities for them -- opportunities, in his words, "to grow into decent men who will be respected in the community."  

         

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Proverbs 22, Verse 6 tells us . . . "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."   By recognizing that, and by taking one young man and then a few others under his wing, Frank Land created what became, and still is, the DeMolay organization to help "train children the way they should go."

A friend recently wrote that there's a difference between being a "father" and being a "dad."   "Fathering," he said, "is an act of nature;  being a Dad is all nurture."   I tend to agree with him.

          I was fortunate to have a Father who was indeed a Dad in every nurturing sense of the word.   For all of my 61 years until he died (at the age of 93), he taught me, among other important things, good character, personal responsibility and civic awareness.

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Among other things, he was president of the State Bar Association – and an active Mason.  In fact, when asked in a press interview what would be the best thing a person could say about him, my father responded that,  in our great, free democracy, the highest compliment one can receive is that you are "a good citizen."    That really says it all.

The leadership and other life skills I gained from my DeMolay activity at Greenville High School were built on top of what I learned from my dad.   I am one of the lucky ones . . . as perhaps many of you are.   But far too many young boys and girls are not.

         

And that's where the benefit of DeMolay comes in.   Just as "Dad Land" did for Louis Lower and his eight friends . . . and just as your DeMolay leadership and alumni are enriching your lives ... I ask each of you to do the same for a younger child in need of help.

         

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Invite someone to join DeMolay with you . . . be a caring friend . . . a mentor . . . a tutor . . . a role model . . . an advisor … whatever you can do to help "train up a child in the way he should go."  

These are things you can do at the age you are now, as well as all through adulthood.   And I'm sad to say that there are many less fortunate children all over the world, with and without fathers, who are in great need of all kinds of nurturing.   So you have no shortage of opportunities.

          The renowned American cultural anthropologist, Margaret Mead, once said . . . .  "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.   Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

          "Dad" Frank Land was a prime example of Margaret Mead's observation.   Through my DeMolay service and beyond, I have tried to follow his example . . . and I trust each of you will do the same.

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          Thank you again for the honor of being inducted into the DeMolay International Hall of Fame.   I am flattered and proud of this fine tribute.  And I wish for you all, especially the young DeMolays here, a life of caring and public service – so that each of you can be called truly "a good citizen."

                     

                                

Because we have great members like Bobby Getschel

Rich from Southern NY reminded me today that Five Years ago Br. Robert "Bobby" Getschel was taken from us. I saw that on the facebook wall and my first reaction was "Five Years, already?" And then I realized how old I have gotten.  If there was a reason to be proud to be a DeMolay it's because of outstanding young men like Bobby. 

Bobby joined Pilgrim Chapter out in Queens at the age of 12.  His Dad was (and still is) a very active and passionate Mason and he wanted to be able to share the Masonic Experience had with his son.  Bobby took to DeMolay like a fish takes to Water. He loved the ritual, he loved the brotherhood, he loved to hang out and chat with other people and to learn about others.  He had a great term as Master Councilor and helped to put Pilgrim Chapter (NY) on the map. (If you're doing the map of NYC with a hand it's right below your thumb knuckle) Bobby was everyone's brother and never had a cross word for anyone.  One time when I went down to The City I walked into the Chapter Room and there was his dog, his mascot for his term, dressed in its own DeMolay Cape. It was cute, it was funny, and it gave his members something to rally around.  History may not have volumes large enough to records the millions of brothers who were true and loyal, but surely there is a place for our Br. Bobby Getschel in that list.  Tonight when you say your prayers say a special one for Bobby, and for all of us because we lost someone truly special.

See the attached article for a good summary of what kind of excellent man Bobby was.
http://journalism.nyu.edu/publishing/archives/portfolio/ahmad/Getschel.html

Our Grand Master

For many DeMolay Members, advisors and parents we know that there is a DeMolay Grand Master.  When you joined DeMolay he signed your membership patent, or signed the thank you letter for being a DeMolay Adult Volunteer, or he signed the "Welcome to DeMolay" Packet that your son received.  While the DeMolay Grand Master tends to be an older, more rotund, and jolly gentleman he is not Santa Claus and he is not able to be at every DeMolay event from Knights of the Sun Chapter in Maine to Walt Disney Chapter in California, or Alaska Chapter to our brothers in Uruguay. Not to mention our brothers in Australia, the Phillipines, Germany, Italy or Romania. For many of us he remains merely a signature on a piece of paper.

Yet, for those of us who have the pleasure of meeting our current DeMolay Grand Master there is a great deal of pride that should come from knowing that a man of such excellent quality serves as the chief executive officer of our beloved order.  In the Chevalier Degree that "Dad" Land personally wrote he talked about rededicate us to love of God, Love of Family and Love of Home.  You need not go any further than Albuquerque New Mexico and meet DeMolay Grand Master Wes Thornton. He exemplifies the teachings of DeMolay and the tremendous success of our program.

You can read his full bio here:
http://www.demolay.org/organization/isc_officers.php

Though a blog allows me more than 420 characters I could write volumes about what a great guy our Grand Master is. Here's my top five list:

1) He's a Senior DeMolay. At age 16 he joined the order of DeMolay by taking the same obligations we did and he moved up the leadership positions to eventually becoming the head of the order.  Think about it, the young men who joins your chapter today could be Grand Master in 50 years. But this also means he has a love for this order in performing the ritual, he know the trials and tribulations of leading a DeMolay Chapter, and he knows the work it takes to share our great order. This is a man who worked so hard to lead his chapter that together they earned the PMC-MSA in addition to the Blue Honor Key, the Representative DeMolay and many other honors and awards.

2) He's a DeMolay father in addition to being a "Dad".  Many of you will say that you will get your son involved in DeMolay in the next quarter century. (you know after you get married etc)  It's a simple mathematical fact that a majority of our members do not share DeMolay with their sons. (Otherwise we would have geometric growth). Yet, "Dad" Thronton did exactly that. His older son Brian and younger son Andrew joined the same order as their father. They went on to lead their chapter and eventually the Great State Of New Mexico as State Master Councilor.  Not only does "Dad" Thronton get DeMolay because he lived it, he gets DeMolay because he saw his sons learn and grow up in it. Imagine the pride at seeing your son become your brother, seeing him learn a new ritual part, get installed as State Master Councilor. All of these are great things.  He also knows the efforts and sacrifices that DeMolay parents make to support their young men because he and his very lovely wife "Mom" Robin have been there and done that.

3) He's a proud patriot. The Seventh Candle burns especially bright for "Dad" Thronton.  He took the time out of his youth to go and serve our beloved country in the United States Air Force. Many of our DeMolay brothers feel this strong sense of duty and patriotism for our country by serving actively in our armed forces.

4) He's an entrepreneur:  One of the great things about the United States is the opportunity to do free enterprise. However, we should never confuse "opportunity" with "easiness."  Owning your own company or practice is an incredibly hard task not only having to compete within an often confusing regulatory environment, but also competing for businesses and clients.  Our Founder, "Dad" Frank Sherman Land, knew something about an entrepreneur, he owned a restaurant, he had the vision to start DeMolay. "Dad" Land knew first hand the importance of innovation and good business practices.  Yet, "Dad" Thronton has done just that with a tremendously successfully CPA practice. The skills he learned in creating his own firm have helped him as a Grand Master to promote, enhance and develop DeMolay. He has done this through ideas, appointing strong and visionary executive officers and setting forth a vision for DeMolay.

5) He's a devout worshiper at the Shrine of Faith. I'm paraphrasing the ritual here, but love of God is represented in so many different ways.  "Dad" Thronton and his family are active members of their Church and there is within our Grand Master a deep personal love of God and soul.  Yet, while some may be tempted to manifest this virtue like the Pharisee in Luke Chapter 17, "Dad" Thornton represents that humble reliance on the blessings of God and the love that a created being has to his creator.  Like the seventh candle and the first candle the second candle burns brightly in our Grand Master.

Many of us may never get the chance to meet our Grand Master, soon to be Past Grand Master, but we can take pride in knowing our order is led by the kind of man that we would be proud to call "Brother."

How do you get to Supreme Council Session?

This coming week DeMolay leaders are attending the annual Supreme Council Session and DeMolay Congress Session in Grand Rapids, MI.  How do you get there? 

There is an old joke about how do you get to Carnegie Hall? The punch line is "practice, practice, practice" (actually, you take the express up a stop from Penn Station.) Some of our DeMolay leaders are getting there in interesting ways. Our New England Brothers board a bus Tuesday night and drive across I-90 seeing many famous sites.  Our brothers from Virgina are already on a Road Trip seeing famous sites. Some of us are going south to Atlanta to go North to Michigan. (It's a treat).

But somehow something that each of these brothers did enabled them to be entrusted by the brothers who elected them to represent their state and elect the next International Master Councilor. Or something that they did allowed the Grand Lodge to entrust that  "Dad" with the leadership and guidance of young men.

How did you get to Supreme Council or Congress Session?

VanWert DeMolay has great Presence at Ohio's Boy State

The American Legion, an organization consisting of Veterans who seek to promote and instill patriotism, civic engagement and leadership skill in young men host annual leadership conferences called "Boys State."  Some famous participants you may know from Boys State include Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, Joseph Johns and several other outstanding leaders.

This year the delegation from Van Wert Ohio includes four active DeMolays from Van Wert Chapter, including Ohio State Senior Councilor Br. Robert Laing.  How awesome is it that DeMolays are serving not only as leaders in DeMolay but in outside groups as well?

Who can Post Items?

One of the nice things about moving over to a blog is that we can allow for multiple authors to share outstanding success stories.  In the ideal world we would love to have live blogs from State Conclaves (Conventions), sporting events, as well as blog reports on what type of activities and events your chapter is doing.  In addition we'll take reflective pieces on what DeMolay means to you, or on something outstanding that you think brothers will want to hear about. Maybe you have a great DeMolay history that you want to share.

It's Cornier than Ethanol, but we can't spell success without u!

If you have a post feel free to email it to DeMolayPride@gmail.com. If you want to be able to blog post your state conclave (convention) or a similar event you need to submit the following:

Event Name:
What Your Role Is at the event
How Frequently you think you can post.
250 words on why you're proud to be a DeMolay.

There are some caveats:
1) If the 250 words on your DeMolay pride has spelling errors or severe grammatical errors you will be "moderated" and then allowed to post live.
2) It cannot be used to promote one DeMolay over another. Say you have two DeMolays named Chris and Rich both of whom are running for State Master Councilor.  You cannot write positively about one and not the other.
3) No plagiarism or foul language.
4) If more than one DeMolay applies to blog the same event we will take multiple blog entries.

A New Blog, Same Great Message

DeMolay is outstanding!

It brings conservatives like Trent Lott and Liberals like Bill Clinton together.
It brings Yankees and Red Sox Fans together.
It brings a young man from Rural Maine together with a young man from Urban Los Angeles.
It brings first generation Americans with third generation Americans.
It brings together people from all different creeds, backgrounds, racial and ethnic composition together.
It brings the Star Wars Groupies with the Trekers. 
Why? Because we all share that common bond of taking a solemn obligation to be better sons, loyal comrades and better men together surrounded by seven burning candles with a book of sacred law, school books and our nation's flag standing in the north east corner of the lodge room.

When we started the DeMolay month facebook challenge our goal was to highlight the pride that we should feel in the legacy and history of DeMolay.  We quickly realized that not only do we have an outstanding past, our future is shining bright thanks to the outstanding things our young men, our chapters, our advisors and our alumni are doing.  For the past couple of months we've been highlighting via facebook status messages the great things going on in our order.  However, there's more than 420 characters of success going on, hence our new blog.  We hope you will come back often to read and see the great things that are going on.  This blog will give you many reasons to be a Proud DeMolay.