Saint John's Day in Saugatuck

Last night, on Saint John the Evangelist’s Day, my wife, stepson and I saw “December’s Rose”, a play adapted for the public from Carl H. Claudy’s Masonic play, “A Rose Upon the Altar”. The hour-long story is about a crisis in a small town lodge that gets resolved through Masonic tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. The acting was superb, the story engaging and it was paced well. If you get a chance to see it – especially as performed by the Scottish Rite Players (Valley of Grand Rapids), do not miss it. Bring a hankie and pretend it’s for your date.

The next performance will be Monday, January 14th in Potterville Lodge #367, 204 W. Main St, Potterville MI.

But that’s not what I came here to tell you about.

There was a feast before dinner, and we sat next to Brother Ron. He and my wife, Sue, share a love of Kentucky, so she and Ron had a great time discussing the caves, state parks, etc. Sue goes to a few Masonic events a year, but she dreads the third person “lovely ladies” / “lovely wife” references, and doesn’t often meet someone with whom she shares interests, so it was a pleasure for me to know she enjoyed herself during dinner.

But again, that’s not what I came here to tell you about.

The dinner was a memorial – a celebration of life -- for Theodore “Ted” P. Kimball, 33°. I never met Ted Kimball, unless, perhaps, we shared a brief greeting at a Scottish Rite reunion. He was a member of Saugatuck Lodge #328. His friends and brother masons shared stories of his character, generosity, and love of life. My family was enthralled by his life story – a child of Greek immigrants who moved to Saugatuck, joined the lodge and became an integral part of the community; at the end, moving to Greece to “die with the gods”.

As we drove home, the story of Ted Kimball – a man we only met through his friends – was on our mind, overshadowing Claudy’s moving play. Sue told me, “I wish I’d known him”. I felt the same way.

To me, there’s no better tribute to a man, when those who never met him feel his absence. And that’s what I came here to tell you.