Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt00522)

Bart, you wrote:

> I was thinking of something more on the order of letting anybody who 
> wished to list themselves do so, and also let individual members write 
> reviews.
I could envision an international list of speakers where the information 
is contributed by each speaker. It might include:

1. Name of speaker
2. Address, phone etc.
3. language(s) spoken.
4. Their background.
5. Subjects they speak upon. 
6. Their availability.

I think we agree that the TSA National speaker list, aside from its 
declared purpose, also has an obviously political one. This political 
aspect is a concern to me. On such a list as you propose, I would hope 
that every effort be made to avoid such a political use. 
> There has been rebuilding, and, for the 
> last several years, the Board of Directors worked on a principle of 
> making sure that everything was done legally and properly.
A wise decision, I think. I understand that New York has the strictest building codes in the country. 


> And the Kern Foundation will NOT donate money towards physical 
> buildings.
I remember John Kern talking about that when the Kern foundation first 
started. The decision was indeed a mixed bag. From hindsight, it did 
foreshadow Olcott's decision not to support Lodges. Under Dora Kunz, 
Olcott had building loan programs. 
> By the way, for those not familiar with Alexandria West, here 
> is a link (Jerry, are there any others?):
>
> 	http://blavatskyarchives.com/alexandriawest.htm
Yes, I remember that article. When Richard Taylor came to California to 
arrange for finishing his post graduate studies, he spent a little time 
here with us, and wrote that article. Ergates was a ULT networking 
magazine. It is a pity that it didn't last.

We still have the 160 acres and occasionally use it for retreats. But 
the location is too remote for regular activities, so we since decided 
not to establish permanent facilities there. We considered establishing 
a spiritual community, but since the Rahneesh incident in Oregon, 
California changed its laws so that such communities are no longer 
possible, except for those which were previously established.

As far as I know Richard's article is the only thing about Alexandria 
West that was archived on the Internet. In the book, keeping the Link 
Unbroken, I did do an article on Victor Endersby, which goes into his 
connection with Alexandria West. We are working on our own web site 
which I anticipate will be launched within another month or so. 
Jerry




Bart Lidofsky wrote:

> Jerry Hejka-Ekins wrote:
>
>
> > I remember this was done in the 60s, when there was a real resource of 
> > Lodges and speakers. In the greater Los Angeles area there was once a 
> > dozen or more Lodges and some very fine and knowledgeable speakers. The 
> > So.California Federation tried to set up a speaker's list, but I 
> > remember opposing it because I saw it (I think correctly) as a 
> > transparent attempt to have an official list of "approved" speakers, so 
> > that Lodges would know who to invite and who to shun. California Lodges, 
> > in those days, were very competitive, run by ego driven managers, and 
> > resisted any attempts by members to have them work together. Today, we 
> > have gone way beyond the problem of having to make lists of speakers. 
> > As the number of Lodges have dwindled over the years, there are few 
> > Lodges which still have neighboring Lodges from which to draw speakers. 
> 	I was thinking of something more on the order of letting anybody who 
> wished to list themselves do so, and also let individual members write 
> reviews.
>
>
>
> > I have visited the Lodge in New York which you belong. The real estate 
> > must be worth millions of dollars, though that old building should have 
> > been raised and rebuilt many years ago. That alone scares people away, 
> > in spite of the fact that you are sitting on some of the most expensive 
> > real estate in the country. 
> 	There have been a number of opportunities missed in the past. My guess 
> is that the real estate is worth between 1 and 2 million dollars; part 
> of the problem is that it is not on a great block (there's a halfway 
> house on the block, a number of closed businesses, and a couple of 
> nearly abandoned buildings). There has been rebuilding, and, for the 
> last several years, the Board of Directors worked on a principle of 
> making sure that everything was done legally and properly.
>
>
>
> > Alexandria West has had to think about these things. We need a minimum 
> > of 4,000 square feet of floor space to do what we need to do--10,000 
> > would be more realistic. Even in our Small California community, that 
> > would be a million dollar investment for starts. Such an investment 
> > requires a very solid foundation of meaningful activity to sustain 
> > itself and to be able to change with the times. By meaningful activity, 
> > I mean services which goes far beyond the traditional fare of weekly 
> > lectures and book sales. 
> 	And the Kern Foundation will NOT donate money towards physical 
> buildings. By the way, for those not familiar with Alexandria West, here 
> is a link (Jerry, are there any others?):
>
> 	http://blavatskyarchives.com/alexandriawest.htm
>
> 	Bart
>
>
>
>
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