08/12/2026
My Brother,
There is something great going on at Middleport Lodge #363, and I believe we have an opportunity right now to build on that momentum.
Middleport #363 has been given 40 cases of water to sell at the Meigs County Fair, which runs Monday, August 17th through Saturday, August 22nd. We will have a booth set up in the Grange Hall, and we need brothers to help make this fundraiser a success.
We need volunteers to work the booth each day during the following shifts:
12:00–5:00 PM
5:00–10:00 PM
We also need help getting the water to the fair. The 40 cases will need to be picked up from Mason Walmart and transported to the fairgrounds. If you have a truck, trailer, van, or other vehicle that can help us move the water, please reach out to me.
We also need a way to keep the water cold. If anyone has a refrigerator, commercial cooler, or large coolers that the lodge could use during the fair, it would be greatly appreciated.
But this is about much more than selling water.
Most importantly, this gives us an opportunity to be present in our community and have face-to-face conversations with men who may be interested in Masonry. We will have an opportunity to answer questions about Freemasonry, talk to potential members about what our lodge has to offer, and put petitions into the hands of men who may be interested in joining our fraternity.
That is an opportunity we cannot afford to overlook.
There is something great happening at Middleport #363.
We just took in an Entered Apprentice, with another candidate scheduled to take his first steps in Masonry in early September. We currently have two petitions to vote on at our September meeting, and two more petitions to be read at that meeting.
That is something to be excited about.
Millennial men are looking to be part of something. They are looking for fellowship, brotherhood, purpose, belonging, and an opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves. Freemasonry has the potential to be exactly what they are looking for.
But we have to be ready for them.
We have to have the members of our lodge recommit themselves to our organization.
The tools are there. The formula for success is there. The opportunity is there. What is missing is the commitment from the Craft.
We cannot expect a lodge to grow simply because we have new men knocking on the door. We have to be willing to open that door, welcome them in, teach them, spend time with them, and show them what this fraternity can mean when its members are invested in it.
Every brother who attends a meeting matters.
Every brother who participates in a degree matters.
Every brother who volunteers at an event matters.
Every brother who brings another man through the door matters.
This fair is a small example of that commitment. It gives us an opportunity to raise money, serve our community, spend time together as brothers, and put Middleport #363 directly in front of thousands of people—including men who may be looking for exactly what Freemasonry has to offer.
Please reach out to me to volunteer for a fair shift, help transport the water, or provide a refrigerator or coolers.
Even one shift, one truckload, or one cooler is one more way you can help your lodge.
Brothers, we have an opportunity in front of us right now.
Let's not let it pass us by.
Fraternally,
Jordan D. Pickens
Past Master & Secretary
Middleport Lodge #363 F. & A.M.
(740) 416 - 9667
[email protected]
