Episode 60. On the Level (ft. Greg Vokovan)

Sisters and Brothers across the Masonic family, it’s our pal Greg Vokovan. Genealogy connections to the Split Rock Lighthouse, Navy adventures landing on an aircraft carrier, and the statewide outreach of the Fire Suppression program. Pop on your flight suit and join us, it’s an all-new Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries.  

“We're all on the same level. It doesn't matter who you are, where you worship, how you voted, how you dress, we're all the same. Tolerance is a key aspect of the Masonic experience. We'll continue to succeed in our charities, in our philanthropic endeavors, and we'll continue to attract those to our fraternity that we want now.”

Transcript

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Hi again, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Minnesota Masonic histories and mysteries. This podcast is first and foremost focused on friendship, brotherhood, and getting to know our members better. Happy to be joined today by a good friend and brother, Greg Vocavan, who currently serves as the Senior Grand Steward for the Grand Lodge of Minnesota. Welcome, Greg. Thanks for inviting me. There's so many things across the spectrum of life of Freemasonry that we could chat about. How about we'll start with the obvious. where'd you grow up? Where were you born? Well, I was born in Duluth, Minnesota. didn't spend much time there. My family moved around quite a bit. But we finally landed in, at that time, the new suburb of Blaine, Minnesota. Brand new. What year circa that would have been in the mid sixties. Not much up there at the time. Not much up there. We had a septic and sand roads out in front of our house. Wow. That's hard to fathom. Now, considering all of the development and it is it's fastest growing a suburb. I believe So that was home for you for how long then where did school and life lead you after that? Well, I went to school there. It was at that point in, uh, in My life and my sibling my brother and sister's lives that we ended up in a single parent home My dad had remarried and moved over to the east side of the metro into the White Bay White Bear Lake area And so we spent time either either at dad's or at mom's so I ended up going to school both in Coon Rapids and in White Bear Lake And I believe you were in the Navy. Correct. Did you, you enlisted at some point along that timeline? I did. growing up was difficult in that split home and, uh, uh, I struggled, uh, a little bit with, uh, academics and, and life, uh, was, was hard for us kids at the time. And the Navy was a good opportunity for me. So I, embarrassingly, I drop out of high school and I joined the United States Navy. I enlisted. At the tail end of the Vietnam era, pretty much knowing that, uh, that no troops were going back in to battle in 1972. So about 75 days after I turned 17, my mother had to give permission and let me enlist. To me, it was kind of a, I didn't really have much else to do. So, being thanked as a veteran, it's more me thanking, uh, the United States Navy for giving me the opportunity, and, and they certainly put me back on the right track. What did you pursue as an MOS, as a, as a career within the Navy? As you know, as a veteran, uh, the military does a very good job of, uh, assessing aptitude. I was done, mechanically. They found that I had a, a great mechanical aptitude. And I was able to select an airdale. Uh, and the aviation side of the Navy. I had no interest in being on a ship for any length of time. Good choice. And, uh, I was kind of hoping for a helicopter squadron, but I ended up in a training squadron. Uh, this is where the naval aviators, uh, tactical, aviators were trained. I was a hydraulics mechanic, and I served a one, one duty station. I was, uh, three years, seven months, and a day at a naval air station, Kingsville, Texas. the chief that I worked for, offered me an opportunity to leave the shop and go into the flight scheduling side of the business. And that was good. We had about, uh, 35 aircraft that were flight worthy, and we tended to fly 70, maybe 80 sorties a day. Wow. So we were turning the airplanes around quite quickly. again at the tail end of the Vietnam era, some of the really good pilots that were hoping to go fight, were plowed right back into instructor's positions. So we had a mixture of combat veteran air aviators that were the trainers, and we had some that were plowed back. Uh, I got to know those pilots quite well, and I had Oh, a couple hundred hours in the backseat of those trainers, uh, because they didn't want to take anybody out of the shop to go see if there was a brake problem. So we would fly for an hour and a half and then when we would touch down, we would, uh, I would take control of the brakes to see what was going on. They also didn't want to take a mechanic out of the shop to taxi an airplane over to the, to the load cell. So I was taxi qualified and could start and, and taxi the airplanes. And I spent, uh, so a little bit of time in the backseat of these, uh, trainers. we did, the squadrons were assigned to, uh, CTV 16, the USS Lexington, and it would flo it would float from Pensacola to Corpus Christi and allow the, the, uh, student pilots to learn how to land on an aircraft carrier. And I was offered to go out on that, on that carrier and, uh, perform a job at sitting at the back at the fantail. And if the arresting hook wouldn't come back up, they had a very short lifespan, the arresting hooks do. I would reach over the exhaust of the airplane and trigger a valve to force it up and then tell the pilot that they had one more launch, that they had to go to a land base after this. so I got to spend time on there, uh, because of my scheduling flights, I missed the DC 3 that was taking everybody to Pensacola. And a lieutenant said, well, you can fly with me. So I thought we were flying from Kingsville to Pensacola the next morning. Well, the ship had already set sail. And so we landed on the aircraft carrier. So it was pretty unique for an enlisted guy to sit in the backseat of a trainer and get arrested on a, on a carrier. did having all that exposure experience ever leave you thinking maybe I want to become a pilot or pursue this further? Well, I, I have a I have a congenital cataract in my left eye, so I could be a private pilot or, uh, and I have had interest in flying. I could have never been a naval aviator for multiple reasons, but the cataract, uh, congenital cataract in my left eye would have prevented me from having correctable 20 20 vision but I don't know, and at my point in my life, I don't know if I'm, got the interest in flying. he said something interesting earlier, we thank veterans for their service, but you feel a debt of gratitude towards the Navy for the opportunity it provided you at that time of your life When you look back on that tell us a bit more about how that helps you Navigate the next chapter of life. Well, I was a good sailor I was a good serviceman and I and I do appreciate those who thank me for being on active duty for four years and inactive reserves for another two, and an honorable discharge, and a meritorious unit accommodation. Uh, I appreciate that, but at that point in my life, the Navy took me in. trained me, put me to work, and pointed me in the right direction in my career. It was because of the Navy that straightened me out, that allowed me, when I got out, to pursue my career. the training they gave me, the, it opened doors for me. The railroad was hiring when I got out of the Navy and because I was a veteran that helped me at that time. So maybe it's a bit of a cliche, but how often do we ask a 17, 18 year old in general, Hey, what do you want to do for the rest of your life? How in the world do we expect that decision to be made without having the life experience? I've always encouraged, wish that more young people before college is sure if you're going to do that later. Great. but there's the option of going into one of the many branches to get some life experience, to get your feet wet in a number of different career paths that There really is something to be said about that trajectory that helps a young person find their way. I agree. It certainly helped me. the naval air station is, is kind of interesting from a Masonic standpoint from, from me. we all know the Sizemores from the Scottish Rite. both father and son We're in command of Naval Aviation Training. In fact, I was talking, during my right care stint, I was talking with Elizabeth Sizemore out in Washington and I made the comment, I said, you know, I think I served under your dad. And she paused and she asked a couple of questions and, and then I realized that the junior wasn't even an aviator. Her father wasn't an aviator when I was at Kingsville. It was her grandfather that I served under. So, and I got to meet both of them at one of the, uh, sessions in, in Washington and, and, uh, that was, that was pretty exciting for me to meet, uh, the C, certainly the senior. Those two have a resume that is unrivaled by man. They have seen the hours, the landings, the different aircraft. I wish we had more time to dive into this, but maybe for another episode, we'll talk about the, the, the Sizemore's. So when along the way did you meet your bride and the family take shape? Well, after the Navy I came home and worked for the railroad. Back in Minnesota? Back in Minnesota. I worked at the Sioux Line Railroad as a machinist apprentice. And after, uh, uh, finishing that apprenticeship program, I realized that in that union environment, I needed to bid on a job. Not, it wasn't going to be the Monday through Friday thing that I had. It was a oddball, third shift, Tuesday, Wednesday's off. I was a, uh, scooped up by a, a independent contractor. And that was a time when a lot of the locomotives, uh, that was my, my forte, uh, were being purchased by private companies, such as the green elevators or the power plants to move their coal trains or their, their grain. And this guy scooped me up to do renovation or, or. Resurrecting some of these old rolling stock Locomotives and it took me back down to Texas So I finished my apprenticeship worked a year or two up here and then went back to Dallas for a temporary Assignment that ended up being two and a half years Living in a hotel. Oh man. Nowhere to spend my money, nothing to spend it on, uh, so that was a nice, uh, couple years. when the project was finally over with, uh, we had, built a relationship with Cargill in their, uh, Houston, green elevator on the ship channel and the thought of them not having service resources, uh, caused them to reach out to me and say, what, what would it take for you to stay? So I went to work for Cargill for a couple of years, two and a half years at, at Houston. the grain market was off, the wheat, there was a wheat elevator, and, and, and things were really, really slow. And it was obvious that they, they really didn't need me. but they didn't want to lose me. So I brokered a deal and worked with a motor repair shop. Uh, I would frequently visit home. That was where mom was and my siblings. And so I bumped into, uh, my, my sister in law insisted on a blind date with one of her former classmates. both of us begrudgingly went and, uh, and hit it off. Uh, I made another visit, uh, a couple months later and we hit it off even better and, and then realized that, uh, that home really was Minnesota, not Beaumont, Texas. And then eventually moved back to Minnesota. about a year later, my wife, Goody, and I got married. And a little over a year after that, we had our, our only child. Hillary. now she's, here in the cities and in her mid thirties, and, and we're up in Northern Anoka County living on the golf course where we wanted to retire. I've always wanted to ask you. I've known you for years. What's her real name? Is Goody. Is that her real name? And where did that come from? It's a German name. Goodland is her is her official name, but she goes by Goody with a Y. Interesting see the things we the things we learned or that think in passing that just haven't had opportunity to ask before. And speaking of You have a family connection to the Split Rock Lighthouse in Duluth. Can you tell us more about that? I've never heard details of this, well, the Split Rock Lighthouse, which is about 20 miles, about 50 miles from Duluth. It's about 20 miles, up the shore from two harbors. that lighthouse was put there as a result of a horrible storm called the Matafa Blow in 1905. The ship owners or the, uh, Lake Carriers Association, lobbied Congress and got funding to put a lighthouse at or near the Split Rock River. And that was constructed in 19, put into service in 1910. and the guy that lit the light for the very first time. was my great grandfather. So grandma, my dad's mother, grew up out there as an adolescent and a teenager. Of course, that was when we referred to the lighthouse as a seasonal lighthouse. So that means that nobody was there in the winter. One, they didn't need to be there in the winter. And two, there were no roads out there, so the only way they could get food or fuel was from the lake. And when the shores would freeze, they would shut it down. And so her time out there was shared with us as kids. the Minnesota Historical Society started operating, uh, or administering the lighthouse. in the mid 70s, and they just adored her. She lived to be over a hundred, and there's an oral interview of her life out there, uh, that's in the exhibit hall at the Lighthouse, and in my retirement, or semi retirement, uh, Goody and I spend a fair amount of time up on the North Shore near Two Harbors, and I work out there at the lighthouse in the summers, a couple of days, two to three days a week, two to three weeks of the month as what they call an interpreter, tour guide basically. I like meeting the people. Um, from a mechanical standpoint, I never I never reached, to become a mechanical engineer but I have the aptitude to understand how the light works, how the lantern worked, and how the rotation, the clockwork that turns the light that sits in the bed of mercury and, they enjoy my technical approach to interpretation of that era during that seasonal operation of the lighthouse. And having the family connection, obviously a plus on, is that oral history ever been turned into a book, into a periodical or something, Well, not from my side of the family, but, two years ago. during one of the programs that they put together up there, they wanted to talk about Ralph Russell Tinkham, the architect who built it. He was a young civil engineer from Michigan, and he, that was his first project. Well, Tinkham went on to be the senior. civil engineer for the United States Coast Guard. They took over the lighthouse service in 1939 during the Roosevelt administration. And they were going to do a thing on Ralph Russell Tinkham. And it got out on Facebook. And lo and behold, his great grandson came up from Dubuque, Iowa for that event. Ralph Russell Tinkham has memoirs and was, and has a book. But nothing from the young side of the family, other than what the Minnesota Historical Society has done. Is the book by Tinkham available on Amazon for anyone who's into history and the architecture, the starting of the light before going on to the Coast Guard? Well, even though that was his first or his introduction to lighthouse, his fame was more in automation and reducing the, uh, dependency on, So, uh, he, he retired, I think, in 1946. Mark Anderson has asked, had asked me to put together a program for the library talk that he does and uh, and it focuses around, at the tail end of that presentation that I put together, focuses around the relationship that, uh, Brian Tinkham and I have bonded with just in this last couple of years. So we, we visit them in Iowa and I expect him to come back up, uh, this year because it'll be, uh, he'll probably come up in November for the November 10th lighting, uh, which will be the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald. So it'll be a 50 year anniversary. Another Um, uh, Lightfoot Milestone. Hard to believe. I wish I had some Gordon Lightfoot to play while we talk about that. We lit it in his, um, uh, memorial to after his passing. Oh, nice. I didn't. I wasn't aware of that. He passed away and the lighthouse lit it in commemoration of that. and just for a reference, it's about 150, 000 a year visitors that go through Split Rock. of course the vast majority from early May to late October, a lot of visitors up there. It's a nice showing. The interest has certainly not waned over the years. We have yet to talk about Freemasonry, about the craft. When did you first get the inkling, the desire to pursue More information to join a Lodge back in the day. You've been a member over 30 years now. I have Some people will hear this story. My father was a Mason My maternal side, my mother grew up in Lakeside in Duluth. She was the youngest of four. Her father was a grocer at a, at a grocery store in Lakeside. And he joined Lakeside Lodge. Primarily so that Gunnberg, my grandmother, could become a member of the Eastern Star. Grandpa Gene wasn't very active, after my father relocated to White Bear Lake, he got into the, Masonic fraternity by joining Fellowship Lodge 257 out in North St. Paul, which no, they had merged, I think, mostly with Garnett Lodge in White Bear. so he joined and I find out later that he got very active. I didn't know until after my stepmother passed away that they were members of the Order of the Eastern Star as well. But he got involved with Shrine. And so when people ask about my dad's Masonic career, I'd say that he was a good Mason. But he was a great Shriner. He really liked Shrinedom. He joined the St. Paul Scottish Rite. At his passing in 2002, he was a member of a daylight lodge in Madison and was active. He never was a master or a warden. He didn't pursue that and in thinking back, even Even back, uh, in the 60s, late 60s, it was tough to get into the leadership line of some of the lodges. Yes. I think we overlooked that in today's world. That was, there was a lot of potential leaders on the sidelines within any lodge. And to get asked and to get chosen was no small thing. My father was asked by a young man, and some of you listening to this will, will have heard me tell this story. My father was asked by a young man to join the fraternity. And my father. Had to ask why would you like to join? And that young man said, well, he knew a guy that was successful. He was a sales manager. He had the square and compass on the back of the Buick and he gave tickets to the ballgame to the customers and he was very successful. Dressed nice and this young man was hoping that if he were to join the fraternity, he would turn out to be like this sales manager and fortunate for my dad, the young man got distracted and didn't bother him. My father would have had to have said that that's not the right reason why to join the fraternity. But about five years later, that young man asked my dad again, expressed an interest in the fraternity. and asked him if he would help him. My dad asked that man the same question, Why do you want to join? And the young man says, Well, I'm kind of grounded now. I've started a family. I've got a career path heading, and I think it's going to be good for me now, and I'd like to talk about joining. Fortunately, my dad was able, being from a different jurisdiction, was able to sign his petition because in Minnesota, only one of those signatures needs to be from this jurisdiction. So my dad's signature is the second line signer of my petition. Really? That was me, and my dad was so afraid that, to tell me that I'm joining for all the wrong reasons, which I was at that first approach. The first discussion. The first discussion, so. And my father was there to raise me on November 21, I think, of 1991. 91 at Anoka. I was And you're a member of Ano that this was at Anoka 30? Yep. I don't know that I've heard that story and wasn't assuming immediately that would've been you or that young man. Yeah, I was that man that was joining for the wrong reasons, for material things and, that wasn't why I was supposed to join. I served the MA as Master of Anoka in 1996. And, uh, I'm a member of, a proud member of Helios Lodge up in Cambridge. And now you've got two options too. In, in addition to, you're still an active member of Scottish Rites. I am. York Rite. Also serving the last couple of years now in the Grand Line. How's that been so far? Oh, I've loved it. It was something I had never thought that I would ever be asked to do. It never was on my radar. When Dayton Berg asked me to think about it, I thought he was just joking. Dayton and I bonded with the relationship that we had. Northeast Lodge, his lodge, rented from Anoka for Decades. And, uh, and that's where I got to know Dayton, is when he spent time at his home lodge. When they resided in Anoka, and we, uh, somehow communicated and understood each other's leadership styles and what was important to each other and, and he asked me if I would be interested and I, I thought there'd be no way that, that he would continue to think that way. So a year went by and, uh, he brought me in to interview with the lower line officers and, uh, and I was his selection. I couldn't be more happy. Outstanding. And to see a Marine choose a Navy man, that's, that's no small, that's, we don't talk much about that. I bet not. Yeah. The inner service rivalry is, is a thing, but one of the aspects that you oversaw in your first year. With Dayton as Grandmaster was the fire suppression program we launched an initiative through Grand Lodge to provide first responders across the state, the opportunity to have one of these in as many vehicles as possible. It's been a massive success. And in no small part due to your hard work and dedication of seeing this through and it's still going today, well, thank you for that. I believe it has been a success to date. We have distributed or donated almost 500 units throughout the state. So in less than two years, the, the program is an initiative by both the Grand Lodge. and Masonic Charities. And so it's kind of a three way split. The Lodge, Charities, and Grand Lodge contribute to purchasing these units. It was a model that we saw in Wisconsin. The Freemasons in Wisconsin were doing this and we jumped on board and it, it looks like that wave is going to continue to the west. We hear of South Dakota looking into this program. and other states that are considering doing this. It was an opportunity for us as Masons to continue to contribute to the, towns and the communities that we live in. the unit is like a kettle ball. It's about 15 pounds of potassium that is actually ignited and it chemically separates the fuel from the oxygen, suppressing, not extinguishing, but suppressing the fire and basically resetting the clock for water to get to the site. The most notable of the deployments that we've experienced in Minnesota was in St. Paul Park where a sergeant from Washington County had just learned how to use this thing and Deployed it the next day and it saved the house Nobody was in the house except for the family pets and it saved both of them amazing one of the big initiatives to equip first responders and police officers that they are usually the first on scene a little before, which feels like an eternity before the full. Fire department does arrive and in this case there he was what are the timing of that too? He had just been trained on it deployed it save the house Save the pets incredible story. Yeah, we have some of his Body camera video and he's even saying he goes. Well, I think this is how you do it I'm gonna give her a try and he put it through the door and it and it deployed the homeowners were interviewed by the local television channel and they said, the, the lady said, we'll pay, we'll buy another one of these units. It saved our pets and it saved our house. We'll pay it forward. But before they could do that. The Demolay chapter from White Bear Lake, Lincoln chapter, had already raised enough money and gave them the replacement unit. Gave it to Washington County before the end of that TV, uh, interview. Everyone's clamoring that I want to pay this forward. Knowing what this technology and this device did And part of the initiative of the Fire Suppression Program is that community engagement that we do as Freemasons For some of our listeners who may not be members of the Masonic family. We talk a lot about the, the tenants of our profession like to call that our core values, friendship, community engagement, helping those in need. it comes up frequently on this podcast. the things we stand for as Masons are really being sought out in the world right now having empathy for others in need Tolerance coming together in a very natural and non cliched way. Well, I'm not the first to say it but Never have we needed it more than what our tenants Uh, we need that tolerance, we're in a divided time. We have so much to offer society with what we've done. Our track record, when you look at what Masonic Charities has done in its 20 years, no time would be better than for the public to pay attention to what masonry has done and can do. And what it can do to enhance someone's life journey. I recently spoke with a young man who was interested in learning more about possibly joining and he said something to the effect that well, I'd like to become a Mason so that you can tell me what to do, how to live my life and I gently corrected him and told him that we don't tell anybody how to do or what to do, but we do provide the tools, the blueprint, if you will, in how we can each take that responsibility of Recognizing our shortcomings and our faults, striving to be a better version of ourself. And to your point, how we can navigate our way in this world in a respectful manner of agreeing to disagree, But ideally adding, less static, less white noise, less of the divisive, the social media approach, where it's so easy to sit behind that computer screen and put everyone on blast, that really is an area, shall we say, of opportunity in today's world in which we can be the change and lead the way. It is. I agree. The, the thing that is important to understand to these prospective members too is that we're all on the same level. It doesn't matter who you are, where you worship, how you voted, how you dress, we're all the same. and the tolerance thing I had mentioned earlier, that, that has got to be the key thing that I've taken away from this is to tolerate other people's views and not get upset or opinionated. we do have so much to offer, those who are looking into our fraternity in guiding them, uh, to doing the important things, the right things, charity, kindness, brotherly love, all important things. And doing the hard work required to see those things through. It's easy to align ourselves with a particular ideology or a set of core values. The difference is at the Lodge level, we are really striving to do the hard work necessary. Work on ourselves. And help each other in a very collaborative way at a time when it really is needed now more than, than ever. What do you see as the future of Freemasonry, whether that in Minnesota or on a, on a greater scale? Well, during my, uh, evaluation process for my appointment to the Grand Lodge, I was asked, where do you see masonry in 20 years? a lot of the great guys that we want in this fraternity are still here and a lot of them that weren't contributing are gone. I believe that we will continue to prosper and that we will continue, especially in today's environment. And with the leadership of the Grand Lodge and your involvement certainly, we're going to attract the prospects that are going to benefit from being a member. And our membership will benefit from them. and that's one of the things that we talk about early on in, in Masonic ritual is that it needs to be mutually beneficial. And I, I think that we'll continue to succeed in our charities, in our philanthropic endeavors, and I think we'll continue to make, I know it's cliche, but make good men better. Uh, we'll continue to attract those to our fraternity that we want now. The numbers that we had before, I don't think will ever come back, but the work that we do will continue to grow. Sometimes we measure success always looking at those high watermarks of membership numbers, and it's certainly. It's not something that's really fun to think about or to discuss, but 21st century experience is we can and are having a very quality experience for our members, even in a smaller set up. 200 members of a lodge showing up for just a regular stated meeting, but the bond between the brothers that are there, it's, it's a line that someone from your lodge said that it always rings into my head. It's the difference between being a member of a lodge. Or being a mason and a mason in one's heart, really embracing the timeless core values and the commitment to helping others, the empathy, the tolerance to being the change out there. I've heard the same from that same guy and I agree wholeheartedly. Greg Volkavan. It's been a pleasure having you in studio today. We really appreciate you stopping by and sharing a bit more perspective on your life's journey, where it's taken you in really looking forward to the years ahead, your involvement in Grand Lodge and the leadership. we really do have a lot of things to look forward to in our bright future. Reid, thanks. A, thanks a lot for inviting me. I, I really appreciate the opportunity to sit down with you and discuss, uh, my past, certainly my hopes for the future and a great grand lodge, moving forward. It's been our pleasure. Greg Bocavan serving as the senior grand steward for the Grand Lodge of Minnesota. My name is Reed Endersby. Appreciate you listening to our podcast. There's many options out there and we're so grateful to have you with us each and every week. This has been another episode of Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries.