With tie recent passing of DeMolay Legion of Honor recipient Arnold Palmer, PA DeMolay's Deputy State Master Councilor, Brother Jacob Beers wrote this blog post. Thank you Brother Beers for sharing your meaningful and heartfelt story.
Sunday night, I was coming off of a very good weekend of
DeMolay. Saturday marked another great Autumn Day for the Masonic Village of
Elizabethtown where I was able to talk to a few prospective members for Central
PA Chapters and spend time with friends across the Masonic Youth Groups. Later
in the day, the ESOs and I worked on final planning for Jacquestoberfest and
worked on other State issues. Sunday, we invested 16 new Legionnaires into the
Legion of Honor with an amazing ceremony back at the Masonic Village of
Elizabethtown.
However, not all of the weekend was as perfect as it would
seem to have been. At 8:58 PM, I received this update from CBS Sports:
“BREAKING: Arnold
Palmer, golf trailblazer known as ‘The King’, dies at age 87; had 62 PGA Tour
wins”
I was immediately saddened. Just one year ago, I had the
chance to meet the golfing legend. Not only did I meet him, but I had the
chance to be a part of his Legion of Honor Investiture Team performing the 2nd
Preceptor part, truly an honor within itself. Looking back on it now, I don't
think I appreciated that moment enough. I don't think I really noticed until
now that a man who seemingly had everything - trophies, medals, championships,
Presidential recognition - could be so proud, so honored, to be given this recognition from an organization
such as ours. This was one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life, or
at least it is now when my hindsight is 20/20.
The DeMolays that were there were able to talk with him in
his office for a while after the ceremony had finished. I can remember one of
the members from Westmoreland Chapter asking of a table full of embedded medals
of Palmer’s many tournament wins something like, “what are these empty spaces
for?” To which he brilliantly replied, “those are for my next wins.” The man
was so confident and such a joy to be around that I wish I could have stayed
longer and asked him more, but the only question I got in was this: “What made
you want to open a golf course in China?” His reply was something along the
lines of this (I'm paraphrasing): “Golf is something I've loved ever since I
played it as a boy. They [China] didn't have golf over there and I wanted to
spread what I love to them so they could enjoy it, too.” Whether that's exactly
what he said or not, the point is clear: Arnold Palmer wanted to spread what he
loved to people that didn't have it so they could love it themselves.
I didn't write this, initially, with the idea of plugging
DeMolay into it, but I feel as though I can't not do it. If we all, as
DeMolays, spread what we love (hopefully, DeMolay falls into that category) to
people that don't already know how great this group is, maybe we, too, can
spread passion for DeMolay as Palmer spread passion for golf throughout his
life. Though Palmer himself was never a DeMolay, I feel connected to him. Of
all the Legion of Honor Conferrals I've been a part of, it is his that I felt
was one of the most meaningful. Like I said earlier, a man that had everything
was so proud to be honored by some little youth organization called DeMolay.
Arnold Palmer was one of the greatest men I have had the
honor of dedicating anew to the faith of our fathers, as the Ritual prescribes.
I can only hope that this distinction from a group of young men whom he had never
met, but whose ideals were those that would provide the foundation of a
successful future for themselves and their country, was as great of an honor to
receive as it was to bestow on The King himself.
