Masonic Life Network

The second annual Division 8 Inspector of Instruction and family weekend in Big Bear was held on June 29 and 30, 2012.  Members of Big Bear Lake Lodge and many of the Inspectors and their wives, joined the A.G.L., Frank Lee and his wife Lewrana, on Friday evening for dinner, hosted by Big Bear Lodge. Since our ISI weekend last year, the Lodge has transformed their reception hall into a stage and entertainment area, including floor to ceiling panels, removable stage area and they have added a professional light and sound system. The evening began with a social hour, complete with hors d’oeuvres and live entertainment, provided by the singing duo  “The Heart Lights”. You may remember them for their beautiful music at our weekend last year and at the Division’s Operation By Your Side in Ontario. Social hour was followed by another gourmet dinner, prepared by the Lodge.  The 2 inch think pork loin chops were cooked to perfection and were accompanied with an artistic salad, complete with raspberries, stuffing and peas with bacon. Not to be out done was the various desserts that were offered, from cheesecake to ice cream and cookies. We were again serenaded with golden oldies all during dinner. The evening concluded with lots of great conversation, and a few couples continued the party at the main hotel for the weekend, the Robinhood Resort.

 Saturday started off bright and early, with beautiful weather and breakfast for all at the Lodge at 8:00 A.M. They pulled out all the stops again, for a great breakfast which included eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and biscuits and gravy. The men were then approached about adding a First Degree to the day’s activities. After a bit of strategizing about filling all the positions and factoring in the other required activities of the day, the men proceeded to open the Lodge and get some ISI work out of the way. The women enjoyed socializing together, reading, doing needle crafts, planning their strategy to beat the men in a friendly man against the woman scavenger hunt.

The men called a recess and we divided up into teams, and the hunt was afoot! Each team of 4 had to visit various stores around town, all within, walking distance of the hotel, and complete a game book, where you had to find items in each store that the first letter of the item spelled out M-A-S-O-N-I-C. Such as: Aunt Em’s orange marmalade. As some of the woman had participated in the scavenger hunt last year, they again were very creative with some of their answers.

The men returned to the Lodge for the first degree and to finish their I.S.I. The women enjoyed a couple of hours of shopping, enjoying the sights and relaxing. The woman returned to the Lodge, and continued to visit while the men finished the business of the day. At 3:00 we were then all treated to a scrumptious lunch of BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs with all of the fixings’, hosted and prepared by Rim of the World Lodge. Lunch also included a concert by three young ladies that belong to the Mountain Marveletts.

The crowd began to get a little restless as we waited anxiously for the Sr. Warden of Big Bear Lodge, Johnny Wells, to determine the winners of this year’s hunt. Many of the teams knew they had come up with some clever answers and hoped to persuade the group that they should get extra points for their efforts. There was lots of laughing, sneers and cheers as they read each teams answers from the various stores. Many questionable answers were accepted or rejected by a room full of judges. In the end the judges accepted “Mason’s on display” as a correct answer from one of the woman’s teams. (One team of men were all gathered inside one very small store, and from the outside it looked “Mason’s on display”) But they did not accept “Ceiling fan” as a correct answer from one of the men’s teams, nor did they accept “Exit Sign”. It was all in good fun, and the author of the game decided, if we did this again, they would have to add the rule that the answer had to be something for sale in the store. In the end there was a three way tie. By the luck of the draw, the men’s team, headed by Frank Lee won (No! not rigged at all) They received some “lovely gifts” for participating, such as a Big Bear coffee mug, a baseball cap and a nice nylon backpack/bag. We thank Johnny for the time and effort it took to contact the stores, prepare and print the treasure book, donating the prizes and being a great M.C. and head judge for the event.

The weekend activities were officially over and many left to return to their homes “down the mountain”.  A few couples extended their stays until Sunday and had a great time. The Division wishes to again thank Big Bear Lodge and Rim of the World Lodge for again hosting the weekend and continuing this new tradition for the Division, where we can combine work, fun and fellowship together and to also show from the desert to the sea (the Salton Sea that is) we can work together.

Frank Lee – AGL Division 8