Brethren,
I hope this message finds you and your family well as summer is upon us.
As most of you know, attendance at the annual communication this year is being severely limited by lingering COVID pandemic precautions. Our usual summer meeting time has traditionally followed the Grand Officer installation on the second day of that event. However, because our Secretary John Bridegroom and myself are both expected to be at a meeting with the incoming Grand Master and his officers at that time, and since attendees at the communication will be greatly reduced this year, we have reluctantly decided to postpone our usual May meeting at this time.
Be aware that, if you are attending the annual communication on Tuesday and Wednesday as a voting member of Grand Lodge, the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana will be open on both days.
Our report submitted to the Grand Lodge for the combined 2019-2021 period is now available online on our website at: https://dlslodgeofresearch.net/2021/05/annual-report-to-grand-lodge-dwight-l-smith-lodge-of-research/ . As I said in that report, since quite literally all of society the world over has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, this unique moment in time should be recorded by all of our lodges to help future generations understand how we as Masons responded. If your lodge’s written history hasn’t been updated in a while, now is a perfect time to take on that project.
The officers of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research are appointed by each incoming Grand Master, and we do not necessarily advance in progression each year the way most Masonic lodges do. It is presumed that the new Grand Master will announce the new slate of DLS LOR officers very soon after the annual communication concludes. Once those new appointments become official, we will announce a summertime meeting as soon as possible.
I have been honored to serve as the Worshipful Master of this lodge since May 2019 during what has arguably been one of the most disruptive and turbulent periods of modern history, and I wish to thank each and every one of you for your devotion to Freemasonry and to our lodge’s mission. I look forward to continuing to serve the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research in any way I can in future, and hope to see each and every one of you when we next meet.
Sincerely and most fraternally,
Christopher L. Hodapp, Worshipful Master 2019-21
