Officers

Listing of all the Grand Secretaries

• The meeting of the Honey Bears was held February 10, 2007 at Tualatin Chapter in Hillsboro following a luncheon with the Lamplighters. Introduction of distinguished guests was held at the luncheon, and included Marymargaret Holstein, Worthy Grand Matron and Dick Varner, Worthy Grand Patron. Other guests were Grand Secretary E’laine Armstrong, Grand Treasurer Connie Harris, and Associate Grand Conductress Rebecca Price. Nine Grand Committee members and four Grand Representatives were recognized also.

• Twelve Honey Bears and Bumble Bees were present for lunch, and the half and half of $27.00 was won by Carolyn Patrick.

• Sister Carolyn Beecher, President, has been ill and now has guests from out of town so she was not present to conduct the meeting and Sister Patty Nielsen, Vice-President, was attending the Lamplighters meeting as Chair of decorations for the 2007 Grand Chapter session.

• In their absence, Sister Rebecca Price opened the meeting. Minutes of the previous meeting of November 4, 2006 were approved as previously distributed. Sister Mary Maxwell, Treasurer, was unable to be with us and Sister Rebecca reported a balance in our treasury of $909.41 as of December 11, 2006, this was the last date Rebecca had information from Sister Mary Maxwell.

• Sister Rebecca introduced Brother Joe Jarvis, Grand Sentinel-elect, and Carol Gorham, his escort. Joe gave us a brief history of his life. Welcome to the group.

• Discussion of our recent Christmas party was held. 25 members and guests attended and the cost of the room for the event was $375. Ted Beecher has indicated there are several other venues available for viewing of the Willamette and the Columbia fleets, as well as restaurants where food would be available as well – although there was ample food brought to this year’s party including the chocolate fountain!

• Ideas for funding future parties were presented. Judie Kissinger moved and Carolyn Patrick seconded that the group place “our half” of the 50/50 ticket sales into a special fund to be used for our 2007 Christmas party. Motion carried.

• Rebecca reminded us that Badges are $10 and can be ordered from her, dues are $20 per year, payable to the Honeybears c/o Mary Maxwell, and dresses can be ordered from Kimi at Creative Touch. Seventeen people have ordered dresses to date and all report they are very comfortable and flattering.

• Discussion was held about the Baskets which our group proposed to make to sell chances on at Grand Chapter. Four baskets will be made:

  1. Pendleton basket, with tickets for the Round-Up, a possible Pendleton Blanket and other theme-related items;
  2. Honeybears basket, with a variety of theme-related items – and this basket is already completed by Carolyn Patrick
  3. Romance basket, with appropriate items such as wine, chocolates, bubble bath, etc.
  4. Men’s basket, with golf items, tools, fishing items and other theme-related items.
• Rebecca reported she had received an offer already to purchase the 4 tickets which she is donating for the Grand Championship rodeo on Saturday (the last day of the Round-Up) for $60/each. The consensus of the group was that we should sell those tickets now for $240 (if the offer to buy still stood) and use that money to purchase other tickets for the Pendleton basket. Carolyn Patrick moved that the Pendleton basket include 4 tickets for the Wednesday (Sept. 12) events. Judie Kissinger seconded. Joe Jarvis will donate 2 of those tickets and Carol Gorham will donate 2 tickets, he noted that the day’s events include the Rodeo at 1:15, evening barbeque at 5 pm and Happy Canyon at 7:45, as it is Family Day. Motion carried
• Under Ways and Means, Rebecca reminded us to promote sales of the five-year calendar as we have invested money in that product and need to recoup those funds. Information about the calendars will be placed on our Website.

• The 2007-2008 events are now being scheduled, some of which will include:

  • September 15, 2007: Reception for the Worthy Grand Matron in Medford.
  • September 29, 2007: Reception for the Worthy Grand Patron in McMinnville.
  • November 17, 2007: Reception for the Grand Conductress and Grand Sentinel in Elgin.
• Rebecca has contacted a source in Washington for jewelry, which is on consignment, and seemed to have sold very well today.
• Rebecca reminded us that we will be assisting the Conductresses with Proving at Grand Chapter in June and those Honeybears who will be attending should be prepared to help with this responsibility. Symbols to indicate an area has been proven will be provided by the Oregon Gems.
• Discussion of ads in the 2007 Yearbook was held, and Judie Kissinger moved and Carolyn Patrick seconded that the Honeybears contract for a full-page ad. Motion carried. Rebecca Price will prepare the ad.
• At this point in the meeting, communication was received from the Lamplighters that the Honeybears will be able to sponsor the Strawberry booth at the Sumpter Flea Market on Memorial Day weekend and also on the Fourth of July in 2007. This is a tremendous opportunity to build our treasury and is one in which all of us can participate whether or not we can go to Sumpter. We will need to provide at least 40 dozen cupcakes, made from the directions and to the size specified from previous years. Our booth is inside a building and we should be able to realize around $3,000 from efforts on Memorial Day weekend and 4 th of July, although the event will probably be held the weekend of the 7 th because the 4 th is a midweek day. There is parking for RVs available at Sumpter, although reservations must be made early for this. Anyone attending should plan to find lodging in Baker City as the small number of hotel rooms available in Sumpter (an historic mining town) are usually taken well in advance by vendors who sell their wares at the Festival. Further discussion about participation in, and preparing for, the Festival will be held at our next meeting.
• We have been asked to host a “concession” for the Midway for the State Faire to be held at Grand Chapter on Tuesday evening. Rebecca has a big bean bag game, and/or she also has a commercial size popcorn popper available. The Midway for the Faire will be in the area west of the Labyrinth in the main room of the Convention Center and we need to be aware of constraints on taking food onto that floor. We would need to provide small prizes for winners at whatever event we choose to sponsor. Carolyn Patrick moved that we continue with plans and discussion for this event Judie Kissinger seconded. Motion carried. Rebecca Price will check with the coordinators to see what booths are needed and find out about food.
• Rebecca reported that she sent out 30 postcards to remind people of our meeting today. The rest of the group is notified via email. Information is also available on our website: www.honeybearsandbumblebees.com
• There is a proposal to initiate a website for OES and each of the officer groups are planning to contribute $250, for a total of $1,000 for development of the overall website. Under this proposal, we would buy the domain name from Don Gay, who currently has a statewide OES website, and redirect to our website. There is a plan to request the $1,000 from the Grand Chapter, but should this not be approved, the funds pledged by the four groups would be used. Carolyn Patrick moved that we authorize a maximum of $250 for website development. Judie Kissinger seconded. Motion carried. Hopefully this site would include all forms from the Grand Secretary’s office, all communications going out, Receptions, Friendships, Honor Days, Events from Chapters, Grand Line Officer newsletters for groups, etc. This could and should be a big savings for chapters, especially for postage.
• Discussion was held about a summer picnic or event for the Honeybears. Among the suggestions were the Sternwheeler from Cascade Locks, the train at Hood River or other day-long excursions. Rebecca noted that the All-Masonic picnic will be July 28 in Cottage Grove.
• Rebecca has already purchased Christmas Stockings for residents of JMII during our WM year. She has 250 available and anyone wishing to get an early start on decorating these stockings is welcome to do so. We will have a work party in February 2008 to work on them as well. This number will ensure that stockings are available for all residents – not just those in Life Care. A number of the other residents have Masonic and OES affiliation but are paying for their own care. There is a belief that we should honor all of the residents at that time. Start watching for items we can glue onto the red felt.
• Rebecca brought up the Luncheon’s for next year and told the group if they are interested in hosting a luncheon for next year contact their chapters and see how many groups they can hold, and still all have a meeting room, and when would be a good time for their chapter.
• Carolyn Patrick presented Valentine gifts to Rebecca and to Joe and also gave bumble-bee valentines and chocolate candy to everyone else. There were two “first-timers” with us today:
• Kathleen Gould, AC at Minerva Chapter #104 and Claudette Scheller, AC at Beaver Chapter #106.

Respectfully submitted
Lyn Horine
Secretary