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Episode welcome to the oldfashioned Masonic podcast where we talk all things Free Masons while drinking an oldfashioned I’m Brian and I’m Russ Russ tell our folks who we have we’ve got some stuff to talk about so we do so we’re going to get to it Deon Olson is
Our guest today Brother Devon thank you for having me here apprciate it so have you seen any of the episodes uh briefly I I don’t get on internet too much busy run around doing other I get it I get it so what you’re saying is you’ve never
Seen one I didn’t say that I said I haven’t seen the full one Ah that’s hey you go to you got to help to click count so before we start um Russ and I we are wearing some shirts forat Turnal ties uh appreciate you guys so you’ll check them
Out in the description fraternal ties they have a lot of masonic uh what I’d call swag thank you for sending me one that is full bodied carrying a little holiday weight since 1991 I I appreciate you I like it and I’ve been uh accused of wearing a medium it’s a large you
Judge me all you want so we digress but fraternal ties thanks for what you do appreciate it so although you haven’t seen a full episode um or many so we like to know as much about the man as we do the Mason so push Mason you to the side okay who’s
Deon the man uh born junee of 1976 uh lived in Kansas pretty much my whole life other than my military career yeah and whereabouts did you grow up uh pretty much on the east side of town for the most part spent a lot of time out in
Eastern Kansas out near Fall River uh s power area all right had family lived out there so we spent a lot of time out in the country every chance I could I would be you know hated growing up in the city but shout out to the Howard
Mafia yeah that’s right that’s right Elk County knew a lot of them didn’t realize it until later on in the road um joined the military when I was 17 years old was with the 82 Airborne Division paratrooper uh I did two tours in the Middle East uh back to back I was home
10 months and 4 and a/2 years um 47 years old just turned 4 thank you for your service appreciate Cheers Cheers thank you gentlemen you too and uh I uh I’m an avid Hunter I have uh my beautiful wife Beth we just hit 27 years together on Friday nice I like it you
Know got to learn enough in the in the military and in the shrine and Masons to make sure you give props to your your your other half you have to I’ve got a 16-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old daughter um we we are all active there
In all kinds of sports so I’m I’m a sports dad a lot you know trying to make every function I can on top of training and you know Jiu-Jitsu myself so I got them into it to teach them some discipline and how to protect themselves
And and to get myself back in shape you know I’ve been in off and on for a number of years so yeah but uh just now I’m at the stage I’m stting to look towards retirement so I’m started to planning on here like man I don’t know
Where this I came I went from being a g to an OG at some point I don’t know right wow that that passes Us by sometimes real quick it does doesn’t it well walk us through your Masonic Journey okay my grandfather was Master of the lodge in Clearwater Kansas um
Actually he passed away before I was born but I grew up um with holding the the Family Bible and not realizing it until I one day it clicked and I’m looking through and it’s a masonic Bible and it’s got the family written through and none of my uncles
Carried on that tradition and and I always promised my mom that I was going to be a a Mason and pay things back because I was a Shriner child myself and received Medical Care yeah we’re going to talk about that and uh so for me it
Was a natural progression to to kind of pay it forward um i’ put it off put it off for a long time didn’t think I was ready and then ran into some gentlemen that you know I got to know fairly well and they got me in and I actually came
In in 2007 right before my oldest daughter was born and literally about eight weeks before I got deployed for the second time and I I wanted to make sure I I didn’t do it the traditional way unfortunately I did it the all one day everyone’s got their journey I I did
You know my second and third degree I did the did you did a c2a yes okay so that’s not so Russ actually was an all the way and one day Mason I was a one day Mason okay so we were C2 ways I was a C2 as well so we’re we’re always a
Little I don’t want to say we’re defensive of it but but uh that was your path that was your path absolutely right I just knew that after my first tour uh I had a pretty rough tour you know a lot of bad things happen yeah I’m like I’m
Going to make sure I get this done you I made a promise I’m one of those guys that I’m not quick to promise but if I do promise I’m going to fulfill it I no matter what it takes I do know that about you you know it makes me wonder if
You go back into the World War uh one and two with the the masonry was just on this trajectory because so many people because like hey I don’t know if I’m going to come back but at least I want to frankly I just want die Mason MH on
The family tradition so uh it’s as you were saying that it’s just it’s just kind of you know it’s like I got a promise that’s one thing but you know I’m also going to be amazing and it’s still really prevalent in the military if you know what to look for and I
Didn’t really think about it too much but on my second tour when my whole unit went to U Wisconsin to for mobilization training there was a lot of instructors that were military instructors they’d see my ring and they’d come up and they’d say hi to me and like hey are you
Traveling man yeah yeah hey hey goes hey sge I got a deal for you if your people can shut up and be quiet I can have this eight hour training done in two hours y’all can go chill but they got to stay out of trouble right we can do it got
You we can do it walk back to the commander Hey sir would you be okay if we were done in two hours go how the hell did you pull that yeah don’t ask well but that’s that thing with the with the fraternity we’ve all been through the
Same thing and so they know that if we say something it means something and so we’ll kind of dive into that a little bit so absolutely so you became a Master Mason when did you become did you go to Scottish right York right yes sir I did
Uh I did the Scottish right New York right uh when I came back from my deployment actually so I did uh I came all the way into the shrine that very first you know day and then you know just over a year later about a year and
A half later is when I did the came through the the Scottish right gotcha gotcha I did the first degree of this the York right this past uh beginning of the summer okay um but unfortunately um I had prior commit you know to go to I
Still want to complete it because I’m a a ridiculously stupid nice Templar fanatic yeah you know huge very cool every one movie ever made and and of course Oak Island guys right nice they’re F and so you mentioned it uh you were a shrine kid so walk us through that um
I’m not a shrine child in in some of the traditional sense I didn’t have to go to the hospital I was born with severe orthodontic issues my bottom jaw was so far back that you could take your thumb put on the roof of your mouth and still
Close your jaw oh wow and it caused a lot of issues so um doct dillah which is a Shriner here in town um actually uh Kim yep he they they took care of me 100% fixed my jaw brought everything back out and if it wasn’t for them
Taking care of me I’d never been able to join the military which got me my education so it’s just been so integrated from one step to another and it does give me a unique perspective of of masonry and shrin them that a lot of people will never have yeah what why do
You think so I think you know a lot of shrine kids out there why do you think we don’t have more Shrine kids but equally as important their dads joining masonry what what are we missing are we just is there is the ask just not there are we
Just not asking the question like hey well to be one ask one had its place in time I agree you know kind of like the Army used to have this you know this advertising campaign we do more by 6:00 a.m. than most people do in the entire
Day right that was a really dumb campaign cuz you we’re going to make you work twice as hard as everybody else for half the pay right right now there’s so many other things out in this world that you can do you need to people aren’t going to be searching for that that
Insight and and that that camaraderie they don’t know it exists you have to tell people what exists now and you know with the internet age there’s all kinds of other there’s tons of things to do nowadays so you have to present yourself one of the things get out in public and
Do more you know as as a as a lodge one of the first things I did when I came in was uh we gave up an entire Saturday removed some old playground uh equipment off of a school and then had paid to to donate new equipment so people saw you
Out there doing stuff so let’s talk about that for a second because I’ve got a thought about so I was fortunate to always have good health insurance so if my kid would have needed something most of the time it would have been paid for and it would have just been taken care of
So there at times I believe our Shrine patient patients sometimes have families that may or may not be able to afford the right Healthcare right it does cost money to be a Mason it’s not free right and quite frankly it’s expensive and is probably should be more expensive than
It is so do sometimes those dads actually go oh I can’t afford that so they just don’t ask or they don’t pursue it because I think there’s combination yeah yeah I I I don’t know I’m just well they’re like hey all of these all of these rich white guys let’s
Just I mean that’s been that’s been the the kind of the perception of Masons and Shriners forever and that’s not the case is it like well I mean I’d like to be part of that but I probably can’t afford X so I think I think it’s combination of
What you say and are we not having the ask right say hey we’re thanks for giving us the opportunity to take care of Devon yeah would you consider would you like to be part of this so you could pay it forward somehow yeah you know are we just missing that very possible but
But is it also skewed of like hey we helped your kid now come join us well you shouldn’t want to pressure somebody I definitely don’t want to do that but when it comes down to it in this in this day and age you look at you know instant
Gratification in a lot of people y most people don’t see um they’re looking for a a physical or a substantial item or something something tangible something tangible thank you that’s what I was looking for you know and you’re not going to find it intangible and you don’t realize it’s there
Until you’ve achieved it yes you know we don’t make men Good Men We Take Good Men and make them better right by surrounding yourself with their Med so if you take a bad apple a good a bad apple and you put it in a basket of of
Good Apples it’s not going to make them they’re not going to make that one apple good right right so it it’s about Mak working together and I think we need to have more functions um I’ve got a gentleman that’s coming in uh asked for his petition
Recently and I invited them out to a couple of our functions while at my house when we had the Air Patrol guys with us and so they got to meet the guys that they would be hanging out with on a regular basis and they saw how quickly
They accepted him and how much they loved him self marketing baby s marketing you just show them that you’re going to have a good time and meet wonderful people that back you up yeah yeah but also don’t just assume that the second you become a Mason you you just
You receive all of this it it’s a journey and it really internet makes years the road you might actually that’s when you actually get it when I was deployed right after I had just come into the Shrine in the Masons and I was gone 8 weeks later yeah and I tell you
What with a brand new baby the patrol guys and the lodge guys that I knew they they would call my wife and check on her they came in MO the yard that’s that’s what you’re getting that kind of a human being and people don’t realize that so we have to be figure out
How to Market that that that that true love and care say you got to get along with they don’t realize it there’s groups out there that already embody that yeah well Masons who are masons will get this those who aren’t Masons we have made a promise to you
Before you even joined before you have joined to become a Mason we have already made a promise to you that we will fulfill some obligations we will look after there’s just some things that we’ll do so that’s to me that’s one of the biggest as/ selling points of hey if
You go off we got you so uh you mentioned the Air Patrol so Air Patrol is a a unit in the shrine correct right so tell everyone why the Air Patrol is the best unit to join um I would love to say it’s the best
Unit for them to join but it may not be the best unit for you or somebody else for me it was why is it the best unit for me yeah is because if fell it’s a marching unit it’s a ceremony unit it’s the oldest unit in the temple you know
To have a temple you have to have a a band for the will and pleasure of the potentate and you have to have the Air Patrol which provides the security Char no other unit in there I don’t want to hear oh I need to store my fire truck
I need all this other shots fired boys I don’t care but the Air Patrol is required by Charter it it is and the reason it’s it settled with me so much is because of my military background makesense um I also coached Middle School RC kids for a number of years and
And had National Championship you guys are pretty decorated too let’s be Hest you’ve got the biggest trophy case in the entire building cuz we’re the oldest so we just had time to build up all right I like the hum but you guys are still holding it down and they’re
They’re an amazing group of guys that they may not to be the most wild or the most rambunctious but man they’ve got class they do they’ve got class and you know what you probably got the got the coolest drummer boy out there yeah and there’s there’s some wildness in there
Too so I just said there wasn’t any I just said oh he tried said no we’re not the we’re not the wildest by any means no but you got them in there there’s a couple you got them in there so um while in the military what was just pick one
What was your favorite part of the military your favorite deployment but what was something that you went you know what I this was my I I just really liked this um the one thing that I always fall back on today is I was a parat truper you know I I jumped out
Airplanes at OD Dark 30 I did the stuff that you see on those stupid commercials and like every was like yeah I’m going to do that then you get in there and you know you end up being a cook or something like that which is nothing
Wrong we love I love Cooks hey Cooks have jump wings too they do they do but you know to they’re used of the five jump jumps but that’s yeah usually but you know just uh they still needed to feed you yeah absolutely so you don’t mess with cooking cuz they put stuff in
Your you don’t mess with cookie or payroll like a leader of cola for a cop know being a paratrooper and and getting a train with some of the units that I got to train with um and do some really cool you know uh you everybody plays cops and robbers or army guys kids
You run around your house right behind the porch I did that [ __ ] for real and I was like man you know what that’s that’s pretty cool man if only we would have practiced PLS early in life when you’re playing playing that that that that would have saved you know but it doesn’t
Matter how many times you practice plf you some people just like Will Smith in Independence Day when he fell like a sack of [ __ ] that’s what happens sometimes don’t matter the wind’s too high or you come in hot and you land right on the side of that M4 you can’t
Get that D ring loose and then you get drug across or bicycle out bicycle out if you’re like yeah yeah yeah yeah we digress sorry about that boys so uh this is a question we’ve been asking on some of the episodes lately that we got
In from a reader so if you could have a legit superpower what do you think it would be and why um you know everybody says it could be a lot of things you know but when it comes down to it as active as I am the one
Thing that probably scares me the most is growing old and after being a soldier you know going out and doing things for years and you’re this highp speed guy and as you get older you slow down yeah I don’t want to slow down so I youth no
I would say Wolverine just his not not the metal and all that stff ability to heal fast the ability to heal fast without being you know you know live forever I don’t want to live you know 800 years I don’t live my children but I
Would love to be able to live just so I can train and you know what I’d go do some really stupid stuff cuz I know I’d come back to life oh my gosh I don’t I don’t want that for that reason you I you know I’m I’m the only parachute we
Ever met meet that was afraid of heights you know and to this day parach I don’t want to go but you know I got into rock climbing a couple years ago too and there’s only so high I’m going to go if you fall it’s going to hurt
Grab the ground it’s the second bounce that messes you up it is I promise it is the second but if you heal quick then you don’t have to worry about that I I could go get another tattoo and in 30 minutes I’m I’m fully healed I can go
Back and and any problems head that’s Sol all right next question is some something we ask a lot of people so living or dead if you could have a meal with anybody that you’ve never had a meal with before who would it be and why um I’m really torn on that actually um
It would either be my grandfather that I’ve heard so many the one that was and I never got to meet him he died a few months before I was I would I would absolutely love to that but I also at the other on the other hand you tear
This between I want to hear this one you you’ll this is this will surprise you but I told you I was a huge Templar fanatic I love everything read a born in blood you know fantastic book Jac de okay all right all right so those who have followed on October 13th we
Released our episode uh we went into a lot of detail about the the king Phillip and um Pope Clement and that faithful day that lasted for seven years of torture so yeah that those are we’ve not heard Jac deol yeah it’s hard to yeah because just
Think of the stories and think of that part of history that we we don’t really know that much right well you know the guys who write the history books are the ones that lived yeah for the most part the winners write the history books right always so
Uh not that there’s we’re not saying this is catastrophic but what’s what’s kind of wrong with masonary today from the standpoint of why don’t we have the people joining that we did in the ‘ 50s in the 50s um even all the way through
The 80s it was not just a social club if it was also um if you were going to get promoted at work you had to be one of those boys or be part of the club okay and so it was kind of a mainstream and
There was a lot less to do back then so it really kind of fit competition of time you’re saying exactly um so now we and we briefly touched on this it’s still being heralded almost as a secret organization even though everything’s out there really you know
The internet you almost you can still go find can you argue we’re more private than Secret I say more private I mean people always call us secret but but but it’s interpretation it’s how they want interpret your actions you know and that’s why have you know I had a party a
Few years ago and there was guys from my gym there was a a bunch of the Shriners that were at the house we had like 70 people at my house and that that way they could all meet each other and get to know each other and and getting the
People to see who you really are as people and how it is fun to have your Masonic friends your non Masonic friends BL a different vibe though and sometimes you don’t get us like why you always hanging out the shrine guys but but that’s the thing CU they’ll ask that question yeah
And when you got guys like Doc Renner or Kyle Roar at your house who was a walking Encyclopedia of history of and they’re just cool dudes and exactly you know everybody loves a little drummer boy yeah but they can ask those questions like so what is it that draws
In because they know me from one side you know Jiu-Jitsu and kickbox what draws to you guys and then they get talk and wow you guys are so people to see us and who we are not just the egg hunts and those things they do out in public get them in in a
More social environment I would challenge every Mason to do more of that like a mixer they call it a mixer back in have a mixer but make sure that you are you know you do a nice job with mixers that you have your church friend that you have others that and you bring
Them together you already have one Comm nominator the Gap that’s your that’s your homework Masons do a mixer in the next 60 days exactly yeah that’s fair that’s fair and it doesn’t need to be it can be three six 10 people doesn’t need to be well another thing get the
Significant others in there cuz if you get this uh significant other signed off it sure doesn’t ladies are are you know get together and hang out then absolutely yeah yeah yeah good good to call yeah um so if a lodge officer came to you and said
You know what we think that you would fit for being a lodge officer do you have aspirations to do that do would you would you call would you questions here yeah um I’ve done it I’m actually a junior Steward at at with bgb right now um and I don’t didn’t know that I
Unfortunately I have another commitment that I’m double booked on that same third Thursday of every of every month so I don’t I’m not as active as I’d like to be um and and as well as having two you high school kids you know one Middle School one high school all the sports it
Trying to find that that balance is really really hard um I’m not in I’m in a position now where I can actually take off more time than I used to yeah and things are slowly developing and moving more open um I I would say I would like
To do it I I was on the div last year for the shrine and actually took over your position you I didn’t feel it very well but you I don’t have the same amount of character as you do bad character is character nonetheless but it it was it was F it character all
Right sometimes it was a little much I would have to be a lot more proficient you know that’s something I I definitely need to work on but I’m bringing two guys in right now and uh you is a progressive science when you start it they’ll progress you so you
Walked into you walked you said the word proficiency walk walk into a question so proficiency proficiency is a big thing everywhere right um so or would you rather would you rather have from Tyler to master all card holding Prof proficiency guys or would you rather them be motivational inspirational
Leadersh you can’t have a hybrid mix got to be one or the other I would have to say proficient okay cuz one we’re all natural leaders or we wouldn’t be in there in the first place okay second of all if you take too many leaders and you
Put them in one place and they’re always trying to outdo the other person it takes away from masonry okay you took me a we’ve had lots of different opinions about that yeah there there there’s yeah think about it we’re all natural leaders at join masonry because we’re putting
Others before oursel to become a better human being and the best leaders aren’t the ones that jump out in front and start screaming f follow me they’re the ones that walk out front and just go do the job and everybody naturally follows them because they want to be like them
And general James scoffield in the 1890s at West Point said it best that it’s possible to impart instruction in such a manner in tone of voice that will inspire and others an un undeniable desire to follow your commands so be that strong leader that talks softly and carries a big
Stick yeah M Dr I think we’re sort of done we are so because of that we’re going to end with this the most important question of the podcast holiday season up on the screen folks we have turkey any way you want it’s moist it’s dry it’s fried it’s whatever you
Want pumpkin pie with the amount of nutmeg you don’t want or want we’ve got stuffing or dressing and ham Any Way You Want It Devon one has to go forever it was never invented which one is it and why that’s an easy one pumpkin pie absolutely
Abolutely hate it I love the smell of it I don’t like nutmeg I don’t walk around in skinny jeans and ug boots I don’t drink you know pumpkin [ __ ] beers none of that stuff I have never to this day I’ve never made a bad turkey I brine mine and I smoke mine for
Six to eight hours ham I always do one you know coming up here in Christmas you and I will put it in uh the smoker and I’ll cold smoke it for 2 days okay as long as the temp you I’ll cold smoke it for 2 days before
I even turn the temperature on I have never ever made a bad hammer or bad Turkey um but I absolutely hate pumpkin pie so I love the fact that you said you’ve never made a bad turkey so my colle my college roommates um we we did a turkey back you
Know we were 181 19 and we were impressing The Girls Next Door I truly believe that you own almost have to be just completely I I don’t I don’t know the term cuz I don’t want to just insult everybody how can you make a bad turkey
Even if you just you can try it out you can but if you just follow the instructions you can put it in the oven you hit the nail on the head yeah just because most people well want to said and forget it and to cook a turkey correctly and oven it’s a
Simp alert too many too many times in the history my grandmother was guilty of this as well you put an oven you take it out look you know and they put stuffing in the turkey all that does is absorb all the moisture all the moisture yes so people overcook it you should actually
Cook any meat product 5 to 10 deges under where it should be that way it when it’s resting it finishes cooking and what I do for my turkey since it’s been smoked the skin gets tough I have a roasting oven with a chicken stock in
There and I let it rest in there for an hour or two and the skin no it doesn’t soak up any moisture it’s on the rack it just it steams the skin soft okay but because you I brine mine before I cook it it absorbs a lot of the moisture and
Actually fills up with more moisture so it doesn’t dry out well folks thanks for watching H turkeys uh for Thanksgiving thanks for watching old fast Masonic podcast cheers thanks for guys appreciate you what did you think of this episode to continue to promote Freemasonry hit that like button now
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