From DeMolay to the Big Leagues

At a young age, we all have hopes and dreams to become something above and beyond, such as a doctor, a lawyer, a professional athlete, or a famous movie star. For some, those dreams change over time, realizing other ambitions that come to us later in life. For others, they set every goal to make sure that this dream becomes a reality. For one Senior DeMolay from New Jersey, his dream to become a Professional Baseball Player is becoming more of a reality every day. 

In the 2017 MLB draft, the San Diego Padres selected Tyler Benson, a recent Senior DeMolay of Phoenix Chapter in New Jersey, who was playing for Outfield for Bloomsburg University. After just a few short months, Benson has already been promoted twice, currently playing for the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps. 

After all this excitement in his life, he still remembers his time in DeMolay and took a conversation with Past State Master Councilor of New Jersey, Matt Hoffman. Tyler stated that his favorite memory of DeMolay was "Playing in the 2012 NJ State Flag Football Tournament under the lights with his home chapter - Phoenix Chapter." He went on to say "To see everyone from all around the State coming together, it was really a cool experience to just have fun with everyone. And of course, I’m naturally a competitive person so I loved the competition, even though we barely lost in the championship." When asked what is one take away from DeMolay, he states "Brotherhood. No matter how long we are away from each other, we are always there for one another and our conversations pick up where they last left off."  

Although Tyler is not finished with his journey, his dream is being fulfilled by playing baseball everyday as a professional. This story proves that dreams can become a reality if you put the work in to make it happen. Thank you to "Dad" Peter Brusoe and Brother Matt Hoffman for sharing this story. Keep up the great work Tyler Benson, and I hope to see you in the big leagues sometime soon. To see an article on his promotion to Single-A ball, click the following link.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/…/tyler-benson-montvi…/467483001/

Until next time - "Dad" Joe Pullin  

Got Yer Ears On, Good Buddy?

Old Lessons Still Ring True

by "Dad" Thomas R. Labagh

"Breaker 1-9 to the eastbound Buster Brown. What's yer 20? Got yer ears on? This is the westbound Cheshire Cat shoutin’ at ya— come back, good buddy! Did you see any rolling gumball machines behind you?"

"Breaker 1-9 to that there Cheshire Cat. You'd better cool yer jets or you'll be bear bait fer shure!"

"That's a big 10-4, Buster Brown.”

In the “old days” when I was active as a State Officer in NJ DeMolay, we didn't have cell phones, but the thing that every teenage driver HAD to have was a Citizen’s Band (CB) radio. We could travel as a convoy, and talk to each other while driving, if within a range of a couple of miles, and if nobody else was on the same channel with a stronger signal. 

Every interstate trucker had one, of course, and they communicated with one another for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was to alert fellow truckers to the locations of “Smokey Bear” and “PYT’s” (pretty young things.) 

Some popular movies of that time made lots of money off the CB craze including “Convoy,” “Every Which Way But Loose,” “White Line Fever” and “Smokey and the Bandit” (parts 1, 2 and 3.)

Everyone had a nickname, called a “CB handle,” and mine was "The Cheshire Cat." (I can’t really remember why, but this was at a time when I was very content to melt into the wall or remain in the background, listening intently, saying nothing, and covering my awkwardness with just a smirk on my face.) But I liked it at the time and had personal letterhead made with the Disney cartoon image, and used it for letters to friends. 

My Dad’s CB handle was interesting to me— he was dubbed “Old Reliable” and I can only guess why, but I think my guesses are pretty good. In his work-life, he was an Electrical Engineer, and at some time in his career he was given the title of Reliability Engineer, either for the Bendix Corp, or the Conrac Corp., or Lear Siegler, Inc., or Smith Industries.

For the longest time, he couldn't tell me what he did for a living, because he worked on government contracts for the military and for NASA. He finally was able to tell me that one project his team worked on was the auto-pilot for the Gemini spacecraft. I remember asking him what a Reliability Engineer was, and he told me it was his job to break things… to test their limits… specifically to push aircraft instrumentation to the breaking point so that there would be zero chance of a failure when in flight. At that moment, my Dad became pretty cool, to me and I delighted in telling people he got paid to break things! But I also understood that he took his work very seriously, because his reputation, his company’s reputation and the lives of pilots and others relied on his work every day.

In his personal life, he also had a reputation for being reliable.

If Everett Labagh said he would get something done, it got done. If he said he was going to be somewhere, he was there. If he said he would complete a project, or learn a ritual part, or chair a DeMolay Advisory Council meeting, or drive us on a visitation, he did it, without fail. His word was as good as his bond. He was organized, detailed, and methodical. He kept an appointment calendar with him always, so he would never miss a commitment, and would be able to answer requests to help others on future dates. He kept careful notes on what was said at meetings and who promised to complete which tasks. He kept file folders on every activity and updated them frequently, so that nothing was left to his memory. To everyone he knew, he truly was “Old Reliable.”  

He seldom sat me down to specifically teach me a lesson or talk to me about what I should do, or how I should do it. He just set a great example for me, and for his peers, and every time I gave the first DeMolay ritual part I ever learned, the Fifth Preceptor, Fidelity, I thought of my Dad.

As DeMolays and as leaders, we should ALL be worthy of being called “Old Reliable.”

"This is the Cheshire Cat, KAMT1459, I'm 10-10 on the side."