58th Four Corner’s Royal Arch Festival – New Mexico Grand York Rite Bodies

Hosted by New Mexico Companions at the Farmington Shrine Park.

By: E. Hans Schmidt
Grand King

Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of New Mexico

The 58th annual Four Corners Royal Arch festival was a memorable and successful event that brought together York rite masons from different states. The festival, which took place on October 7th, 2023, in Farmington, NM, was an opportunity to initiate candidates into the Chapter degrees of York Rite masonry and to celebrate the fraternity and fellowship of the order.

The Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in New Mexico, Tom Schenk, and the Grand High Priests from Colorado – M:.E:. Craig Fabec, Utah – M:.E:. Reed B. Fanning and Arizona – M:.E:. Steve Powlesland made the occasion complete with their presence and shared their wisdom and experience with the attendees. As Grand King, I had the honor of representing our Grand High Priest, Jeff A. Lee, here in New Mexico and of welcoming the guests and candidates to the festival. We had 88 Royal Arch Masons in attendance and 19 additional guests for the banquet dinner that evening. For a total of 107 attendees.

The degrees were conferred at the Shrine Park on the San Juan River, a scenic and serene location that added to the beauty and solemnity of the ceremony. The candidates showed great enthusiasm and dedication as they received the degrees and became part of the Royal Arch family. We had a total of 10 candidates from across the four states and 5 of them were from New Mexico. The newly made Companions from New Mexico were Jose Ulibarri, Patrick Graham, Richard Blecha, Ron Betts, Jr. and Greg Stihel, which shows the growth and vitality of our jurisdiction.

The festival was also a time of fun and enjoyment, as we had a delicious lunch, a dinner of Dennis Herman’s famous ribs and deep friend Cornish game hens. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and everyone had a chance to mingle and network with their fellow masons. It was truly a wonderful day that I will cherish for a long time.

I would like to thank all the organizers, officers, members, candidates, guests, and sponsors who made this festival possible and successful. I would like to thank the main event organizers for New Mexico and that would be Robert Haupert and Dennis Herman the co-chairs of New Mexico for this festival. I would also like to thank Dennis Detrow and all the cast that were involved in Royal Arch degree as this was the degree New Mexico had the honor of performing this year. Kevin Fitzwater did an excellent job as the principal sojourner. Adam Hathaway also came in at the last minute to help pull it all off. I would also like to extend a special thanks to High Priest David Lawson and all the officers of Basin Chapter #19. They did a great job of opening and helping coordinate and work the event. I hope to see you all again next year for the 59th Annual Four Corners Royal Arch Festival to be held in Holbrook AZ.