Last week, The Grand Lodge of Ohio welcomed our newest Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother Richard A. Dickerscheid. A man dedicated to living and promoting our core tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief & Truth, we look forward to his leadership and upcoming year of service to our brotherhood.
We recently had the chance to speak with him and discuss his experience as a Freemason and what is on the horizon for Ohio Freemasonry in the year ahead.
MWB Dickerscheid, can you tell us a bit about how you first came to Freemasonry?
Well, my father in law was a Mason and was a Past Master of his lodge in 1975. He and I started a heavy-duty truck repair business together – the business I’m still in – and there were always Masons coming into our shop. My father in law was very involved in the Shrine and that is where I got to know a lot of Masons.
I didn’t have any clue about Freemasonry, and I asked a lot of questions. One day a guy came in and said, “you would make a good Mason” and he told me about the one-day class. At that point, I knew enough about Masonry and said, “give me a petition and I’ll sign it right now.” My father-in-law’s jaw hit the floor.
Once I did join, it was probably about 6-8 months later I asked him, “why didn’t you tell me more about this? I asked you all kinds of questions.” He replied, “I guess you didn’t ask the right questions.” I guess that’s the reason why I joined, I wanted to know more. It was probably the best choice I’ve ever made.
And since you joined, what has your experience as a Freemason been like?
I had belonged to a number of different organizations before I became a Freemason. I didn’t join until I was 38. It got to the point where I was at a management level in those organizations, but they never quite felt like a home. I was traveling a lot, especially in my days of tournament bass fishing, when I need to be in different states frequently. One day I turned around and thought, “Wow this has become a job.”
I really found a home when I joined Masonry. The people that are Masons are different from any other organizations I’ve ever belonged to. They are all very friendly. The reason I became a Mason and still belong is because it’s filled with great people who I really enjoy being around.
What was your first experience in lodge like?
I remember some of the degrees but only bits and pieces. The thing that sticks in my mind the most is that as soon as I returned my proficiency for the Master Mason degree, I was sitting on the sideline and the Master said, “we need someone to be a trustee?” So, I raised my hand and became a trustee the same night I became a Master Mason. That’s how I got involved in the “management” level so to speak of Masonry. I became an officer the following year and really never looked back.
Which lodge do you belong to?
College Hill Harry S. Johnson #641 on the north side of Cincinnati. College Hill used to be two lodges and they came together.
What is it about the state of Ohio that makes it a place where Masonry can flourish?
In my opinion, it probably comes from the working man of Ohio. We’ve always worked with our hands here. We work in steel, manufacturing and that Midwest mindset of being working class has always made it a great place for Masonry.
Looking ahead to your year as Grand Master, what are your hopes for Ohio Freemasonry?
In the past five years, the Grand Lodge has instituted a lot of change in Ohio. We’ve added a new membership database, and asked secretaries take a new approach than they have in the past. We have made these decisions quickly and haven’t always given the lodges adequate time to prepare for these changes.
This year, I think we need to let our lodges catch up. We need to let the Grand Lodge iron out some of the processes that have been implemented over the past few years. Let’s take this year to catch a breath and allow us all – the Grand Lodge and lodges – to catch up to the technology and changes we’ve implemented.
Your message to Ohio Freemasons this year is to Use the Tools. Can you talk a bit more about that?
Being in the heavy-duty truck industry, I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands. When the guy who handled front-end alignments quit a week after I started, I took over and worked in that position for 5-6 years. That’s probably where I got the best start in my career and I’ve been working with tools ever since.
Tools relate to a lot of different things and it felt like a natural fit, not only for Masonry since we use tools to teach our philosophies and lessons, but also the physical tools that I’ve used to support my family. I’ve learned firsthand that both your Masonic tools and physical tools can support your family.
Earlier this year, you moved your roll-out presentations from in-person to video. That must have been a difficult decision to make. How did you decide that was for the best?
Originally, I had 13 presentations scheduled. As we got into the coronavirus situation, I desperately wanted to be able to give the presentations because we Masons are a social people, but I think it was the right decision. There has been too much uncertainty, and, at the end of the day, I couldn’t put the name of the Grand Lodge of Ohio in jeopardy by holding an event and risking someone getting sick, regardless of whether the event was responsible or not.
It comes down to protecting the Grand Lodge of Ohio and Ohio Freemasonry. It’s the kind of tough decision you have to make as the leader of the organization. It’s very important to me that our organization is protected.
What were some of the key messages you touched on?
I did talk a bit about social media and the importance of living up to our standards as Masons on social media. It’s easier for us to write vile things against someone online than to say them in a face-to-face interaction. The art of debate is lost. Debate is healthy but the art of it is being lost over social media and we should still strive to maintain Masonic conduct online as well as in-person.
Given the challenges of the past year, how have you felt about the leveraging of video chats to hold meetings during the pandemic?
There are two ways to look at this, one is to not have meetings online and have them traditionally in a lodge. With the restrictions on travel, that would only allow the closest members of the lodge to participate. Of course, people move for one reason or another and it’s not uncommon for a lodge to have members who are no longer local and might even be out-of-state. These members would not normally get to come to a meeting even though they pay dues and support their lodge. Having a virtual meeting includes those who would not normally be able to come to lodge.
Of course, getting back to what we are as Masons, we are very social. Nothing replaces the handshake. That’s why as long as the state permits an in-person gathering, we have left it up to the Master of the lodge. However, I do see the virtual meetings as being an important tool since it allows us to keep people involved who otherwise would not be able to participate.
This year, you will be putting your charitable focus on organizations dedicated to helping Veterans. What inspired you to make that your focus this year?
Two years ago, I made a motion to create a separate entity within the charitable foundation dedicated to veterans and first responders. Supporting our service members is an issue incredibly close to my wife Teri and I. This permanent fund will support the needs of local Veterans organizations, allowing us to support those service members who need it most.
Outside of Masonry, what interests and hobbies fill your time?
I’m a longtime tournament bass fisherman and still an active fisherman, although my duties as a Grand Lodge officer have taken up the majority of my time in recent years. We enjoy camping – Teri and I have a camper which we look forward to traveling around the country in more after this year. She is donating a lot of her time to our brotherhood this year and once my time as Grand Master is complete, I owe her and my family more of my time.
Learn more about Grand Master Dickerscheid’s storied Masonic journey in our blog announcing his election.