The Shennanigans

 Friday Evening was the Festival of St. John at Specialis Procer Lodge #678 in Des Moines.  You may recall that this is the Lodge that we started and it is different because of the emphasis on Education and Festive Boards (Banquets)  Last year we decided to hold a very special Masonic Event in June - A Festival of St. John.  We have a nice meal and a lecture.  This year the Master arranged for Michael Halleran to speak to us. Michael is the author of The Better Angels of Our Nature - Freemasonry in the American Civil War. It was well received and all seemed to enjoy it.

Then today I was back at the Scottish Rite in Des Moines for the Grand Lodge Educational Symposium which had been one of the goals of Grand Master Craig L. Davis.  I really wanted to stay home to fight the Bronchitis which they decided I have but I also did not want to miss this event.  The event has been held two previous years but was very limited as it was held in a smaller venue.  There were almost 200 Master Masons there and we heard many and varied presentations.  As my friend John noted all of us came away from the Symposium with at least one idea and he was including some of us who could be referred to as "older" Masons.  For some reason I cannot embed the slideshow but you can view the photos of the event by clicking on this link
The Symposium began with the Scottish Rite Flag Lecture given by John Clearman