One of the biggest challenges of running a DeMolay Chapter is ensuring that there are enough Advisors on board to make the program work. Not too long ago a "Want Ad" for Advisors was circulated. While the ad is meant to include a gentle ribbing, it is a good description of what it means to be a DeMolay Advisor. Share this resource and modify it if need be. Use it as a resource and a tool - as well as a laugh!
WANTED: An advisor for a local DeMolay chapter. Applicant may be a Master Mason in good standing, or a Senior DeMolay, or a parent, or a community leader who is able to enjoy working with young men, young ladies, and other adults. Chronological age is unimportant, but you must be young in heart, physically and spiritually active, and mentally alert. Applicant must be clean in mind and body, healthy, and secure in your job and finances. You must have some free time to spare, and no bad habits, and have a monumental amount of patience. A college major in psychology and the intelligence of Einstein are beneficial.
The applicant will find it helpful to have the following qualities: the enthusiasm of a puppy, the effervescence of an Alka-Seltzer, the dedication of Billy Graham, the brashness of Harry Truman, the speed of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the inquisitiveness of a child, the stability of a bulldozer, the patience of a squirrel hunter, the endurance of an oak tree, and the constitution of a high pressure boiler.
The applicant must have a good set of ears and be able to listen to tales of joy and woe involving girls, jobs, grades, girls, cars, football games, teachers and more girls. You will be expected to consume large amounts of hamburgers, tacos, cheeseburgers, pizza, hot wings, French fries, cokes, milk shakes, and pizza—at all hours, and in prodigious quantities. You must not alarm easily, as your door bell and telephone are apt to ring at any hour, and you must be an “answer man” with the right answers to questions involving cars, manners, sex, girls, clothes, parents, school and teachers, and you’d better have the right answers—if you answer at all.
You must be a disciplinarian and handle such unpleasant tasks as, “Get that coke can out of the lodge room, no horseplay in the building, and meetings start at 7:30 and that doesn’t mean 7:35.” Applicant must be capable of suffering utter devastation without showing it.
A prospective advisor must learn, sooner or later, that the DeMolay Chapter is not the only organization in the world which appeals to young men, and somehow it must peacefully coexist with band, track, baseball, dates, basketball, football, drama, hockey, chorus, soccer, religious youth groups, and 10,000 other activities.
An applicant must be a role model to the DeMolay members, to the advisory council, to the sponsoring body, and to the world in general. You must think in your heart as you would have your young men think, to act as you would have them act, to be inspired yourself in order to inspire. You must understand that if you expect dedicated service from others you must be dedicated yourself. In fact, the applicant must be a prime mover—a force which sets other forces in motion, which in turn creates active, bubbling, energetic, dedicated and enthusiastic young men who have the sky as their limit for their potential to succeed.
The pay?-- Lousy! The hours?—Miserable! What does it do for your mental state? Well, there will be times when you’ll feel inclined to jump off the highest building, and others when you’ll want to kneel in the privacy of your own bedroom and thank God for blessing you with this opportunity. There will times when you’ll be so proud you could pop the buttons off your vest, when you see the results of your labor, when you observe their nobleness and cleanness, their honest morality, their efficiency, and, as the years pass, their accomplishments. The pride you’ll feel in your association with these young men is exhilarating. The benefits?—Nothing that will pay your doctor’s bills, nothing you can invest in a retirement fund, but just the reward of seeing youth at its finest and knowing you had a hand in its development.
Prospective advisors may apply to the nearest DeMolay Chapter.
Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony
