Who will be the next John Steinbeck?

Have you read "Of Mice and Men," "The Pearl," "The Red Pony," "The Grapes of Wrath," or "Cannery Row?"  These, and 27 other major works were authored by Senior DeMolay John Steinbeck, (1902-1968) who received a  Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for "The Grapes of Wrath," and a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962 "for his realistic as well as imaginative writings, distinguished by a sympathetic humor and a keen social perception.”

Brother Steinbeck was a charter member of Watsonville Chapter in Watsonville, California, in 1921, and was inducted posthumously into the DeMolay Hall of Fame on June 16, 1995.  To learn more about Bro. Steinbeck, take a look at this link to a

Biography of John Steinbeck.

If, like Bro. Steinbeck, you enjoy creative writing, think that you have a knack for putting words on paper with style and a pizzazz and are an Active DeMolay, then we have a challenge for you: the annual  Kach Essay Contest.

The Scottish Rite Paul R. Kach Essay Competition awards $300 to each Region winner (two winners from each of the ten regions) and $1,200 for the national winners (two national winners.)  There are two competition categories, the first for young men in the 11th grade and above and the second for those in the 10th grade and below.  Entries in the 2015 essay contest must be titled: "100 Years More of Frank S. Land's Vision."  The content of the essay is of primary concern, but proper grammar and spelling will also be factors in the judging.  The essays must be an original work with a minimum of 1,000 words and a maximum of 1,500 words.  All essays must be submitted to Executive Officer "Dad" Tom Labagh by March 31, 2015.

Complete details on the Kach Essay contest have been mailed to all Pennsylvania DeMolay Chairmen, Chapter Advisors and Leadership Team Members.  A copy of the informational pamphlet is also available at the DeMolay International Webpage under Resources:Forms;2015 Kach Essay at:

http://www.demolay.org/resources/forms/

We challenge all of our active DeMolays in Pennsylvania - and in all Jurisdictions - to emulate Bro. Steinbeck, pick up a pen or settle in behind your keyboard of choice, and share your thoughts on what the vision of DeMolay will be for the next 100 years!

The Wonderful World of Wikipedia

Yesterday, I was doing some maintenance on the PA DeMolay website when I noticed that we received a click from a Wikipedia entry. That entry led me to the biography of Laurence Watres, who is a Past Executive Officer of PA DeMolay.

 

"Dad" Watres was a United States Congressman and prominent Pennsylvania Freemason from the Scranton area. He served as the Executive Officer for PA for more than a decade and also became Grand Master of the International Supreme Council (in addition to being a community leader and business man.) Having read this article, I noticed that there wasn't any reference to his service to DeMolay or Freemasonry. I decided to take a leap of faith and edit the article, citing resources, and ensure that any visitors to the page would know that "Dad" Watres had served DeMolay.

Having done this, I immediately remembered that "Dad" Watres' brother, Louis, was also a prominent PA Freemason, a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, a Past Executive Officer of PA DeMolay, a Past Grand Master of DeMolay International, and was one of the primary initiators of the building of the George Washington Masonic Memorial (whew!) But, alas, when you looked at the page about "Dad" Louis Watres, there was no mention of his DeMolay involvement. So, I went ahead and edited his page to make sure that people would know of his involvement in our organization.

This got me to thinking - there are a lot of prominent historic figures that had been involved in DeMolay and Freemasonry. I went on a Wikipedia search, looking for references. My first stop was "Dad" Kendig C. Bare, who was Mayor of Lancaster and a Past State Master Councilor PA DeMolay. Sadly, "Dad" Bare's article made no mention of DeMolay. Once again, I edited his entry to include his influence on our organization (including the starting of the Keystone Crusader.)

I plugged in a few other names of PSMC's, but didn't find any other references worth noting. This, however, sent me on another path. I started searching some Past Grand Masters of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. Many of them have well written and lengthy pages, including George M. Dallas (a prominent PA politician), Richard Vaux (who once served as Mayor of Philadelphia), William Allen (our first Grand Master and namesake of Allentown), and of course Benjamin Franklin. I also found Masonic references in the article on James Buchanan.

One of the most interesting bits of trivia I came across was that George H. Deike, a Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, was the founding leader of the Pennsylvania State University Drum and Bugle Corps, which later became the world famous Penn State Blue Band! Who knew!

Another fun fact was that Louis Watres' wife's sister (so, sister-in-law of Louis), was a prominent actor / artist during her time who even performed for President Hoover. She also patented a new type of lace nightgown. That's another one of those "who knew?" moments!

What's the point of this story, however? It's to encourage you to look for DeMolay everywhere you go. Wikipedia is a great resource and millions of people use it every day. We should make sure that all of our prominent members have a note on their Wikipedia pages stating they were involved in DeMolay. From our Hall of Fame members, to our local leaders, this kind of exposure brings light to the organization and shows the amazing work that we do.

If you do decide to edit a Wikipedia entry, follow the ten simple rules for editing a Wikipedia article. They can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ten_Simple_Rules_for_Editing_Wikipedia

Who knows, maybe some day you'll have a Wikipedia page of your own!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

What I've learned while blogging...

Last week, we reached a milestone with our 500th post. First, let me thank "Dad" Labagh for stepping up and writing the post to mark the occasion. It was much appreciated. As I reflect back on having written several hundred posts, I'm reminded of one of "Dad" Labagh's favorite lines - "What have you learned?"

I asked myself this question. What have I learned from operating a blog for several years and writing so much? This has been just as much a learning experience for me, as it has for those who read the blog, which is fantastic on so many levels.

With that mind, here's my list of 5, in no particular order:

1. "Posts can come from anywhere." - I quickly learned that writing about DeMolay twice a week can be challenging. However, when you apply the lessons or ideals of DeMolay to other articles or trends, it becomes much easier to produce content.

2. "Don't be afraid of controversy." - We've had our share of controversial posts on this blog, written by several different members and friends of PA DeMolay. A little controversy can help drive your readership and keep things interesting.

3. "Plan to post." - I try to make sure that if I can't make a posting on a Monday or Thursday, that I have someone else cover for me. This spices things up a bit and provides others the chance to share their ideas.

4. "Timeliness is key." - Ensuring that posts occur when they are supposed to is one of the most important things. When posts don't go up on time, people stop reading. Consistency is your friend.

5. "Appeal to the masses." - Some of our most read posts are those that appeal to a broader group than just friends of DeMolay. By producing content that appeals to them, we expose more people to what our program is and what a great organization we have.

Blogging isn't always easy or fun, but the value of this site has proven to be enormous and I look forward to posting for several more years to come!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

A Double Check

Being the Director of Communications for PMYF means that I do a lot of writing. Between the Masonic Youth Minutes, this blog, the websites, and several other publications, I'm constantly churning out documents and pieces for publication. While we do our best to proof read each other here in the office, sometimes we're all very busy and we can't turn things around fast enough. This was becoming a bit of a problem, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and find another proofreading option.

That's when I stumbled across www.paperrater.com. This website is totally free to use and it will do a grammar check, spell check, word count, and language analysis on any written piece. It has saved me a lot of headaches with my writing. I now routinely use it to check my blog posts, website updates, and written articles.

If you're looking to get a piece of work proofed for school or another organization, I highly recommend giving this valuable tool a try!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth C. Anthony