Thank you Welcome to the symbolic Lodge of conversation where Consciousness and curiosity interweave into discussion this is all square podcast I’m your host R.L Franks and today’s guest has been amazing for over 35 years I’ve seen his journey he’s watched my journey into masonry and he’s going to tell us his
Journey as he had to travel West to get to the East this is the story of Warsaw brother Eric Erickson Eric thanks for being on the show today thank you it’s great to be here and it’s an honor that I was asked to do this because at the
Time that you started this podcast I had no idea that you were doing this and I was like I guess you were like four weeks or five weeks into it and it’s like I had to do a crash down course and watch all the episodes so I’ve been
Really impressed with what you’ve done you and Michael and Janna it’s a great show I love it I really really enthused about it and I’m trying to figure out how to get this sent back to my Lodge back in New Jersey so we’ll we’ll figure that out after the
After tonight well first and foremost I really appreciate your support to this I really appreciate you just being a brother for me I talked about in a previous episode how one one time I was in distress and you actually saved me in a snowstorm but for the people watching
At home both Masons non-masons men women Eric 35 years a masonry you’ve experienced it all you’ve met men from all different generations with all different occupations but everybody from those different generations and different occupations come here to this fraternity that’s been over 300 plus years old Eric 35 years of experience
Tell me your story into Freemasonry well mine began um in 1988 when I became a mason um and uh wasn’t on a fast track or anything but we want Maze We want men to become Masons to get through their degrees The Three Degrees that we take were are just observe in the blind
Within three months so but but the steps leading up to it takes time and it has to do with investigations and uh bringing information to the family because it’s a family thing not only for the Mason himself but his wife and needs to know what he’s getting involved with
But one of my best friends um and another was a co-worker uh they were the ones that signed my petition and become masons in my Lodge back in New Jersey Laurel Laurel Lodge Number 237 and um it was quite interesting uh it wasn’t something I was searching for it just
They thought that I would be a good person and fit for masonry now why did you want to look into it though well I really didn’t but I the Masonic Lodge was like 100 yards from my house okay where I lived in Laurel Springs New Jersey um my uh
My grandmother’s brother was a mason didn’t talk about it my uh two aunts my grandmother’s daughter sisters their husbands were Masons um and uh my grandfather my mother’s father was a Mason who was in in the military it was in Pearl Harbor uh and masonry wasn’t really discussed you knew there were Masons
And it and they weren’t standoffish they just they were Masons and there was no there was no heirs they didn’t walk around like proud peacocks and and and come out off on the people as somebody different and above one another they were just down to earth guys okay so it’s 1988
You’re asking or you asked for a petition or somebody gave you a petition and thought that hey this is something you need to check out yeah they asked me well to be a Mason you got to ask one to be a Mason and and in public the general
People don’t understand what that means to be one that asked one but uh when somebody talks to you and they give you insight they uh stimulate your mind to interest what it’s about and that’s that’s the inquisitive side of okay that’s where that comes from that you
Ask and then you show that interest and you’ve asked somebody uh indirectly that yes I would consider this and then and that’s what happened and I was 30 some years old at the time had three kids worked the 14-hour days 16 hour days for the railroad uh I just retired some
Several seven years ago congratulations after 43 years nine months and 16 days and like nine different relocations in the industry and here I am in northwest Ohio so you go into this fraternity you don’t really know what’s going about you get interviewed you pass The Ballot Box you’re also
Going through these degrees that’s been around forever what is the experience like inside the lodge room is it a bunch of older guys in the in the lodge was it very was it filled up was it a bunch of young men like kind of tell us like what was the
Atmosphere like in New Jersey the atmosphere in New Jersey was quite uh exhilarating for me because I wanted it probably more so than they wanted it for me and uh the age groups I mean I’ve met people that were in their 90s 50 years 60-year Masons that were
They talked to you they talked to you not at you they didn’t talk above you or put you down they talked to you on the levels is what a Mason says hey we walk on the level and nobody’s any better than one another and and being you know I’ve seen the officers
And when you become a Mason um you you hear and you feel it before you see it and if that makes sense and the um the pro the degree itself is very impressive that um you gotta hear it and feel it and then then you then you understand it
Why do you think guys in uh society today uh from pipefitters janitor janitorial workers politicians businessmen Ray rotors why do you think people come to this fraternity what do you think they’re looking for I I think that they’re looking for a direction they’re looking for stability they’re looking for um
Friendship uh you know we use the word brother not as a slang but as a sincere hey I’ll I’ll I’ll go that extra mile for anybody it doesn’t matter if it’s you or for some somebody on the street or on the highway broke down you know it’s hey are you going to stop
And help that person without any any thoughts of yourself you so you’re giving it’s a it’s a part of giving of self without expecting anything in return well and like truly an act of service yeah in this fraternity and do you think it’s because of the mentorship of the
Men around you do you think it’s the teachings of this fraternity that make you think differently I I think it gives me stronger Direction and and commitment and uh inspiration uh uh that you want to be better personally uh what externally internally uh spiritually and you know I’m not a spiritual person
You know uh but I know that when I’m around these men or I think of them all the time go on Express more about that how you think about them all the time you talk about people gone I think of people that are gone that are here that are coming through
The people that gave me Insight that gave me the um answer questions of of doubt about things okay and make sure he’s masonry is not for everyone it’s it’s like okay it’s not a religion as we all know and and the general public may think of it in a different sense because
You know we call it a blue Lodge we call it a temple and that’s just a place where we meet and it’s it’s not the it’s not taking the place of God or your deity and but they it helps you helps you it grounds you it grounds you it grounds you to
To the feelings that hey I might think that I’m getting somewheres and I gotta bring myself back where I start getting outside the boundaries it’s like driving down the road I mean if you cross that Center Line something’s going to happen right you know if it’s not the right time to
Cross that Center Line you better not do it sure but Masonry has done a lot for my for me personally spiritually internally my daughters were involved in the rainbow I have a daughter that was a grand worthy advisor of the state now what is for our non-masons or even newer Masons
Of the show what is the rainbow girls we’ve spoken about it can you tell us a little bit more about what is the Rainbow Girl um rainbow girls are a it’s a masonic fraternity that’s supported by Masons and for for girls and uh so much like a girl scouts 4-H
Club on the same basis okay and uh you know it teaches them all the things that we learn but you know for for a young lady and become uh uh proper knowing the right things to do and say and and treat people uh you know they they hit a majority at a
At like 17 18 and then they become Eastern Stars if they prefer to pursue Eastern Stars which is another um uh so body or uh part of masonry on the it’s very co-ed correct very cohesion Stars co-ed which I’m an Eastern Star how long you been an Eastern Star um since
2017. wow so you did here in Ohio yeah and I’m a past patron of the of a Triune chapter who’s now associated with another chapter now was your wife involved in eastern Stars no but she became an Eastern Star back in New Jersey and she belongs to Laurel chapter of Eastern Star because
Parents if you want to see your daughters in the in the rainbow you had to be a star got it and uh so Jan has been an Eastern Star since 19 I guess 88-89 wow so you go through these degrees as a young man how old were you 1988 uh
I was 34 and a half 35 34 35 yeah you get your three degrees you’re working with your Master’s Craftsman your Mentor through those examinations to become a Master Mason what do you do right afterwards right after you that’s an interesting thing and I I find that really exhilarating
When I took when I went through my degrees and I know you spoke about on some of the other podcasts we there’s a you call it a catechism and that that really that that rings a bell with me but it’s you’re responding back on learning by memory what you went through and
You’re giving back a examination just to give your percent Proficiency in what you learned sure and I’m going to tell you man I had to study every night with my mentor we set his coffee at his dining room or kitchen table excuse me and we went through pots of coffee for me to
Memorize it now like you I seen you it’s like how did this guy do this in like 20 days 15 how did he memorize it because the examination back home in New Jersey was probably two-thirds of what you did in Ohio yes every State’s a little different with
The examination book but it conveys pretty much the same meaning it’s the same if there’s only a few words differences and uh little innuendos that go into our bullets but when I when I listen to you do it I mean I did a pretty well Word Perfect examination but
When I when I I was floored I mean I was like oh my God this guy is got it well that’s right it was like I was impressed well I I really appreciate that you know I think it’s a way that this examination kind of weeds out people who are truly
Going to be invested in this fraternity if you’re just going out thinking you’re going to get some claim to fame it’s not there in masonry and that’s yeah it that one it draws a bond between the mentor and the mentee they say that right yeah mentor mentee and then um
Then you see well this guy’s got this direction but on the other token it isn’t about having the ability to memorize something because we have Masons that can’t they can’t really memorize everything sure and we work with them and assure them in a brotherly fashion hey don’t worry about it
Is it important yes is it that important that you can’t uh memorize it and give it word for word no it’s the giving and the and the commitment that that we as we as Masons I believe look for because it all because somebody can’t remember I was in something
Doesn’t mean that they’re not a good person right of course they’re a perfect fit but hey don’t don’t expect me to memorize something I mean because I still have difficulties trying to remember stuff and and doing the uh uh different parts of lectures and and degree works and you know we all
We have it in the Scottish Rite we have 29 more degrees and the Scottish right yep so talk about your journey into the Scottish Rite did you get involved in the Scottish Rite back in New Jersey because once you once you become a Master Mason there’s many masonry is like a tree
There’s many other appendant bodies and each body has its own style theme some are more Christian based we’ve taught about some of them go into more educational based some are more theatrical while some are more research based but there’s many branches to masonry so the Scottish Rite is another
Branch to continue that more light that more education into the fraternity so did you be a part of the valley in New Jersey yeah I was in the Southern Valley in New Jersey Scottish Rite that met in Collingswood New Jersey which is 10 15 minutes from our house um
And I always think of that where I lived in New Jersey in Laurel Springs straight up the road was Collingswood New Jersey where you know we had little towns just like here in Ohio and a main artery which is the White Horse Pike and it was like looking from
The White House to the capitals to to Lincoln Memorial you know and and then you just continue on that road takes you right into Philadelphia to where number one North Broad is where the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania where where Ben Franklin and all these men of the 1800s met wow so I’ve been
There so many times I actually got my Royal arts degree in the number one North Broad in Philadelphia which is a phenomenal place it’s I haven’t been to the Detroit Temple which is the largest in the country but if you get to Philadelphia you have to go to there and
Take a tour Royal Arch being a Christian branch in masonry it’s a continuation of the degrees from your blue Lodge so if your blue Lodge is your the base of your journey it continues on that Branch it splits off I thought that I thought the Royal Arch was like the extension of the
First three degrees it is in a way right and it’s like and I I became a Royal Arch Mason before a Scottish Rite Mason got it and because I was so impressed by this Royal Arts degrees but then when I was amazed when I was
I was raised as a Master Mason in New Jersey it was instilled in me that hey learn what you’re doing here in blue Lodge and before you start stepping into the other appended bodies and I I thought I got a great Foundation and then after that I became an officer
Right away officer in your blue Lodge the next year at Laurel Lodge in New Jersey correct okay so did you become master in New Jersey no I um I was there and I was uh I I was appointed Junior Stewart and the founder of senior Stewart and then
Junior Deacon and then I was a senior Deacon in 93. and uh at that point my mentor Jackie Ray Longmire who brought help you know educate me in masonry he never told me he was ill and I thought wow this this is going to be
Great because he was ahead of me in line and I thought well this you’re going to be in the East and I’ll be in the west and he made a comment to me that really I it comes to me just like it was as if it was yesterday
He said you’ll get to the East long before I do and I didn’t know he was ill and didn’t catch that and he passed away I’m so sorry to hear that yeah you know and I still talked to his wife Barbara and actually Jackie’s Sons Jackie Ray Jr and and uh
Can’t think of something Chris is our Masons okay so well you know that’s one thing about this fraternity that you know we sometimes never get the chance to say goodbye yeah and in those days when a man there was gut wrenching let me tell you oh I can only imagine
Um we’ve experienced that in our lodge Rubicon uh with a lot of great members but tell me about that Brotherhood about Jackie he clearly had an impact on your journey oh definitely still today there’s times I don’t think I I think of them all the time and every time I look
At my Masonic ring I think of Jack uh because he was he meant that much to me and he was he was I was as old as his kids you know we were the same age as kids and all I was like in their 30s and late 20s Jackie
Was a man of 60. so how do you how do you know it’s like having another father you know sure not just a brother but a father it’s amazing how this fraternity we don’t see age it’s nice we don’t even see color yeah we don’t we definitely don’t see color
We don’t see age in this fraternity and you know you and I connect and there’s times when me and you were on the phone for two hours at a time just yeah yeah what’s our age difference well I’m 33. I joined when I was 22. about my 11
Years in masonry right now I mean you pretty much have seen me I’m 39 years older what is 39 years old I’m 69. see so but again you never I think some people would look in and be like oh you’re joining a fraternity with a bunch of older guys they’re going to
Talk down to you they’re not going to give you that that proper respect but that’s not how it is amazing why is that we had those crucial conversations um you know when you know you’re coming in the line in the lodge and you were coming in the officer’s line and and you uh
Had your education you were working on at the University and he said well he and you you had mentioned to me and I it’s it’s Crystal Clear well these old guys won’t let us do anything and my response to you was no you misunderstand that ‘ll let you do whatever you want
As long as you’re going to come in and Champion what you want to do and I’ve always wanted to I always remembered what you said and I always wanted to make sure I was doing that it was like a light bulb went off and then you asked people and then it’s like it’s
So much easier when you ask and it’s like knocking on the door okay well you knock on the door and the door opens yep if you want to if you don’t want to knock on that door it’s like leading a horse to water I can lead you
To water but I can’t make a drink yeah absolutely and when I was trying to do Fellowship stuff and Rubicon and really get that camaraderie going in the fraternity you know I wanted to show you hey we’re not just talk I’m not we’re walking the top we’re walking the talk
And I think we have something truly special that you’ve seen build in Rubicon with the fellowship the ritual work the charity and the education definitely 110 yeah so you never and it’s great I mean it makes that energy that you brought and fell as before you and brothers before you and
Uh that makes a difference that that gets that fire burning and it’s it’s not like we’re talking about the town burning down we’re we’re kindling the Fire and Building that steam up to get ahead of steam to do things uh internally externally yeah I remember we were cooking fried bologna sandwiches
At a festival I remember us having we had a wine fundraiser at a wine house one time you probably remember that we’ve done for our um for our scholarships yeah but yeah you talk about scholarships you know people that are familiar with masonry and another appended body is the Shriners I mean
There’s masonry gives a million dollars a day away and each a pendant body has its own um um what is that word I’m looking for philanthropy philanthropy that they support you know Shriners at Children’s Hospital uh Scottish Rite and all the other bodies have Got The Grotto for dental for kids yep
All these different things and have you ever experienced somebody who benefited from a Shriners Children’s Hospital a kid I I I’m a roadrunner what’s a roadrunner in the Shriners and take children to the hospitals and uh it’s a it’s humbling let me tell you it’s humbling so what’s that like to bring
You to your knees what’s that like what do you do you get a call hey somebody well they’re planned out that the the shrine has the hospitals in Chicago and Lexington and Hawaii and Florida Cincinnati all over the country Philadelphia and uh in a different geographical area that has a specialty and
That family will need transportation and it’s not that they need transportation in a sense but they encourage the shrine encourages the family to accept the transportation so that they can be with their child family member and they don’t have to worry about getting in there and getting
Back sure so it for us here in northwest Ohio going to Chicago or going to Cincinnati or wherever we go it could be a 12 14 hour day sure yeah and then they give them not that it’s interesting the intrinsic side of it but we stop and have a meal and they’re
They’re they’re given enough funds to support the family I mean I’ve been I don’t know how many times I’ve been to Chicago right I mean just a couple weeks ago Keith Keith Tallow balustrious brother Keith tullo from Rubicon Lodge 237 Who was the potentate I mean he’s a Avid Shriner and
And donor to the shrine hospitals and drives all the time to Chicago and gives of oneself so much it’s amazing actually he was he and he and uh he was I went to my first shrine hospital with him well really yeah because they won’t just let you go they want you to learn
What you got to do but but that’s just another flip side of what we do as Masons it’s giving himself and to make things better for somebody else that’s very well said now go circling back to what you were talking about you never became worshipful master at Laurel Lodge 237 no
In New Jersey because well I was I transferred with the with the railroad back in 93. I’m I transferred so many times but uh living in a house that we’re in and it was offered a position and uh and I thought gosh I can’t just do this I have
A daughter in high school I got two kids in elementary school one getting ready to go to high school and uh it’s like I really want to go I thought it was very important it was a pay raise and and I told Shannon and I talked about
And I said well I won’t take it unless the kids agreed it okay we can we should go and they did and then my daughter that same year was a grand worthy advisor rainbow for the state of New Jersey wow and then went to Ohio she she actually lived with our pastor
From Presbyterian church across the street from her house his wife and husband Pastor Dave wanker and she stayed there and finished her school okay and then went to college at Ohio Wesleyan my daughter came here and went to high school at uh Southview because we lived in Sylvania now that’s crazy another thing
So when I come here I end up moving next door to a guy and a woman they were he was a past master and his wife was a Eastern Star and their daughters were rainbow and you didn’t know this guy just your neighbor it’s just my neighbor okay it’s like and I I
Actually got New Jersey Masonic tags and my Masonic tags came in and it was 11 29 which was the date of my daughter’s birth 11 29. it was crazy I thought that was the most I uh iconic thing that anomaly that that would happen so we lived there for like three and a
Half four months I guess and then realize it dawned on me I know this lady then when I found out that the she was a Eastern Star they actually traveled from Ohio to New Jersey to my daughter’s installation for Grand worthy advisor when the Grand Master Masons in New Jersey was there
It was amazing so I want to make sure I understand this you get a job opportunity in from New Jersey you’re going through the you took a break from masonry at that point right because you had to focus on family I still I’m still a member of Lies sure I
Maintain my membership no yeah and then you take this job you land in Sylvania Ohio 690 some miles away exactly you have a neighbor who’s already a part of the fraternity here in Ohio in out of all the houses you could have picked out of everything that was going
On you actually knew those people all the way back in New Jersey because his wife was a part of rainbow girls yeah his wife was an Eastern Star and their daughters were used there were rainbows and and they made the trip to to the Grand Lodge of rainbow for New Jersey and
Attended my daughter’s installation because it’s a big affair it’s a big deal and they girls and they do it all the time and I end up we end up buying a house next door to these people and three months three and a half months later we dawned on us who they were but
The chances of you finding not only a mace Masonic neighbor Bassmaster pass master to office who also is very active out of all the other 49 states definitely he’s they are making travels from Ohio to New Jersey that’s almost unbelievable it’s like finding the needle exactly but that’s how
Mystical this fraternity is the synchronicities that have my Masonic Journeys just is different sure everybody’s Masonic journey is different it’s it’s what you make of it the break from when you were very active in New Jersey to when you got back active in Ohio how much was how long was the break
93 to 14. 2014. I never mentally I never took the break sure you probably met Brothers All Around yeah people that worked for me were Masons they all knew I wanted to be I wanted to find the lodge and one of the things I told them
I want to find the lodge that fits me that can that can Elevate me to become Master not just tomorrow I mean I had to put my time in going through the chairs but my goal was I wanted to be a master of Lodge what
Was I was I worthy of it I don’t know it’s just I was working my way uh to become master I want I wanted to be a master you know so many times it’s not that it was I wouldn’t have died if I never became a master of a lot it
Wouldn’t it wouldn’t have killed me right I understand it was just something I wouldn’t have achieved sure so you’re being very particular of what law Drew may join in Ohio you didn’t just clearly this neighbor he didn’t jump to this neighbor’s Lodge as your you know First
Choice oh I’ve known Mason boom I can find uh I can find a new Lodge brother Tim really never asked me to go to Lodge with him okay we went to Tiger games together and I was happy to go to the Tigers game because I got to sit in the old Tiger
Stadium and think of alkaline and all the famous tigers you know oh yeah but so you start looking for a lodge how did you find Rubicon well in 93 like it sure um I I was working with guys that were Masons and uh they were they were they were Shriners
Is that in New Jersey or is that in that’s here in Ohio 93 you come to Ohio right okay and I think it was 94. because Bobby Williams uh I think he’s from Barton Smith and a couple other guys they were in the shrine and they were in the motorcycle
Escorts I knew I knew there was the motorcycle escorts and the Shriners had escorts because we had to Shrine back home but I wasn’t a member at that time and I want to join the shrine and I I ordered a shrine bike and uh
But to get a bike you had to be a Shriner so and they’re white uh and uh I became a mason oh sure sure I became a Shriner at the Zenobia Shrine here in Toledo which is now in Perrysburg our new Temple for the shrine sure and uh
Never looked back you know yeah and then time went on it’s like man I gotta get back to Blue Lodge well time happened I didn’t have a I didn’t get my deuce car from Shrine so I went to the shrine said hey I didn’t get
My dudes card and I met a gentleman by the name of Dick freeze who happens to be the recorder of the shrine and who happens to be a past master of Rubicon Lodge who happened to be his secretary now he was secretary for 30 years and it’s like oh my God how
Could you do that for a lifetime I’m right well he’s a lifelong secretary and those are such rare breeds and masonry I think any mason watching will agree with that Mason uh secretary Masons are very a rare breed because they got to be organized I got to make sure they get
The information out you were secretary for a while at Rubicon but um I had a question and then I started well that’s that’s that’s that’s when I met uh worse for about a dick and uh he says well who are you and I told him who I was he said what lines
You belong to and I said well I belong to Laurel Lodge 237 in New Jersey and it’s you can just see the look on his face it was like what because he’s Secretary of Rubicon Lodge 237. another synchronicity right and it’s like and I it doesn’t it doesn’t even click to me I
Don’t even know what he’s I see the look on his face of astonishment and he says well you know where do you live I said Waterville he says you know we got a lodge in Waterville it’s just yeah right sarcastically I said yeah it’s a historical society well I didn’t know I’m I’m
Oblivious to it that that Wakeman Lodge was on the 64 right there in Waterville it was now a historical society yeah they weren’t meeting there and they they were in the Browning Masonic Community which I lived in Waterville didn’t even know The Branding Masonic Community existed
Which is a 500 acre yeah uh campus you can’t miss it just right down the road and uh and he says well he said well you ought to come to our lodge he invited me out I just you know I just took to the guy I just took the dick
Because I as you know pointing those bony finger ads here you know that type of thing but he was he was just such a great guy you just love the guy to death and I went to the Rubicon and then I found out it was Rubicon 237 and I thought oh my God
Again the chances are it’s like this is an anomaly and I looked up to the sky I thought there is a God yes yes somebody’s looking down it’s telling me hey there’s a course and how am I file on this course I’m doing it blindfolded so you join Rubicon as you remember and
The Experience from an Ohio Lodge Rubicon lodge number 237 to New Jersey Laurel Lodge 237 are they the same are they different or is it one better than the other like what was your experience because now you’re seeing two lodges in two different states with the same
Number yeah I felt really proud to be become a member of Rubicon Lodge at that that this doesn’t just happen it happens for a reason and uh I have the best of both worlds right there they they do the same things the brothers are are treating and and acceptance is the same
Uh with their own caveat of differences of being like going from Rubicon Lodge to Genoa Lodge or from Northern Light Lodge or Damascus whatever you go to a different Lodge they all have their differences but it’s it’s it’s the same it really is they they have different uh ideas
And you just work off of their ideas and and fit them into you that’s I just tell people hey you might not like what I’m saying but take what I say what you like and get rid of what you don’t like and then use it no absolutely
You are always one to give advice to men and um sometimes people take things one way or the other but that’s that’s how come I went from the East that is yeah how to go to the west to get to the east of course yes absolutely and that’s when I joined Rubicon Lodge
I I actually sat on the north side of the lodge and just watched everybody how they acted mm-hmm and nothing told me to do that it just did it out of habit and uh just want to see how people reacted and sure it’s like people bent over
Backwards for me and after about a month or half a dozen visits or whatever they say well are you going to join the lodge or what are you going to do I said yeah I think I’m gonna have to yeah I became a half to yeah oh yeah absolutely now we talked
About generational Masons and each generation brings something to the table now it talk about the Statesmen of Rubicon and what did you experience from them to now you’re seeing a crop of new Masons arise and talk about you know just a bystander watching on the sidelines these different Dynamics trying to communicate
To not only better the community but better their own Lodge better themselves I thought that um everybody um was was doing the right things and they were bringing in good people and we’re still doing it even you know uh to this day but I I met some young
Guys and I met older folks and uh one that really stands out to me is worship brother Jim Brown oh my goodness Legend and uh you know that I don’t know eight-time pass master of Wakeman and Waterville before Wakeman Lodge merged into Rubicon and was always there to help always there to
Just give you that education of this is why we do this he took your time with you I only got to know him for a very short amount of time but yeah totally a legend yeah definitely uh he uh I don’t know he just came
To me or not it didn’t come to me but he approached me in all ways of wanting to be outright forthright giving and and help me make me welcome I mean I mean he just we we just hit it off I mean it’s just a great person yeah it’s a great person I
Miss him so oh even when they went to dinners I would end up probably sitting next to worshiper brother Jim and we’re just brothers it didn’t matter that he was a Wakeman raised and uh brought up in Wakeman Lodge and hey we got virtual brother Gerald fish we got
Worcester brother Paul Fish we just lost uh a couple months ago brother Carl Turner who when I was Master I asked Carl if he’d be my Lodge educational officer and I just wanna I just wanted people to feel welcome and and then I I um was
Depending on them sure not not that I needed to depend on them or they need to depend on me I needed them more than they needed me and and he graciously said Eric I can’t do it and I understood but he always was I felt so much better and I think he
Felt better that that I had to uh audacity or or encouraged to ask him for somebody I didn’t even know it wasn’t he was always at meetings it’s like and just to get them involved make them feel welcome even that I welcome them as much as uh the lodge welcomes anybody
And when I came in there’s so much leadership on a district level so there’s four counties that make up a district level 21 well now it’s 20 lodges um over the past 11 years and at that time so many of our guys was in those leaderships bettering masonry and all those different branches
That’s interesting you say that because the district dick Freese and uh right Worcester brother uh Mark Bullock who’s now gone I’m sorry to see it yeah absolutely they were always going to these meetings and I said well what’s this meeting I didn’t know anything about a district
Meeting oh yeah well come on with me and they just drugged me along yeah and next thing you know I’m I’m in the district line I’m I don’t know how many meetings I went for years I was going and then I was asked to get in the district line
Yep yep you were a district officer you’re a past District President right where’s your brother Mark um Allred uh talked and supported me with most horser Brothers Charlie um um Charlie and most horses were brother Rob riddle they all so hey here’s a man who comes to the
Meeting says we need to utilize him and then that’s what happened yeah and we can go on and on about some of the other oh yeah other key figures in masonry and Northwest Ohio but you know what yeah but then then the lodge had some officer situations and then I was elected
Officer and that that wasn’t my my goal to be elected officer in Rubicon Lodge I I had no these I I had more work involvement because I was working 14-hour days and being a manager and one of the biggest terminals on the railroad of our our system and uh territorial wise but
Then I was I started back in line as senior Deacon where I left off in New Jersey which was with the help of all the officers and members of The Lodge they voted me it’s like I was it was like a year and a half later or something sure
Wow that was an honor you know absolutely now we’re coming up to our time here you know it always I always get a smile every time I used to you see these young Masons getting active and you’re like Brother Lou is the smartest guy I know
Or this brother is the smartest guy I know and I don’t know how he does it what do you say to people who talk about I just don’t have time to be active I don’t have time to um dedicate to this fraternity or I don’t have time to join Freemasonry what
Do you say to that because you wanted to have a you wanted to speak on that about time well when people say I got time it’s like what’s important to you because you’re you’re talking to the pig because I’m committed yeah so the pig’s committed so you want
To roll around the mud the pigs that loves it you know but I work 14 hours a day I officiate high school and Collegiate Sports I uh um involved with masonry I’m an officer in the lodge you know all these different things it’s like and I still make time
How are you spending your time sometimes people are a little bit more distracted than anything else than truly laying out I’m gonna put so much hours here I’m gonna put so much hour into my vocation and of course you have to you have to put family in there and you sure you
Gotta really you really got to work on yourself from becoming that rust from that rough Stone to becoming yeah perfect actually exactly and we’re not perfect I’m I’m still a rough ashler oh that’s probably won’t even be perfect when I die well Eric I truly appreciate your dedication to the fraternity from a
Young guy who’s you know you and I have walked in this journey together 2012 is when I joined 2014s when you really got active in Rubicon um I can’t thank you enough for um all the times you call and reach out and you and I are just discussing you know
The great institution known as Freemasonry before we go I always like to give this at the end what would you say to somebody looking for this fraternity you have to take it with your eyes peeled wide open and not be afraid of what the unexpected or unknown might be because that unknown
Will take you to places you’ll you’ll cherish for the rest of your life that is the story of Warsaw brother Eric Erickson I’m RL Franks and you are all square Thank you Thank you Hey R.L Franks here thanks again for watching today’s episode don’t forget to like And subscribe also if you believe someone can benefit from the message that we provided on today’s podcast send it over to them you may Inspire them
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