Foreign [Applause] welcome to the old-fashioned Masonic podcast where we talk all things Freemasonry while drinking an old fashioned I’m Brian and I’m Russ Russ look at this dashing soul in between us tell us who we have today because we’ve got this this this dude’s going to blow
Your mind a little bit oh by the way for those who weren’t paying attention right as we opened he’d try to take the opening line for me uh so he said hey you’re going to start I I don’t know you said something like that so all right I
Was going to we digress yeah I’m sorry we’re fighting like married folks yes and I think we’ve been called on that so today we have our brother John fulston so welcome to the podcast thank you John have you seen any of the episodes one or two one or two but that’s good so
Let me tell you those that are watching this is episode 50. so what a better way to uh have episode 50 to have a 50-year Mason Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner on the podcast yes you like what I did there love it you like what I did there
So on the podcast we like to know as much about the man as we do the mace and so who is John Folsom not Masonic who’s John fulson you don’t have to go super deep because we’re going to pull a lot of stuff out well that’s pretty
Complicated it really is I’m gonna let you I’m Gonna Let You Go with this well where do I start where were you born uh I was born in Carmel California okay okay my dad was in the service okay um World War II okay um we have I’ve lived most of my life in
And around the Wichita Kansas area I traveled with my dad in this you know when he was in the service and I was a little brat okay um which good high school Wichita high school southeast Southeast buffaloes go buffaloes yes and um I really I’m almost embarrassed to say that
Um I was the first class that went through the brand new Southeast High School okay which is now no longer I was wondering where you’re going with that and they bought build a new one yes yes so that makes me older than the school yeah that’s uh what we’ll talk
About when you’re in high school on a rain track with Jesus we’ll talk about that later so After High School you went where I went to uh K-State K-State and then I had a spell Wichita State okay which was which uh University at that time okay
And then I ended up with my degree from KU okay my law degree from KU got your log got your JD there okay then actually it was an lrb in those days okay that’s how old it is and we got our JD automatically later okay yeah yeah so High School
Now you’ve got your law degree right you get married sometime I did okay did you have kids sometimes not you but your spouse yes elaborate well I got married uh after my junior year in college oh okay and we ended up with three kids in college no no okay no
No no overtime okay yeah as I came to practice um and that was time of the Vietnam War okay and because of school and then kids I didn’t end up going I always had a mixed feeling about whether I would or would have not sure just didn’t have to
Get it works out like it’s supposed to yeah right yeah pretty much and so then I practiced law um in a law firm founded by my granddad in which my dad was also a partner okay um both of whom were also Masons okay um I didn’t know that yes um I did that until 79 cash and about 16 years I went on the bench okay at that time and served about five years and then I went to the Farm Credit system as general counsel of one of the banks and through mergers and a big long story
I ended up as president of the Consolidated banks for the last three years I was there I did not know that I didn’t think oh there’s more yeah there’s more yeah and after that I um went and became the United States trustee who in the Department of Justice overseeing all the bankruptcy trustees
In a three-state area and after that I went back to Private Practice and sometime during that time uh I picked up a second career which I’m still doing so which was uh EMS and so I ended up um retiring from the law practice when I was about
67 okay and took on EMS full-time and I’m still doing it and teaching it today so very good you do that yes okay I didn’t think you knew yeah we’ve had conversations about that all right so that’s your personal side so walk us through your Masonic Journey from the
Beginning to today well as I said my Granddad and my dad my dad’s dad uh so in my paternal grandfather’s side we’re all Masons um consistory and trying all here in Wichita and um so it was always something that I knew about and I spent a little bit of time in Dean Malay
Um okay not enough to get really very far right um so when I got out of law school and got to wish to start a practice um my dad sort of made a few noises and I decided that blue Lodge was a good idea and and I joined Pike and from there
Went to and of course those were the days which would come back to where you had to learn all the stuff say all the things and pass all the tests right um was the secret word still peanut butter back then yeah I think so okay I thought so
And then I went to Scottish Rite yeah where um I was never active in the blue Lodge I was active in Scottish Rite I did a lot of degree work there yeah real active because you got your red hat in five years I did I did did you know that
Yes okay nice all right I’m glad you guys talked but yeah so um I was uh enjoying the shrine and um was not real active in units there but I was on a ceremony of the van for a while and did those things so as you know as you can
Tell from all that my acting career has been a thing I like yeah yeah yeah you didn’t sweet you know it’s just it’s life life really is a play it is yeah it is it is it is so Russ uh you need it oh yeah oh yeah I guess
It’s me so so you were attorney then a judge then I don’t even know if you’re ever really retired but went into the world of EMT now what she didn’t tell me in your bio which I had to do research on my own which why did why did
You leave out that you were at EMT of the year um I don’t know I just not that important I guess what in what year I have no idea you know I know you’re EMT of the Year apparently you do know that yes and but
She’s my Russ is making you think that I made that up no I I’m it wasn’t that it wasn’t that long ago yeah about seven years ago probably yeah okay so I’m gonna call you out because you’re not a girl so we can say that so seven
Years ago when you got EMT of the year how old would you have been how old would I have been seven years ago yeah seven years younger seven years younger than I am now which would be 74. I think that think that through so when all you all out there including us
We have excuses well I can’t do that I can’t do EMT think about that your your need to be charged up on an ambulance and you’ve got an EMT of the year that’s 74 almost 75 at the time when he gets EMT of the year there’s no excuse for you not
Getting anything done sorry I’ve got on my pulp let’s get together yeah you did get on your pulpit so you um you got your red hat and Scottish Rite within five years and you love the theatrical piece today is there any other part of masonry that you would
Like to be a part of would you do you think yeah I’ve talked to Tom about going back into some of the Masonic work at the Scottish Rite yeah all right good I like good you do a little trade out did you um maybe I don’t know okay yeah I I
Think the deals being made there so you’re a cancer survivor I am so talk a little bit about that because obviously cancer touches everybody you know so talk about your journey because it was kind of a public Journey it was yeah and actually there’s two Journeys okay all right prostate cancer
35 years ago now right and it all got well and fine and everything no recurrence um and then I ended up with male breast cancer which is an unusual thing I’m one of the lucky group of guys that you are the second person on our podcast really talk about that and the
Second person from Pike yes really Sheldon Lawrence yeah yeah yeah yep so yeah I discovered it uh one day getting out of the shower nipple was not like it should be by look or feel but look okay and I said to my wife that’s kind of strange and she grabbed
It and said hmm there’s a lump there oh and so I as it turned out I had a appointment with my PCP within a couple weeks yeah yeah and so we’re doing our thing and we get kind of down to the end and I go so this and he goes he grabbed
It and said hmm we’ll schedule you for biopsy now yeah yesterday yeah yeah so we did the biopsy and uh the guy came out and said uh well he actually didn’t do the biopsy and did a mammogram and he came out and said well I’d like to tell
You that it is not anything serious it’s just a male problem and he said but I can’t so we need to do a biopsy which we can do today or later being the kind of guy and I said well now work yeah now or that’ll work yeah
You have to be an advocate for yourself though right absolutely absolutely so sure enough they found it and um wasn’t that a mastectomy and I got it all and I got to hear this conversation many times your guy and we don’t know what to do for you
Because we know how to treat women but we’ll treat you the same as we would a woman in this deal so um we did chemo and lost all my hair and all that fun stuff and all the sickness and stuff that goes along with that yeah
Yeah and as you know you yeah yeah and it um would think real hard about having to do it again you know Heidi and I talked a lot about that going through chemo in your 40s would be way different than going through it in your 70s right it’s just
Just a tear on your body it’s just yeah listen John’s lean guy he’s still an active EMT but I mean it’s still not a 40 year old body it’s not an 18 year old body right that comes home to me more often than I like to admit yeah yeah it’s but you
Know right here in this podcast we’ve had two of our brothers that have had that and and I think it’s it’s worth saying don’t ignore it if you see something that’s that’s abnormal about your body go go we’re so focused as men to you know basically you’re checking your nuts
Right yeah I mean that let’s just let’s just put it out there yes and you should but I don’t know if I would have had something wrong with my nipple before knowing you guys so that I’ve oh it’s probably I probably worked out or harder did something like that but I guess the
Message that we don’t get super serious a lot no but this is this is so serious that Masons I mean we’re not getting any younger just pay attention if something’s abnormal World which is I’ve got a patient and I often say to the patient you know yourself and your body is this normal
For you or whatever and it’s yeah that’s the message I give here too yeah Fair yeah very good well you are a 50-year mason so you’ve seen some things in this fraternity over the years so talk to us about how has it changed have there been good
Changes bad change what what do you what have you seen in your time as a Freemason well obviously I was never a fan of the period of time when people didn’t have to do their their work their degree work in blue Notch I mean while I wasn’t
Active in the blue Lodge it just seemed to me that that was a piece that made me a better Mason made me better understand what it was about to do that stuff and so I’m glad to see that’s turned around okay um I I have seen lately I think a
I don’t want to say a relaxation of the formality but but yes I do want to say that in in a way because while we still have all the structure and formality of the degrees there seems to be a more informality in the overall Gathering does that make sense
Yes let me ask you this question when you were going to Lodge meetings did you ever see shorts and t-shirts no right right jackets and ties oh yeah yes just like what you did absolutely well back when I came in that’s what you did when you went to the movies
Okay I mean seriously yeah fair you know fair I mean Russ and I talk about this a lot how old are you guys I still don’t like going to a church where the pastor is not in a in a jacket and tie I know you’re good with it you’re desensitized
To it I just don’t like it still to this day I don’t know that I I don’t know that I like it no you’re desensitized to it well I’m sitting here with jeans right now so you’re not in church I’m not sure that’s true so do you think
It’s changed for the better or worse overall you think the brand is do you think what do you think of the brand well I think I think that we had to make those kinds of changes okay if there’s any chance of survival okay and and I think
I think that the question of survival is on on the edge there there yes I think some some areas will last longer than others yeah I think so yeah so what’s your favorite body of the fraternity and it doesn’t have to be one you’ve met I mean I mean what do you like
I don’t know that I have a favorite okay I mean I like it all I love the foundation I love the you know I mean just and it isn’t so much the body because I’m not that active in right any of the ones we’ve talked about yet right right um
But it’s just it’s just the fact that I am a Mason okay if that makes sense that’s a good answer I like that that’s a good answer very good taking a different direction I like it so you know Brian uh creates a lot of these questions and so we get so we have
A healthy competition so we get some fun questions and here’s one okay so between the two of us yeah if you had to pick one to be a judge and one to be an Mt out of the two of us how how who would you pick for oh this
Is gonna be which position it’s gonna be great it’s gonna be great because Russ is going to be so annoyed well whatever his answer is I’m spinning it how how can I say this my test of the good EMT I want you coming to my house treating my family
Just spend that against me yes can I say I wouldn’t want either one of you there that’s not the question though damn it I think he needs mouth to mouth you’re gonna die is that the reason I’m not letting you out of this one yet who’s the judge who’s the empty
You really make me choose yes yeah we like this easy judge EMT is it because I’m more athletic um it’s because he’s more serious wait a minute hold on that is not true you think you’re more serious than me and what wait in real life or thoughtful you think he’s more thoughtful
Well that actually hurts my feeling yeah so well you were the way you set it up I was gonna hurt somebody that’s fair all right so as an attorney you defended many people over the years correct yes okay so assume you were convicted of a crime that warranted the death penalty
What would your last meal be probably Freddy’s yeah for your last name I’m not I look I love those little Furniture you like the fries more than that than the burger no I love the burger as long as you get a double because yeah that’s that’s so much yeah they’re pretty good yeah
They’re pretty good yeah so this is the second time we’ve asked this question so this is sort of a new question for us so living or dead who would you like to sit down and have dinner with that you have never had dinner with before living or dead have never had a meal
With them who would you pick and why it’s really a good question I’m going to tell you where those came from we have viewer questions it is a good question um because they put the copy out of not one that you’ve had before because you’d want to go with a parent or something
Yeah um maybe Dwight Eisenhower yeah all right that’s a good one yeah I mean he was a man of integrity um he was a man of a lot of uh experiences and a lot of wisdom and just I guess maybe that would be the answer yeah
This is one of my couple up there yeah Churchill Eisenhower yeah I think he’d be a good one yeah with you on that lots of History so what’s next for Fallston you’ve done a lot in your life what’s next for you John just keep on doing doing
I’m teaching EMS now I’m still working on the streets matter of fact I’ve go on shift tonight eight o’clock so I like it all right I like it so we at the end of every episode it’s the most important quest for the episode one
Must go okay so I had to dig into four things you really like but so on the screen there’s Hunting Fishing horses and coffee one has to go forever you could have never even enjoyed it once in your life which one is it and why
Is that a little tough for you yeah it’s real tough yeah I thought so I had this I had this I had to scour to get this one for you one has to go forever forever forever the horses are blue but understand my forever isn’t that long anymore oh my God that’s so
Dark so it was you could have never enjoyed it wow see this is why we had to have Olsten on there because he he’s just a little dark for us I like it so you could have never in your life hunted and enjoyed those Pleasures or fishing or
Horseback riding or enjoying that’s see that’s the part that makes it hard never in the past would I because I’ve done all those things yeah oh yeah I had to love them all I had to scour of those Russ you know what yours would be this one’s hard for me
I think I would it’s yeah we’ll go I think mine’s easy I think probably fishing me too okay fishing would have been mine I’ve had some neat times fishing but um the others yeah I’ve enjoyed lots of horseback rides it’s an attention span thing for me yeah yeah you too I just
Get bored when I was a kid I had some good good times but yeah today I don’t do that we lived 25 years out on a farm and you had horses 60 Acres and we raised and showed and yeah about the horses a little bit and I know he loves
Coffee yeah yep had to dirty that up so folks that’s all we have so thanks for watching the old-fashioned Masonic podcast and uh stick with us John thank you very much I appreciate cheers glad to be here
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