St. Paul Visitation Information - September 4-6, 2009

Friday September 4 - The folks from St. Paul arrived around 5:00 PM.  An evening of welcome was enjoyed in the hospitality room.  Everyone was invited!  It went till late in the evening!

Saturday September 5 - Breakfast was held in the hotel dining room at 9:00 AM.   Some people were a little sleepy due to 2 false alarms during the night!  Luckily the rooms were given at no-charge to the guests for that night.  Magician Greg Wood entertained with table magic and everone had a lovely breakfast buffet.

A special tour of the Manitoba Legislative Building was held in the afternoon and was conducted by Hermetic Code researcher Frank Albo. A huge turn out of close to 70 people attended this special presentation on the Masonic symbols found at the Legislative building. 

Our "Ladies Night" was held in the Hotel Dining Room at 6:00 P.M. on Saturday.  A lovely chicken dinner was enjoyed by all.  We were entertained by an Improv Comedy team after dinner which included them performing a skit blindfolded, barefoot, and walking around about 60 mousetraps!  Ouch!  All retired to the hospitality room for fellowship afterwards.

Sunday September 6 - A BBQ was held at the home of Worshipful Brother Dennis Lorteau at 3:00 P.M. Fiddle and Blow performed some lovely pieces of music.  Ron McFarlane, Andy Slishinski, and Ron Larson were among the Masons performing in the group!

An evening of fun and fellowship will commenced in the hospitality room at 7:00 PM. with Thor Weidenbacher leading a game of Jeopardy! for all to play followed by singing Dancing Queen and Edelweiss.  After, the presentaion of the travelling plaque took place between the Masters.  Ron McFarlane thanked all who had made the weekend a huge success and he was also thanked for his efforts as well.

September 7 - The folks from St. Paul departed early in the morning.

2007 - The St. Paul Visitation was a tremendous success this past year. 40 brethren and family made the trip down to Minnesota to visit Ancient Landmark Lodge #5. Many friendships were renewed and new ones were made. The hospitality room was always the centre of the action during the course of the weekend. Lots of games were played, jokes told and fellowship enjoyed. There was a lovely breakfast on the Saturday morning that included entertainment by this fellow who played "the bones"! Many people shopped on Saturday afternoon or just relaxed at the hotel. A group of people also attended the Twins game and had a great time! Dinner on Saturday was fantastic. A presentation was given from the St. Paul Winter Fair which concluded with a cowboy yell and a six-shooter shot!! Dancing to a live band followed. On Sunday, the brethren and ladies from both lodges enjoyed a Gangster Tour of Minneapolis. It was an interactive guided bus tour of where famous gangsters from the past did their "business" in Minnesota. Apparently, they did it a little too well! There were many great comments about this tour. The weekend concluded with a farewell and the presentation of the travelling plaque along with a new memorial plaque to honour those brethren from both lodges who have passed to the Grand Lodge Above. Everyone said they were looking forward to the next visitation in two years back in Winnipeg!