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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Knights of Saint Andrew Knighting Ceremony


The Des Moines Scottish Rite’s Knights of Saint Andrew (KSA) welcomed six new Knights Tuesday, Dec. 27. The knighting ceremony featured a lecture regarding the history of the organization and background information about the emblems of the KSA including the saltire, or Saint Andrew’s Cross. Knight Kurt Hoffman officiated with the help of Knight Mike Taylor. Personal Representative Bill Knoll, 33°, and Master of Kadosh John Clearman, 33°, assisted with the knighting ceremony as well. Afterwards, each of the new Knights received a lapel pin, patent, and KSA medal on a green ribbon.

The Knights of Saint Andrew is an organization exclusively for Thirty-Second Degree Scottish Rite Masons. KSA provides hospitality at events throughout the year including the Sheppard's Tavern, reunions, kick-offs, and others. Knights also help to put on the 28th degree at reunions, serve as greeters at Scottish Rite events, and provide service to the Valley as needed.
(M.A.M.)

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Marsengill Christmas Dinner




 Jerry Marsengill 32 K.C.C.H.once told me that he wished he had done more for people than (he felt) he had.  It is a measure of his humility that he did not realise how much he had done.  A Masonic scholar, ritualist and mainstay of the Des Moines and Iowa Masonic bodies for many years, Jerry had the idea to hold a free Christmas Dinner for anyone who would be alone on Christmas or who just needed a meal.  The dinners have continued and are now named for him.   Masons from all over central Iowa contribute funds and donate time to help with this event.  They are held in the Des Moines Scottish Rite Masonic Center


For those who can't make it to the Center they will go out and pick them up and bring them down and will also deliver meals. 







Ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, green beans (of course) and pumpkin pie.































JS

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Meals from the Heartland

Today, members, families, and friends of the Des Moines Scottish Rite packed 20,000 meals for Meals from the Heartland. Meals from the Heartland provides meals for those in need all over the globe.

Between shifts, the Kitchen Krew provided the usual excellent homemade Potato Soup and Chili for all to enjoy.

It was a great time!


(K.M.H.)

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Installation of 2012 Officers & Holiday Party

In case you missed it, tonight was the Des Moines Valley Installation of Officers and Holiday Party.  There was ceremony, caroling, commraderie, and a special appearance for the reading of "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus".

Enjoy the photos!


(K.M.H.)

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Scottish Rite Express

Scottish Rite Consistory Banner

SR Express
December 12, 2011
Quick Links

DSM Valley Officers
Shane Harshbarger 33°
Master of Kadosh
Des Moines Consistory

Steven F. Jacobsen 32° KCCH
Venerable Master
Lodge of Perfection

Dan Hobson 33°
Wise Master
Chapter Rose Croix

John W. Clearman 33°
Commander
Council of Kadosh
2011 Calendar
December 14 - Quarterly Meeting, Installation, Holiday Party with York Rite
December 27 - KSA Knighting Ceremony
Scottish Rite Installation & Holiday Party - 2011
Eagles
Mark December 14th on your calendars for a big day at Scottish Rite!
 
John Clearman, 33° will be installed as the 2012 Master of Kadosh and Bryce Hildreth, 33° as Commander of the Council of Kadosh along with the other officers of the Des Moines Consistory and the Council of Kadosh.

Immediately following the installation, the 2011 Scottish Rite Officers invite you and your lady to our annual Scottish Rite Holiday Party.  Please join us for music, Holiday cheer, food, and libations.  There is no cost to attend but reservations are requested for planning purposes.  Coat and tie is requested for the installation.

   6:00 pm            Scottish Rite Quarterly Meeting (Consistory Classroom)
   6:30 pm            Installation of Officers (Consistory Auditorium)
   7:00 pm            Scottish Rite Holiday Party (Tapestry Lounge)
Meals from the Heartland
Meals from the HeartlandLast year, the Scottish Rite Masons of Central Iowa along with family and friends spent the better part of a Sunday packing 20,000 meals into boxes for our first ever, Meals from the Heartland project.  While the packaging was a big part of the job, there were bins to refill, boxes to make, a truck to be loaded, and clean up to be done.  In just a few short hours the work was completed and the spirit of charity was felt by all. 

On Sunday, December 18th we will participate in this important
project again.  There will be two shifts to accommodate busy Holiday schedules.  We plan to complete the project by 3:00 pm.
    10:00 am        Orientation and shift 1 packaging
   12:00 pm        Lunch (free)
   1:00 pm          Orientation and shift 2 packaging

This project was made possible by a grant made to the Des Moines Valley by the Iowa Scottish Rite Masonic Foundation.

Please contact the SR office to sign up so we can plan appropriately.  515-288-8927 or rsvp@dmscottishrite. org.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Meals from the Heartland


Last year, the Scottish Rite Masons of Central Iowa along with family and friends spent the better part of a Sunday packing 20,000 meals into boxes for our first ever, 
Meals from the Heartland project.  While the packaging was a big part of the job, there were bins to refill, boxes to make, a truck to be loaded, and clean up to be done.  In just a few short hours the work was completed and the spirit of charity was felt by all. 

On Sunday, December 18th we will participate in this important
project again.  There will be two shifts to accommodate busy Holiday schedules.  We plan to complete the project by 3:00 pm.
10:00 am          Orientation and Shift #1 packaging
12:00 pm          Lunch (Free)
1:00 pm           Orientation and Shift #2 packaging
This project was made possible by a grant made to the Des Moines Valley by the Iowa Scottish Rite Masonic Foundation. 
Please contact the SR office to sign up so we can plan appropriately. 
515-288-8927 or rsvp@dmscottishrite. org

Sunday, December 4, 2011

New Displays in the Pike Room

The Albert Pike Room on the 3rd floor has some new displays.  While cleaning out parts of the building, a few interesting Masonic relics were found, including a gavel from Des Moines Consistory No. 3, and numerous aprons.  It's still a work in progress, so stop by often to see what's new.

A special thank you to Shane Harshbarger, 33; Charlie Smithson, 32 KCCH, Matt Risberg, 32, and Brandon Flatcliff, 32 for your hard work in compiling the new items.





Beautifully embroidered 32 degree apron
Old 9th degree apron
(K.M.H.)

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Ill. C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°, February 14, 1924 – December 1, 2011

From the Supreme Council:

Ill. C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°
February 14, 1924 – December 1, 2011
IN DEO FIDUCIA NOSTRA
FROM THE GRAND ORIENT OF HEREDOM AT WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 1, A.L. 6011
To all the Bodies and Brethren of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States:
SORROW! SORROW! SORROW!
DEAR BRETHREN: A great affliction has fallen upon us—the sharp blow of an expected and grievous calamity. Our venerable and beloved Brother
CHRISTIAN FREDERICK KLEINKNECHT, JR., 33°
C. Fred Kleinknechtof Maryland, our Past Grand Commander, will be seen by us no more in this world. It was not so long ago, when our Supreme Council closed, that he stood in the circle of the brethren around the altar and repeated with them the solemn words of parting: “It may be that we shall not all again assemble together in Council.”
Bro. Kleinknecht was born February 14, 1924, in Washington, D.C., where he graduated from their public schools. His major interests were writing and business, but World War II descended and put an end to his transition from classroom to commerce. He served in the Navy and, with millions like him, gave to the world the precious gift of freedom.
In 1947, he took a job at the House of the Temple, learning about the Scottish Rite from the ground up. This hands-on approach remained the trademark of Fred, as he liked to be known, throughout his fifty-six years at the Supreme Council. Within a year of joining the Temple staff, Fred married his childhood sweetheart, Gene Elizabeth Kamm, a life-partner in the truest sense, and they had four children: Gene Ellen, Henry, Scott, and Joan. Gene’s confidence in Fred’s potential was the turning point in his life, and with her encouragement and support, he studied accounting at Benjamin Franklin University.
In 1949, he began his Masonic journey in Maryland’s Silver Spring Lodge No. 215. He joined the Scottish Rite in Baltimore in 1950, received the rank and decoration of a Knight Commander of the Court of Honour in 1955, and was coroneted an Inspector General Honorary of the Thirty-third Degree in 1959. He was also a member of Mt. Pleasant Chapter No. 13, R.A.M., King David Council No. 19, R.&S.M., St. Elmo Commandery No. 12, K.T., Boumi Shriners, the National Sojourners, and many, many other Masonic organizations.
In the Supreme Council, Fred applied his education to reforming the bookkeeping methods, quickly saving the Rite tens of thousands of dollars. His initiatives demonstrated his leadership potential. From accounting, he moved up through numerous administrative positions at the House of the Temple.
By 1966, the then current Grand Commander, Luther A. Smith, placed Fred in positions of increasing responsibility, leading to his appointment as Assistant to the Grand Commander on January 1, 1966, and Acting Grand Secretary General on January 1, 1967. The Supreme Council endorsed Bro. Smith’s confidence and elected Fred Grand Secretary General and S.G.I.G. at-large on September 28, 1967. He served in this position for nineteen years until the Supreme Council elected him Sovereign Grand Commander on October 23, 1985.
Immediately, Fred set about repositioning the Order within the context of a changing world. To accomplish this mission, Fred sought quality. He said, “Because Freemasonry lives not just for today, but for generations to come, we must be first class in whatever we do.” Working closely with his staff, Fred initiated profound innovations in every area of Scottish Rite endeavor and brought an Ancient and Accepted Order into the new millennium.
Fred knew that building strength for tomorrow’s Rite meant growing financial support today. He rebuilt the Rite’s endowment infrastructure and helped generate forty-seven state and local Scottish Rite foundations. His commitment to securing a sound financial future benefited the House of the Temple itself. He established the House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc., and in just twelve years, its endowment enabled construction of the Pillars of Charity Alcove and the Scottish Rite Hall of Honor to recognize major donors.
The annual Scottish Rite Calendar Program, an effort Fred began in 1989, has enabled much-needed improvements in the House of the Temple, including reconstruction of the Temple’s damaged grand entrance steps and completion of the Cornerstone of Freedom Hall, the Hall of Scottish Rite Regalia, the George Washington Memorial Banquet Hall, the Burl Ives Room, the Americanism Museum, the Albert Pike Museum, and the total renovation of the Rite’s most valuable scholarly resource, the Supreme Council Library. In 1991, Fred approved the creation of the Scottish Rite Research Society and supported it in word and deed, becoming member #1.
Following Grand Commander Albert Pike’s lead, Fred officially presented a copy of the Revised Standard Pike Rituals to the Supreme Councils of Prince Hall Scottish Rite Freemasonry. Wanting to debunk long-standing fictions about Freemasonry, Fred manned forceful action against an extremist faction within the Southern Baptist Convention that tried to condemn Freemasonry. He also took unprecedented steps of meeting with high Vatican officials in Rome and in Washington.
Internationally, Fred appointed a Deputy to oversee Western Europe and Africa, restored a regular Scottish Rite presence in Portugal, established new Supreme Councils in Togo and the Ivory Coast, and reestablished the Scottish Rite in Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, and Romania.
At home in the U.S., the Rite responded to a nation in need. Immediately following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Southern Jurisdiction pledged $1 million to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund to assist children and spouses of 9/11 victims. Fred encouraged the expansion of the RiteCare Speech and Language Disorders Clinics with direct and indirect support.
These few facts, briefly sketched, highlight only a small portion of Ill. C. Fred Kleinknecht’s service to the Supreme Council, 33°, for the Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. His eighteen-year tenure as Grand Commander was exceeded only by Grand Commanders Albert Pike and John Henry Cowles. A family man who valued his wife, children, and grandchildren above all else, Fred extended that love and loyalty to his church, country, Freemasonry, and, most of all, to the Scottish Rite. Rapid and resolute, Fred rejuvenated the Scottish Rite and inspired dynamic activity in every area of our order’s mission. The Kleinknecht legacy of leadership will inspire us for years to come.
REQUIESCAT IN PACE, FRATER.
The funeral for Ill. C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°, Past Grand Commander, will be held at the House of the Temple, 1733 16th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009, 202–232–3579, on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, at 11:00 a.m., officiated by Rev. W. Kenneth Lyons, 33°, G.C., Grand Chaplain of the Supreme Council. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the House of the Temple Historic Preservation Foundation, Inc.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

University of Freemasonry at the Des Moines Scottish Rite




From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
- traditional Scottish Prayer

Ghosties, ghoulies, and long-leggedy beasties were present last night in Pete Taggart’s, 32 º KCCH, presentation of “Things that go Bump in the Night: the Ghosts.” Professor Taggart reviewed a history of the ghosts from Plato to Bacon to the Stanley Hotel, perhaps better known as the Overlook Hotel from the movie The Shining. Prof. Taggart kept the audience entertained throughout his talk, which took place in the potentially haunted Des Moines Scottish Rite Temple. His tales included local spots reputed to be haunted such as the Salisbury House, the Blue Lodge room in the Scottish Rite building, and other locations in Des Moines.

Look for another session of the University of Freemasonry coming up in 2012.