Brothers;

Yesterday was the First Day of the Erie County Fair.

I would like to thank the Chairman Ed. Miller and all the volunteers.
We processed 106 children. Join the team, volunteer to help at our Child
ID Events.

Please post all upcoming events here allowing volunteers to pick events
close to their homes to help.

More to follow, be well my Brothers.

Don Elliott, State Chairman

The Public Relations Seminar scheduled for Sunday, August 10th in Utica has been postponed (for technical reasons) to Sunday, October 19th at the Masonic Care Community. RW Ron Kamp is the site coordinator for this event; details will follow.

There is no change for the PR Seminar scheduled for Friday, August 8th in the Capital area. This PR Seminar will take place at 7:00 PM in Evening Star Lodge Masonic Temple, Old Loudon Road, Latham. RWs Peter Kermanie and Steve King are the site coordinators.

The July 2008 issue of "Emessay Notes" (a publication of The Masonic Service Association of North America) states --

"When David Paterson was sworn in as Governor of New York he represented the 20th Freemason to hold that office..."

The article goes on to cite records of our Grand Lodge showing service in that office of 19 other Brothers, from George Clinton in 1777 to Thomas E. Dewey in 1942.

An earlier on-line article goes into more detail, indicating that Brother Paterson is a member of Boyer Lodge #1 under the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of New York, with which our Grand Lodge is in amity.

On July 19th, the Fox Business Network aired an Eye on America segment showcasing the Masonic Medical Research Laboratory.

If you missed it, you can view it on-line by clicking here.

The MMRL is a beacon of hope to those who have been touched by the number one killer of men and women, heart disease.

We are making a difference in today's world.

The link below is to another short movie (not the Eye on America segment).

We ask that you consider embedding the link below in all your emails and encourage others to do the same.

I just started on a little site cleanup. The Scribd on-line PDF reader seems to be working out well, so I am gradually transitioning the way we publish and promote the NETNEWS to encourage readers to try it. The GM's and GS's messages should always be easy to find, even when a more recent one has appeared. The GL officers are no longer "newly elected" so there's no need to advertise them as such on the front page. Hopefully nobody will be too unhappy with the changes.

The next thing is to reorganize the Committees area, so committee/program information is not only up to date (it currently isn't), but also can be found easily, without needing to be promoted to the front page of the web site (as I am currently doing with MSAT workshop dates). This is too big a job for me, so it is the first thing I am going to ask one of our new volunteers to do. Volunteers, stand by! :-)

PUBLIC RELATIONS SEMINAR FOR PR LIAISONS IN METROPOLITAN NYC AREA

The first of a series of Public Relations Seminars to be conducted throughout the state this fall will be held on Saturday, July 19th in Masonic Hall in New York City at 9:30 AM in Room 19 East.

RW William Feingold is the site coordinator.

The seminar is designed for all District and Lodge Public Relations Liaisons and interested Brothers and is intended to give an overview of communications techniques to tell our members as well as the outside world who we are as Masons and what we do.

Topics will range from preparation of Lodge Trestleboards to print and electronic media. The seminars will be conducted by Brothers who are or have been professionals in the communications arts. It is designed to make as many Brothers as possible comfortable in communications.

My traveling companion was unwell Sunday, so we didn't get to the Lodge re-dedication, but we're back, so now I can resume going through e-mails from volunteers and trying to match up skills with tasks...

I'm going to Kentucky this weekend. While I'm there, I hope to visit a Lodge that is being rededicated, and bring a good friend of mine who is interested in Masonry. Here is the announcement:

The Fort Thomas Lodge #808, under the leadership of its Worshipful Master, Rev. Robert "Ashley" Beagle and his officers, will celebrate its 100th Birthday on June 29th at 2 PM. The Grand Master of Kentucky and his officers will rededicate the Temple. The Mayor of Ft. Thomas and several other dignitaries are expected to speak. After the ceremonies, the Lodge will provide a picnic dinner on the grounds, free to all in attendance. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. The Lodge is located at 37 North Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas KY 41075.

The Tech Committee has received several requests that we post "The Short Talk Bulletin" published by The Masonic Service Association of North America so we asked MSA.

They explicitly grant permission to reprint any but not all of their materials: that is, if we want to reproduce one or more specific issues of Short Talks, that's fine; but we are not to put all the back issues on-line, nor to scan each new issue as it appears and post it. We also could excerpt briefly from each new issue under "Fair Use".

They do not have Short Talks in softcopy format. If anyone would like to scan and OCR a particular issue and send it to us in a web-friendly format, we will post it.