DeMolay Week: The Best Week of My Life

This blog post is from Brother James McKeown, PMC of Friendship-Bray Chapter and Region H Representative for Pennsylvania DeMolay. 

My greatest experience in DeMolay was KeyMan 2016. This was my second time at KeyMan and one of the best weeks of my life. This week was not only one of the best weeks of my life, but it also changed my life.

During the summer of 2016, I was going through some changes in my life. I just graduated from grade school and I was preparing to enter high school. I was super hyped that whole summer to finally leave my school and experience a change for once. During that summer, I was also Master Councilor of my Chapter. Leading up to KeyMan, I was going through a midterm crisis. My term as Master Councilor really wasn’t going the way I wanted it to, and because of this I was losing interest in DeMolay. I felt like taking a break from DeMolay once my term as Master Councilor was over. I didn’t really feel like going to KeyMan at the time. I just wanted to hang out with my friends and not be bothered by DeMolay, but I already signed up, so I had to go.

I got to KeyMan and I was still not excited about being there. I was put in the Ritual Track. I already met half the guys in my group because of the Patton weekends, but the other half were all from Canada. The week started out a little slow. I was enjoying the courses and what I was learning, but I wasn’t having a lot of fun. It started to pick up around Tuesday. I started to get to know the people in my group during the activities we participated in, the times we were eating, and the times we were supposed to be sleeping. I was bonding with these people who I just met or only met a few times. I went to KeyMan the previous year, but I didn’t really bond with the guys in my group. We started to work together as a team. I’ve been on a lot of teams before, but not a team that was this close together. Everything we did together was fun. We had to perform the Opening and Closing of a Chapter and The Ceremony of Light for the end of the week project. I’ve been on tons of ritual teams over my DeMolay career, but not a team that worked so smoothly and so in sync. It kinda felt like we could read each other's mind while performing. People say that ritual makes us unique, but it can also bring us together and help us grow. The week came to a close and I made sure to keep in contact with everyone.

The week might not have been the best and most fun week ever, but it honestly changed me. It made me care about DeMolay again and motivated me to finish my term as Master Councilor with a full head of steam. Without this week, I'm probably not the person I am today.

The Temporal Value of a Memory

Earlier this week, I received an email that is not all that uncommon. In it, a gentleman was inquiring as to the value of some of DeMolay Merit Bars that had belonged to one of his family members. The man had fallen on hard times and was hoping that it might have some value that could help him with his situation. Sadly, Merit Bars don't have much of an after market, so I had to break it to him that the piece he had didn't have much worldly value.

However, in his email, the man discussed the history of the set of Merit Bars; how it had belonged to an important family member and it had become an heirloom to himself and his children. It was obvious that the thought of parting with the piece to help his situation was tough on him. Fortunately (at least in one way) the value of the piece to he and his family far, far outweighed the value of resale. Thankfully, the bars will stay with him and be passed down to the next generation of his family.

This story brings up a good point. What is the value of the regalia that we obtain? Sometimes, it can be quite valuable monetarily, being composed of precious metals or precious stones. More often, it is simply an outward display of our dedication, rendered in metal with enamel and made to look quite impressive. The regalia has value, not because it's worth money, but rather because it represents the hard work, time, and effort that went into earning it. The medallion and cordon of a Chevalier or a Legionnaire are pretty much nil in terms of metal and materials. But, the sentimental value they retain is priceless for nearly every recipient.

As we approach Thanksgiving, we'd like to thank all of those who have labored on behalf of DeMolay and may have earned an honor or award. In that same vein, we hope that those who have received awards and honors are thankful - not for the physical emblem they have received, but rather for the experiences they've passed through to earn it.

In the words of our motto for our 90th Anniversary - "It's not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage that you leave behind."

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Ritual Memorization Tips

Here we are, the first week of December. This means that all over the Commonwealth, PA DeMolays are brushing up on their ritual parts for Grand Master's Class this coming weekend. I know that when I joined DeMolay, I never thought I'd be able to memorize the big parts. But, I soon learned that it's a process that nearly anyone can master.

Recently, I came across an article on the Masonic Trowel website that had some great tips for learning ritual. I adapted to DeMolay and am reposting it here. (Here is a link to the original: http://www.themasonictrowel.com/education/memory_files/memorization_tips.htm)

 

BEFORE MEMORIZING ANY PART OF THE RITUAL

1. Learn to read the ritual fluently without hesitating.
2. Check the dictionary to learn meanings and pronunciations of unfamiliar words.
3. Learn the full meaning of any strange sentences. Check with one who knows the ritual for explanations of the meaning and symbolism of unfamiliar phrases and sentences. It is difficult to memorize words and sentences that have no meaning to you.
4. Decide how each sentence should sentence when read or recited aloud. Decide where voice inflection should occur and where emphasis should be placed. Always read the sentence in the same way, never deviating from what you have once established to be the proper way to do it.
5. Read and re-read the ritual or lecture many times until you are thoroughly familiar with it.
6. Practice, with the book closed, writing in proper order all of the subjects discussed in the lecture, and then check with the ritual to determine what you have omitted or misplaced. In delivering the ritual you will always have to know what cues next.
7. Use every opportunity to hear others deliver the ritual. Make a mental note of what you do and do not like about the way they have given it.
    
8. Understand that these steps are to be taken before memorizing anything and are as important as the actual job of memorizing, and will require as much of your time as the job of memorizing the lines.
9. These first hints are very important because the more familiar you are with the lecture, the easier will be the job of memorizing it. Do not be impatient to start memorizing.

 

TO MEMORIZE THE RITUAL

1. Learn it paragraph by paragraph; do not attempt to learn too much at any one time.
2. Concentrate on the ritual. Try to be alone, if possible, without distractions from family, television, etc. Keep your mind on the ritual.
3. Take sections in the proper sequence; do not skip around in learning different sections.
4. Spend as much or more time in reviewing material already learned, as in learning new sections of the ritual. Refuse to learn anything new unless you are fairly confident of your ability to deliver what you have already learned.
5. Practice what you have already learned during odd moments. For example, recite while driving your car, riding a tractor, walking. You will be surprised at the benefit derived from the odd moments which would otherwise be wasted.
6. Always recite your lines in the same manner never changing voice inflections or emphasis once you have decided how they ought to be done. So: prize how, and what, you say.
7. Some prefer to recite aloud when practicing; others prefer the silent method. Most prefer the former, but do what is easier for you. If reciting silently, always concentrate on what you hear in your own mind what the sentences sound like.
8. Strive for perfection. Only by trying are we able to limit our mistakes to a relatively small number.

 

WHEN DELIVERING THE RITUAL

1. Always remember that primarily you are talking to the candidates, and the brethren about the Chapter are overhearing your remarks. Talk to them in normal voice volume and in a natural tone of voice. Look at the candidates while speaking.
2. Do not let your mind wander to the hard part that comes later on in the ritual. Think only of what you have to say at the moment.
3. Graciously accept the prompting, if needed, and go on without worrying or being embarrassed.
4. There should be a single prompter. Have this person who knows the ritual sit near your ritual station and tell him not to prompt unless you signal for it.
5. Do not talk too slowly or too fast; your presentation should be clear and deliberate.
6. Get expression into the ritual as much as possible without assuming an unnatural tone of voice.

 Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Experiences in Ritual Competitions

Today's article comes from Bro.  Isaac Holtzer, Deputy State Master Councilor of PA DeMolay. He writes about his experiences at the Mid-Atlantic Tournament of Champions.

On September 6 - 8, 2013, ten DeMolays from Pennsylvania attended the Mid-Atlantic Tournament of Champions, or MATOC. MATOC is an event that hosts DeMolays from all over Region II of DeMolay International for a ritual competition. Competitions range from "Rookie of the Year," which covers the obligations for new members, to the DeMolay Degree, to the Chaplain Prayers. The goal for every DeMolay there is to get as close to a perfect score as possible, which is 1000, and do better than everyone else who competed. Every competitor starts with a perfect score and they lose points if they mess up the words or there is an issue with the presentation.

Imagine going into a lodge room with four people watching everything you do, ready to catch something you do wrong, and then performing the best ritual you can. This is what Matt Maple, Isaac Holtzer, Lorenzo Rodriguez, Phil Cancila, David Kopp, Eric Dye, Tyler Moyer, Adam Pritchard, Andrew Santilli, and Anthony Kallhoff did at MATOC. They competed in many competitions as a team and individually; they included the Preceptor Trio, Magnificent Seven, Orator, Flower Talk, Ceremony of Light, Chaplain, RD Ceremony, and Majority Service. Many of them even became MATOC Champions, doing better than everyone else in their chosen competitions. A member of PA DeMolay won the Rookie of the Year, Magnificent Seven, Preceptor Trio, and Majority Service. This goes to show that Pennsylvania DeMolay does some very impressive ritual.

I personally have attended the past two MATOCs. Both times I have had the opportunity to meet with other DeMolays from neighboring jurisdictions and compete in brotherly competition. When I first went to MATOC, what made me excited was that everyone helped each other at practicing their ritual, even though they were competing against each other, which really shows how we are truly a fraternity.  The first time I competed I was extremely nervous going into the competition and I hoped I would not receive the lowest score out of everyone. It turned out I did the opposite and I won, but only by five points. At the second MATOC I attended I was not as nervous and I focused on getting a higher score, possibly a 1000, which is very difficult to achieve. I did not get a perfect score, however I did obtain my goal to do better. MATOC has helped give me a passion to do the best I can at ritual and I hope everyone goes to MATOC in their DeMolay career.

Many DeMolays in Pennsylvania hear about the Mid-Atlantic Tournament of Champions and get nervous, not wanting to go, but would like to see how well they can perform ritual. In this past year, we have found a solution to this problem! We now have statewide ritual tournaments at every weekend we have at Patton Campus. This gives every DeMolay the opportunity to compete in ritual even if you do not want to travel to MATOC. The best part about the statewide competitions is that you can compete more than once and try to get a better score. So there is no reason you cannot compete in a ritual tournament!

Until next time - Isaac

Grand High Poobah!

Today, I'm going to share a resource that is used with our Elected State Officers. One of their main jobs is to know and understand the Masonic fraternity so that they can accurately and succinctly represent DeMolay to other fraternal bodies. To do that, they often have to remember names and titles of the adult leaders of these organizations. We all know that titles can be very complex, so I devised a system to help our guys understand and aid them in matching names to faces. 

I recommend break a title down. Generally, they come in five parts. 

Part 1: The Salutation - This is the part of the title that describes the office and is usually the strangest sounding to us.  Examples: Right Worshipful, Most Puissant, Right Eminent

 

Part 2: Rank - This part of the title distinguishes the person from local or regional bodies.  

•Remember the head of a local Lodge is a Master, so to distinguish the state level official we increase the rank.  Example: Grand, Supreme

Part 3: Office - This is the actual name of the office being held Examples: Master, Matron, Active 

Part 4: Organization - This tells us from what Masonic Body the dignitary is from. Example: Grand Chapter, Grand Lodge, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite - Northern Masonic Jurisdiction 

Part 5: Jurisdiction - The area of Jurisdiction tells us who he or she has authority over, and where. Example: Free and Accepted Masons of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, North America 

When I'm teaching this to our guys, I usually color code each part of the title to make it easier. I also provide a complete list, with pictures, of each important person here in PA, so that the Elected State Officers can be better prepared. You can see the current (as of 2/18/2013) version of the presentation here.

So, next time you have to do some Marshaling in your Chapter, break those titles down - it'll be easy easier!

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Remember that ritual post?

As part of my ongoing series on ritual, I present today an article I found over at Gary Dryfoo's page at http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masonry/Essays/mem-ritual.html. It's a great article on how to work on memorizing ritual. While it is geared towards Masons, it is absolutely applicable to memorizing DeMolay Ritual as well. 

Learning & Memorizing Ritual

by Wor. Mark Waks. This article originally appeared in Masonry Universal issue 26.

Ritualist's Corner

One of the problems that most often plagues Masonry is poor ritual. By this, I don't just mean getting the words wrong -- I mean ritual that is drab and uninspiring, which fails to actually *teach* a candidate. Ritual is often mediocre, and it doesn't have to be; anyone can do ritual well, provided he knows a little about acting.

It isn't hard, actually; it's mostly a matter of knowing how to do it, plus a lot of practice. This article is intended to impart some guidelines on how to do Good Ritual. It doesn't demand a lot of time, or any particular talent, just a little drive to do well. Read it and play with it. With some practice, you should be able to use these techniques to good effect in your Lodge. The course is specifically aimed at dealing with the longer speeches, but much of it is also relevant to shorter pieces; I commend it to junior officers.

This is adapted from a lecture that I worked up for my own lodge; having done that, I figured I should try to spread these tips around for the common weal of the Craft. 

1: Figure out the Words

The first step of learning any ritual is to know what you're saying! This should be obvious, but is often overlooked, because brethren are afraid to admit that they don't already know the right words. Don't be afraid to admit your own limits -- I've never met *anyone* who gets every single word right every time.

Start out by listening to someone say the speech, preferably several times. Listen carefully, and make sure you understand what's being said; ask questions if you don't. (After Lodge, of course.)

Next, go through your book and mark words that you can't figure out, or that you're unsure of -- this is the point to catch any mistakes you may be making. Then call or get together with a Ritualist and talk through it, reading out of the book slowly. Have him correct any mistakes, and fill in the words you don't know. Take notes (preferably somewhere other than in the book), because you will forget the corrections as soon as you're on your own.

2: Understand the Speech

This step gets overlooked even more often than the previous one. Read through the ritual a couple of times, and make sure you really grasp it. Don't just know the words -- know what it's talking about. Find out who the characters being talked about are. Again, ask questions.

Now, start trying to understand the speech structurally. Any ritual is made up of components, separate pieces that are linked together. For example, a section may be talking about symbols, with three paragraphs per symbol: concrete meaning, abstract meaning, and purpose. Figure out what these pieces are -- you'll use them later.

The next step is especially useful for long speeches -- visualize the speech. Any speech can be thought of in terms of movements, places, rooms, stuff like that. Words are hard to remember in order; places are easy.  This is why we use symbols in the first place: because they are easy to learn and internalize. Use them.

3a: Small-Scale Memorization

This is never anyone's favorite part; anyone can do it, but no-one finds it simple. It's considerably easier if you do it right, though.

Start out by reading the speech over and over. Don't move on to the next step until you can read it from the quickly, without breaks or hesitation. Read it *out loud*, when you get the chance. This step is particularly important, and skipped more often than any other. Don't skip it -- this is how you get your brain and mouth trained to the words. It may sound silly, but it really matters -- the mental pathways used to talk are distinct from those used to read.

Now, start trying to learn sentences. Just sentences. Read the first word or two of the sentence, then try to fill in the remainder from memory. Don't fret if you can't do it immediately; it will probably take at least 5 or 10 times through before you're getting most of the sentences. You'll find some that are hard -- hammer those ones over and over (but don't totally neglect the rest while you do so). Again, get to the point where you're doing reasonably well on this, before going on to the next step.

3b: Large-Scale Memorization

Once you've got most of the sentences, try to move on to paragraphs. Again, some will be easy and some hard. Try to understand exactly why this sentence follows that one -- in most cases, the ritual does make sense. An individual paragraph is almost always trying to express a single coherent thought, in pieces; figure out what that thought is, and why all the pieces are necessary. Keep at this until you're able to get most paragraphs by glancing at the first word or two, or by thinking, "Okay, this is the description of truth," or something like that.

Finally, start putting it all together. This is where the structural analysis in Step 2 gets important. You visualized the speech, and figured out how it hooks together; use that visualization to connect the paragraphs. Make sure you have some clue why each paragraph follows the one before. In almost every case, the next paragraph is either a) continuing this thought, or b) moving on to a related thought. In both cases, you can make memorization much easier by understanding why it flows like that. Convince yourself that this paragraph obviously has to follow that one, and you'll never forget the order.

4: Smoothing It Out

You're now at the point where you've got pretty much all the sentences down, and most of the paragraphs, and you're able to get through the whole thing only looking at the book a few times. Now, start *saying* it.

When you're driving in the car; when you're alone at home; pretty much any time you have some privacy, try saying it all out loud, at full voice. Trust me, it sounds very different when you actually say it aloud. You'll find that you stumble more, and in different places. Some words turn out to be more difficult to pronounce than you expected. Try it a few times.

Start out by trying to do this frequently -- once, even twice every day. It'll be hard at first, but it'll gradually get easier. When you're starting to feel comfortable, slow down, but don't stop. Practice it every couple of days, then every week. Don't slow down below once a week. If you feel up to it, see if you can speed up your recitation. (But do not ever speed-talk the ritual in open Lodge -- that's for memorization and rehearsal only.)

5a: Mindset

Last part. You're now at the point where you pretty much have the ritual memorized. Now, the trick is learning how to perform it well. Very nearly everyone has some amount of stage fright; us acting types often have it even worse than most. The trick to overcoming it is control of the nerves.

Now that you're comfortable reciting the ritual, observe how you do it. By now, you're not thinking about it so much; your mouth is doing almost all the work, with the conscious mind simply making a few connections between paragraphs. That is the right state to be in. Think about how that feels, and learn it.

Before you go in to "perform", do some basic acting exercises. Take a few deep breaths; concentrate on not thinking. I think the ideal is a little light meditation, but it takes a fair bit of practice to be able to drop into that state on demand; for now, just worry about being calm. Being calm is far more important than anything else. If you're calm, you're unlikely to screw up too badly; if you're tense, you're far more likely to. Some people like to exercise the body a bit, to relax the mind; you should do what works for you.

5b: Acting

Now the final nuance, which separates merely competent ritual from the really good stuff. Now that you're able to let your mouth do all the talking, start listening to yourself. Think about the ritual again, but don't think about the words, think about what it means. What are the important bits? Emphasize those. How could you use your body or hands to illustrate a point? Try talking *to* the person in front of you, not just *at* them -- look them in the eye and make them get the point. You are teaching important lessons here; try to capture a little of the emotional intensity of that importance.

Think of your "performance" as a melding of two parts. Your mouth is providing the words, your mind and heart the emotion. Again, nothing beats practice. This is what rehearsal should really be for -- taking a dummy candidate in hand, and learning how to really get the point across. Don't fret if you find that you need to change "modes" now and then -- here and there you will need to think about the words briefly, when you change paragraphs or hit a hard sentence. That won't throw you, though, so long as you keep track of what you're saying; you've already figured out why each part leads into the next, and that will guide you when you stumble.

Conclusion

Don't expect to get all this down instantly; it takes most people a few years to really get good at it. Just try to advance yourself bit by bit. Learn the transitions and pieces first -- if you have that, you can get through the ritual. Next time, work on memorizing more thoroughly. The time after that, work on getting it really smooth. After a while, you can build up to the point where you have the luxury to act. And at that point, you will find that you start doing the kind of ritual that Masonry is meant to have -- both moving and interesting, enough so that the candidate (who is, remember, the whole point) actually *learns* what you're saying, and what it actually means. And if you really do it well, you'll find that you come to understand the meaning of the ritual a good deal better yourself...

Do I have to?

This post is part of series of entries written by the Elected State Officers of PA DeMolay. Each of them have been assigned topics to discuss and offer their opinions on. Today's post is offered by Bro. Alex Rauschenberger, Deputy State Master Councilor. Enjoy!

We have all been there; settling in as a newly installed Chapter officer and  hearing about this “ritual” thing you need to learn.  Somebody hands you a little blue book and tells you to memorize your lines for the next meeting, but why? Why should you have to learn the ritual of our organization?  What possible importance could a few sentences have?  Probably much more than you expect.

Ritual has been learned by  DeMolays since Frank Marshal wrote it almost 100 years ago.  Instilled in that ritual are timeless ideas and lessons, which were as important today as they were back then. Think about the life lessons you’ve learned from DeMolay, from the Preceptors, and from the induction. Our ritual can teach us important lessons that will be with us throughout our lives, such as Respect, Patriotism, and Fidelity.  All of those lessons have been preserved in time in our ritual, but there is more to them than what can be learned by watching our ceremonies.  When you take the time to memorize the ritual, you are taking the time to truly understand what it is that the ritual means and what it is you are saying.  You are able to grasp what the lessons truly mean and by doing that, you are translating those lessons into your daily lives.  

Ritual is also important for academic reasons.  Want to pass with flying colors on your Knights Templar test in history class? Or do incredibly well on the reading and writing portion of your SAT’s?  Then learn the DeMolay ritual. Our ritual was written a long time ago and the English language was a lot different back then.  Not many changes to our ritual have occured in that 100 years and that is often a topic of debate between many DeMolays.  Should we change and modernize the DeMolay ritual so that more people can understand it?  Or should we leave it the same?  I will leave that up to you to decide.  For now, we can benefit from the fact that our ritual is relatively the same as it has always been. It gives us exposure to strange words that we have probably never heard before because they have gone out of style.  Through learning the DeMolay ritual we will understand these words and when they pop up on SAT’s in the future we will have no problem understanding them.  Memorizing ritual will also improve your memorization skills which will make it much easier for you to study for tests.

Ritual is not all about memorizing lines either, it is also about performance.  I am sure many of you have had to give speeches in school on different subjects and for most of you there was a lot of nervousness.  DeMolay ritual can remove that nervousness. Through the process of performing ritual you will become more comfortable speaking in front of groups of people. Whether it is in school, a job interview, or a presentation for work, you will be able to draw upon public speaking skills that you developed in DeMolay.  These  skills will also come in handy if you decide to further your DeMolay career by becoming a Councilor in your Chapter or even a State Officer in your Jurisdiction.

So, ritual is not some boring thing you need to dread, but rather you should think of it as an opportunity; all you have to do is pick up that little blue book and start reading!

Study Up on Studying

Today, I am going to share with you one of the best posts that I have come across on the Art of Manliness Blog. The title of the post is "Ace Your Exams: Study Tactics of the Successful Gentleman Scholar." In this article, Authors Brett and Kate McKay provide a great (albeit a bit long) guide to coming to grips with studying and doing well with school work. As many of our young men head back to school, this is an important time for DeMolay's refocus on the value of education and what they need to do to succeed academically.

The post is quiet long and I know that many of you won't read the whole thing; however, there is one essential part that any DeMolay can benefit from:

"Memorizing

Memorization is an important skill that you need to master in order to succeed academically. Because many exams are closed book, you’ll need to know everything backwards and forwards in order to answer the questions. Below, I provide some memorization techniques that I used during school to help me ace my exams.

Memorization is necessary, but not sufficient for academic success. One thing to keep in mind as you read through this section is that most college professors won’t simply test you to see if you can remember and regurgitate information to them. Sure, some do give those kinds of tests, but most actually want to see if you can apply your knowledge. So while memorizing facts, figures, ideas, formulas, and concepts is necessary for success on your exam, knowing how to synthesize and use that information is even more important.

Long-term memory should be the goal. Your goal for every class should be to commit the material to your long-term memory. Your brain’s short-term memory can only hold so much information at one time. Overloading it by cramming it full the night before will ensure that you’ll forget whatever it is you tried to memorize. Creating long-term memories takes time, so you should commit to memorizing information at the beginning of the semester.

Get a change of scenery. Traditional learning advice says you should study in the same quiet place every time you hit the books. But psychological research has found that just the opposite is true. In one study, college students who studied a list of vocab words in two different rooms performed much better on a vocab test than students who studied the words twice in the same room.

Researchers think that our brains make subtle associations between what we’re studying and what’s in the background while we’re studying. Those unconscious associations help you remember what you’re learning. For example, you might associate one fact with the leather chair in the student union and another fact with the smell of coffee in the cafe. By changing locations where you study on a regular basis, you’re giving your brain more material with which to create these associations.

Bottom line: mix up where you study for more effective memorization."

Now the real question is, how can you apply this to memorizing your work in DeMolay?

Frat! ~ "Dad" Seth Anthony

Chronicles of a Key Man

Written by Matt Blaisdell, State Master Councilor of Pennsylvania DeMolay

The Key Man Experience can be different  for everyone  involved. For some, it can be the very first step towards making a difference. Key Man, Pennsylvania DeMolay's premier leadership conference, turns 26 this year. In 1986,  "Dad" Samuel C. Williamson took a a giant leap for DeMolay and began the first ever Key Man Conference. Needless to say, it has come a long way from lenghty workshops and note taking but, since that inaugural conference, Key Man has moved to a reality Conference for the members and Advisors to take part in! Every member has the opportunity to create their own Chapter and control their term how they please (with the help of a designated Chapter Advisor and Chairman to make sure they don't overspend any Key Man money!)

Last night, myself and over 70 other DeMolays and Advisors from across North America, had the pleasure of witnessing a new young man make his DeMolay promises at Key Man 2011. While this was going on, I had a short flash back on my very own DeMolay career, which began in this young man's shoes at the 2003 Key Man Conference. Eight years ago, the 4' 8" me walked through the doors of Patton Campus with only one thought in my mind "what is a Key Man and am I one?" With all these overwhelming thoughts roaming through my head at the age of 12, I didn't know what to do! I went through the week as the Chapter's Treasurer (mainly for the pride of being able to write "official" checks at such a young age!) Nevertheless I survived the week and ended up leaving Patton Campus with the biggest DeMolay pride I could imagine!

Earlier, I looked back at my first DeMolay experience and those that followed and I wonder what other people's DeMolay experiences are. Perhaps you were there at the first Key Man Conference. Perhaps you attended the 25th anniversary Conference  as an Advisor or a member. I spoke with a few members throughout the day about their favorite DeMolay memories and experiences and the answers are astounding! Take a minute to view the video and even comment with some of your favorite Key Man, or DeMolay experiences. The best knowledge is shared knowledge!