News from Supreme Council

Our brother Joseph Bourcey, III was elected to receive the 33° at the next Supreme Council session, which will be in August next year in Boston. Joe currently serves as our First Lieutenant Commander of the Rochester Consistory. Joe has served and the Master of Henrietta Lodge and as Potentate of Damascus Shrine A.A.O.N.M.S. Congratulate Joe when you see him.

New MSA

William R. Lindsay Receives 2008 Meritorious Service Award

Please join me in recognizing and congratulating the AASR Valley of Rochester’s newest Meritorious Service Award recipient – Distinguished Brother William R. Lindsay, 32^o MSA! Brother Lindsay was one of twenty Brothers throughout the state to receive the award at the 139^th Annual Convocation of New York State Council of Deliberation in Liverpool, New York on July 26, 2008. Brother Lindsay has devoted tremendous amount of time and energy to the Valley of Rochester over the years, and has played a key role in making the Valley of Rochester one of the best run Valleys in the entire AASR Northern Jurisdiction!

The history of the Meritorious Service Award dates back to 1939, when the New York State Council of Deliberation was authorized to present an award to a member of a Valley who has distinguished himself through outstanding service or leadership and dedication to the Rite. Each nominee must be recommended by the presiding Officers of the Valley – all of them a unanimous recommendation. This is followed by a thorough scrutiny by M.S.A. Committee and seldom have all survived this process. Brother Lindsay has been recommended, selected, and elected to receive this, the Highest Honor the State of New York Council of Deliberation can award.

Brother Lindsay is a native of Livingston County, but has resided in Rochester, NY for many years, where he worked as a teacher and administrator for Greece Central Schools. He was raised in Zetland Lodge No. 959 in 1986 and is now a member of ERAC Lodge No. 163, Webster, NY. Brother Lindsay served as Worshipful Master of Towpath Lodge No. 163 in 1991. He has served as Grand Lodge District Deputy Grand Master for the Monroe District 2000-2002. He joined the Valley of Rochester in 1993, where he is currently serves as Secretary. He received the Ill. John B. Mullan, 33^o Distinguished Service Award in 2003. Brother Lindsay has also served as High Priest of Hiram Chapter, No. 63, R.A.M., Illustrious Master of Doric Council, No. 19 Cryptic Masons, and Sovereign Master of Genesee Council, No. 51. A.M.D. Brother Lindsay has been active in Masonic education at both the state and local level. He has served on the Leadership and Education Services Committee for a number of hears, worked as an IDC trainer, and now is a member of the MUNY team. At the local level he has been an active organizer of the “Masonic Development Course” and “Road to the East” classes. He is also an active member of Fairport Congregational Church, and enjoys genealogy and being at his cabin near Letchworth State Park.

Bill, a heartfelt “Thank You” for all you have done for the Valley of Rochester, its members and officers!

Camp Morris Clam Bake

The third annual Camp Morris Clam Bake was held on Saturday, June 28th. The location was, as in the title, Camp Morris, which is the summer home of our Commander-in-Chief Mike Morris, 33° and his lovely wife Ruth. There were over 100 brothers, family and friends present. The included clams, baked by our Deputy's Rep Steve Whittaker, 33° and steaks. This also included dishes to pass brought by the attendees. A great time was had by all. The weather cooperated at Camp Morris with slight rain just as the event started followed by the sun returning as everyone started to arrive. The clams were done Rhode Island style and the steaks properly cooked and served.

Learning Center Walk

The 2008 Walk for Dyslexia was held on Saturday, May 17th at Perinton Park in the Village of Fairport, New York. The walk took hikers along the historic Eric Canal on the canal path. There were approximately 60 people who attended and participated. There were clowns present to do face painting and help everyone enjoy the day. In addition to the walk, Fairport-Flower City Lodge setup and manned a Masonic Child ID station.
Music for the walk was supplied by a Piper and DJ Rich Howe. Food and fellowship were included and everyone had a great time

Election and Installation

On Thursday, May 15th, the Valley held its annual election and installation of officers. Ill. Stephen Whittaker, 33°, Deputy's Representative was the the installing officer assisted by Ill. Rodney Rittenhouse, 33° and Ill. Robert Pedersen, 33°. All four bodies elected new officers.
The Consistory elected Ill. G. Michael Morris, 33° as Commander-in-Chief.
The Chapter of Rose Croix elected Brother John Faro, 32° as Most Wise Master.
The Council of Princes of Jerusalem elect Brother Donald Tubman, 32° as the Sovereign Prince.
The Lodge of Perfection elected Brother Derek VanHouten, 32° DSA as Thrice Potent Master.
As a side note, there were present five Past Potentates of Damascus Shrine in attendance, three of which were installed as officers of one of the bodies.

Spring Reunion and Banquet

The Spring Reunion was held from Thursday, April 17th to Saturday April 19th. We conferred the 14th, 16th, 18th, 22nd, 31st and 32nd Degrees. The Distinguished Brother Charles Frear, 32° MSA Class completed its degree work. We welcomed nine new brothers to the Valley. On May 2nd we held the Reunion Banquet at the Diplomat Party House. The banquet was fun and the class was honored. Brother John Lehmke, 32°, the class orator, spoke for the class and thanked Brother Frear for being the class sponsor. Brother Frear responded and requested that the class members become active in the Valley functions.
The Commander-in-Chief announced that Brothers Ken Howe, George Nasra and Brian Bills we named as Ill. John B. Mullen, 33° Dedicated Service Award winners for this year. These brothers will be honored at the Summer Outing where they will receive their blue hat and name badge.

College of Freemasonry

The College of Freemasonry for 2008 started on Friday evening April 4th with a dinner and entertainment by Randy Ruggles. Brother Randy took us on a trip from the 1930's to the 1960's with music and comedy. It was quite a trip.
On Saturday, April 5th, the College commensed on the topic "Masonry in Today's Society". The first speaker was Rev J. D. Selders, 33° Active Member for Ohio. He used magic and humor to bring us the message that we need to be friendly and open to men in society and should do what we can as Masons to meet the needs of our members. Rev. Selders was followed by Ill. Peter Samiec, 33° Active Member for New York, who gave us his views on where the fraternity fits into today's society. This talks were followed by a panel discussion that was very informative. Prior to lunch the Thomas Jackson Masonic Education Award was present to Ill. Charles Hancock, 33° and Ill. Mark Tabbart, 33° for their individual work in the Masonic education arena. Our local Distict Deputy Grand Master, Gary Sanford and Brother George Foehner presented a check for $15,000 to the Ronald McDonald House. This was the money raised during the Have-a-Heart campaign in February.
After Lunch, Dr. William Cook, professor of history at SUNY Geneseo gave a very intersting and well presented talk on the transition from Romanesque to Gothic church building in Europe. His talk was accompanied with slide of the transition churchs.
This signature program of the Valley of Rochester will be presented again, next spring with a new topic and exciting speakers.