Applicants must either be enrolled or accepted at an accredited secondary educational institution, and be an Active or Senior member of DeMolay, Rainbow or Job’s Daughters, or the child or grandchild of a Florida Mason.

The application for the scholarship is available below, and the application deadline is April 1, 2010.

FEFI_Application_2010

The Florida John W. Bates DeMolay University is sponsoring a weekend of Leadership Training and fun events for DeMolay leaders in Florida!

Registrations packets are being prepared for distribution to your Chapters, so watch for them in the coming weeks.

Specifics include:
Location – The Masonic Home of Florida (St Petersburg)
Dates – April 24 – 25
Cost – $25.00 per attendee
Dress – Casual

For those who closely monitor the Kighthood State Schedule, this LTC event “replaces” the Spring Festival for this year. The Knighthood leaders are currently revamping the Spring Festival program, and have offered their weekend to the Director of LTC, since JBU is a Knighthood program, to benefit the DeMolays in the local Chapters. Spring Festival WILL return, but will be taking a break in 2010.

Nominations for DeMolay Honors are due to the Florida Jurisdictional Office NO LATER THAN March 15th. This will allow time for review, completion, approval by the Executive Officer and submission to the DeMolay Service & Leadership Center by their deadline.

These include nominations for:
Degree of Chevalier
Active Legion of Honor
Cross of Honor

Please remember that all nominations for Degree of Chevalier, and both classes of Legion of Honor must be accompanied by a brief biography of the nominee.

Nomination forms are available for download and printing at the DeMolay International website (Resources/Forms) or by clicking here.

Passing of the Sovereign Grand Inspector General

Illustrious Robert L. Goldsmith, 33°, Sovereign Grand Inspector General for Florida, and the Grand Prior of the Supreme Council passed away on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Illustrious Goldsmith had a long and distinguished career in Freemasonry. In addition to his work in the Scottish Rite, he also served as Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Florida in 1983.

He petitioned Harbor City Lodge #318 F&AM and was raised to the sublime Degree of Master Mason on December 10th, 1969. He served as Worshipful Master in 1973.

He is a member of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Bodies, Valley of Lake Worth, receiving the 32° in May of 1970. In 1981 he was elected Commander in the Council of Kadosh. In 1985 he served as Master of Kadosh

He was invested with the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour in 1977 and on December 10th, 1983, he was Coroneted an Inspector General Honorary 33°.

On May 3rd, 1989 he was appointed Deputy of the Supreme Council (Mother Supreme Council of the World) of the Thirty-Third and Last Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A., in the Orient of Florida.

On October 13th, 1989 he was unanimously elected Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Florida and on October 18th, 1989 was Crowned an Active Member of the Supreme Council, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of the Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. At the Supreme Council Meeting in October 2005, he was elected Grand Prior of the Supreme Council.

He was a life member of the Cocoa York Rite bodies, a recipient of the DeMolay Honorary Legion of Honor, and an Honorary Member of the DeMolay International Supreme Council.

He moved to Melbourne, Florida in 1953 and in 1957 married Evelyn Claire Meadows. They had three children; two daughters, Roxie and Robin and one son Robert Lee. They have seven grandchildren, and one great grandson. Evelyn passed away on August 30, 1991 of cancer.

On July 30, 1999 he married his lovely wife and constant companion, Joan, and made the move to Jacksonville, Florida where they resided.

A Public Viewing will be held at the Valley of Orlando on Monday, January 25th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on Tuesday, January 26th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. A Masonic Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, with refreshments to follow. Graveside services will be held in Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon.

Human progress is our cause, liberty of thought our supreme wish, freedom of conscience our mission, and the guarantee of equal rights to all people everywhere our ultimate goal.– The Scottish Rite Creed

So far, the following conventions have been posted:
– Grand York Rite (Grand Session of the Florida York Rite Bodies)
April 15 through 17, 2010 in Lake Mary, FL
– Grand Chapter (Grand Chapter of Florida, Order of the Eastern Star)
April 20 through 22, 2010 in St. Augustine, FL
– Grand Court (Grand Court of Florida, Order of Amaranth)
May 25 through 30, 2010 in Jacksonville, FL
– Grand Lodge (Most Worshipful Grand Lodge F. & A.M. of Florida)
May 30 through June 2, 2010 in Orlando, FL

Please visit our Calendar of Events page for more information.

We wish you safe travels to Daytona from your hometowns. See you on Saturday!

SATURDAY Jan. 16th
9:00am – Noon – Registration
9:00am – Noon – DeMolays Assemble
Noon – 1:00pm – Lunch (On your own)
1:00pm – 2:00pm – J.B.U. Class – Understanding Ritual & Ritual Competition
2:00pm – 3:00pm – J.B.U. Class – Delegate Sessions
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Sweetheart Meeting
3:00pm – 4:00pm – J.B.U. Class – Girls, Girls, Girls
1:00pm – 5:00pm – Ritual Competition
3:00pm – 5:00pm – Chess Competition
4:00pm – 5:00pm – State Chapter Elections
6:00pm – 7:30pm – Dinner
8:00pm – Basketball Competition
Midnight – CURFEW

SUNDAY Jan. 17th
7:00am – 8:30am – Continental Breakfast
8:00am – 8:30am – Devotional Service
8:30am – 10:00am – Flag Football
9:00am – 10:00am – J.B.U. Class – Mock Investigation
10:00am – 11:00am – J.B.U. Class – Knighthood
11:00am – Noon – J.B.U. Class – Guns, Guns, Guns
8:30am – Noon – DAD Class
10:00am – Noon – 8 Ball Doubles Competition
Noon – 1:00pm – Lunch (On your own)
1:00pm – 2:00pm – Initiation
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Initiation
3:00pm – 4:00pm – Advisors Meeting
3:00pm – 5:30pm – Ritual Competition
4:00pm – 5:30pm – Special Class
6:30pm – 7:30pm – Dinner
8:30pm – SMC Fun Time
Midnight – Knighthood Meeting/Investiture
Midnight – CURFEW

MONDAY Jan. 18th
8:00am – 9:30am – Awards Breakfast
9:30am – Checkout

By now, you should have received your 2010 reapplication package, and should be well into its completion. A quick reminder that all these need to be sent from the State Headquarters, after being signed by the Executive Officer. Please return your completed package to the FL DeMolay office NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 10TH!

Again, many regards to all of you for your patience and understanding with regard to the 2009 registrations. There are very few outstanding items for 2009, and I trust those will be rectified with the return of the 2010 packets.

If you did not submit your ACR for 2009, your paperwork was not generated for 2010.

Any paperwork should be expedited and sent to the FL DeMolay mailbox as soon as possible.

I know this is the time of year that we spend time with our families, eat lots of food and open presents, but unfortunately this is also the time of year when many Chapters start slacking in membership. However, our state is still roughly ten members away from its membership goal and we WILL surpass that goal!

So the Executive Staff and State Elected Officers have gotten together and we have a new membership incentive for you: Any member who brings in three new members and has their form tens submitted by the 31st goes to mini-conclave for free.

There really is no better time to start recruiting and making your chapter stronger and hey a few new members may even help with your chances of winning a few trophies at mini-conclave; you never know.

So get out there and bring your friends into our fraternity, since your state and most importantly your Chapter needs them! And honestly, things will be a lot more fun with them around anyway!

So… To recap:

“Three and it’s FREE”

Timeline for Incentive? NOW until December 31st

Who is eligible? Any active DeMolay in Florida who presents three petitions (as First Line Signer) is eligible, but only if those three petitioners are initiated and reported via electronic Form 10 BEFORE midnight on December 31st

What’s the incentive? The DeMolay who served as the FLS on three petitions initated per the above qualifications will go to Mini Conclave for FREE*!

*Incentive rewards will cover the DeMolay at the standard 3 or 4 to a room rate.

Have a fantastic and safe holiday!
Bro. Brian Ferdon, State Master Councilor

Specifics include the following:

Hotel Information:
LaPlaya Resort
2500 North Atlantic Avenue
Daytona Beach, FL 32118

Costs per person (Whole Mini Conclave):
1 to a room – $195
2 to a room – $125
3 or 4 to a room – $102
Uninitiated Candidates for DeMolay: 1/2 price
New DeMolays initiated 12/8 – 12/31: 1/2 price

The Conclave packet has been mailed to your Chapter’s contact person, but is also available for download HERE. Registration_Packet_Mini_2010[1]

The deadline for Mini Conclave registrations is January 9th, meaning that all registrations MUST BE RECEIVED BY THAT DATE!

It’s time to come together for fellowship, friendship and fraternity. As you vowed at your induction, you are reminded to break bread with a fellow Chevalier or Court of Chevaliers, a member of the Order of DeMolay or a young man in his teens, as a memorial to our founder, Dad Frank Sherman Land.

We have received information on the following local Courts of Chevalier, which will be meeting on the date and location described:

- Central Florida Court of Chevaliers (Orlando) – Sunday November 8, 2009 at 6:00 pm at Nelore Churrascaria Brazilian Steakhouse in Orlando. For more information, please contact Commander Tom Jordan at email hidden; JavaScript is required.

- David A. Carr Court of Chevaliers (Tampa) – Sunday November 8, 2009 at 6:00 pm at Giordano’s in Brandon. For more information, please contact Commander David Puzzo at email hidden; JavaScript is required.

More observances will be added as their information is received. Please forward to email hidden; JavaScript is required.