L. Todd Eastham
Most Worshipful Grand Master
2009-2010

Most Worshipful Installing Officer Brother Moyer, Most Worshipful Past Grand Masters, Right Worshipful Grand Lodge Officers, Worshipful District Deputy Grand Masters, Worshipful Grand Lodge Appointed Officers, Worshipful Grand Lodge Committeemen, Worshipful Masters, Wardens, Brothers, and Distinguished Guests.

Thank you so much Most Worshipful Brother John and your core of Officers for such a magnificent job in conferring this Installation.  I am proud and pleased that everyone here assembled took time out of their busy lives to be here with us today.  I will forever be grateful for your presence as well as your indulgence.

I stand before you today not as Grand Master of Masons in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, but as a servant of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge and the Craft of this great State.  My journey to this point has led me full circle from a precocious child following the example of my father and 7 generations of Masons in my family.  Both my Mother and Father taught me from a young age to respect others, and to do no harm, for it was only me that would suffer.  They also encouraged me that through hard work and dedication, that I could achieve anything.  I love you both, and thank you for supplying the food for my endless hunger those many years, just please do not send a bill.  That may be addressed to Most Worshipful Brother Herman Forrester in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

I would be remiss if I did not thank several people who helped and encouraged me during my journey to this Most Honored Office.  First and foremost, I would like to thank the love of my life, Angie, my wife who has taught me what true love is.  I once heard it said that love is the soul’s recognition of its counterpart in another.  She is my childhood sweetheart, my conscience, but more importantly my friend.  I would also like to thank both of my daughters, Kierston and Kaitlin, who have sacrificed greatly and been encouragers of this endeavor.  Even though they are not Masons, they are both Masons in their hearts, and have supported this Fraternity and me throughout the years.  I am proud of their intellect, courage, and understanding.  These are qualities which even from children all Masons can learn a great deal.

To the great men I have served with:  Most Worshipful Past Grand Masters F. Keith Dreier and Gregory Powell, I thank you for teaching me that it is not the man, but the office of Grand Master that should always be held in high esteem.  These two men, along with Most Worshipful Brother Herman Forrester, began a legacy of change that has united this Great Craft, and used love and understanding to break down the walls that have divided us over the years.  Your service will not be forgotten, and history will show you all to be great leaders and innovators that put the Grand Lodge of Kentucky back on the path toward unity and Brotherhood.

I cannot begin to express with mere words what Most Worshipful Past Grand Master Brother Herman Forrester has meant to me, or the impact that he has personally made on my life.  His leadership style and love for all creatures, great and small, has taught me one of my greatest lessons, that being humility.  He is slow to anger, and ready to aid and assist whenever possible.  Thank you Most Worshipful Brother Herman from the bottom of my heart.

To the elected Grand Line Officers, I have been honored and blessed to have friends and Brothers such as you to turn to in times of crisis or during times when I need someone to listen to my opinion and offer sound advice.  The unerring devotion these men have shown to me and to each other gives me hope for this Great Brotherhood, and I know that it will be in good hands for future generations to enjoy.  I would also like to welcome our new Grand Junior Warden, and offer all of the resources and friendship that we can give during his personal journey through the Grand Line.

To Greenup Lodge and District 27, along with all the Districts in Eastern Kentucky and across the vast expanses of this State, I appreciate your hard work, dedication, and devotion to this Grand Lodge and in particularly to me.  I am in hopes that the faith and trust you have placed in me is well founded, and that I do not disappoint or disgrace the badge of honor with which you have invested me.

My goals and challenges to each Lodge this year are simple and to the point, love one another as you have been loved, care for the widow, and root out and destroy the evil lurking in our ranks one random act of kindness at a time.  It is only proper that we all begin changing our mindset of quantity versus quality.  With true Masons, however few, we can accomplish any goal, and reach the summit of excellence, no matter how lofty.  Though the tempest may be against us, we shall prevail.  I have no theme, no fancy rhetoric, nor the inclination for political correctness, and will take swift and decisive action when needed, remembering to show kindness, humility, and caring while dealing on the square, giving each the opportunity to engage in debate that may further the Craft and the Fraternity.

In order that all Craftsman may have due notice, I am proclaiming my term as the “Year of the Masonic Widow”, and am challenging each Lodge to unite with me in celebrating these cornerstones of our Fraternity and what they have done for us.  I have stated before that there is no greater love or honor for a fallen Brother than to hold his Widow in high esteem and insure that her necessities are taken care of now and in the future days to come.  We stand at the door of a golden opportunity and must knock as we have all obligated ourselves to do.  I cannot legislate morality, as it a fixed law to Masons, but I can ask and admonish each Mason to help me perform this great and good work.

One of my great grandfather’s names is on a monument at Blue Licks, the place in which he gave his life protecting the great State of Kentucky and his family.  I could only hope to be so brave, but he along with other Masons that day showed that there are some things worth dying to protect.  I am in hopes that I don’t ever have to prove that fact, but my beliefs and the tenets I live by are at least worth laying down my anger, jealousy, and indifference. 

This year, in order to commemorate the Frontier Spirit of great men such as Daniel Boone and those which are engraved on the Blue Licks Monument, McCulley, Eastham & Associates has commissioned a working Kentucky Long Rifle on my behalf.  This beautiful inlaid rifle with square and compass will be under the care of the Masonic Homes throughout the upcoming year.   The Homes will be using the rifle exclusively for the “Kentucky Frontiersman” fundraising program to benefit the Masonic Homes Outreach effort.   It is my sincerest hopes the Homes may extend limited services to every corner of the Commonwealth at some point in the near future.  At the Grand Communication next year, the rifle will be given to one Kentucky Mason.  This labor of love was made by Kentucky Masons for a Kentucky Mason, as it says on the barrel.  I encourage each and every Mason in the Jurisdiction to unite with me in this effort and support the Mission of the Homes as they go forward into the four corners of the State.

A noted Past Grand Master once said, “Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.”  This man was none other than Most Worshipful Past Grand Master Henry Clay, a great man and Mason, writer, poet, and statesman.  Character is tested by fire when someone is given power.  My Brothers, the enemy at our gates stands not from without, but within our ranks, even within our homes, it is in my mirror every morning.  I see hope, not despair, and we will be victors and not victims.  We are armed and well equipped to offer something to the Fraternity, and so we must.  Our character will be tested, but it will be steady and firm, unflinching to the end.

As I close, this I promise and vow, I will expect more from myself than anyone ever will.  All I ask from you the Craft is to join with me and do the same.  Everything after that will fall into its proper place and balance.  My friends and Brothers, the hour is late, and there has been enough talk for one day, so thank you all so much, and May God Bless each and every one of you, May God Bless this Great Fraternity, and May God Bless the United States of America.

Fraternally Thine,

L. Todd Eastham

Grand Master 2009-2010