Meridian Chapter No. 60, Royal Arch Masons of Oregon

First picture, from front/right to back/left: David Sherman, Larry Stokes, Dick Strong, Bob Brickey, Richard Weed, Erik Arneson.

Second picture, from left to right: Erik Arneson, Richard Weed, Bob Brickey, Dick Strong, Larry Stokes, David Sherman, Sam Lupini, Mark Barondes, Russ Howard, Don Koegler.

Third picture, from left to right: Mark Barondes, Russ Howard, Don Koegler.

The fourth picture is Companion Larry Stokes, our nominee to be the First Excellent High Priest of Meridian Chapter.

Minutes for Planning Meeting

A planning meeting was held at China Palace in Roseburg, Oregon on Tuesday, May 27, 2008.

In attendance were:

Erik Arneson
Mark de Rohan Barondes, Grand Sentinel
Bob Brickey
Jeff Day
Russ Howard
Don Koegler
Sam Lupini, Grand Captain of the Host
Dave Sherman
Larry Stokes
Dick Strong
Richard Weed

We placed our orders for dinner around 6:30 PM.

At 7:05 PM Companion Jeff welcomed everyone, recognized the presence of the Grand Officers in attendance, and proceeded to make an introduction to the European Concept. An interest survey for prospective Chapter members was handed out.

After this, Dinner was served.

At 7:30 PM an informal ballot was conducted to determine who our nominations would be for first Excellent High Priest, King, and Scribe. Two Companions stood the position of E.H.P.: Dick Strong and Larry Stokes. A ballot was conducted and a significant majority voted for Larry Stokes. David Jones, who was not present this evening, had previously said he would stand for the position of King and was unanimously nominated as such. Companion Russ Howard stood for the position of Scribe and was unanimously nominated as such.

There was some positive discussion about the answers given on the survey.

Companion Dave Sherman gave a reading of the Psalms of the Degrees of David accompanied by Larry Stokes on the Harp.

The Petition for Dispensation was read and signatures were obtained.

Jeff gave a very brief presentation on Officialism and the Festive Board after which we adjourned.

Although eleven were in attendance, some of us were ineligible to sign owing to our positions as High Priest, King, or Scribe of other constituent chapters. We succeeded in obtaining seven of the twelve required signatures. The remaining signatures will be collected from those who were unable to attend this function.

The signers thus far are:

Santino Lupini, PHP, Oregon #4
Richard Weed, Oregon #4
Richard Strong, PHP, Reames #28
Don Koegler, PHP, Reames #28
Larry Stokes, Reames #28
Dave Sherman, Reames #28
Russell Howard, Reames #28
Tim Randall, Reames #28
Thomas Harmon, Reames #28
Jerold Cochran, PHP
Gary Frazier, Reames #28