02A Secretary_s Calendar Overview

Lodge Secretary’s HOW TO GUIDE

SECRETARY’S CALENDAR OVERVIEW

All activities required by Grand Lodge of particular lodge secretaries are listed in the Secretary’s Administrative Guide which is available for purchase from Grand Lodge. After many years experience as a Lodge Secretary I have documented additional annual activities which are required in my Lodge, in addition to the required Grand Lodge activities. The attached document contains information that can be deleted or expanded as determined appropriate for your Lodge.

If you use an Email program such as Microsoft Outlook, it is helpful to post activities on the Outlook Calendar as reminders in advance of each action. Any calendar program that alerts the user each time his computer is turned on will provide this function. Keep in mind that if an activity requires input, or any action from anyone other than yourself, then consideration should be factored into the calendar reminder date to add time commensurate with the reliability of the information provider. Also, if there is a deadline, such as for reporting and paying Florida Sales tax, it should be factored into the alert date you enter on the calendar. Using the Florida Sales Tax payment as an example, it should be noted that it is dues on July 15th for the months of January through June, and on January 15th for the months of July through December. Dates such as these are important because the Lodge will receive an invoice for a fine if payments are later than required.

Although Grand Lodge provides ample notices for information and/or payments due from particular Lodges, it is sometimes helpful to start early in order that you can plan your time. A lot occurs in the fourth quarter of the year and where possible, it is helpful to complete what is possible before being faced with a crunch for your time.

To copy and customize this Overview page or any other section of this How to Guide for your Lodge, refer to the file listed in the footnote of each page.