Brothers in another month or so the Accounts Ways and Means Committee will begin working on the budget for April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026. The Constitution and By-laws of the Grand Lodge of New Mexico is what is used to produce this budget.

Code 60. Revenue, Code 61. Annual Budget, and Code 62. Grand Lodge Funds, explain what income can be used and what allowances will be included in the budget. I would like everyone to pay particular attention to Code 61. (h). Any Grand Lodge committee requesting funds, other than routinely budgeted amounts, shall submit such requests to the office of the Grand Secretary on or before July 1 preceding the Budget  Meeting.

It is very important that this code be followed as the Grand Secretary must organize them and get the incomes and requests sent to the committee. After the committee receives this information they have to build the budget, which takes a considerable amount of time. So if a request comes in after the July 1 date the budget has to be reworked to try to accommodate the request.

Now that we have the work portion of this article done I want to talk about one of the things I like best about being a Mason. There are so many events coming up the next few months that give us excellent opportunities to have wonderful fellowship. I know that this first one will probably already be over by the time this is read.

If you have not attended Lincoln Lodge before you are missing a great event. This Lodge in the Lincoln Court House is a step back in time. It was actually used by Masons in the1800s. Carrizozo Lodge started having this once a year Lodge a while back. They have a wonderful meal before the meeting, and the fellowship is top notch. This Lodge is attended by Masons from all over the State as well as from neighboring States and Mexico. A few years back Carrizozo Lodge started auctioning off who gets the privilege of opening and closing Lincoln Lodge the next year. I try to attend every event I can, not just for the meeting but for the fellowship before and after.

Another great resource for finding out about events is attending the Zoom meetings the Grand Master has on the 1st Sunday of the month, if he is not traveling. In the June meeting Masons from all across the State were promoting the events in their Districts.