During the month of October, Chapters throughout the state continued to have installations as many State Officers were in attendance.
At the beginning of the month, Norfolk held their installation on the 5th and Mitchell Pennington was installed as Master Councilor. Bro. Quentin Hoglund, Deputy Eastern Region Master Councilor, was the installing officer. It was very special to see Mitchell's best friend, Quentin, install him as Master Councilor. Very cool! After the installation and reception, they held a lock-in and many members were very excited to be able to stay the night in such a historic building.
On October 6th, Petersburg Chapter held their Installation of Officers as well! Bro. Trey Haden was installed as Master Councilor. He and the rest of his chapter, held an amazing reception with some awesome sausage dip!
On October 13th, Virginia DeMolay went to the Masonic Family Day Parade at the Masonic Home of Virginia. We were well represented with about 40 members! After the amazing BBQ for lunch, we all played a fun game of football! It was great to see chapters interacting and playing so great together!
On October 14th, Westhampton Chapter held their installation and Bro. Noah Fox was installed as Master Councilor. It was great to see so many advisors in support of the young men from Westhampton!
The Eastern Region held a meeting on October 20th. Beforehand, members from Kempsville helped Bayside Lodge with their Community Fall Fest. During the festival, members helped with inflatable rides, serving food, and managing certain games. It was awesome to see the members helping a local lodge and showing them full support during their Fall Fest!
During the Regional Meeting, topics were discussed in regards to our upcoming Centennial session and our Brotherhood Reunion. The Region talked about ways to raise funds to help differ the costs of members in the region. Members from Norfolk, Portsmouth, Tidewater, and Kempsville were all represented.
After the Regional Meeting, members went to Norfolk Masonic Temple to go through the "Haunted Temple". This event has been going on for a lot of years and a lot of the members that went through had never done it before. It was a very awesome time and I think everyone got spooked!
To wrap up a great month, Virginia DeMolay held a fantastic Fall Fest at Jamestown 4-H center. Thanks to the members of Virginia DeMolay, we were able to have a memorable experience for all! Events started in the morning with check-in followed by basketball, cornhole, fishing, and football! We all enjoyed lunch and then went to our various activities for the day. These included, Archery, an Air Rifle Range, and a Challenge Course. All of the attendees were able to participate and interact with other members from different chapters! After dinner, everyone gathered for a campfire and skits! Many chapters collaborated and shared some of the funniest skits I have seen! Mom Murray then came and brought some of her homemade peach cobbler! It was great to see members thankful for it as it was the best cobbler ever! On Sunday, the State held a non-denominational service put together by Dad Tom Varner. It was great to see all of the brethren from across Virginia gathering for a great weekend!
Please continue to be updated with the website and me and Dad Young's emails as they will have vital information regarding the upcoming events; including Centennial Session and Brotherhood Reunion. If you have not gotten any information so far, please contact either one of us and we will be more than happy to get you the information.
Thank you all so much for a great month! Here's to many more!