“Meet & Potatoes”

Roma Lodge is in the San Joaquin Valley, the richest agriculture region in the world. Most of our charter members were farmers or dairymen who immigrated from Italy in the late 1890’s and formed the lodge over 90 years ago in 1930. Although, we do not grow a lot of potatoes in our area I was struck by an article in a local agriculture publication announcing the annual “Meet and Potato” conference of growers and exhibitors in Anaheim. They have over 2,000 attendees each year at the convention center with exhibits, breakout sessions and a lot of activities for everyone to learn about potatoes and enjoy.

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with the Order and the Grand Lodge of California. I was attracted to the article because the convention was held in Anaheim, site of the 2022 Grand Lodge convention and it is a two-day conference. It occurred to me how the potato folks can bring together hundreds of exhibitors, thousands of attendees and conduct all their business and activities in just two days! Remarkable! I wondered why the Grand Lodge convention could not conduct their business in a one or two-day conference.

January is the month local lodges submit their proposed bylaw changes to the Grand Lodge for consideration at the convention. Our members, at the January meeting, have approved submitting three changes. First, will be changes to ARTICLE 57-STATE DELEGATES. In part it documents:

Each Local Lodge shall have the right of representation to the Grand Lodge based on the State Delegates count specified by the State Recording Secretary as Follows by one or two voting delegates:
One State Delegate for the first 25 members and one additional delegate for lodges with more than 40 members for a maximum of two delegates per lodge.

The proposed change is different from the one previously submitted requesting every lodge have two delegates by allowing lodges with 39 or fewer members to have just one delegate and those above 40 to have two delegates. This will reduce the financial burden on lodges to send delegates to the state convention.

The second proposed change to ARTICLE 5-GRAND LODGE CONVENTIONS requesting the Grand Lodge convention be held for only two days every other year. If the potato folks can get all their business done in two days, why should the Grand Lodge need more than one or two days to complete their business.

Finally, we have a proposed change to ARTICLE 57-STATE DELEGATES-SECTION M which will remove the fines which could be levied against local lodges for not having delegates at the convention. Let’s make the convention a positive experience rather than a punitive one.

Roma Lodge members hope you will support these bylaw changes.