VALLEY OF EXCELLENCE
Valley of Aroostook, ME Total Beginning Membership
TOTAL VOE SCORE
31.67 63
New 4˚ Members
5
Restorations
0
Service Events
0
Valley Charitable Contributions Blue Envelope
Valley of Augusta, ME Total Beginning Membership New 4˚ Members
$0.00 $727.00
360 10
Service Events
0
Valley of Bangor, ME Total Beginning Membership New 4˚ Members
$0.00 $4,765.00
TOTAL VOE SCORE
39.67 902 11
Restorations
1
Service Events
0
Valley Charitable Contributions Blue Envelope
Valley of Portland, ME Total Beginning Membership New 4˚ Members
$0.00 $5,027.00
TOTAL VOE SCORE
61.37 748 25
Restorations
5
Service Events
0
Valley Charitable Contributions
$2,000.00
Blue Envelope
$5,701.00
August 2021
leveraged the help of a Brother who is a respiratory therapist and carefully drafted protocols to ensure the safety of their members. These included sanitizing areas and equipment before and after events, checking temperatures, and filling out health screen forms.
38.33 1
Blue Envelope
Just call The Firelands the little Valley that could. In addition to being one of the smallest Valleys in Ohio, they are also one of the newest Valleys within the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, comprised of approximately 150 Brothers.
by Joann Williams-Hoxha, Content Manager
TOTAL VOE SCORE
Restorations
Valley Charitable Contributions
The Valley of The Firelands
The Valley of The Firelands was the first to achieve a perfect score within all categories for the Valley of Excellence. Pictured here are the 14th degree team and five new members that were recruited in the spring.
Valley Secretary Dwight Damschroder, 32°, said his Valley does not have a brick-andmortar building of their own, but they effectively use all the Masonic temples within their region to cater to members. They run approximately two events each month typically in different parts of their Valley to be sure each member can attend an event that is close to home.
Jaxin and Maddie Mohr enjoy their ice cream cones at the Valley of The Firelands’ ice cream cruise-in at Lisa’s Ice Cream in Willard, Ohio.
“We’re getting plural members in our Valley, because they see all that we’re doing,” Brother Dwight said. “It’s been really wonderful helping other lodges and our Valley to grow.”
“We’re not tied to any building; we’re tied to the people,” Brother Dwight said. That mentality is likely the secret to their success; they not only met, but exceeded, many of their goals within all categories for the Valley of Excellence. Their Brother-to-Brother calling goal was 31. They knocked it out of the park with 150. How about providing educational programming to a minimum of eight Brothers amid a pandemic? No problem— they went ahead and quadrupled that goal!
Deb Kemerley enjoys an ice cream during the family life cruise-in event, the 12th family life event of the year for The Firelands, giving them a perfect score of 100 for The Valley of Excellence. “No Valley in NMJ can beat us; only tie us,” touted Valley Secretary Dwight Damschroder, 32°.
With COVID restrictions, Brother Dwight said they were forced to cease gatherings for a bit, but they have not missed any of their degree work since then. They
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