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Do you stay for the meal?

Do you stay for the meal

  • Yes, most of the time

  • No, generally not

  • 50/50


Results are only viewable after voting.

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
At what time do you tyle?
For me our meeting dosent finish until 10:00 to then eat, get home and I won’t be in bed untill 1am which would be fine but I’m up again at 5am for work the following day. Sorry but not happening.

I get togeather with my brothers outside of lodge but we normally grab a few drinks before meetings and I catchup with individual brothers for coffee during the week to get to know them better, those meetings are invaluable and are at a time where we both are in no rush.
 
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David612

Registered User
What time do you tyle?

at
7, keep in mind in Aus we open in the 1st and my lodge has actual work booked untill mid next year, plus we have rural lodges help when we have too much work, I’ll be doing my second at a nearby historic country lodge
 

Glen Cook

G A Cook
Site Benefactor
7, keep in mind in Aus we open in the 1st and my lodge has actual work booked untill mid next year, plus we have rural lodges help when we have too much work, I’ll be doing my second at a nearby historic country lodge
And you don’t finish until 10? You need to talk faster:).
 

hanzosbm

Premium Member
And you don’t finish until 10? You need to talk faster:).
Agreed. One of the things I like the most about my current lodge is that we regularly conduct our meetings in about 20 minutes. I think our record is around 18, and considering that it's a very large lodge room and the CA opening and closing has a bit of floor work, that's FAST.
 

David612

Registered User
And you don’t finish until 10? You need to talk faster:).
They might take offence if I surgest this. Typically a business meeting, admitting visitors then a degree or lecture then you don’t have a lot of change from 3 hours, occasionally it’s faster but not commonly.
 

goomba

Neo-Antient
Site Benefactor
I don’t get how that works, my lodge just celebrated the 90th anniversary and we where doing dishes and cleaning for about an hour and a half afterwards.

Disposable dishes. If needed a few of us stay after the meeting to finish cleaning.
 

billyjfootball

Registered User
Our meals are always after meetings and degrees. We are expected (that may be too strong a word) to leave a small donation (dollar or two). Our Stewards make/heat up food downstairs. The food is not anything extravagant; it ranges from hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage hoagies, ziti, etc. we have a family night dinner once a year which is catered by a local restaurant. Most choose to stay and eat.


Sent from my iPhone using My Freemasonry
 

MarkR

Premium Member
Haha we enjoy whiskey at lodge regularly :) amazing that in the US hand guns in lodge is a discussion but alcohol is just a big no-no
That varies by state. Alcohol is okay in Minnesota anywhere except in the actual lodge room.

We have dinner beforehand. No way I want to wait until 9-9:30 to have dinner. Then after lodge it's snacks and beverages downstairs.
 

jrnteach

Registered User
My Lodge has dinner before the meeting. Our junior warden and his family typically prepare the meal and our various youth like DeMolay and Jobs Daughters assist. For us, the dinner is not only a time to socialize but also to learn what is going on in the life of our Masonic family. We hear about the various appendant organizations, who is in need of help, etc. stated dinner is important in the life of our Lodge. Some of the brethren (especially our older members) come for dinner but don’t stay for the stated meeting.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
My Lodge has dinner before the meeting. Our junior warden and his family typically prepare the meal and our various youth like DeMolay and Jobs Daughters assist. For us, the dinner is not only a time to socialize but also to learn what is going on in the life of our Masonic family. We hear about the various appendant organizations, who is in need of help, etc. stated dinner is important in the life of our Lodge.
EXACTLY why we have meals in our lodges.
 

jermy Bell

Registered User
We pay for each meal out of our pocket with the lodge paying a bit to keep prices down. If a brother is short on cash on some ocasion it can be taken care of. The current cater charges a little more then the old did so maybe dues will increse.
That' nice and all, but
We pay for each meal out of our pocket with the lodge paying a bit to keep prices down. If a brother is short on cash on some ocasion it can be taken care of. The current cater charges a little more then the old did so maybe dues will increse.
My lodge tried that, and a ot of brothers would just skip dinner. So it' a donation thing. Don' know why either because we put back money for these things.
 

David612

Registered User
I have heard the argument from many that disposable dishes and basic meals are one of the reasons they skip the meal, I mean in generations gone it was linnen table cloths and fine bone china plates, dining was an experience.
My lodge still use our lodge plates and linnen table cloths but food is very basic of cause to keep costs down.
 

Go49ersuk

Registered User
The lodges in my Province Devonshire UK have the festive board after the meeting in the Temple, my particular Lodge Sun 106 tyle at 6:30pm and generally have the meal booked for 8:15pm the bar generally opens at around 5:30pm. The cost of the 3 course meal is around $17.50 and a bottle of wine ranges from $12 to $15. The festive board is a time for socialising and making money for charity we have a whisky draw and a bottle raffle every meeting. After the meal we have various toasts and partake of Masonic fire, this time of year we have carols after the meal. I Personally feel the festive board plays an important part of the Lodge experience. Lodges with a good festive board tend to be larger so a good festive board can lead to joining members. Our stewards used to wait table but now they only serve wine and sell draw tickets not a move I was wholly supportive of.
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
My Cheshire Chapter has the meal and the subs all as one. You don’t come. You don’t eat. You still pay.
I wanted to do a program based on the following:

We have roughly 16 meetings a year. Our dinners are 6 dollars which is 96 dollars for the year. I wanted to suggest that if you front load 80 dollars, your meals for the year are paid. If you don't show up, it's your loss.

I wanted to do same for fundraisers, but that gets complicated.
 

Elexir

Registered User
M
That' nice and all, but

My lodge tried that, and a ot of brothers would just skip dinner. So it' a donation thing. Don' know why either because we put back money for these things.

Could be that since its a change some people just dont feel right about it.

I think the main reason it works here is that people are used to it, its a good place to get change if nothing else. Besides if the lodge had to pay the full cost of a meal, dues would have to be raised dramaticly.
 

jermy Bell

Registered User
It sounds like it's more of a hassle than anything. Then why not just skip dinner, and start the meeting / degree early then leave. The other thing I have seen is masonry is getting to expensive to do anything.
 
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