[Applause] welcome to the old-fashioned Masonic podcast where you talk all things Masonic while drinking in old fashioned I’m Brian and I’m Russ Russ look what we continue to secure it’s like they’re like Legos or action figures we just keep taking Grand Masters and putting them on shelves in
Here so we have yet another of Kansas now he’s he’s an old dog now when it comes to Grand Masters he’s nearly four years out coming around so Russ tell everyone who we have everybody we have our good friend brother most worshipful Dale Morrow with us today
Welcome hi thanks for having me so if you’ve seen the podcast yes um more than one oh yeah okay we’re gonna stop that’s good so it’s always good because we like for you to know questions in advance so uh most people that know us personally they don’t trust
Restaurant they think that there’s some Shenanigans and I think it’s more they have issues with Rustin myself that’s the story that I’m sticking to and you can just stick to it so as you know on the old-fashioned Sonic podcast we’d like to know as much about
The man as we do the Masons so who’s Dale oh so I’m an old hillbilly from Arkansas basically I grew up in uh rural Arkansas about 45 miles east of Fort Smith on a grade 8 dairy farm okay um I worked on one in Mino Oklahoma see
We’re all we’re all at our universe utterly uh so um school was like seven miles away um I yeah rural area but I grew up in a pretty Progressive high school okay um I am a jack of all the trades and that kind of started in high school um
Of course coming off a farm you did just about everything yeah but I had some opportunities in high school that kind of set some things in motion that are still going on today okay we had an area of vocational school over in Ozark I went to school in Paris that Vocational Technical School
Put together four what they call Project vans one was Electronics one was refrigeration and air conditioning the other was another was machine shop and the last was ice cream world of construction close but no cigar so get your trade I I and the thing it is I you know I also
Took agriculture which taught welding it taught woodworking it taught all the all the shop skills and even you know Motors all kinds of things okay so that kind of sets some things in motion it’s still going on I I’ve got so many wide interests right um
I want to know something I go learning right uh and I’m still doing that today and I work on my own vehicles um but yeah um I’m just an old country boy that likes working with his hands my uh my Endeavor was to be an electrical engineer okay
Until I discovered I hate I hated sitting in the desk pair so so your occupation and I assume you have a family I work I work for Spirit aerosystems I’ve had many occupations so from how long do you worked for spare a long time um this is my 18th year 18th year long
Time so I’m a tooling technician out there but that’s I’m a team leader in but that encompasses a lot of things right um not only I I kind of take care of most all of spirits toolings automation okay uh all their Electronics all their their industrial controls that’s kind of my my gig
So if it’s got any kind of electronic pneumatic Hydraulics to it it’s under my umbrella so family wife kids so you don’t have to buy a dress yeah uh I’m married for the third time okay uh would you do that wrong the first two times yeah it will yeah
We won’t get into that that’s probably safe we don’t have a back button here yeah so at any rate uh Israel and I have been married for this is still 22 years ago 23 in August uh you know she looks like a child she looks so young when I
First saw you guys together I thought that this was like to catch a predator stuff it was 17 and a half years younger than me so think about that yeah he was 18 she was barely born no well so yeah that’s kind of bad don’t do not think about that that’s awful
That was really good so at any rate uh I have four children okay um nine grandchildren four great-grandchildren with one on the way all right um should be any time in the next three weeks I think wow so four children so boys girls mixture or whatever three
Girls and one boy one boy and is your son a Mason he is not okay he is not okay uh he kind of got up uh bad taste he was acquainted with some masons in Arkansas and uh a lot of stuff went on during the time period yeah he he kind
Of he some of the Masons he knew just didn’t jive with what he thought ought to be right okay uh that’s kind of where he is okay that makes that may change later yeah but you know he works at his Spirit also oh he’s local because uh he
He’s the only one that lives in the state okay the other three live out of state very cool okay so uh he’s he’s uh in the Boiler House at Spirit okay uh he’s uh a lice boiler operator so he’s he he works pretty good as a grandpa what’s one crazy thing that
Your grandchildren if we asked them what would they say about you what’s wondering what’s up so I don’t get to see him very often so I don’t know it was kind of crazy I think my my oldest grandson was really kind of Blown Away um
Went down one time and my son was really into dirt bikes and so was my grandson they put me on one and I think he was kind of Blown Away that I could actually ride yeah grandpa had that that makes Grandpa look real young and fast
So old if he wrecks so I had my son put me on the biggest baddest bike he had it was like a Yamaha 490 and you School them all no I don’t know about scooting anybody but you didn’t wreck out oh no oh no that’s good so they’ll tell us about your Masonic
Career what from beginning to you keep it under five hours because you’ve done a lot so just get some highlights because we’re going to get into some other stuff well I’ll I’ll kind of get into how I got into this yeah genealogy is something I’ve been doing for a lot
Of years and I was in a cemetery looking for a great uncle of my wife or my mother not my wife uh down in Arkansas found his Tombstone okay this is a guy that raised my mother crazy with me wow um and he was the brother of her grandmother so
I found Tombstone and find this big old Square encompasses on the tombstone that was one that kind of got me thinking I’m going what’s all this about of course at the time I really didn’t know anything about it yeah and then I find my great grandfather down in Arkansas
And I find this little brass plaque next to my great grandmother had a square encompasses on it had him his son and his grandson okay that was placed by The Lodge that went under around World War II okay uh at Roseville Arkansas and I’m going to uh wow those
Seem like signs to me yeah then I get to doing some investigating and I I I’ve got more and more relatives especially on my mother’s side that are almost yeah so and even some of those relatives migrated to Kansas and they’re over in southeast Kansas the routings uh some of
Them are one’s a past master that I know over in southeast Kansas okay uh but anyhow I started asking some questions of some Masons I knew at a restaurant I went to every day had two uh that on the place and their wives worked it and uh
It was kind of funny I started asking her seemingly the right questions before I knew it I had a petition in my hands it’s good so good for them Jeff Bryant and Roger Whitney okay signed me up and uh taught me most of my work and I
Needed to go through what year were you raised 1999 and then you you went from the blue Lodge to the Scottish Rite pretty close Scottish Rite in 2000 okay same weekend I went into the shrine okay uh This was oh that was Snelling here Roger
Yeah yes it was okay uh Rogers melon and then uh went to I’ve been in the shrine ever since yeah I mean you’re pushing you’re 35 years your home lodges uh it was Bell Plain okay which merged into Derby yeah three-time pass master of Belle Plaine uh 2004 2008 and 2012. I
Also belonged to Tuscan Lodge 460 I was a master of that Lodge in 2016. um Charter senior Warden of that Lodge and current Secretary uh no no I’m not current chaplain chaplain yeah chaplain big big difference in work isn’t there I have in Belle Plaine I had held every
Officer is okay nice uh how many times did you did you just were you just Master once there three times at that Bell plant okay because I thought that a lot needed three times so you started at where did you start what was the chair did you they threw me almost immediately
Into Junior Deacon okay and then that’s a good one I was raised in November uh throwing that chair second week at December okay yeah and then the following year they threw me into you know we got school construction you know and second week of January and like
Oxford and said that yeah we’re doing the stair lecture that’s that’s your job well you know I didn’t know he was teasing wouldn’t be a committed he didn’t you know didn’t pull me down and yeah but here look at this this is your part it’s written it’s really easy yeah
It’s really easy I did it the second week about the second week of January wow not that it was very good but I did it and you know what it would have been better than Russ her eyes Fair most don’t know that it’s you know if
You if you’ve got a B card the ster like you’re shorter than a pink car okay bye I don’t know about 50 words or so I’ll give or take 50 words so fast forward so you went through now you jump on the the Grand Lodge line and you were you were
Those District Deputy area Deputy um so um Darren Kellerman man we all know in love Darren Kellerman Deacon yeah um and uh oh man I didn’t uh you know I didn’t know what was going to happen um I was my wife I was spending way too much time doing
Masonic stuff I mean we’ve been in a car together going places yeah yeah Xenia Lodge oh my yeah we’ve been to zany yeah it’s smaller than this room I kid you not a step and a half from Juniors or senior Stuart you’re at the altar it is crazy Second Story the only the
Only Lodge I know of that’s smaller is Clinton lodging Burton I don’t know that lots of watermelon seed between the east and west and that Lodge well I mean it’s just tiny is that a normal function there at that lunch no no no no no that must be in Arkansas measure of distance
So so Darren asked you hey I’d like for you to be my guy so you talk to your wife with did that take some selling yeah uh yeah uh and let’s see here we went to she was a great a great Ambassador though very shy
But this brought her out of that out of necessity sure uh she’s always been a very shy person never really got involved in a whole lot of stuff and uh uh you know it was one of those things that she finally come to the realization you know it’s
Something I kind of wanted to do and she was a great support system for you she finally come to realization that she better not stop me you know yeah or you’ll have number four well I don’t know it was everything that I think I just don’t hold myself
She was more she was more afraid did you know Russ is a ventriloquist and not his dog I think she was more afraid that uh I would resent that was kind of her her fear I think no I thought she was great support system so going to Grand Master we could talk
For hours about it but what’s the one thing your year you wish you would have got accomplished that you that you just won there’s you know there’s always hundreds well the thing of it is that you know you have all kinds of could you close down on coven yeah
Um there’s all kinds of things that I wanted to get done but I had one thing looming over my head and that was um selling the grand launch building at the peak which stay tuned you’re gonna see us talk about Masonic buildings on another podcast so hold off on the
Detail of that yeah but that was a big undertaking yeah which kind of which kind of uh made me struggle getting anything done because uh and it just absorbs so much time it was such a major thing well number one you had to number one not
Only sell it you had to find some place for us to go yeah yeah and what we’re doing with all our stuff and you know there’s just most people think well I mean oh the Market’s hot you just sell it yeah and then I gotta go somewhere
What about all of our stuff and our stuff isn’t you know amazing yeah we’ve got archives we need to protect so we had stuff that was protected by bylaw right you know that we had to do we had to take care of we couldn’t just just
Pitch it we had to protect it so what did you leave on the table you’re like Cameron I didn’t get this one thing done what was a goal that you just so couldn’t get done I really wanted to um do a a ritual competition not a ritual competition but
Um and it really was and it’s one I was very a deputy um I kind of this was area five at the time and I had yet and I bought out this uh ritual card competition in this area and it worked rather well we had like you know a couple years before Grand
Lodge we issued like five six you know b and a and yeah you know Masters cards you know proficiency cards were just down to nothing so I come up with this you know went and bought this big old huge trophy I ran it by the council Administration they said yeah go
Knock yourself out I said I’ll buy the trophy you know and have it made and run this it kind of like run it Council give me permission to do it and so I rolled it out at the area five meeting and brought this bicker trophy out and I think uh we had
Because of that area five was the big standout Winfield Lodge 110 actually won the trophy and they still have it in their Lodge Hall no kidding um but we had like 23 or 24 proficiency cards that year which was at the previous the previous five or six years put
Together didn’t have that many yeah so it was one of those things I really kind of wanted to take Statewide I just couldn’t get it done I’m gonna make sure yeah I think that would have moved we always talk about moving the needle does somebody move the needle I think that
Would have moved the needle because there’s sometimes like I don’t want to do it but if I could win something or if I can help my Lodge win something I’ll do that I think it’s clever and it doesn’t have to die it well it doesn’t
Have to die who’d you put on as a hmm I wonder if the car let me think if we only had somebody that you put on was a grand master oh maybe most Force for Rob McLarty could take that that sounds like no pressure I gotta tell you your
Masonic father your Grand Lodge father says hey I failed on this deal because of everything was going on lots of Great sons Masonic Sons would just say you know what Dad no problem I’ve got you no carry this trophy around and start no pressure but I digress yeah all right
He gets off yeah so I get I get in my my brain here and I’m as uh chairman of his ritualistic committee so I’ll just throw that back in my chances so oh you know what that’s the way you do it volume so um there’s several questions here so
In the past we we have had years where men just come to this fraternity maybe that’s not as much of the case so why do you think men come to this fraternity and why do you think currently men aren’t coming to this fraternity well okay I’m gonna I’m gonna preface that
With over the past 30 years or Plus Grand Masters have tried to move the needle and bring people back into the fraternity or actually try to raise the number I don’t know one that really moved the needle hard at all okay well when I’m Grandmaster I’ll prove you different yeah okay
It’s coming soon that’s a challenge so at any rate um years past the big heyday of masonry was one guys came back from World War II they were looking for some of the same camaraderie that they had in the military sure that’s why I sought
Out yeah and and I’m and I and I’m thinking soon if we ever go back to a peacetime to where we’re not hardly doing anything with military that probably will come back but again the Reason Not right now I think everyone has too much going on there’s too much
Um I think The Hourglass is full do you pretty much yeah but two we have some other things uh churches are having problems same problem we are they are um people are just not into this kind of group activity yeah right um there is a few
And I think who we do bring in needs to be um a real genuine Masonic candidate representing the brand yes do you think do you think yeah so you think we have a brand problem do you think we have a brand problem right now um
We can’t yeah we do a little bit we do I I think we do um I think just describe that for you yeah what what does that mean for you um we all know what Masons are um everybody out there may not know most of this audience probably does right but the
The real big thing that I see is uh someone who truly wants to improve their self in a moral capacity that’s what masonry teaches and there that means so many different things to different people but that’s where that needle has to start that’s where that’s
Where the the empty has to be and you want to fill that up um so I don’t know if I explained that do you feel do you feel like in some cases not all some some cases we’ve raised a bar so people could get under it easier I was going to different directions
Probably or lowered the bar so they can crawl over it yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I think yeah there’s a balance there’s a balance because we we’ve got some strong opinions on lots of things um I would like to see more quality people in
Um you know we’re going to come to this point where as people are going out and we’re not replacing them we’ve got to do something financially as well so you know Russ and I have talked a lot and I’m going to speak for myself I’ve I’ve been very open about hey
Jack the dues up to 500 bucks solve some problems and then then we can be a little more selective so we don’t have to feel like we’ve just got to get the masses in because I believe you’re I’m not I’m not speaking for Dale I believe
We should be an elite brand Elite brand and elitist are two different things right yes because men of good moral character and statute that’s not money right we know a lot of [ __ ] that have money that that doesn’t mean that they’re great people right right so I
Think what the brand problem there’s we have to fix it two different ways if if it’s worth it to somebody the difference in the money is really not that much because we all just kind of piss it away on stuff that’s not that important but I think there’s a balance between quality
And quantity um this isn’t a c2a thing that’s a whole other conversation it this is a we have to be attracting the right man but if you don’t have the right men in you don’t attract the right men right right because if they come in and they see
This tarnished brand I’m not saying people but it used to be that I would bring people into Midian hey let’s come on all the way and the makeup of the brand just didn’t match up to some of the guys who are coming like uh not for me right
And so and I’m just picking that part out but we’ve all got that brand story where if you want to introduce them with someone you’re thinking in your mind okay I want to have this person be the first impression maybe not X and brothers I’m talking to you too because
Sometimes we’re not the brand correct you know and we should be at all times forget oh I’m flashing my ring I’m flashing my bling we have to be representing the brand at all times is that exactly sorry about the rant but you’re right where I’m at I mean we do have a brand
Internally we have some brand problems we do now uh logitudes you spoke about that a moment yeah uh I do belong to a lodge Tuscan 460 dues at Tuscan 460 or 365 a year it should be a dollar a day we we talked about it a lot
And I don’t believe you have a building we don’t believe you we don’t have a building yeah I believe you probably don’t have money problems and you guys are what 10 years old maybe well we came in 2015. okay so yeah fascinating well we’re going to talk we’re going to talk
About this later we’re teasing you again for the next episode so what what kind of involvement do you have in the shrine or Scottish Rite much so uh Shrine for years I was involved in a weak whackers oh yeah hi this is liaison yeah all right so um
Got away with that Ross and his dad both um yeah they brought it well yeah sorry yeah yeah all right I knew where you were but Fred looks older than Ross Fred I love you Fred I’ll stand up for you here yeah yeah you don’t Brian’s on a roll yeah I’m a little
Wound up today you are so Scottish so much Scottish Rite um I kind of got out away from the Scottish Rock for a while and I’ve been back in recent years uh I belonged to the York right in Salina I’m in Red Cross at Constantine we meet on the same night as uh
As uh Elmo Lodge okay here in Scottish Rock okay uh Knights are Saint Andrew here also uh yorkright past command or past uh high priest uh past illustrious master and past commander of all three above the bodies in Salina wow I’m uh currently uh Grand Warder and commandery and
Grand assistant Grand Sentinel and grand chapter okay okay recently that just happened in April so yeah so this question um takes you a completely different direction so living or dead who would you want to have dinner with that you’ve never shared a meal with before the first time we’ve asked this question
It is new and I like it living or dead or dead that you’ve not shared so that takes family out because a lot of times you want to want to have one last meal with Mom or Dad but well I’m probably gonna go at a really strange Direction here
This is what this is what we hope [Laughter] um not Ted Bundy no okay okay um actually Dewitt Clinton okay elaborate D wit Clinton all right okay most people don’t know who that is Brian doesn’t know who that is wait either do you he was the governor of New York
And the sitting Grand high priest of New York during the uh a fair in New York that you’ve had an episode on the Oregon affair and I think he knew some more about that than most of us do oh get it get two more get two more seats for us
We’re interested oh my God great wow that’s that’s a good one so I’ve been doing some research on that on that particular thing and I come across a book actually uh pastor and master Alan Hurlburt yeah out in Western Kansas came across this book and did a actual
Report on it at Midwest conference uh Masonic education I think in Madison Wisconsin all right either that or if it was it was north of here and I can’t remember for sure that was it but Alan was uh Grand Master the first time you were master in 2004 yeah and I was
Master of Robert Pike so uh he pulled some stuff out of that so consequently here a few years ago I got a hold of him I’m going you remember that thing you did um Morgan and he had a book reference that I really wanted to get a hold of and he
Said I don’t remember what that is and a few weeks later he calls me up and he goes here’s the book in fact I’m sending you a copy of the presentation I did and he sent it to me and I finally found a copy of that book
Online and the copy I have came out of the it was a live a library threw it away at Cincinnati and somebody grabbed it and put it online so I have a copy of that book it’s very intriguing on that take of the Morgan Fair uh it actually traces his steps
And I it puts a little different spin on it and its whole premise I feel like I’m working three episodes coming up yeah anyhow yeah wow yeah all right so proficiency is a big deal for you right well she is so they’ve seen this question and because you’re an unlimited
Card holder and you got your Masters and Unlimited in the same year right yeah and you became a Mason and with in four but he waited on his unlimited and Masters yeah no but you actually did the stair lecture for the first time two months at two three two years
Okay that’s still surprising yeah year and three months after I came in so this is a would you rather so so you don’t get that you don’t get to chop it up and do what you want yeah would you rather a line full of proficient Masons card holders or a line full of
Inspirational motivated leaders oh inspirational motivated leaders I had a lot of money on that again you too I you just need to give me a hundred dollars right now no you would not have you would not have so it’s interesting you know obviously you want the hybrid
The hybrid is the best answer because you need the Bose if they’re if they’re inspirational and motivated they’re going to learn it and that’s you know the ones that already happened you know the ones that they already have it they have it already yeah you know uh but I
Bet the best answer we’ve had yes wow that’s a great answer not what I expected but it’s a great answer so you are very active in the York right now um and you’ve done stuff in the shrine do you have any aspirations I never had any aspirations to be Grand
Master what about potentate now yeah I I don’t have any aspirations to be in any kind of leadership I’m the potentate today and I say Dale I need you to be my Oriental guide are you in I’ve got too many irons in the fire um I my primary
Gearing is the blue Lodge masonry yes I mean I’m involved in some of the other uh I do some degree work in some of the other yeah not real well yet I’m not near to level I am in blue Lodge well that’s that’s not a fair comparison
Though yeah I mean can we be honest it’s not really a fair comparison uh but I I keep working on it and so I I’m not looking to be in any line uh fair but the thing of it is a question and I’ll and I’ll and I’ll tell you right up um
Right it’s someone that’s looking to be in a position I have a problem with [Laughter] so I agree yeah I agree usually the ones that are hunting it down there’s tight we call them title Seekers yeah but yeah yeah I I might agree so what Grand Master in your lifetime oh
In my lifetime no sorry your Masonic lifetime okay who do you think moved the needle the most for Kansas so uh I’d have to narrow it down between two okay but the one that comes to mind that it’s still moving the needle as Rick Rucker okay okay Rick Riker kind of and that
Council of administration kind of implemented and I think it was Rick maybe it was a Rick had the job of implementing it right I’m pretty sure the idea came from a few before okay but that’s when um the actual strategic plan started being implemented right and Grand Masters stopped doing
Their own thing and everybody started rolling the boat in the same direction yes okay that in my mind is one of the is the biggest thing that happened to Kansas Grand Lodge and it’s still happening yeah uh so it was a nice behind the scenes move that a lot a lot
Of people not a lot of people see but they feel it yes okay so uh and and I’m I’m sure can’t need them had right yeah uh a hand in it I’m sure Tracy bloom had a hand in it sure I just don’t know I just don’t know to what
Extent because you’re looking at the council uh Rick had the job of implementing it yeah okay and he did all the groundwork for for laying that and so and then after that it became a little easier and then in 2019 we redid that right for the
2030 plan uh that was uh you know that was most worth for Rob’s one of his jobs was to put that together and he had to put the next the next the 2030 plan together so he was going to be on the council the longest so he was going to have to live
With it longer than anyone else so you can you can feel it and as a Mesa in Kansas if you don’t feel that happening and that just that momentum it does feel like it’s coming together it’s coming together I I think yeah you can just feel it yeah and and Chris Collins kind
Of pointed that out a little bit too yeah he was talking about he’s like there’s just a Synergy like never before yeah the Council of today is nothing like the councils of 30 years ago but they can’t be for us to evolve really right uh you know you used to have grand
Masters that have an individual program wanted to have a book program yeah yeah wanted to have teddy bears for well the keywords is individual yes and that can’t happen anymore right and that that’s not a knock it just can’t happen yeah and I’m not and I’m not trying to
To actually you know put a bad light on any Grand Master prior to this or any at all uh that was what was done there yeah but the Strategic plan is the one thing that actually it’s a road map got Grand Lodge going in the direction that it
Really needed to go to assist The Lodges and we’re trying to get The Lodges to do the same thing and some fighter some don’t yeah well The Lodges are essentially a franchise okay and if you’re the franchise owner and you want your brand to be a certain way
You have to manage the brand so it goes back to the brand conversation and I we could probably tighten up the brand a little bit more but well that’s another conversation most workable during Kellerman used to a presentation on on protecting the brand and that’s basically what it was on yeah
That great thing he’s still a dude for us yes pretty much so yes so this is a serious question now the next one this one is a really serious question we don’t like to have fun very often here on the podcast but so you know that uh
Most worshipable Bob Talbot and I and uh we all run over there we run in the circle and we’re friends and and Bob actually in the last 48 hours that I don’t have energy to debate you Russ on this subject that’s exactly yeah and he
Just sort of and I went oh okay so our our friend Bob always tells us that he actually was the best looking Grand Master ever ever so is that and so look we got a photo up when him he is Master Pike so that’s up yeah and so is that sure if not
Who is he’s not the best grade Master looking Grandmaster handsome yeah living living Grand Master who is if it’s not Talbot who is it well that’s quite a question so actually he forced this upon us he’s like settled the debate today okay yeah I Bob I’m not buying a bit of that you
Know what I will edit that out in a second so first time we’ve ever edited anything and that was that yeah who’s the best looking living Grand Master I think it’s I think it’s easy it’s easy no all right all right because you have a you have a man crush on you
Oh my uh uh it it’s got to be well there’s there’s several that that would fit that moment but no best is one best is my goodness see that you’re really putting me on oh I am a spot here but probably in my mind probably Tracy bloom
Oh you know Tracy good looking guy but you know Mike Johnson all right here’s what you don’t know so you were in law enforcement did you know I knew that about you did you know that uh no and you know he didn’t tell me this so
We do a little research here so because of that the most important question of the day you get mclarty’s up on the screen oh this one yes Columbo Miami Vice Starsky and Hutch one of these TV detectives has to go forever who is it oh my gotta be Colombo you’re with
Colombo too wow yeah yeah so and and I’ve I’ve got some reasoning for that yeah he was drunk on the job a lot that bumbling style yeah uh makes a mockery of law enforcement yes yeah it wasn’t it wasn’t good uh and you know Russ was
Going to get rid of Miami Vice that’s disgusting in a while I kind of that was if Colombo wasn’t there who do you get rid of yeah so nobody could say Cagney and Laser will get in trouble in 2023 yeah so that’s all we have Dale thank you for joining the Masonic podcast
Cheers Cheers Brothers foreign
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