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DeMolay of the Month

Robert Warr - November 2002

Robert Warr (foreground)
Robert Warr, a member of Augusta Chapter in Augusta, was selected as the Georgia DeMolay Online "DeMolay of the Month" for November 2002. Robert serves Georgia DeMolay as the State Junior Deacon. Robert has been a member of Augusta Chapter since March of 2000 and was recently elected to serve as his Chapter's Master Councilor for a second term. He holds the Founder's Membership Award, the Representative DeMolay Award, and the Lamp of Knowledge Award. Robert attends school at Westside High School. We sat down with Robert to learn a little more about him....

GDO: Robert, congratulations on your selection as GDO's November DeMolay of the Month. We want our web site visitors to learn a little more about you and your DeMolay career. How did you find out about and get involved with DeMolay?

Robert: One night, my mother, Lynn Warr, went out to dinner (as friends) with the chairman of the Augusta Chapter's Advisory Council, Tom Tinley. Dad Tinley told my mother that he was attempting to pull together the once prosperous, but now nonexistent, Augusta Chapter, Order of DeMolay. She expressed her interest in having me join, and so my mother and I submitted a petition to Dad Tinley to become a charter member of the reinstituted Augusta Chapter. On the morning of March 11, 2000, I was initiated along with 14 others into The Order of DeMolay. It was, hands down, one of the most memorable events of my life.

GDO: What do you like best about DeMolay?

Robert: I love the opportunity to interact with other DeMolays and Rainbows socially and in the meetings and activities. Additionally, I get an inner sense of satisfaction from the learning experience these activities provide.

Robert is always one of the
best on the DeMolay sports fields.
GDO: You've recently been serving as Master Councilor for the second time around. What is it like serving a second term as the leader of your Chapter?

Robert: I was only the third Master Councilor of Augusta Chapter and did not have a lot of precedent to follow. I always seemed to be using a reactive, rather than a proactive, leadership style. In the intervening year since my earlier term ended, I was able to foresee many of the hurdles that would "pop up" during my term and, as a result, I knew how to better react. I also felt I was in a better position to know what type of calendar would best serve my Chapter. Few of us get a second chance to "get it right" so I welcomed the opportunity to give something worth while to my Chapter.

GDO: Serving as Master Councilor again gives you another opportunity to help your Chapter grow and prosper. What are you doing differently this time around as compared to your first term as Master Councilor?

Robert: I set up chapter committees from the very beginning. I feel that it is important for people to know what their responsibilities are from the start. I have also learned to delegate different tasks to different members. I take on the tasks that are only appropriate for the Master Councilor to do. During my first term, I could have been described as over-ambitious and I tended to try and "do it all." I realize now that by doing that, I made a typical rookie mistake. I could spend hours listing the differences in the way I handled my first term and the way I'm currently handling my second. Experience is a great teacher.

GDO: What are your goals for your future in DeMolay?

Robert is also quite the dancer as well!
Robert: I hope I can earn the confidence of my brother DeMolays and someday rise to the ranks of a state councilor position. The "all-stars" of Georgia DeMolay (Adam Roof, Gary Vinson, and others) have had a real positive influence on me. I hope to some day be worthy of providing the same kind of inspitation to those who follow me.

GDO: Outside of DeMolay, what are your other interests and activities?

Robert: My time is divided mainly into four general categories: School, football, friends (more specifically girls), and DeMolay. I place a high priority on school and I play for the Westside High School Junior Varsity Football Squad, the Patriots, who rank second in our county. My social life seems to fall in there somewhere.

GDO: Thank you for your time, Robert, and congratulations again on your selection as GDO's DeMolay of the Month!