LOOKING FORWARD

Let the Blind See God and they will not crave Sight
Let All men see God and they will only crave Light

I want to thank my wife, Dale Evans, for her continuing support and encouragement. Dale makes my Masonic journey possible. I am grateful for Eric Ireland and Steve Ellstrom and their balance of views and advice. My journey would be most difficult without all those who made it possible, including our Past D.D.G.M’s. Thank you all.

One of the best pieces of advice I received when moving through the Chairs was: “Look to the year ahead and visualize what you want during that year.” Arnold Schwarzenegger always made five year plans to guide his life, checking each year to ensure he was on course.
A lot of planning has gone into the coming year for Toronto West District. Coupled with the successes of the last administration, we will continue working together to build our District. Let’s call this teamwork.

A little about the coming year and what is expected of our team. Official Visits are one of the prime directives: observing each Lodge; how they work and how they operate; evaluating their viability; finding avenues for assistance where needed and pointing out their strengths; attending ceremonies in the District to represent the Office of the Grand Master; and in general fulfilling the requirements listed in the Book of Constitution. In addition, the DDGM is expected to provide educational and inspirational messages at appropriate events.

• As we look into 2026-2027, we have several ”’goals”’ that are both short term and long reaching.
• Promote a strong correlation between Committees of the Lodges, District Committees, and Grand Lodge Committees
• Create District By-Laws with appended Guidelines – headed by Steven Ellstrom
  Create a responsible Budget / District Assessment statement.
• Establish a new Filipino centered Lodge in our District similar to Ibrox and Kilwinning that does not draw members away from existing Lodges and that is not exclusive to Filipinos – Rey Faraon, Aris Avila, Antonio Bartolome, and Andy Penaflor
• Create a Masonic Ambassador’s Liaison group to encourage travel and visitation to distant places
  TWD Degree Mentoring Team – headed by Al Cunnington.
• Develop an inter-temple board liaison connection to share information and the events of each temple.
• Identify how each Temple building in the District can become barrier free and develop a plan to pursue that conversion.
• Provide a simple Newsletter – possibly thru WhatsApp
• This year our District Charity will be “The indented skirting – assistance for the Homeless.”

To this end we are counting on your support and participation. Each committee of the District needs helpers who are aligned with that committee quest. Assisting on a Committee is one of the easiest ways to give notice that you would like to advance in Masonry. It is also an easy way to promote your Cornerstone endeavours. As a gentle reminder, the members of each Lodge Committee are members of the corresponding District Committee. If your Lodge does not have a corresponding committee to the District’s, then, by default, the Worshipful Master is the Lodge’s representative to that committee.
Part of the promise of being on a Lodge Committee is that you are a part of the related District Committee. Please take advantage of this by reporting your story to your District counterpart. This unites our efforts and ties the Lodges to the greater world of Masonry – “forming a line of mutual support.”