‘ON SALE: 2026 John Skene Conference tickets’

    

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In trying to catch up reporting recent events, I am aware I still haven’t covered the 2025 John Skene Masonic Conference in New Jersey—and now it’s time already to promote this year’s event!

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All the details are in these graphics, so there isn’t much for me to add, except, for those who don’t know, John Skene was the first Freemason in the New World. He emigrated from Aberdeen, Scotland, where he’d been made a Mason in 1670, to the West Jersey colony in 1682—and actually became deputy governor after only a couple of years.

Personally, just as a supporter who knows how difficult it can be to secure grand lodge help for such efforts, I thank MW Omar Morris, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, for his patronage of the event.

Click here to register and purchase tickets.

    

‘New leadership in New Jersey’

    

Gill Raoul Calderon

Grand Master Omar Morris
and Junior Grand Warden Glenn Visscher.

Congratulations are in order upon the huge news pulsating right now from Atlantic City: Omar Morris is the new MW Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey, and RW Glenn Visscher has been elected and installed in the Grand South. Huzzah!

I’ve known both for a long time (Omar is from my former lodge), and I couldn’t nominate Masons more worthy for these top jobs. Personally, being a refugee from that Grand Lodge, I believe the single most important task for the voting members of that jurisdiction is to continue electing decent human beings to their highest offices. The coming four years are looking bright indeed over there.

Congratulations to all.

UPDATE: It’s been brought to my attention that I can be misunderstood in the above to have implied that RW Glenn’s rival in the election is not a decent human being. No such thought occurred to me. Both of this year’s choices for Junior Grand Warden were outstanding, and the Grand Lodge would have benefitted if RW Ron Murad had prevailed too.