For once, the little slip of paper in the fortune cookie was exactly right. It read: "You are among friends."
I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant in downtown Richmond, Virginia, on May 8, at 6:30 in the evening. Seated around the table were Ill. David Kruger, 33°, S.G.I.G. in Virginia and Grand Secretary General of the Supreme Council; Ill. Sam E. Hilburn, 33° , S.G.I.G. in Texas and Grand Treasurer General of the Supreme Council; Ill. Paul T. Million, Jr., 33° , S.G.I.G. in Oklahoma and Chairman of the Ritual and Ceremonial Forms Committee of the Supreme Council; Ill. Warren D. Lichty, 33°, S.G.I.G. in Nebraska and Ritual Committee member; Ill. Curtis N. Lancaster, 33°, S.G.I.G. in Utah, Ritual Committee member, and his wife, Janet; Ill. Rex R. Hutchens, 33°, Grand Cross, author of A Bridge to Light, as well as several other books about the writings of Albert Pike, and head of the Resource Team revising the Pike Ritual; Ill. Sean D. Graystone, 33°, Personal Representative in Santa Fe of Ill. Don L. Helberg, 33°, Deputy of the Supreme Council in New Mexico, and a member of the Resource Team; Bro. Art deHoyos, 32°, K.C.C.H., newly appointed Grand Archivist and Grand Historian of the Supreme Council, who is also a member of the Resource Team, and myself, also a Resource Team member. I should note all the titles and Degrees are included as a matter of Masonic protocol. We were using first names, enjoying a good meal, and basking in a warm glow of success. Well, more a toasty fire than a warm glow, really. The Brethren of Virginia had done themselves proud, and it had been our privilege to watch it.
I think you could call it a successful Reunion! A total of 520 Brothers from across Virginia had joined the Scottish Rite that day. Ill. Kruger had reduced the fees for the event, and each of Virginia's eight Valleys had sent candidates. The auditorium was standing room only. This fine participation was, in part, due to the Brethren wishing to honor Ill. Charles Armistead Sinclair, Jr., 33°, Grand Lecturer, Grand Lodge of Virginia, 1967–1975, after whom the class was named. Also, the occasion was unique in that all five Obligatory Degrees (4°, 14°, 18°, 30°, 32°) were to be done using the Revised Standard Pike Ritual scripts as part of the process of testing and refining them for on-stage presentation.
| Among the outstanding Masons attending the Richmond Reunion were (l. to r.) Ill. Bros. Curtis N. Lancaster, S.G.I.G. in Utah; Warren D. Lichty, S.G.I.G. in Nebraska; Sam E. Hilburn, S.G.I.G. in Texas; Paul T. Million, Jr., S.G.I.G. in Oklahoma; David Kruger, S.G.I.G. in Virginia and Reunion host. |  |
The Sovereign Grand Commander, Ill. C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°, had driven down from Washington, D.C., for the historic occasion, and he was accompanied by Ill. Bros. William G. Sizemore, 33°, Grand Cross, Grand Executive Director of the Supreme Council; Dr. John W. Boettjer, 33°, Grand Cross; Managing Editor of the Scottish Rite Journal; Earl E. Ihle, Jr., 33°, the new Director of Major Gifts for the Supreme Council; and Ray Bunnell, 33°, Superintendent of the House of the Temple. In addition, members of the Ritual and Ceremonial Forms Committee, charged with guiding the Revised Standard Pike Ritual to completion, were present. They were Ill. Bros. Million, Hilburn, Kruger, Lichty, and Lancaster, noted above. Aside from the Grand Commander, there were, including Ill. Bernard E. Rothman, 33°, S.G.I.G. in Baltimore, six S.G.I.G.s and five Grand Crosses in the auditorium altogether—quite a stellar turnout!
All thanks to the Directors of the special Degree Teams and to their casts. It took a lot of hard work, and we all appreciate it. I slipped backstage (my favorite place) to watch part of the Degrees, so I could see both sides of the action. Like all back stages, it was controlled chaos as problems arose and were solved. The audience never knew.
Generally speaking, the Revised Standard Pike Degrees worked well—sometimes very well. It's only when you actually put actors on a stage that you find out whether what seems on paper a brilliant solution is actually a dud, and whether or not you have to go back to the proverbial "drawing board." Here, it worked. We learned of a little "tweaking" which needs to be done. That, after all, is why they did the Revised Standard Pike Degrees, to see what needed changing, and why members of the Ritual Committee and the Ritual Resource Team were there. We saw some fine work on the part of many dedicated Brethren. And, of course, any day which sees the creation of 506 new Masters of the Royal Secret is a special day in and of itself.
The one thing I personally regret is that I didn't have more time to talk with members of the class. Breaks were short and usually filled with conferences. But my thanks go to Bro. Anthony Spencer Wilcox, 32°, Lynchburg Police Department Crime Prevention Specialist, for his ideas on ways in which the illustrations used in the Degrees could be computer produced and projected, and my best wishes to a Brother, whose name I did not learn but who works in a sporting goods shop with his father, for his reactions and some useful ideas about the presentations. Thanks, in fact, to all the Brethren who provided comments. Their input offered useful insights and will prove, I am sure, very helpful. In all, it had been an informative, inspirational, even wondrous day. Also, a special thanks for making the Richmond Reunion a success must go to Ill. Bros. L. Aubrey Stratton, 33°, Personal Representative, and George A. Page, 33°, Secretary, Valley of Richmond.
And there we were, members of the Ritual Committee and Resource Team, seated around a table in the Chinese restaurant, well fed, happy with the Reunion, and concluding a preliminary "postmortem" on the Degrees. So my fortune cookie was correct, I was surrounded by friends. But the summation of the day occurred when someone across the table opened another fortune cookie and, with a warm laugh, passed it around the table. It simply, and appropriately, said, "You have made an auspicious beginning." Indeed!
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Jim Tresner is Director of the Masonic Leadership Institute and Editor of The Oklahoma Mason. A frequent contributor to the Scottish Rite Journal and its book review editor, Illustrious Brother Tresner is also a volunteer writer for The Oklahoma Scottish Rite Mason and a video script consultant for the National Masonic Renewal Committee. He is the Director of the Thirty-third Degree Conferral Team and Director of Work at the Guthrie Scottish Rite Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma, as well as a life member of the Scottish Rite Research Society, author of the popular anecdotal biography Albert Pike, The Man Beyond the Monument, and a member of the steering committee of the Masonic Information Center. Ill. Tresner was awarded the Grand Cross, the Scottish Rite's highest honor, during the Supreme Council's October 1997 Biennial Session. |