The Mystic Tye

“What to expect as DDGM” w/ RWBr. Michael Demers DDGM District 17 GLBCY

• Troy Spreeuw • Season 1 • Episode 30

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"What to Expect as DDGM" w/ RWBr. Michael Demers, DDGM District 17 GLBCY

RWBr. Michael Demers has been honored to serve MWBr. Ken Christofferson as Deputy Grand Master of District 17 of the GLBCY for the 2025/2026 Masonic Year. I was recently informed that I would be his successor. We get together to discuss what this was like for him.


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Stay tuned for more great interviews... Br. Lon Milo DuQuette, Br. Chris Berson and many others scheduled.

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Grand Masonic Day 2026 April 18, 10:00 AM Vancouver Masonic Center, 7th & Granville Keynote Speaker: Historian, scholar and author Josef Wages Special Guest Speaker: Arturo De Hoyos Tickets on Eventbrite

Br. Troy Spreeuw presents "Memory Palaces Everywhere" Emblematic Imagery and Western Esotericism Wednesday, April 22 ... Capilano Lodge #164, Vancouver Masonic Centre (tyles at 7:30 PM) Wednesday, May 13 ... Star of the West Lodge #29, Nakusp For other dates, check The Mystic Tye Patreon.

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Credits

Graphics and web hosting by Art Szabo Creative. Special thanks to Organist for our theme music.

Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again.












SPEAKER_01

As we get together to discuss what it was like for him and what I could expect in mind. Great workful brother Michael DeMur. Thank you for joining me here on the Mystic Tide Podcast.

SPEAKER_02

Thanks for having me on. I'm honored to be here. This is my first time. Looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_01

You never been on a podcast before? First time on Myst Podcast. So you're the District Deputy Grandmaster of District 17. Yes, I am. And we've known each other a long time. And I was thrilled when you got installed as District Deputy. I've been friendly with most of the past district deputies. But you and I have a great connection. I've always enjoyed spending time with you in Lodge. Do you want to talk a little bit about how your role as district deputy has gone this year and how that's been for you?

SPEAKER_02

It's been a very interesting journey, for sure. The installation occurs at Grand Lodge, which is in mid-June, and then you immediately go into darkness. So over the summer, I paid attention to the advice of my peers and the people who participated in the DDGM boot camp that was held in April, a couple of months before you get installed, and they they all advised heavily to take advantage of the summer months to get prepared for your upcoming year. Organizing your visits, organizing the installations, making sure that all your special events are in the calendar, and to get prepped with what was about to occur. And I'm glad I did. It helped later in the year, especially with the organizing around the Grandmaster's official visit to the district. And out of all the things that I had to do this year, the organizing for the Grandmaster's official visit was by far the biggest project. It was also very rewarding. I'm glad I went through that experience, but holy smokes, it's a lot of work. And some people may find it easier than others, but the way it was explained to me, and I completely agree with this, it is like planning a wedding and a wedding reception. There's that level of detail involved. There are a lot of moving arts. Fortunately, for both me and the people who participated in the in the event, this was a duo district event. In an effort to cut down on the total number of meetings for the year, Grand Lodge proposed that certain districts would share an official visit. And it was a very good idea. So I'm in District 17, and we were partnered with District 25, which covers, I think, Richmond, Latiner, some areas south of the Fraser. And the that DDGM was worshipful brother Frank Fowler. And he was an absolute godsend as an organizer. He is if you've ever had a chance to meet Frank, he is an exceptional person. His his CV is a mile long with some pretty impressive items on it. But most importantly for me, he is an absolute master of organization and kept us on track throughout the planning stage. And also, I was very lucky that the master of the host lodge, worshipful brother Tim Kalpelke from your mother lodge, Duke of Cannot succeeded war.

SPEAKER_01

That's the worshipful master of the Duke of Cannot Lodge. And you might not know this, but Frank's a member at the Duke's as well. Oh, is he? I've seen Frank do impressive things, but I didn't know he was a world-class event organizer. That's good to know. Maybe I need to get him roped into the Lodge of Education and Research to help us organize Sonic Day.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, he would be excellent. Excellent there. So between the three of us, it was like a triumvent. If for those that love bad history reference. The organizing between the three of us is what made it doable. Knowing what I know now, I would just shudder to have to be a solo DEGM organizing Grandmaster's official visit. It's huge. But I'm also admitting that I truly understand some of my limitations. Really good at organizing those style of events. I am not one of those people. What I am good at though is hosting the event. So in a strange and unfortunate circumstance, Frank was on the list for hip replacement surgery. Oh, right. And his surgery day landed five days before the official visit. So unfortunately, he was not able to join us and see the fruits of all of his labor. Um I wound up playing MC and host for the banquet. We did the banquet first. We did it as a lunch banquet, and then had the lodge portion of the event afterwards. And I was fine doing that. That plays to my strengths. So the event went really well. I was really pleased with how it turned out. Lots of other brothers pitched in. Special thank you to right worshipful brother Sean Turner, who helped us out when we faced a big audio video problem. And yeah, overall it was great. I'm really glad it's over.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I'm glad you convinced me to go. Because that it's not my it's not my thing. It's never been my thing. And it's that's just not why I'm involved in the craft. But there's there's good reason I should have gone this year. And you just you were polite and called me up and reminded me. I I actually think you were calling me up to do something and then found out for me that I wasn't planning on going. And it was like, no, you've you you probably should go. And I'm glad I went. And I I did have a good time. I usually have a good time when I go. Oh yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, they're great events. I as much as I grind my teeth about how some of our time gets spent, I think Grandmaster official visits are very important. And even though I may argue about some of the format and some of the things that are expected to be done.

SPEAKER_01

Or how many of them there are. I guess those of us that live in the lower mainland, it's at this time of year, it's like weekly, it seems like there's a ton of them.

SPEAKER_02

But yeah, they are important and they need to continue. And there's uh it's like going to a mini convention for your district. And it is a really great way to connect with guys that you may not get to see just because you're not available on the nights they meet. It's important. I'm glad it happened.

SPEAKER_01

And you did you and Frank did an excellent job. And my hats off to Tim Konepelki, too, because I know he was in the background running the spreadsheet and doing so many little things. And having organized for a long time, major Masonic events, I know how many. There's a lot of moving parts, right? So many moving parts. And there's so when it's an official visit, there's so many more. Like I I see that I've seen it and I've seen how much work it takes, and I'm a bit, I'm a bit nervous about it.

SPEAKER_02

That the good news is we'll learn very quickly what I learned, which is go to your predecessors and ask for help because there's no reason to reinvent the wheel every year. The template is there, the knowledge is there, you just gotta tap it. But there there are just so many little things that I never would have thought of until it popped up. Like the event was held at the Agnes Street Temple in New Westminster. Because of the musicians and the equipment that needed to be loaded in and the dignitaries involved, all the parking was going to be reserved in the building. So where do you park everybody else? You've got a hundred people showing up to this event. Right? Oh, go find a parking lot somewhere close by in New Westminster we could use. Next thing you're talking to City Hall and trying to cut a deal, and where's the permitting and run a shuttle bus because it may be raining and just a million little things.

SPEAKER_01

So many moving parts. It's always so many moving parts. So many parts. So you've been a Freemason for a while. I don't know that any of us really aspire to be a district deputy grandmaster. It's just one of these things where it's if you're serious about the craft and you get to a certain I don't know when you say time serve, but a certain proficiency, you show a certain proficiency and a responsibility, you're gonna get asked eventually.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, it's invitation only.

SPEAKER_01

Do you want to talk a little bit about how you joined the craft and why you stuck around long enough to be district deputy? I joined the craft in 2007.

SPEAKER_02

At the time I was working for a trucking company in the lower mainland. And I had always been curious, even as a child, grew up in a small town mission, and I remember as a kid seeing the Masonic symbol over a doorframe on Main Street. And through my teenage years in my 20s, I'd heard all the conspiracy theories and all that fun stuff. Didn't know anything about the craft, but had heard of it and was aware of it, just like I was aware of the Illuminati and all that other good stuff. And I was a big nerd, or still am a big nerd about science fiction and a bunch of other things. One day I'm working at the trucking company and chatting with a driver from up north who was on a break, and I noticed he had a Masonic ring. And I got along pretty well with him, so I just asked, hey man, what's what's up with the ring? And he said, Oh, I'm a Freemason. And I said, Do you mind if I ask you a question? He said, Sure, go ahead. I said, How do you join? How do you get into something like that? And he said the first step is to ask the question. And we started having some conversations about it. And he was my he was my gateway in. And one of the questions I asked him though was, how does one decide if you join a if you join this fraternity? There's lodges all over the place. How do you decide what lodge to go to? And he said, you really need to go to a lodge that's going to fit your personality. Every lodge has a different personality because of the people that are in it. And this brother was probably in his 60s at the time. And he said, he said, you need to go to a lodge that's going to have some energy. You don't want to go to a lodge that feels like a graveyard. You got to go where there's some energy. He goes, I've got a recommendation. I think you should go to Capilano Lodge. And I said, sure, okay, whatever. Where's Capilano Lodge? He said, it's on the North Shore. I said, oh, I live in East Vancouver. That seems like a long way to go. Why there? And he said, because Capilano Lodge is a rockin' lodge, and you will have a good time there. You need to go there. Now, it turns out that I learned later. Most worshipful brother Bob Kitchen was a grandmaster who was from Capilano Lodge. And a lot of the original members of the Lodge, because Capolano is a very young lodge. Yeah. It was founded in 1955. And in the 80s, when most worshipful Robert Kitchen was getting into the Grand Line, there was a some the some of the brothers at Capolano were instrumental and in his campaign. And so this brother that I was talking to, this truck driver that recommended me, he was married to the daughter of one of the members of Capolano Lodge that was working to get Bob in as Grandmaster. So he had a personal connection to Capilano Lodge and he always knew the guys there. He liked their reputation for two things. One was excellent ritual work and two was having a sense of humor about it. So off I went to Capilano Lodge and I met them and became a seeker and petitioned and was interviewed and accepted. And I didn't know anything about it really, as you as one does, very little going in. But I was very pleased with the experience. And as I got to know the guys in Capolano, I really understood where that reputation came from. Because it was this a little bit of a strange mix where the attitude of the people in the lodge was that you are here to do not just good work, you are here to do exceptional work. The standards for ritual were extremely high. And I appreciated that they took it so seriously and they wanted to do a good job. And I noticed that you know them doing a good job inspired me to want to do a good job. They're setting a really good example. Oh, indeed. And yet, at the same time that they are being so precise about the work, they all have a really good sense of humor about it. That you can be serious about ritual and not be a pain in the ass. That you can take the work seriously and do exemplary work, but still have a smile on your face and still be able to crack a joke while doing it. So I really enjoyed that aspect of it, and I also feel fortunate that I was inducted into a ancient work lodge. That also really felt right for me. I like all the complicated Shakespearean style language. It it appeals to me. But that's all I knew. You joined a lodge and I didn't do much visiting in the beginning. And it wasn't until later that I started visiting other lodges and learning that there's Canadian work, there's emulation work, there's different ways of doing the same thing. And that was back in 2000 I started in 2007, and now we're in 2026. So it's been a while.

SPEAKER_01

When did you advance to the East at Capital Analog?

SPEAKER_02

I became master in 2012, I want to say. No, sorry, it was later than that. It was 2014. Yeah, 2014, because I was raised in 2008 and then started out as a I skipped the stewards. I started as a deacon.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was eight, it was April 2008 for me. And then I was installed as worshipful master in January 2012. Boy, that's fast. That was our centenary year. Yeah, I got I was put in as uh junior deacon. Yeah. Junior Deacon to junior warden, senior warden, master. Wow. Yeah, and it I always had a penchant for the ritual work, right? And and there was room in at the Dukes. They were ready for me. And it m my arc was quick, but I wouldn't say it was too quick. I never felt rushed. I know some younger guys join and get put in a chair, and it's just like, wow, this is really quick. For me, I was keen and I was keen for the ritual, and I joined a strong ritual lodge too, right? The Duke of Canaan has a reputation. And the they didn't have a reputation for having a great sense of humor in the past, but the more contemporary past masters from when I joined had changed that very serious and and dour culture to a more fun, funny kind of environment. Anyway, yeah, just remember you being around, but about the same time. And uh maybe I was at installs for you guys, or you guys were at installs for us. Oh yeah. We're in the same district. We were raised in the same year, and we the the Dukes, it tends to be Mount Garibaldi, Lynn Valley, and Capolano. That's who you're visiting. It just seemed like who we were visiting all the time is those three lodges in particular. No, it's been and it's been great to get to know you. And we've been spending a little more time talking this year because I'm the designate for next year. And why I wanted to have you on today is to get a feel for what I've been for. But more than that, you know, I like asking these questions of established Masons because we do see turnover. I don't think it's a crisis, I think it's normal. It's always been normal. About two-thirds of guys don't stick. So you talked about why you joined. You were always curious. What piqued your curiosity? Did you read books as a kid, or was it Oh yeah. Were you into some form of esotericism as a teenager? Like that's what got me. I was Dungeons and Dragons and heavy metal music. Oh yeah. That the occult captured me right at the height of the satanic panic.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and I was a big DD nerd as a kid. Never I didn't delve deeply into the esoteric per se. It was all interesting. But I was I was consuming a lot of fantasy and sci-fi, lots of comic books, role-playing games, film.

SPEAKER_01

Rife with all of that. Big old nerd. Especially post the occult revival of the 60s and 70s, right? All of the especially sci-fi and fantasy and role-playing and comic books, it's all rife with ephiricism, right? And at least a philosophical viewpoint.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and that was something that I really enjoyed about getting into the craft and trying to understand the purpose of the ritual, the purpose of the lectures. What exactly are we even doing here? Why are we devoting our time to this thing?

SPEAKER_01

And why does it matter that why does it matter that we do a decent job? Like, this seems awfully formal. It d no less than introducing a spark of deity to himself. Or you're introducing the higher aspects of the aspirant to himself. So it's a pretty serious thing we do, but not everybody treats it that way.

SPEAKER_02

No, and but that's part of I think the appeal of the craft. It's not it doesn't have to be the same thing for every person. And I always use the example of the brother who is somebody like myself that's really interested in the philosophical side of the craft and who appreciates the mystery, but because it it contains learning that is applicable in your regular life. And the allegory and the story around building and all of the imagery that we have around building to me is very important. But even though that's what I'm interested in, and that's what gets me wanting to come back to the lodge over and over again, there's other guys that join because they really appreciate the social aspect and the fraternal part of this group and having a shared experience with another group of guys who are doing something very specific. But month to month, if you ask them why are you in there? They're not gonna tell you it's because I love esoteric ritual. They're gonna tell you it's because I love tending the bar at the festival board. Yeah. And it's the guy we got a guy in our lodge who is not a good public speaker, stumbles with ritual, stumbles with lectures. It's not his orte at all. But he will be a he'll be a steward for the rest of his life, happily, attending the bar at the festive board. And there's nothing wrong with that. You need People like that for this organization. And that's why not everybody has to go through the chairs, and not everybody should go through the chairs. The chairs are there for a very specific reason. And for those that want to go through those chairs and learn those things and pick up those skills, that's what it's there for. But not everybody has to do it, and not everybody should. The idea though that you're willing to try to see where you fit in that layout, I think is really important. And that brother in particular I'm thinking of that is never gonna go through the chairs. In recent years, he started picking up more and more lectures because he wants to contribute more to the lodge and he's trying really hard and it's showing he's taking on larger and larger lectures. And five, six years ago, you couldn't have paid him enough money to take on a lecture. He he thought that getting through his three exams was the hardest thing he's ever done in his life, and had no interest in doing any any more than the minimal amount of memory work. So it's nice to see him do that, but to me that's part of the discussion around the ashlers. And everybody's trip from the rough ashler to the perfect ashler is of a different length, and it's not a straight line. Everybody wanders on that path in different ways. And understanding the relationship to the rough ashler and the intent of getting to the perfect ashler has been one of the biggest lessons that I've had to learn being in the craft. And sometimes it's ugly. It is not a pleasant experience. And there have definitely been times over the last couple years where I've gotten so furious and so upset and so disappointed that I've said, that's it, I've I'm packing it in. I'm gonna demit, I'm tired of this bullshit, I'm not gonna do this anymore. And every time that's happened, it seems to all come back to the same thing. That very early in my Masonic career, I really took to the philosophy and the idea that we're here to build a superstructure, and that both on a personal level you're building up yourself to be a better person than you were yesterday, and you're working to build a better family immediately around you, your friendship network, your neighborhood, your province are kind of as big as the scale that you want to go, but that you are constantly trying to improve, whatever that may be.

SPEAKER_01

And so I think a daily advancement, as they would say in the emulation ritual.

SPEAKER_02

But I think the problem I ran into was that when I first heard the ritual, it sounded fantastic, and I thought, oh, these guys have got it figured out. And I think I really put a lot of Masons up on a pedestal that they were a cut above, and I forgot that lodges are full of human beings that have flaws and make mistakes and make terrible decisions, even though they are part of this thing that we are a part of, and they have taken obligations to do things and operate their life. So you I think I put them up on a pedestal and thought everybody lives gonna live their life with integrity and keep their word and do the right thing. And if you believe that, you're in for some big disappointment when it turns out to not be true. Right. And over as the years have gone by, I've run into a couple situations where I was confronted with had conflict with some brothers that upset me very much and made me question what am I doing here? I've devoted a lot of time and energy to this thing. Was that is this the best thing for me to be doing? And so in those moments when I'm at my lowest and at my most angry, I've always thought about the rough ashler and how my expectation of this person's behavior versus reality, there's a big gap there. But it reminds me of we're all starting at the rough ashler and we're pointing towards the perfect ashler. We're trying to get to the perfect ashlar. No one's ever gonna make it. But that's not the point. The point is not to get there, the point is to try to get there every day. So I I had to learn to be a little more forgiving. And it it helped me realign my expectations. That's not to say that I've dropped my standards or that integrity is still not a very important thing. But I think I've become a little more forgiving of people's you know, being human, making mistakes, not doing things the th the way I think they should be done, but they're obviously following their own path, and there's going to be times when there is a lot of conflict. And I think especially, and and this is something I've learned to appreciate a lot more in the last couple years, is why why does Freemasonry have such a strong set of rules around politics and religion in a tile blog? Why does Freemasonry emphasize harmony so much? And after having gone through all these things over the last couple of years and trying to resolve conflicts and fighting through issues, I now understand why it is so difficult to emphasize. Because it's hard. Harmony is difficult. Extremely difficult. It's really easy when everybody gets along and everybody's on the same page, but that's not real. Human beings aren't like that in general. Getting such a diverse group of people to act in harmony in the face of adversity, that's the real key. That's when you know that you've built a strong lodge when you can disagree and argue and fight and still remain unified. I I think that's well said. I think because I took the obligations very seriously. I think that when you make a promise of that magnitude, you keep it. And even when especially when times are really tough and you're staring into the abyss and wondering, is it time for me to quit? In my particular example, I decided not to, and I decided to stay. And I think a lot of in a lot of cases it was because I did some math and realized that what I get out of Freemasonry is worth more to me than the temporary frustration I happen to be feeling at the time that I'm feeling it. And the other day, I mean I'm when I say the other day, I just mean in the recent past. I was particularly upset about something. And I was old man yelling at a cloud, angry about it. And I was like, that's it. God damn it, I'm taking it to Mit, I'm gonna burn the whole thing down. I've had enough. And then I thought to myself, wait a minute, is this thing that I'm mad about is it really worth throwing away my connection to the craft over this thing? And a lot of people say there's no such thing as an isolated thing, it's the last five things, a straw that broke the camel's back. Sure. But whenever I do that math, the answer always comes back that being in the craft and continuing to improve myself in the craft is more important than the temporary inconvenience or the temporary hardship of X. And I'll keep doing that math every time something comes up that pisses me off. But so far the math has worked out to the positive.

SPEAKER_01

I think you told me something the other day, and you were like, I'm not gonna make this decision while I'm this angry.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah. That's something I learned a while ago that when I'm really upset about something, or I'm sleep deprived. Because when I'm sleep deprived, which happens a little too often, yeah, I'm in a vulnerable state, my emotions are not functioning properly, anxiety is too high. These are not a time to make decisions. Right. And when you're really upset about something, put it aside, take a deep breath, go to bed, think about it the next. Especially something as big as taking it to debt. Holy cow. That's a that is a massive decision. Not that you can't come back from it. You can't. Your your your cable toe doesn't vanish. Right? You can step away and come back. But to me, the things that I've learned, especially recently, are absolutely worth sticking around for more. And I'll also be totally honest, like I can see the end of this DDGM year in my horizon, and I'm looking forward to finishing the year. It is a big accomplishment to be a DDGM and to finish your year. It's a lot of work, and I want to finish it. It's something to accomplish. And I'll be extremely proud in June to participate in the ceremony where the current DDGM invests the future of DDGM. So I'm looking forward to that quite a bit. I will also, though, mention, and this is advice for anybody who ever gets asked to be a DDGM make sure you clear the decks. I did not listen to the advice. I remained as secretary of my mother's lodge. Although we have an excellent assistant secretary at Capolano, so that's the reason I was able to pull this off. But don't have any other jobs during your DDGM year. Don't think that your schedule is not going to be heavily impacted.

SPEAKER_01

You mean Masonically. You mean Masonically, right?

SPEAKER_02

Masonically, yeah. Like you you can't if you have a bunch of commitments already, Troy, I'm looking right at you.

SPEAKER_01

If you already have a bunch of commitments, you're telling myself you're looking at my bookshelf over there.

SPEAKER_02

You need to make some room to be DEGL. It's a big honor and it's a big job. Some guys mail it in, unfortunately, and they don't do what they should be doing. But for somebody who wants to take it seriously and do again what the craft basically teaches us, which is build. So leave the district in better condition than you found it. Indeed. And there's a lot of different ways to do that.

SPEAKER_01

I have I've removed myself from any serious officer role at the Duke of Cannot Lodge. And I've for the, I think, second or third time put the Lodge of Education and Research on notice. Are you listing, guys, that I'm not going to be involved in Grammasonic Day next year? There's no way I'm going to not have my hands involved, but I won't be doing like the lion's share of the organizing. I will be making sure. I'm looking right at you, Michael Demers, because you're going to be between the pillars, so you should probably get involved over at that August organ organization.

SPEAKER_02

Hey, maybe that's maybe that's what I'll do. Now that the DDGM work is off my plate, I can pivot to some other things.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And I think you present well enough, and I think there's lots to be done with the Lodge of Education and Research. My favorite subtitle of that lodge is the Chamber of Beautiful Heresy. It's where we get to we get to bend and break the rules, right? We get other lodges to open for us, so we don't have to do that. We hold business like once a year very quickly, and we just providing education, which is highly valued in this jurisdiction. And you've got great company, Wes Regan and Craig Duraco and Trevor McKillon and Don Stuttgart and uh Charles Buchanan, all guys involved that really help. Eric Krutell Frulink, guys that have been involved greatly in recent years. And in the past, guys like Bob Cohen and Doug Potter have been big supporters. I really enjoy my time there. But won't be doing that next year. I won't be organizing Grand Masonic Day. I'll be too focused on the Grandmaster's official visit. District 17 is going to team with District 2 next year. And we're going to do it, I believe, here at Agnes Street, and we've got our dates booked and stuff already. I'm trying not to I'm trying not to announce too many things that I want to do next year. The other thing I think I was telling you I'm going to try and do, as I want to get District 17 to recreate what's left of the crawl by Spirit of the West. I want us to go on a Friday or Saturday in October and do the last five pubs that are still remaining from that song and spend a day and get a bus and start out at West Vancouver and go to the Queen's Cross and then go to the Rusty Gull and then end up at the Raven. Lodges Meton pubs? Yes, for a long time. Thanks for taking some time with me today. Have you got you got anything coming up on your agenda that you want to promote or talk about other than Grand Masonic Day, which is April 18th at the Vancouver Masonic Center doors about 9:30. Our first speaker, Arturo De Hoyos, sorry, Joseph Wages, with a special feature by Arturo De Hoyos will be just after 10 o'clock. And then we're we've got Wright Workshop Brother Grand Junior Warden Royston Colburn doing rather than just a speech this year, he's doing a short presentation. So we just confirmed that today. And we've got other secrets in store for that day, April 18th, Vancouver Masonic Center. Get your tickets on event Bright. And I'll be there. Yeah, you'll be there. And we'll be doing a Zoom cast as well for guys that are too far. Please, if it's within your cable toe to travel, come in person. It's so much better in person. And you'll get to meet some Masonic Luminaries and a bunch of other guys. And my partner will be there with the book table, and I will have more books than I've ever had at an event because I'm been empowered by McCoy and Lewis Masonic now, the two biggest Masonic publishers on earth are now supplying me material, so I'll have all that. Have you got anything? Have you got anything coming up? And then the week after I'll be at DDGM School.

SPEAKER_02

I will be at Grand Masonic Day, and I want to encourage everyone. Maybe your Lodge already does this, but if it doesn't, I suggest you do it. And that is the Lodge pay for the tickets for all your entered apprentices and fellow crafts to attend Grand Masonic Day. It is a great event. It really showcases the educational and esoteric side of the craft, but it's also a great non-tiled event to get out and meet other brothers in a social situation and get smarter while you do it.

SPEAKER_01

And bring your seekers. We're open to seekers and other interested parties. It's grand.

SPEAKER_02

What else do I got going on? In a little bit later in the month, one of the lodges in my district, Mount Garibaldi, is having their annual Italian night, which is always a fun time. In May, I can't remember what I'm doing in May. In June, early in June, two uh the lodges in my district are having a joint installation. They needed to do some juggling with scheduling and decided, hey, why not get together and have a joint installation? So we're really looking forward to that. It'll be June 6th in Roberts Creek on the Sunshine Coast. Mount Garibaldi is traveling to Mount Elphinstone to have the joint installation. Which would be great. And then two weeks after we're gonna be in an IMO for Grand Lodge Communication. Oh, one other idea that I'll put out there that I need now that I think about it, I need to hustle up on this. Is seeing if we can get a district hospitality suite together for Grand Lodge Communication. I know with some lodges don't do hospitality suites anymore because of the cost. So I was gonna see if there's enough interest in District 17 to have a district hospitality suite and we can share the cost amongst a handful of lodges. I think that's an excellent idea.

SPEAKER_01

I just booked my room at the coast today.

SPEAKER_02

I think I still need to buy a couple of individual tickets for things. They're probably sold out already.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I don't usually go to things, but this year I might end up at the banquet. But those sorts of things aren't my kind of thing, as I said before.

SPEAKER_02

You're a district education officer. You gotta show up and district? You gotta educate the district and uh the proper way to get through the get through a banquet.

SPEAKER_01

I will have my book table at Grand Lodge this year, so I'll be focused entirely on that. Oh, yeah, that's right. You gotta uh books to flock. You don't you don't have to read the books, but please buy the books. Please buy them and take them away and leave them for your children's children. Our print culture is important. You missed a couple of dates. April 22nd, I'm speaking at Capilano Lodge. I'm doing my talk about uh memory palaces everywhere. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02

We're turning our emergent meeting over to our district education officer to smarten us up about memory palaces.

SPEAKER_01

Memory palaces everywhere. And I did that not for you, I did that for Worshipful Brother Sam Ferraman, he asked. And so I'm coming to do that. But I'm sure you'll be there too. I will absolutely be there, keeping my eye on you. And then if you want to, you can come with me all the way to the cusp on the 13th of May when I'm doing it for the Grandmaster's visit. I'm sure I'm already expected, but I'm sure if you showed up, most Worshipful Grandmaster would be shocked that I dragged you along.

SPEAKER_02

That's uh that's a ways away.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so south of Revelstoke, north of Trail Nelson Castlegar, it's a part of British Columbia. I've lived here my entire life, and I've spent a lot of time in arenas because my brother was on the local rep team like every year he played hockey. And my dad was either coach or manager of that hockey team. And so I've been, I used to know where every vending machine and every arcade box was at in every arena in British Columbia, but I've never set foot in the cusp. I've always wanted to go and I've never been. That Highway 4 that drives, I think it's Highway 4 that drives east out of Kelowna through those mountains. Apparently that's a very remote part of British Columbia, and I'm stoked to do it. Beautiful. Yeah. All right. Thank you so much for for doing this. And I I won't take too much caution. You seem pretty optimistic. I'm not ready yet, but I guess just like when I was not ready to be worshipful master, I got ready right quick. It it seems ready to be DDG honest. No, that the craft makes you ready real quick. Not only that, but in in leadership in our gentle craft, and I think this is nobody ever told me this, I just learned it. Everybody around you is your brother. And they all want you to do well. And they all they all help. Everybody pitches it in their own way and in their own time. And very much so, but you're never alone. And all of these major events and all the heavy work that we have to do, it's you never do it yourself. You're always with a big group of everybody else who, again, we're all here to serve each other and try and have a good time, to be happy and communicate that happiness to others. Oh, look at you quoting. Uh the address to the brethren. All right, right, work for brother Michael DeMers. I don't normally use titles on this podcast, it's just brother. But because I had you in your role as DVGM today, I'm gonna put your title right in there.

SPEAKER_02

I appreciate that very much. It's been an honor to serve the district, and I look forward to the last uh couple of months wrapping up uh a few things and uh getting over to the mic.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks for listening today. You can support the show by liking, sharing, and subscribing on your favorite podcast indicators. Even more helpful, leave us a review. Stay tuned to this space for more great interviews on the Mystic Time, including Brother Law and Milo Duket and Brother Christopher. We are looking to create a directory of Freemasonic events and publications. If you are aware of something coming up, please let me know by email. In the meantime, check out the Masonic Conferences website at Masonic Conferences.com. On April 18th at the Bank for Masonic Center at 7th and Randall. Our female speaker will be historian, scholar, and author's most of the special guest speakers at the playoffs tickets are available on Five. Further stories will be speaking at Apple Analytics Apple on Wednesday, April 22nd. I will be presented by memory analysis every both emblematic imagery and web. Esotericism. Lodge tiles at 7:30 p.m. at the Vancouver Basonic Center. This same talk will also be presented at Wednesday, May 13th, Star of the West Lodge number 29 in Cusp, British Columbia. To see other dates for my presentations, check out my updates on the Mystic Tie Patreon. Esotericon 2026 will be June 20th. Tickets are available on the esotericon.net website. Esotericism in Freemasonry Conference will be held Saturday, September 19th. Our keynote speaker will be Lon Milo Duquette, author of The Tarot Architect. Get your tickets in advance by RSVP to esotericmasonry at gmail.com. For other events, check out our calendar at Mystictie.com and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter while you are there. Graphics and web hosting are by Artsabo Creative. A special thanks to Organist for our theme music. Happy to meet, sorry to part, and happy to meet again.