Stewards, Meals Costs

As Im sure often happens it came up the other night that the kitty for dinner had been light at a lodge. The stewards were out the difference (for the time at least). I mentioned why not have a set price or sell meal tickets or serveral other ideas. I was told that GL law prohibits this. Ive tried various searches and have read the law book many many times, but have never seen or heard this before. Nor can I find it today. Has anyone else heard this or know of it?

I've read the book cover to cover repeatedly, and unless I specifically missed something, I've never seen a prohibition of that.

It seems more like a violation of etiquette than anything.

That is interesting. I am Sr Steward at my lodge this year. We had our first meal last night and we cleared about $40 after 80+ people were served and expenses were paid. What do your stewards do if there is an overage for a given night? Use it to offset expenses from nights that the kitty is light?

At my lodge we ask for a $5 donation, but no one is minding the kitty. If someone donates less, or not at all, they still eat. I am trying to keep meal costs down under $2 a person per meal so each $5 donated covers a couple of plates. I turn in all of my receipts and the lodge reimburses my cash outlay and after the meal I turn over the entire kitty to the secretary.

I don't mind "advancing" the lodge some $ while I am shopping for meals, knowing that the $ will come back to me in short order.

That's how we do it also Bro Mike. The Steward generally fronts the cost of the meal, and turns over his receipt and the donation jar to the Treasurer. The Treasurer counts the money and gives the Steward reimbursement for his expenses, then puts the rest in the General lodge receipts fund. If the jar is short, the lodge reimburses the difference to the Steward to make up for it.

At Allen we do about the same: We take the kitty after each degree/stated night, take out what we spent out of pocket for that meal and put the remainder in our kitty. We use the kitty during the year for restocking supplies and if the stewards are a little tight on long paydays we buy the food with kitty money instead of out of pocket.

Last year I was the JS and out of 12 stated meetings, 48 degrees, MWSA meeting hosted and a couple of other special meetings we only came up short 3 times. Twice it was made up the next meal. Once we got hit hard... expected and prepared for 40-60 people. Unexpected snow storm hit and there were 6 of us. We were able to make it up in about 2 months.

At the end of the year the Stewards broke even. The kitty was used to restock the lodge supplies, reseed the kitty for this year with $100, bought the cake for the installation ceremony and donated the remainder to the building fund.

At Nederland we give our Steward "Courtesy Cards" (charge card) to the local super market. They buy what they need on the card and the Lodge gets a bill from the market monthly. When I was JS several years ago, I proposed putting out a kitty. There is no set price to pay and Brothers aren't expected to pay. Last year we spent about $2,400 in Steward Supplies. This includes plates, napkins, cups, utensils, and the food for two stated meetings a month and all called meetings as well. We try to just do sandwhiches on degree nights. I would like see away to cut the cost down even more. When I was JS after putting a kitty out, we attempted to do a "Pot Luck" meal where Brothers would bring food on the second meeting of the month. This worked well for a couple of months then we were hit with Hurricane Rita and that stopped because we had a drop in members coming for a few months. Last month we started splitting the cost of paper goods with the OES and Commandary/SOB.

Shouldn't dues and initiation fees be set at an amount to take care of all lodge expenses. It just seems that it is the same few members who carry the load for the many. When it is your turn to provide, we should eat prime rib and when it is my turn, hotdogs will suffice.

RedTemplar said:

Shouldn't dues and initiation fees be set at an amount to take care of all lodge expenses. It just seems that it is the same few members who carry the load for the many. When it is your turn to provide, we should eat prime rib and when it is my turn, hotdogs will suffice.

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Hear here!

Or during my turn, I'll cook (home made) steak and when it's your turn, you can serve "bucket food"...

Both Wharton #621 & Point Isabel #33 dine at a restaurant before the meeting. Everyone pays for their own meal except for invited guests, honorees, & GL officers making official visits. The Lodge comps their meals. No cooking, no cleanup, and no shortage.

so back to the original question: is there anything anyone has seen or found that forbids a lodge from selling 'meal cards' or tickets or a set price?

In my Lodge we don't have a kitchen, so all of our meals are brought in. The way we've been doing is we have a volunteer list for each stated meeting where different members bring the meal each time. We put out the kitty, and I don't think we've come up short that I am aware. With different people responsible for advancing for the meal, it seems to insure that when someone else is bringing the meal everyone contributes since they know what it costs. We've been doing it that way for a couple years now. We went to that because too many people were expecting a t-bone steak with all the trimmings for $2.

Nope- go for it.

Wingnut said:

As Im sure often happens it came up the other night that the kitty for dinner had been light at a lodge.

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There's a "Brother" at a Lodge I used to attend who, after being shamed for not "feeding the kitty" started waiting until Lodge was open to show up- that way he could graze for free without the rest of us knowing about it (he thought) ..!

Im reminded of a saying I heard one time about not cheating

We don't do a required donation, but most of us chip in between $5-$10. Our OES ladies cook the meals for us. They use the kitty to offset their expenses and the profit goes to their programs.

Our dondation bucket has not in a very long time covered meal cost. We leave the donation bucket out for giggles but the cost are covered as the Brother said above by dues as well as degree fees. If you serve better food as well donations mysteriously get bigger.

We are fortunate in that our donation jar nearly always more than covers the cost of our meals, probably because most of the guys go out of their way to publically humiliate anyone other than visitors/candidates for not contributing something to the jar. It's usually nothing more than good-natured ribbing, but it works, as the guy made light of usually makes a big deal out of putting a ten or twenty in the jar the next time we have a meal.

We are also fortunate in that we have some excellent cooks in our lodge, and our OES ladies are great as well. I have a standing practice, whether at my lodge or out visiting, of putting a $5 bill in the jar. I pay twice that for lunch every day at work, and three times that eating out for dinner. I figure I can spare at least a fiver for the lodge, even if we're eating sandwiches.

I'm not sure that it's a good idea to charge a set fee for meals. If you need a legal reason, you've just gone from taking donations to selling something, which brings sales tax into the mix. However, that's not what actually bothers me. Even if we quietly ignore that particular sticky issue, I would be concerned about making members feel like they couldn't join their brothers in fellowship because they didn't have the $5. It may not seem like a lot to many of us, but if you've got members who are college students, or are unemployed, or are retirees on small fixed incomes, that $5 may been needed elsewhere that week. I enjoy a good spread as much as the next guy, but what makes it special is sitting down at the table with my brothers. I'd rather quietly pitch in an extra few dollars to cover his meal than make him feel like he wasn't welcome.

I think I'll chime in on this one;

Metropolitan is a little different, in that we meet weekly. If there is work or not, at least we have fellowship over a meal. I believe the Stewards office to be the place where an enthusiastic Mason can have a silent but significant impact on his lodge. My junior and I labor happily to deliver a quality hot home cooked meal, made from fresh ingredients, that far exceeds anything you could get anywhere else for $5. Many of our brothers are on a fixed income and five bucks may be a lot to them. No problem! No brother would ever look twice at someone not contributing to the kitty, but rather would throw in a ten spot, silently implying, "worry not my brother, I got ya covered." This is the fundamental reason why Masonry exists.

I know that if I continue to provide good meals, the brothers will look forward to lodge night fellowship, and some that havn't been in a while may show up just for the food. If I manage to keep costs low, while providing enough to feed everyone, at the end of the year there will be a surplus that can be given to a worthy cause in the name of our lodge.

There have been nights where too much was prepared and turnout was low thus not making a profit, but these nights are few and far between. The Kitty should make money in the long run, this is what is meant by "Good Stewardship".

He's not joking. He makes some great meals. I am officially scared to get in the lineup now because people are gonna get peeved with my mad hot dog microwaving skills very quickly, especially after Bro. Barry!

I like the 5 dollar cover being that. I don't carry cash on me for anything but the meal. Without being informed of how much it would be every time I might go hungry.