Date:
November
5, 2008
Subject:
Moving the Lodge
From:
Worshipful Master Steven Wandel
To:
All
members of Robert Burns
As you know, Robert
Burns Lodge moved to the Everett Masonic
Center about 3 ½ years
ago. At that time many promises were made by the Center’s Temple Board.
The South Lodge Room was our assigned meeting place since the EMC has an over
abundance of renters/occupants. The EMC Temple Board had promised to finish the
South Lodge Room, which was in need of a total make over. One of the major
issues was the lack of a kitchen and dining room as well as a noisy, poorly
operating heating system. There were many more issues that the Temple
Board
assured us would be fixed or repaired soon. After 3 ½ years the Temple
Board
has installed theater seating and one of the two sets of doors have been
replaced (the other door is still resting against a wall in our lobby area). And
yes, the room did get a coat of paint as well. Any time Robert Burns has a
meeting, special event, or gathering at the Lodge, we have to vacuum and clean
the lodge room and put the room back in order because the other renters
(Scottish Rite, Eastern Star, Rainbow, and Amaranth) constantly leave it
re-arranged from their events. Amaranth even installed an arm/handrail in the
middle of the East Station stairs forcing the Worshipful Master and Wardens
to set their stations off to the side of center to see around the handrail.
These things do not and would not happen at any other Lodge that I know of.
As of this writing, we still do not have a new heating/air conditioning
system, which we had been promised for the last 14 months or so and on two
occasions had been told that the new system had been ordered and would be
installed soon. This turned out to be an out and out lie to both the Scottish
Rite and us. After all of this, Robert Burns and it’s Officers have attempted to
work with the Temple Board
to resolve these issues. The
Temple
Board has been
unresponsive with nothing more then continued promises and no action. There’s
more issues, a lot more! However, there were several reasons brought up in our
conversations to stay that had merit as well. The rent at the EMC is currently
right around $273.00 a month and some think that if we along with several Lodges
end up finding a building in the next few years, that moving twice is not in our
best interests.
Personally, I feel
that the South Lodge is a disgrace and an embarrassment to have our meetings and
installations in. The time has come to look at the possibility of moving Robert
Burns to another location.
I have contacted the
Edmonds Masonic Lodge Located at 515 Dayton St., Edmonds.
The Secretary of the Temple
Board, James Norton, has
reserved the first and third Tuesdays for Robert Burns along with additional
days as needed. The monthly rent there would be somewhere around $350.00 to
$400.00. There seems to be enough storage to meet most of our needs as well.
The only drawback
that came up in our conversations with regards to the Edmonds Lodge was that
there are stairs that need to be dealt with to get to the kitchen and dining
area/basement and there is limited parking that requires parking on the area
streets. Most of the members agreed that most of the time parking can be found
on the frontage road nearby. For special events, the Temple
Board
apparently rents/leases the Church parking area, a short distance away and that
provides for 50 additional parking stalls. The Edmonds Lodge is also in District
#2 which is the district that Robert Burns moved from in the first place and has
always intended to return there.
With that, I would
like to say that the decision of what to do is in the hands of you, the members
of Robert Burns. The vote to determine if we will move the Lodge or not will be
taken at the December 2nd, 2008 Stated Meeting which will start at
7:30pm. Please take time to attend this important meeting. However, if you
cannot attend and want your voice heard, please return this notice with your
recommendation on what we should do.
If the move to
Edmonds
is approved, we will have to change our ByLaws accordingly. So, this is
also your required notice that the following ByLaw changes are to be voted on at
our stated meeting of December 2 as well (the Section 1 change is a minor one):
Article II, Section 1. - To change to "The Stated Communications of this Lodge
shall be held on the 1st Tuesday of each month except July and August at the
hours of 7:30 P.M. When a meeting would fall on a holiday, it shall be
held on the 3rd Tuesday of that month."
Article II, Section 2. - To change to "All communications of this Lodge shall be
held in the Edmonds
Masonic
Center,
515 Dayton St., Edmonds, Washington,
effective 1-1-2009."
?
I recommend that
Robert Burns Lodge #243 move to the Edmonds Masonic
Center
located at 515 Dayton St.,
Edmonds, WA 98020 on or about January 2009.
?
I
recommend that Robert Burns Lodge #243 sign a new rental agreement with
the EMC for 2009 and continue to meet at the Everett Masonic Center
located at 234 Olympic Blvd., Everett, WA 98203.
Feel free to make
comments on this matter directly to me via the internet at
wandelsa@msn.com.
Thank you in advance
for your timely consideration of this matter.
Fraternally;
Steven A. Wandel
Worshipful Master