St. John's Weekend 2010

Honoring DDGM Walter Fingerle

St. John's Weekend is something special.

Over 60 Brothers and their Ladies traveled from Long Island to Upstate Utica (a couple exits past Albany, but before Buffalo...) for the Official Installation of...

R.W.: Walter Fingerle as District Deputy Grand Master of the 9th Manhattan District, Representing the Most Worshipful Vincent Libone, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York.

Ok, I promise, in the future I will shorten this to "DDGM".

For us from Allemania Lodge this was even more special since Walter is from our beloved Lodge. His Partner for the next two years is R.W. Klaus Vogel, from Von Mensch Lodge. Together, they will lead our District through the challenges brought before them and try to make everyone happy. Cookies are a great first step...

We had rooms reserved at the Ramada Hotel, a little outside of Utica. To give the weekend a good start, some of us made a short trip to Camp Turk. The Camp encompasses over 2000 acres with a huge lake in the middle. The first camping session was still a few weeks away, but we could imagine the place filled with kids. It must be great!

Back at the Hotel, we joined Happy Hour in the Restaurant, socializing and waiting for more Brothers and their Ladies to arrive. But by 7 PM, DDGM Walter and Klaus invited us to a delicious Buffet Dinner, followed by more socializing at our Hospitality Suite. The evening was most pleasant and many did not make it into bed until early morning.

Saturday was the Big Day for Walter and Klaus. At the Masonic Care Community the official investiture Service of the District Officers was held at Tompkins Chapel. The Chapel is Big, but not big enough to give access to all of us to witness the service. St. John's Day is an all day event, and many of us took advantage to visit the various buildings on the Campus. A few lucky ones even made it to a Tour of the Masonic Medical Research Laboratory.

I could give you a full report of the beauty of the Campus, the excellent care the residents receive and the awesome progress the Research Lab makes in Cardiovascular Research (now with stemcell research). But that would just take the experience away from you - next time we have a Trip to Utica, join us.

After the official parts at MCC, we went back to the Hotel to relaxe or go sightseeing in Town. We had one more exciting event coming up - our official Dinner Dance. The food was delicious and Entertainment was provided by our Brother Jeffrey Ernst. We also took this oppertunitey to take lots of pictures. The evening was closed by more cameraderie in the Hospitality Suite. Among our visitors we had Past Grand Master Neal I. Bidnik and current Grand Master Most Worshipful Vincent Libone, along with some of his Grand Line.

On Sunday, the Brothers had a tough choice to make. Leave for Home after Breakfast or watch Germany in the Soccer World Cup Quarterfinal Game.

It was a great Weekend, everyone had a good time and it is a great way to get to know Brothers from other Lodges. It is a Trip I would make every year - see you there.