A few weeks later I gave my proficiency and was made a Fellowcraft. Three weeks later I gave my proficiency and after the Holidays was made a Master Mason in January. The first meeting after my raising, my coach, Worshipful Brother Ken Guyer, saidsit in the chair in front of and to the left of the officer on the right side of the room as that seat was more comfortable than the others in the lodge room. All I had to do was follow in line when he told me to and get this pretty jewel and put it on when the others did. I did not have to say or do anything during the meeting. The next meeting he asked me to sit in the chair to the right of the Junior Warden because it was more comfortable than the one I sat in at the first meeting. I asked if this Musical Chairs was part of the requirements of the group.said no, but that we were short of officers and that he thought that I would make a good one and that he would teach me to be the best. He explained to me the progression in the line and that I could be the Master after five years. I said that I would go to the East, but that I wanted to sit in all the chairs. So, Brother Roy Boltz went ahead of me.I really enjoyed the fellowship of the Brethren and the welcome I got at each meeting.It was a lot of fun because all the officers learned the verbiage for their position at home each week and we basically just learned the floor work at lodge.worked very hard to be as proficient as was possible and we were well known for our degree conferrals. The average age of the brethren when I joined was 79, but came down to 72 after a few years. At that time it was an unwritten policy of our Lodge, that you would not be asked to be an officer until you had been to Lodge for at least a year.It was also in the C.M.C. that you could not join another Masonic Organization until you had been a Master Mason for at least a year.Duringfirst seven years in our Lodge,neverto joinMasonic organization as I had stated that I wanted to learn to be a good Mason and serve my Lodge as Master first. At the close of my year as Master, Worshipful Brother Roy Boltz came to me and said that there was a group of very oldthat needed some more members or they would have to close.As Brother Roy was a really good man and had helped me so much during my year as Master, I said that I would be pleased to join and help out. I really did not know anything about the group, but they needed help.has been my pleasure to serve Sebastopol Royal Arch Chapter as High Priest four times toit grow. It has become known as "The Mighty Little Chapter,"and is highly respected throughout the state.Startingthe early 90's, many of the older members were dying and allorganizations were hurting for members and officers. The rule that you had to wait a year before joining other Masonicwas dropped and the push to join was on. In fact, it was so bad, that when my son Phil became a Fellowcraft, he received a letter from a well known Masonic Organizationthat he had been accepted into the group, his initiation fees had been paid and as soon as he became a Master Mason, all he had to do was let them know that he was ready for his initiation.  Our Lodge was also suffering for officers, as there seemed to be the start of a mass exodus from this county to other locations less expensive to live in. We also had a problem that there were very few living Past Masters left to fill the holes in our line, which were occurring every year. It seemedour only salvation at the time, was to ask newly raised Brothers to consider becoming an officer.new members did not even know the signs and passes and there was no Masonic Education at all.was the hope of everyone that we could eventually get enough new members to stop the practice, and give new members the time to becomeMasons and assimilate into the fraternity, but it never happened.'S THE WAY IT WAS!During the past few years, we have been getting younger members and have still been getting them into the Line too soon. These new members arequite a bit different from the older generation. Their prioritiesare different and they seem to have much less time availableLodge work., what have we today? We have a line of great officers thatnot have a good Masonic education from our Lodge and have a severe time constraint.do not have the time to learn the verbiage for their work before coming to practice. So, what have we done for the pastyears every Monday night?confer degrees and nothing else.was particularly true this past year as we initiated 10 new Brothers and conferred many degrees.has come to the point that it is no longer FUN, just work for many of us. THAT'SWAY IT IS!  And now, my thoughts