The North Carolina Mason

Volume 137 Number 4 Otis named Home for Children administrator administrator of the Masonic Home for Children at Ox- ford according to Board of Directors president Dan C. Rice (PGM). Otis comes to our Home after being employed at Webster-Cantrell Hall in Decatur, Illinois since 1985. He began work July 16. Otis was chosen from nearly 100 candidates who sub- OXFORD — Kevin Otis has been hired as the new By Ric Carter The Mason NORTH CAROLINA Official Publication of The Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina Oxford, North Carolina July/August 2012 mitted resumes. The selection process included vetting by a professional, narrowing the field by a search committee, and finally extensive interviews of the finalists by the entire Board of the Home as well as employee committees. Otis was the unanimous choice of the par- ticipants. Accord- ing to Rice, "Kevin is an enthusiastic, passionate person and a very good communic ator who brings years of experience in the child care business. We are thrilled to have him join us." Otis brings a 1985 sociology de- gree from Illinois State University and a 2001 masters in business admin- Kevin Otis istration from Millikin University. His most recent posi- tion at Webster-Cantrell was a fund development director for the last four years. Before that, he was director of staff development. Earlier still, he held several child care and supervisory positions at the home. He sees the future of our Home as "building new pro- grams that will receive investment from the community and invest back into the community. By creating programs that have a direct impact, more opportunities for the kids will be created." Otis has lived in Decatur since he was five. His parents Grand Champion Spurmont 98 looked like an experimental MASH unit preparing their pig. Seventh Pig Jig is piglicious By Ric Carter enth Annual Carolina Masonic Pig Jig here on May 19 at the North Carolina State Fair- grounds. It was celebrated in conjunction with the Got to Be NC AgFest, our state's off-season state fair. The Pig Jig has thou- sands of visitors each year and crowns the best Masonic team in several divisions of grilled delights. At the Pig Jig, more than 3,500 people ate RALEIGH — Raleigh 500 held the Sev- ing. Many Masons will tell you this is the time of the most fun and Masonic shar- ing. The Masons are not then distracted by patrons or the rush of the AgFest. They just get to enjoy each others company and visit around. This year's winners are: The Grand Champion title and the are still there. His wife of 25 years is also named Kevin. She is chief clinical officer and a social worker at Webster- Cantrell Hall. They have two children: Alexandria who teaches fifth grade in Missouri and Andrew who is a rising high school senior. Mrs. Otis and Andrew will be remain- ing in Illinois for Andrew to finish high school. Andrew plans to become the only person in his class to letter in football all four years of his career. Kevin was not exposed to Freemasonry in his day-to- day life, so has never joined a lodge. His experience so far has been favorable and made him curious about the frater- nity. We expect that lodges in the Oxford community will soon be hearing a distinct knock upon the door. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys competing in triathlons Carolina Mason, we have brought you only this short intro- duction. A message from Kevin Otis will be featured in the next issue. He will also be present at Annual Communica- tion in September. Chris Richardson, who served as interim administrator and voted for their favorites this year. More than 30 teams entered the competition. While final figures are not yet available, it is estimated that $8,000 will go to the Masonic Home for Children in Oxford and to Cen- tral Children's Home. The two institutions have been supported by the Masons of North Carolina for many years. All the pictures in this set are from the setup period on the night before the judg- People's Choice Award left the state for the first time this year. Spurmont 98, from Strasburg, VA took both honors for 2012. They entered the contest here last year as well as the contest at the Masonic Home for Children's October Homecoming. Other division winners were: Pork Division First Hiram 40 (Raleigh) Second NC Grand Lodge AF & AM Third Spurmont 98 (Strasburg, VA) see PIG JIG, page 4 Robert E. Gresham Jr. will preside as 2012 Annual Communication opens in Winston- Salem. The 225th WINSTON-SALEM — Grand Master By Ric Carter and working in stained glass. Not surprisingly, he roots for the Cubs and the Bears. As his start date was so close to press time for The North Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accept- ed Masons of North Carolina is scheduled for September 21–22. The communication will be at the Twin City Quarter here, the same hotel we have used the last few years. It will be the headquarters hotel, the site of all committee meetings, and Grand Lodge business sessions. While every Mason in the state is invited, annual meeting of the while the Search Committee did their work, returns to his previous position as director of development and assistant administrator for the Masonic Home for Children. only the master and wardens of your lodge, or their official proxies, may vote during business sessions. They'll join the same officers of the other lodges around the state. The other votes come from committeemen and officers of the Grand Lodge and its districts. THE BOTTOM LINE We remain busy By Robert E. Gresham Jr. Grand Master yesterday in which I heard that three lodges had gone together and held a very successful blood drive this past Saturday. Their goal was 40 pints of blood, they collected 54 pints and had at least ten people rejected for various reasons. Thanks to all of you who have already completed or are planning blood drives for this year. I would like to make a report at Grand Lodge as to the status of our blood drives for this year. Please notify your DDGM by September 1, 2012 the results of any blood drives you have completed in the previous 12 months. If your blood drive is new this year, please indicate this also. I will then ask the DDGMs to assemble this information and forward to me so that I will be able to give this report during Grand Lodge. Thank you for your cooperation. Another topic during our district meetings was NPDs. We are at the time where the first reading of NPDs is being made by the lodge secretaries. Please make every effort to contact these brothers and explain to them that they are needed and wanted in our lodges. As I told you during the district meetings, it is my belief that per- sonal contact will go a long way toward reducing the number of NPDs each year. On June 18, I had the privilege of attending Rockingham 495 cussed with you my desire to start a Ma- sonic blood drive month. I have heard from several lodges that have started new blood drives this year. The last one was During my district meetings, I dis- and presenting two 60-year awards. I presented a 60-year service award to Past Grand Master Bunn T. Phillips and Brother Stan Wilson. These brothers are to be congratulated for their faithful service to our fraternity. Past Grand Master Phillips is my Ma- sonic great grandfather. He appointed Past Grand Master Gerry Smith who then appointed Past Grand Master Leonard Safrit into the grand line. Past Grand Master Safrit appointed me, and at last year's Grand Lodge, when I was elected grand master, I announced the appointment of Brother Mack Sigmon as my junior grand steward. We were fortunate that all five generations were present during the presentation and happy that we were able to get a pho- tograph of all of us together. June and July have been busy months for your grand master. On meeting, a first for the Oasis Temple and for North Carolina. Our congratulations to Brother Al. July 7–9, I represented our Grand Lodge at the York Rite Summer Assembly held in Maggie Valley. July 14, I attended the Northeast Conference of Grand Masters in New York. Deputy Grand Master Dewey Preslar Jr., Senior Grand Warden Dalton Mayo, Junior Grand Warden Doug Caudle, Grand Treasurer Lew Ledford (PGM), and Grand Secretary Walt Clapp, and my wife, Carolyn accompanied me on this trip. July 17, Carolyn and I were guests of the Grand Lodge of Canada, Province of Ontario, for their Annual Communication. Again, thank you for the privilege that you have bestowed upon June 11, I attended the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and brought fraternal greetings on behalf of our Grand Lodge. On June 19, I had the privilege of attending South Carolina Grand Master Jay Pearson's home lodge in Inman, South Carolina. Grand Master Pearson had arranged a Third Degree for my benefit. I can truthfully say that if you have never witnessed a South Carolina Third Degree, do not miss the opportunity if you're given one. On June 25 and 26, I attended Rainbow Grand Chapter represent- ing our Grand Lodge. On Tuesday night, June 26, Miss Kaitlyn Kubacki, from Albemarle was installed as grand worthy advisor. Her dad is a past master of my lodge, Albemarle 703. July 1–5, Carolyn and I were guests of the Imperial Shrine for their annual meeting which was held in Charlotte. It was my privilege to serve as the host grand master for this meeting. Al Madsen, a past poten- tate of Oasis Shrine, was installed as imperial potentate during this me in allowing me to serve as your grand master this year. I am deeply humbled by this opportunity. In closing I'd like to leave you with the following thought: All kinds of people body, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done, and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did. Somebody got In this world there are four kinds of people: Everybody, Some- accused Somebody, and Nobody accepted the responsibility. Moral: Everybody's job is Anybody's. Nobody can be Somebody unless they are willing to do Anybody's work. — Unknown It ended up that not only the job was not done, but Everybody Sometimes, preparation is just waiting. Annual meeting is September 21–22 Amendment roundup By Ric Carter held before the official sessions will be at the Twin City Quarter on Thursday, Sep- tember 20. The Lodge Secretary's Work- shop will be held there that Thursday after- noon at 2:00 p.m. All voting sessions will be held in the Workshops and committee meetings see AnnComm, page 4 the year's proposed amendments to The Code. This is an effort to put the propos- als in plain language and share some of the arguments commonly expressed on the amendments. The discussion is far from exhaustive, but intends to give you a better understanding of the changes offered and their possible repercussions. A lodge cannot and should not at- tempt to bind its delegates to a particu- lar vote on a particular question. Very often, the amendments are changed on the floor before voting. More often still, Here we go with our annual recap of see VOTES, page 4 angry about it because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought that Somebody would do it, but Nobody realized it wouldn't get done by Anybody. Ric Car ter photo Ric Car ter photos

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