Brothers,

 

As the air gets a little cooler, to only warm back up into the 80s, it must
be the end of October in Northern Indiana. I hope everyone has had a great
fall and is getting ready to enjoy all the upcoming holidays.

 

The November Stated meeting will be on Thursday, November 7, 2024. Sister
Chris Rowe will cook dinner for us, which will be served at 6:30 p.m. Please
RSVP to her or Worshipful Brother Harold Rowe if you are planning on
attending dinner so they can get an accurate count.

 

We will have a couple of essential items to discuss and do at this meeting.

1.	Per our By-Laws, the November Stated Meeting is when we elect the
Lodge Officer for the following year.
2.	We need to set up a By-Laws Review Committee. The Grand Lodge has
requested that we review all By-Laws and submit a full set in early 2025.
3.	We have had a request for a Demit and a Remit of 2025 dues.
4.	We will have a report on our Lodge of Instruction, which was held on
October 17, 2024, at North Liberty Lodge #266. 

 

 

As I stated at the September Meeting, we will be using a paper ballot and
tally sheet to hold the election for the 2025 Lodge Officers. I have
attached a copy of what the ballot will look like.

 

In the November Lodge Leadership Essential Notes, the following information
was provided about the election:

Reg. 17.010. Election of Officers. 

(a) Election of officers will be held annually at a stated meeting following
October 1 and preceding January 1 of the calendar year as provided in the
Lodge By-Laws. 

(b) Officers shall be elected by secret paper ballots and a majority of all
votes cast shall be necessary to elect. In determining such majority blank
ballots shall not be counted.

(c) Nominations shall not be made, nor shall any officer be elected by
acclamation or by having one Brother cast the unanimous vote. 

(d) The Lodge shall install those brothers elected and appointed to serve
the ensuing year no later than its first stated meeting of the new year. 

(e) The newly elected officers and the installation date shall be entered
into the Grand Lodge database no later than January 31. 

 

Example: you have collected 10 ballots/votes. 3 votes are cast for Brother
A, 3 votes are cast for Brother B and 4 votes are cast for Brother C. This
example does not elect Brother C. He does not have a majority of all votes
cast. With 10 votes cast (all), a Brother would need to have 6 votes to
elect. 50% being 5, plus 1 additional vote would equal 6. This would be a
majority of all votes cast. 

The Lodge may provide a printed list of the current officers to the voting
members to help the member with the names of current officers. Every Lodge
has a different spin on collecting the tallying the ballots, but each office
should be voted on individually and tallied individually using a paper
ballot. Remember the members should count off so the tellers know how many
votes should be cast. 

Please review 40.070 which states that a plural member cannot serve in the
Master or Warden position in both lodges at the same time.

 

2025 Dues Notices (From LLEN - Nov 2024)

2025 Dues Notices started arriving late last week. 

There have been a couple of issues with members getting their mail, only to
find that the invoice inside belongs to someone else. If this happens,
please get as much information as possible. Who received the incorrect
notice and the member's name on the notice so we can issue new ones to each.

To help with this, I have included a blank Dues Notice, that has the
information for Lakeville Lodge #353, in case you have received the wrong
notice. 

 

 

Fraternally Yours,

 

Todd Whitteberry

Worshipful Master - Lakeville Lodge #353

Lakeville, IN

 

(574) 309-2247