Warwickshire Provincial Grand Lodge News
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The Immediate Past Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro Michael Price CBE, will preside at the Athelstan Lodge 1333 Lodge of Instruction Festival on Thursday 16th September. Full details can be seen on the Lodge News page. posted 10 Aug 2010
The annual Summer Lunch for the residents of Reading Court was attended by about 50 of the residents, together with members of the House Committee, including RW Bro David Macey, the new President, and their partners. 
It was also attended by Board members of the Masonic Housing Association who had held their meeting the same morning in Reading Court.
The buffet lunch was supplied by W Bro David Stone of David Garrick Lodge 4243 and the roast beef was expertly carved by W Bro Harry Owen, whose wife Margaret is a committee member. posted 10 Aug 2010
Our congratulations go to the following Brethren for their appointments within the Provincial Grand Lodge of Warwickshire, who will be invested at the Warwickshire Installed Masters Lodge 4538 meeting on Thursday 30th September 2010.
- W Bro Eric Rymer as Assistant Provincial Grand Master
- W Bro Trevor Sturt as 2012 Festival Director
- W Bro Keith Marchington as Provincial Orator
- W Bro Peter Summers as Provincial Organist
- W Bro David Holloway as Provincial Assistant Registrar
- W Bro Michael Midgley as Lodge Support Team Manager
posted 22 Jul 2010
Pro Grand Master invests Provincial Grand Master
At a packed Special Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge, over 600 Warwickshire Masons and visitors from other Provinces attended the Investiture of RW Bro David Macey as the new Provincial Grand Master for Warwickshire.
After opening Provincial Grand Lodge exactly on schedule, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master in Charge VW Bro Alan Wellan welcomed everyone and said what a joy it was to see so many brethren present to celebrate this important occasion.
He then received the MW The Pro Grand Master Peter Lowndes who acknowledged the splendid work carried out by the previous Provincial Grand Master, RW Bro Michael J Price CBE, but pointed out that this was David Macey's day. The Pro Grand Master outlined the purpose of the meeting, namely to invest W Bro David F Macey the Provincial Grand Master designate, who he had met previously, but only got to know last night, and to whom all looked up to in every way. He commented on the size of the Province and advised Lodges to make visits by the new Provincial Grand Master very special occasions.
(l-r) Peter Lowndes, David Macey and Nigel Brown
During the following immaculately exercised proceedings, carefully orchestrated by the Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies W Bro Sebastian Madden, the Patent of Appointment was read by the Grand Secretary VW Bro Nigel Brown, and prayers were offered by the Grand Chaplain. The Provincial Grand Master designate then took his Obligation, after which he was invested, proclaimed and saluted.
The new Provincial Grand Master then announced the appointment of VW Bro Alan Wellan as Deputy Provincial Grand Master and addressed him on the duties of his office, and who was then duly obligated, invested, and he then received his new patent of appointment before being proclaimed and saluted.
W Bros Roger Parker, Nigel Bister, John Emms and Michael Morris were reappointed as Assistant Provincial Grand Masters, all reaffirming their Obligations and receiving their new patents of appointment before being proclaimed and saluted accordingly.
The appointment of the other Provincial Grand Officers was confirmed, after which the RW Provincial Grand Master addressed the Brethren. He confirmed what an honour it was to be installed as Provincial Grand Master for this wonderful province and then went on to thank all of those involved in making it such a special day. Particular thanks were singled out for the MW The Pro Grand Master and his team from London, the RW Provincial Grand Masters from other provinces and other distinguished brethren who accompanied them.
Eric Rymer (l) and Trevor Sturt
He concluded by informing the brethren that he had appointed W Bro Trevor Sturt as 2012 Festival Director with immediate effect, and also that it was his wish to appoint W Bro Eric Rymer as an Assistant Provincial Grand Master, who would be invested at the next meeting of Warwickshire Installed Masters' Lodge on Thursday 30th September 2010.
A transcript of the Provincial Grand Master's address can be downloaded here.
Following the formal Masonic finery, a magnificent festive board was enjoyed by all present, which again demonstrated the ability of the Clarendon Suites operations team to cater for large scale dining functions. After the meal the MW The Pro Grand Master referred to various national matters and encouraged brethren to develop our relationship with the Royal Arch. He then presented a "Kent Cube" which was a personal gift from the MW The Grand Master HRH The Duke of Kent, KG, to the Provincial Grand Master.
During his response the Provincial Grand Master presented the Pro Grand Master with a silver paper knife with the bear and ragged staff of Warwickshire for its handle as a memento of this occasion. This was hand crafted by W Bro Ken Downes and was very well received. In conclusion, the Provincial Grand Master exhorted members to thoroughly enjoy their freemasonry and repeated his thanks to all. posted 8 Jul 2010
Nuneaton Ladies celebrate 25th Anniversary
Members of the Nuneaton Masonic Ladies Fellowship Club celebrated their 25th Anniversary at Nuneaton Masonic Buildings.
The ladies had a wonderful afternoon celebrating, complete with a beautifully iced cake made especially for the occasion, with bubbly and plenty of party food, all organised by themselves.
Celebration Cake, showing a broken column
Although Evelyn Gibbs, a founder member who has been (and still is) the Chairwoman for many years, was unable to attend, the other two founder members, Mrs Margaret Haswell and Mrs Barbara Lindon, were present. During the festivities the ladies raised a toast to the gallant group of Brethren who have supplied transport and the serving of tea and coffee at their meetings throughout the years. For the anniversary meeting these were Don Adams, Jack Chetwynd, Bill Silvester, Mike Goldsmith, Ken Burtenshaw and Dewi Cooke.
(l-r) Joan Burtenshaw, Olive Cadman, Mavis Lowe, Barbara Lindon, Edith Price, Rita Eastall (treasurer), Jean Massey, Yvonne Humphriss (acting Chairlady), Margaret Haswell (secretary), Trixie Stammers, Brenda Rowley, Margaret Silvester.
The club was originally started for Masonic Widows but to help gain more members it was decided some years ago to open the membership to all ladies whose husbands still were or had been members of a Masonic Lodge. The Ladies enjoy the companionship and meet regularly on the first Wednesday of the month in the Nuneaton Masonic Buildings. They also go out for lunch and sometimes have a function at one of the members homes.
Any Masonic Ladies in the area would be most welcome to go along, meeting new friends and enjoying the functions, and help with transport may be possible for those living locally. For further information contact Bill Silvester, email: williamsilvester@hotmail.com tel: 01455 220189. posted 8 Jul 2010
Senior Freemasons from Warwickshire and Northamptonshire paid another visit to the operations base of the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance (WNAA) at Coventry Airport, Baginton, to hand over further grant aid cheques totalling £8,000, as part of the ongoing support for the magnificent work carried out by the dedicated team who run the WNAA.
Steve Porter, Air Operations Manager
Captain Richard Craske, Pilot
Michael Price CBE (representing Warwickshire)
Dr Adam Manson
Paramedic Brian Dwyer.
The WNAA provides a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service directly to the counties of Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and the Milton Keynes area, as well as cover for Birmingham, Solihull and other areas in the West Midlands, and was nominated by the provinces of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire to receive funding from the Freemasons' Grand Charity, which supports air ambulance charities in the delivery of their potentially life-saving services. To date, more than £500,000 has been donated to what is considered the busiest voluntary emergency service in the country.
The air ambulance charities in England and Wales fly about 19,000 missions per year at a cost of about £0.5 million per week, met almost entirely by donations from the public. The speed with which the ambulances are able to respond to emergencies and transport patients to hospital greatly improves the survival chances of individuals involved in serious road traffic collisions, medical emergencies and other incidents, 365 days of the year.
In 2009, Provincial and Metropolitan Grand Lodges across England and Wales were invited to nominate an air ambulance charity to receive a share of a total grant of £180,000.
Further information about WNAA can be found on their website: www.wnaa.co.uk posted 7 Jul 2010
A further donation of £1,377 was made to the WNAA by Reading Court, the Masonic Housing Association home in Stratford-upon-Avon. The majority of this was raised at the annual Strawberry Tea which was attended by over 100 people; money had also been raised at previous raffles and also from a "change bottle".
Pictured (l-r) are
Jean Wattison (resident)
Glynis Welton-Ward (WNAA)
Derek Wattison (resident & member of David Garrick Lodge 4243) and
Pam Jowers (Warden, Reading Court).
posted 7 Jul 2010
Our congratulations go to Bro Kenneth Taylor of Victory Lodge 4009, who has been appointed OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. Ken, 69, from Earlsdon, said he was "delighted" to be honoured for services to local government. He was Lord Mayor of Coventry in 2003, and led the council from 2004 until 2010. posted 5 Jul 2010
London Reception Marks Conclusion
A reception was held at Freemasons' Hall in London to mark the conclusion of the Historical Records Survey. Those present representing Warwickshire included Bob Russell, Tony Richards and Jim Dunlop on behalf of the Craft, together with John Saint, William George and David Pettit on behalf of the Royal Arch.
(l-r) William George, John Saint, Bob Russell, Peter Lowndes, Jim Dunlop, Tony Richards, David Pettit
Dr Malcolm Aish gave a warm welcome to the delegates and introduced the Pro Grand Master, Peter Lowndes. Len Reilly, the Project Director, gave a review of the Survey and some interesting statistics.
The importance of improving storage for Lodge/Chapter records was stressed, and grants are available to repair damage, caused by previous poor storage, to existing records. This might include, for example, removal of sellotape and rebinding. The age distribution of the returns was interesting:
- Before 1750 11 lodges
- 1751 - 1850 259 lodges
- 1851 - 1950 3406 lodges
- 1951 - date 2285 lodges
Every Province has been sent a disc summarising its return, with a copy of each Lodge/Chapter's survey, which records and provides valuable research information for the future.
The vast body of data that has been collected will represent a source of information on surviving records in England and Wales. This will be especially useful to those researching for Freemasonry's tercentenary in 2017. The Warwickshire returns included 3,065 pieces of information and totalled a creditable 79% - well above the average for the country.
The Pro Grand Master, also addressed the meeting. He expressed his great appreciation of the work done in collecting the information, and the help given by the Provincial co-ordinators over the last two years. Director of Special Projects, John Hamill, added some useful remarks about the importance of the Survey and its results, and especially welcomed the information, which proved how helpful Freemasonry has been to the social developments in the country over the last three centuries.
A series of questions and observations were put by those present, which included reference to the production of books to mark the event in 2017. It was hoped that any final publications would be affordable to the members of Freemasonry, and that these would most likely include one item for general reading and perhaps another for serious research, both to include many illustrations and pictures. posted 5 Jul 2010
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Tue, 10 Aug 2010
10:49
There are only [clock2] days to go to the 2012 Festival and [clock1] days before the 300th Anniversary celebrations of Freemasonry in 2017.