Episode 133: 18:53 Working Tools Series – Order of DeMolay

Who was Frank S. Land and how exactly did DeMolay International come to be? This week we welcome DGM Chuck Brust and Bro. Kaidyn Troy to the Masonic Lounge. This is an informative discussion that highlights how DeMolay has helped boys become men of outstanding character, through dedicated mentorships and unique, hands-on life-skill programs. More info: www.beademolay.org

Conclave banquet details:  https://www.mndemolay.org/conclave-2026/

Honorary DeMolay degree: www.mndemolay.org/honorary-degree/

Transcript

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How would you say DeMolay has impacted you the most? Uh, I would say it's impacted me the most, uh, fundamentally, uh, the way I live. it's helped me, uh, have confidence to talk to people, get new places in life, and, uh, have friends from across the country and world. Do you feel better equipped with the skills you've learned and some of those soft skills we talk about in life at your age, then do you feel like you have an advantage over your peers in a good way? Yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah? Um, I definitely take charge in a lot of conversations with my peers. Uh, I'm a younger person in my profession because I have a lot of the, uh, people skills and, and work ethic that DeMolay has taught me about to, keep going and, and be dedicated and committed to life, uh, at an early age. I'm not out partying every night as some, uh, people my age might be. I'm, I'm contributing to society. Have you seen that in your peers, others that were in DeMolay with you, that have also enjoyed those same skill enhancements and maybe life perspective, too? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I actually talk with quite a few brothers from across Minnesota and in the country about, uh, what we're doing and, and how we continue to be better, be better men and better people, daily in, in our lives and what we do. Uh, some of us do farm jobs, blue-collar, white-collar, uh, everything. But, uh, fundamentally, we all still love the aspect of community service, brotherhood, and, and helping, uh, everyone around us Kaden Troy Uhl from Anoka, Minnesota. You're a past State Master Councilor from Minnesota DeMolay. You're an advisor at Excalibur Priory, Chuck Bruss, we appreciate you joining us, as you are the Deputy Grand Master of Masons in Minnesota and proud member of Rochester Lodge Number 21. Happy to be here, Reed. Were you DeMolay as a young man? I was. I'm also a sta- a past State Master Councilor, uh, in my case, from South Dakota. how old were you when you joined? I was 15. I got in a little later than some of my peers, I happened to have some friends that were part of the chapter, and they hooked me in How much do you think that involvement as a young man has inspired you to want to still be involved in shaping the next generation now? Oh, it's, it's directly involved. If I hadn't had the DeMolay experience that I had, uh, which was very positive, I was fortunate to do a lot of things in DeMolay as a youth, that firsthand experience really makes a big difference in, uh, the way that I approach things today The Order of DeMolay is a premier leadership and character-building organization for young men between ages 12 to 21. Prepares youth for successful futures by teaching civic awareness, public speaking, and event planning through hands-on, member-led experiences. It's focusing on shaping extraordinary leaders by instilling seven core values: filial love, reverence for sacred things, courtesy, comradeship, fidelity, cleanness, and patriotism. Tell us about filial lo- that's love for parents, right? Or is a, a family focus. Yeah, so love for family, it, it really, that's our first cardinal virtue. It's the first one when we go through our degrees, And it really, teaches us, and it, it makes us realize how much our parents have done for us and how much we need to love them back. a- an example I take away from it is, uh, at my... When I was installed as State Master Councilor, my dad, who is not a senior DeMolay, he's a member of Anoka Lodge, came up and gave a speech beforehand and, and some of my pictures with the biggest smiles on my face from that conclave are me and my dad embracing each other up, uh, in the east, uh, after I was installed, and it's just great. But it also goes into the Masonic family aspect, uh, in my interpretation. some of my fondest memories of DeMolay are in the past when I've gone through troubling events and, and the first people I hear from are, are members of the bodies asking if I'm okay, how I'm doing, what they can do to help. And I've returned that favor in, in my feeling tenfold, um, over the years to other brothers, sisters, moms, whoever needs it. Um, always looking to help, help my family, so. Did you road trip somewhere quite far? Was it last summer? Was that you? You went... Somebody, two DeMolay brothers met halfway someplace, and it required both of them to drive a significant amount of time- So- to sit in a parking lot to just chat. That was me. Uh, that was, uh, after Hurricane Helene, uh, in 2024. Justin Glass, who was a past State Master Councilor here as well, and I went down to Georgia for some work. Um, I'm an insurance adjuster. I was going down there for work, and I wanted somebody to come with. I get homesick easily. but on our way back from being down there, we were driving through St. Louis and, um, there's a brother down there, Javier Williams, who's also a past State Master Councilor of Missouri. and it was about midnight, and we were driving through St. Louis, and we called him on a whim like, "Hey, uh, we're in town. You wanna catch up real quick?" You're literally in the car passing- Yep through. It's midnight. "We'll just give him a call." Yeah, let's just give him a call. And he picks up. It's a work night. It's a work night. He's a, he's a blue collar, He works early in the mornings, but he picked up, and he thought we were joking at first, and we're like, "No, we're at the Costco. Come meet us." So we sat in a Costco parking lot in St. Louis for about three hours in the middle of the night, in the middle of our drive home, 'cause that's about where St. Louis is, and just caught up with Javier 'cause we hadn't seen him in a few years and yeah, it was great. It was one of the, one of the more impromptu memories that I- that I really cherish. Um, it wasn't planned or structured or anything. I don't think you could tell a story stronger about authentic friendship, and you had every circumstance of that that would've led one to think this probably won't happen. It's late, it's impromptu, we didn't plan ahead, and yet- Yep three hours. Three hours we sat there and just talked and talked and talked, just random stuff, not even, not even all... We talked about some MLA stuff, kind of what's happening in our states, but we just talked about life, our families, what we're doing for work, what's happening, you know, just life So for those who aren't familiar, DeMolay chapters operate internationally, but they're highly localized. Young men have the opportunity to plan their own activities, community service projects, and that's under the mentorship of adult advisors. Chuck, you've been an adult advisor in DeMolay for several years now, correct? Yes. Tell us more. So the adult advisors really are, are just that. Advisor's a perfect term. It's- guardrails to make sure nothing outside the insurance and, uh, or outside the bounds happens. But the boys are absolutely running every aspect of the meetings, doing the planning, doing the decisions on finance, everything else. Uh, the advisory board will help wherever is necessary, making sure that we've got contracts that are signed, things like that where you need an adult. But, uh, it's absolutely an opportunity for the guys to do their thing, to decide what they wanna do, and to be able to have those opportunities together, uh, to increase their capabilities. And I'm assuming background checks are involved. This is very thorough, very highly professional gathering of volunteer adult leaders. Yes, absolutely. So DeMolay International does have a program in place for checking out all of the advisors, making sure that everybody's a good person. Uh, the brothers, uh, the Master Masons that are involved have the same checks as everybody else. There's no, "He's a Mason, we'll trust him," kind of deal. Right. We, we have to ensure that everyone is protected in the, in the proper ways. Uh, there's also significant training for the advisors that happens through DeMolay International, uh, to instill all of the values, make sure that it, everything is, is run in a standardized way for how we deal with the administrative portions. And, um, another thing to add for our background checks, uh, for the advisors that have been around for a long time, they don't just get one background check and they're done for 20 years. Every few, every five years, everyone is mandated for another one, and there's a random chance that they get selected for a random, uh, background check between then, too. So we continuously make sure that we have responsible adults around our youth. And that's a best practice, 'cause we just- no one, no organization wants any surprises. Right. Yeah. It's great, great to hear. Can you tell us a little bit more about Frank Land? I can- Who, who was he, and what, how did this all come together? Yeah, I'll try my best. Um, my memory is always a little spotty on Frank, uh, Frank Land. Uh, I'll, but I'll start with this. As, uh, Chuck and I are Chevaliers or Chevaliers, depending on, uh, where you're from and how you say it, uh, for DeMolay, which is a, a degree we can receive, um, which honors Frank S. Land every year on November 8th. And Frank S. Land was the, was the founding adult for, for DeMolay, uh, in Kansas City. Um, he was, I believe, the some high potentate. Frank Land was the Imperial Potentate at one point in his career, yes. At the time of the founding, he was the executive secretary of the Scottish Rite in Kansas City. Yeah, there we go. He was something. Um, so- Indeed, yeah. Yes. Uh, so he, uh, had a few young men, uh, from brothers of his lodge, uh, in lodges come, uh, reach out to him about starting a youngs men's group, because of, um, they didn't have father figures anymore 'cause of the Great War of World War I. It's from World War I, yeah. Yep, right after that. So they were looking for that outreach, that, that, that extra family bond. and it really, it started from there. There was nine core members, and forgive me, I'm not a perfect DeMolay, I can't remember their names, um, but I do know there was nine of them, and we, we went from there. Um, it expanded, it blew up very fast. Minnesota got its first chapter in 1920, and it, it's great. Um, Frank Sland was very involved from the beginning all the way till, till the end. he did a lot for DeMolay over the years. He promoted it internationally, nationally. He traveled a lot for it and, and he did a lot. It's hard to imagine how much work would be involved in starting something like that from the ground up. Everyone might agree, this sounds really cool in theory, we should do this, but the miles he traveled, the selfless servant that he was, it's a really am- amazing story. It, it truly is. The, the dedication that he had to growing the order, especially early on, as you say, Reed, he was everywhere. Uh, you see him in the museum down in Kansas City, you see some of those travel logs, and he's in Minnesota, he's in South Dakota, he's in Manitoba, he's in, uh, Wisconsin within a week, starting brand-new chapters, getting things kicked off, and, and getting the Masons that are local involved in helping out wherever they can. And not to be lost on the motivator for him, he wanted to see young men who had lost their father serving their country in war to have support, to have a place to go- and when especially at that time in life, it probably wasn't something we talked about a lot. We were, we were supposed to, back then, bottle up your feelings. Don't talk about, you know, just tough up, kid. This is how it goes. And what a, what a visionary on so many levels. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, that, that man up, uh- Yeah was, was absolutely the, the general perspective, right? But, uh, we've learned in the, in the time since that it doesn't work that way. You might have that hard out- outer shell, but inside we all have those, those, uh, concerns that we need to deal with. And, and a good... I have a great example of this. Uh, I'm not gonna get into the specifics of it. but, uh, through all my years at DeMolay, I, I've been around since I was about 10 or nine, I can't quite remember, the deepest conversations I've had about myself have been with my brothers, at the chapter, international, national. Even if I've only met them once or twice, we all feel comfortable enough to have those deep conversations. We don't need to bottle everything up. we can talk to each other and really be open, so. A place of trust. Yep. the safe space amongst friends. So DeMolay is geared for young men between 12 and 21. You, though, are a Mason now. I know you're in your early 20s. Yep. Member of St. John's. You have a big degree coming up in a few weeks. How'd the DeMolay experience shape your either motivation or interest in Freemasonry in general? Yeah. So, um, when I first joined DeMolay, I had no idea what Freemasonry was. I know that my dad was, uh... always had stuff going on on Wednesday nights, um, but I didn't know what it was for. And then when I joined DeMolay, I saw a few Masons. I was like, "Oh, okay, these guys wear aprons. They have pins on their jackets. Oh, that's cool." and as I went through the years, uh, I found the, the, the Freemasons to be, like big brothers that I could trust. and it was great. I always had a friendly face wherever I go. I love to travel. Um, you can find me at a lot of random lodges in the Metro. Uh, I usually talk about DeMolay if I'm there, but I, I travel a lot. as I went through, uh, and I got to the age where I could join a lodge, I was like, "Okay, it sounds fun. I wanna do it," but I was just a little bit too busy with DeMolay at that point, cause it, it, it is a, a big part of my life. Um, so when I, when I aged out of DeMolay or a majoritied when I turned 21, I, I started looking for a lodge that I'd want, and throughout the years of, of traveling and, and seeing all the different brothers from the Metro, it was really a, a difficult choice, uh, to, to pick a lodge, cause there's just so many friendly, helpful brothers all around there. And, and St. John's, I love the history of the lodge, uh, number one. and the brothers out there were nice. Uh, they were welcoming. I didn't feel like a stranger the first time I ever went to their lodge. It was, it was great all around. Um, so I ended up deciding on that one, and as I've gone through the journey, since then, from my Entered Apprentice to my Fellowcraft, um, it has been just a- amazing, and the brotherhood has been even, even more than I could have imagined. Most men your age would not have as many options as you did. Because you traveled so much for DeMolay, you had a lot of relationships and lodges all over the state, for that matter, but you picked a good one. I know the, the focus at St. John's... A- Any, any lodge you chose would've been good. Mm-hmm. But St. John's is especially focused on the member experience, the authentic friendship and brotherhood, really capitalizing on what you described as a younger man with DeMolay. It's the same thing, a place where they know what's going on in each other's lives. They are supporting one another through life's journey and taking the core values of Freemasonry and really doing their best to live them on a daily basis. Yeah. That's one of the things that I've always enjoyed when I've been able to attend St. John's, is I see exactly what you said, Reed. It's, it's those parallels to the way that a DeMolay experiences in their chapter. You get those things that we wanna have out of every lodge across the state, across everywhere. Uh, we, we get those tight fraternal bonds, and the guys at Cha- St. John's are doing a great job with that. Several other lodges are as well. Yeah. So as, uh, as Caden noted, there were plenty of good options for him. And that's just a snapshot into one lodge. But to your point, lodges focusing on the member experience and looking at quality as being attention to detail, that is really moving the needle right now within the lodge itself, the culture, and the community visibility. Focusing on the detail. Doesn't have to be a to-do list that's so massive that we, we overextend ourselves, have too many events on the calendar, don't know where to begin. It's focusing on brother to brother, friend to friend, and how we can get out in the community and make a difference. Whether that be big or small, the impact is what it's all about. The other thing I'll add onto that is these lodges that have the family-friendly events. Doesn't have to be all of them, but Caden referenced being at the different lodge events as he was growing up. He wasn't a DeMolay even on some of those, but they were available, and he got some enjoyment out of it. I think it helps to bond to the, to the whole family fraternity You have some big events coming up this summer. The Conclave Banquet is gonna be on August 1st, and that is in St. Peter at Gustavus. Yep. And then an honorary degree Saturday, September 12th in Bloomington at the Heritage Center. These are both open to the public, correct? Mm-hmm. What should, uh, what should people look forward to at either the banquet and/or the honorary degree? the Conclave Banquet is where we do our, uh, installation of the next state Master Councilor and, and his team for the year. Um, we give out a lot of our awards for our members and, um, we announce some of our Legion of Honor Award, uh, folks. we have a good meal. We usually have an after party. Uh, it's a lot of fun. Um, it's a great, a great area for, the public and, and, and Masons to see the correlation between Masonry and DeMolay. They see us, uh, in our formal wear, um, but they see us having smiles, and the brotherhood and, and everything during it. Um, we like to laugh, we like to joke, we like to have fun. Uh, the youthful spirit remains, uh, between members and advisors for DeMolay at, at, at things like the banquet, where we're all smiling and laughing. Um, they- You take the ceremonial thing seriously- Yep but you're still having fun. Yep, yep. Laughing, jokes. Uh, we, we are all still, uh, youthful at heart, in, in the youth group world, so. That's great to hear- Yeah 'cause we all need to stay youthful in our approach to life. And then the, um, honorary DeMolay degree is September 12th here in Bloomington, as, as you just said. Um, and that is a chance for Master Masons, uh, from Minnesota or, or elsewhere to come and, and become a DeMolay if they didn't have the chance when they were a youth. Uh, We use it as a chance for Masons to, to support us. Um, there's gonna be a lovely dinner afterwards this year. we hope to bring in lots of new honorary DeMolays to bring more awareness to DeMolay and, uh, and support, and so people can experience the, the youthfulness at heart that we exhibit and, and really force upon other people when they're around us, so is how I would describe it. So the Conclave Banquet will be August 1st, and the honorary degree is on Saturday, September 12th. Where should people go to find you? Is there a website? Yep. So mndemolay, D-E-M-O-L-A-Y, .org, um, and then scroll down, and you'll see all of our events. it's a good time. Kaden Troy and Chuck Bruss, thanks so much for stopping by the studio today. It's great to learn more about DeMolay. Glad to be here. Enjoyed it as always. Thanks, Reed. This has been another episode of Minnesota Masonic Histories and Mysteries