It is always a good idea to understand where you came from, as well as where you are going. DeMolay came to Florida, in a meaningful way, in April, 1921, when Paul Revere Chapter was instituted in Tampa, Florida. Partisans of other Chapters can debate whose Letters Temporary were granted on what date, but Paul Revere was the first to begin functioning, and, as such, is recognized as the first Chapter in Florida. It was first sponsored by the Tampa Scottish Rite Bodies.
Hopefully most Florida DeMolays know about Dad Frank S. Land, our Founder, and Dad Frank Marshal, author of our Ritual. Anyone who doesn’t is encouraged to borrow or buy a copy of Hi, Dad! and learn about our early DeMolay history.
Another of the members of the Original Grand Council, which might be considered to consist of the “Founding Fathers” of DeMolay, was a gentleman with the unforgettable name of Dr. Zoro D. Clark. Dad Clark was the Founder, and first Chapter Dad, of the first Chapter outside of Missouri, Omaha Chapter, in Omaha, Nebraska under Letters Temporary #3, in 1920. Omaha Chapter appears at times in the DeMolay Trivia on the DeMolay International web site as the longest continuously functioning Chapter in the Order, so Dad Clark obviously “built well’.
What few people realize is that sometime before 1930 Dad Clark, a dentist, had moved to Florida, and was living in West Palm Beach, with his wife Jessie Clark and their son. He was in attendance at out Conclave of 1930 as a Member of the Grand Council, and in 1931-32 his son, Zoro D. Clark Jr., served as State Chaplain of Florida DeMolay.
While Dad “Zoro” never served as Executive Officer of Florida, he is the only member of the Founding Father’s to live in Florida and to be active with Florida DeMolay, as his attendance and participation at Conclaves indicates. Whether he ever served as Advisor at Thomas A. Edison Chapter in West Palm Beach is a question I do not know the answer to.
Bro. Zoro (Jr.) passed away 13 Jan 1985, in Pinellas County, Florida, and I am unaware of any members of the Clark family still residing in Florida. So many questions we would like to have asked him.
If you happen to be traveling to Omaha, and get a chance to visit Omaha Chapter, you are visiting DeMolay History, and indirectly visiting a historical connection to early Florida DeMolay. I encourage every DeMolay and Dad, who is traveling on business or pleasure, to take any opportunity to visit Chapters wherever you go. It adds immensely to the experience of DeMolay Brotherhood, both for the visitor and the visited.
Your State Officers have decided to “kick it up a notch,” and issue and end of year membership challenge to all the Chapters in Florida.
