Well, come October, all Lodges will have begun the second half of the Masonic season and, good to say, I've already enjoyed several visits to Lodges in the Province.
As for 482, we've already had our AGM and last Wednesday had a 1st Degree that included an impromptu deputation from Lodge Hopetoun St. John 1232, headed by their Right Worshipful Master Bro. Hugh Paterson. Bro. Hugh is of course a Master Mason of Lodge Kirkliston Maitland. Thanks again Brethren for coming along in such numbers. It was greatly appreciated by everyone at 482, as was every visitor who came along. This coming Wednesday, 3rd October, sees our Annual Provincial visit so the Lodge will tyle at 7pm. In terms of the Lodge setup, there is still some work to be done in respect of displaying photographs and items like the Past Master boards. This matter was discussed at our recent committee meeting and we now have ideas in place on how to proceed with this. We plan is to make a start as soon as possible. There are two important upcoming dates. The first is on Wednesday October 24th when we'll be holding our first ever open night. This will of course be at Kirkliston Bowling Club and we hope to encourage visitors from the village to come along and see what Freemasonry is all about. We also hope to attract 482 members who haven't attended for some time and also members of the craft who have perhaps moved to the area, but who do not presently attend any Lodge. We have produced a leaflet to highlight the occasion and copies will be distributed around the village in the couple of weeks leading up to the event. A copy of the leaflet can also be downloaded from our 'HOME' page. The second important date in question is Wednesday 7th November when I'll have the pleasure of conferring Honorary Membership on Bro. Craig Gordon, R.W.M. of Lodge Dalhousie Bonnyrigg 720. Bro. Craig is in his 3rd year as Master and it's sure to be a great night. Please come along if you can.
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Well, the summer (if we can call it that!!) recess is over and the Masonic Season now gets pretty much back to normal.
For Lodge Kirkliston Maitland, our first meeting is on Wednesday 5th September and it's our A.G.M. As such, it's a members only meeting with no Degree. However, I'd really like to see as many members as possible on the night, as we hear how the Lodge has done over the past 12 months. There will be other matters to discuss of course and it is an important night in the 482 calendar. Although we have been in recess, there was no shortage of meetings, as some Lodges do meet throughout the year. August 22nd was such a night when Bro. Jimmy Stewart P.M.D.M. received Honorary Membership of Lodge Colinton & Currie 1029. Congratulations again to Bro. Jimmy and thanks to all the brethren who joined our deputation. It was great to lead such a distinguished group on such an important occasion. It was a full house at 1029 on the night, and the same could be said a couple of nights later at Lodge Dalkeith Kilwinning No. 10 for their annual 'Festival' meeting. This was Bro. Andrew Smith's first meeting since being installed as R.W.M. and congratulations again to him and his team, with a special mention for Bro. Richard Carmichael who gave an excellent presentation of the Working Tools, his first time on the floor. Of course, although the Lodge has been closed, things have been taking place 'in the background'. With the help of Bro. David Swan I.P.M. and Bro. Gordon Yeoman P.M., all the 482 photographs have been removed from Lodge St. John Corstorphine, along with the Past Master Boards. We'll be bringing everything back to Kirkliston in the very near future. We must now look at the best was to display these items in Kirkliston and this was one of the matters discussed at our committee meeting on 13th August. There were some very positive suggestions on how best to proceed with this and I look forward to working on these very soon. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing as many 482 members as possible on Wednesday. Another week gone and it's already hard to believe that just seven days ago we were in Colchester on our bi-annual visit to the Ostrea Lodge. With our friends from Lodge Kirknewton & Ratho No. 85, we enjoyed another excellent visit to Essex and it was great to meet up with 'old' friends and meet new brethren. We had a good flight down to Stanstead, followed by a short coach journey to Colchester. ![]() What if this wall could talk!! The George Hotel was the same as ever, with every footstep accompanied by the creaks and groans that are part of a building that dates back to the 14th century. Looking at how the town's main street is now, the building sure has seen more than just a few changes over the years!! And I didn't realize until this year that Colchester is the UK's first recorded town. The Ostrea Lodge meeting was a bit different than usual as they had four candidates and they opted to initiate them two at a time. Having entered the Temple as a deputation midway through the meeting, we saw two of the candidates initiated, but all four were part of a programme to attract entrants from university. Oh to have four brethren of this age join 482 - or indeed freemasonry in general - on a regular basis!! Along with Bro. Potter, R.W.M. of No. 85, I had the honour of replying to the toast to the visitors. And as I was also R.W.M. for the Ostrea Lodge visit to 482 last year, this completed an 'Ostrea Lodge Double' for me - a rare privilege indeed. Of course, no visit South of the Border would be complete without a song from our resident artist Bro. Les Duff P.M. Bro. Les entertained everyone, first of all with the Dougie MacLean number 'Caledonia', followed - of course - by 'The Star O' Rabbie Burns, with all the Scottish brethren giving the chorus its traditional enthusiastic gusto!! All in all, we had a great time and my thanks go to the brethren of Kirkliston Maitland and Kirknewton & Ratho for making it such a memorable visit. We now look forward to welcoming the Ostrea Lodge brethren back to Kirkliston in 2013. ![]() The new 482 carpet The following week brought more good news with the arrival of our new carpet and it was great it arrived in time for our regular meeting on Wednesday. This added a new dimension to our degree and is yet another important step forward for Lodge Kirkliston Maitland. We still have some things to do but we're well on the way to making it look even more like 'home'. The degree itself went really well, with a good number of visitors in attendance - and a big thanks to Bro. Hugh Patterson R.W.M. and the brethren of Lodge Hopetoun St. John 1232 for bringing such a large contingent on the night. Our next meeting on March 21st will be a 2nd Degree. ![]() Click to enlarge It was great that our first regular meeting in Kirkliston Bowling Club went so well and congratulations to all the Office Bearers for doing such a good job. I have to confess, I was more nervous on the night that I was at my 1st meeting as R.W.M. 12 months ago!! There was a good turnout of members and visitors and it was tremendous to see brethren who haven't been at 482 for some time taking their seats in the Lodge. We must hope that this trend continues in the months that lie ahead. I really do think it will. One notable group of visitors was from Lodge Buchan St. John 636, headed by their R.W.M. Bro. James Vaughan. Bro. James said that they had come along to welcome us back to our 'home' and this is particularly touching as 636 had to leave their home in Broxburn and now meet in Livingston. Hopefully they too will manage to return to where they belong. One very positive bit of feedback came from Bro. Derek Winchester R.W.M. of Lodge St. Kentigern Penicuik & West Linton 429. When I visited 429 on the Monday after the Installation, Bro. Derek said - in open Lodge - that when he arrived for the Installation, it really was like walking into a Masonic Temple and I think we can all take reassurance from such a comment that all our work has been worthwhile. This is exactly the impression we were aiming to achieve. Finally, thanks and all credit to the members and visitors who helped put away all the furniture after the meeting. It was done in double-quick time - faster than I thought possible!! That's the only way to describe our 2012 Installation, the first meeting in our new home at Kirkliston Bowling Club. It truly was a memorable occasion and I extend my sincere thanks to everyone who attended on the day. The 87 members and visitors witnessed an excellent ceremony and my thanks and congratulations go to Installing Masters Bro. Gordon Yeoman P.M. and Bro. David Swan I.P.M. and all the Installing Team: Bro. Stuart White P.M., Bro. Les Duff P.M. and Bro. William Reddington P.M. The Festival of St. John saw a series of first class toasts and replies and we were well entertained by our artistes: Bro. George Veal from Lodge St. John Corstorphine 788, Bro. Alan Banks from Lodge Kirknewton & Ratho No. 85 (and an honorary member of 482) and Bro. Walter Renton from Lodge Dalhousie Bonnyrigg 720. For me, it proved - once again - to be a very emotional night. I didn't really think I'd experience the same feelings '2nd time around' but I was very wrong!! This may of course have been enhanced by the fact that this was out first meeting in Kirkliston Bowling Club bu, nevertheless, my emotions were very high indeed. And it would be very remiss of me not to thank everyone at Kirkliston Bowling Club for their help and I'm sure we'll continue to work together to our mutual benefit. As for the Lodge itself, I couldn't believe how great it looked and I don't think we could all be blamed for giving ourselves a wee pat on the back for putting it all together in such a short space of time. With the last of the dividers only delivered on Friday, it was very close to the wire. And when we combined the dividers and display systems with our Lodge furniture, I think it was a case of 'job done'. I really do think that everyone was impressed with what we had done. We will be adding some enhancements, principally some photographs and other Lodge information but we can now do this in a much more relaxed fashion. I am truly honoured and very proud to have again been installed as Right Worshipful Master and I extend my grateful thanks to every member of the Lodge for allowing me this great privilege. I will continue to do everything I can to further the interests of the Lodge. Thanks again brethren. As we have new moved back to our 'spiritual home' - and have a new Lodge web site, I thought this was a good time to incorporate my blog into the site. The former posts are still in place for now and can be found here. A lot has happend since my last post but with all the additional work involved in our move to Kirkliston Bowling Club, I'm a bit behind schedule. I was really disappointed to have missed our last meeting in Corstorphine, especially as it was a joint degree with Lodge St. John Corstorphine 788 and, of course, Bro. Camy Stewart I.P.M. was receiving honorary membership. However, with Janet unwell, my place was at home and my thanks again to Bro. Gordon Yeoman P.M. for stepping in at a very late stage - and to all the Office Bearers from both 482 and 788 who took part in the degree. ![]() So now it's full steam ahead for our Installation this Saturday, February 11th and I have to say I'm really looking forward to the ceremony - and to being R.W.M. of the Lodge for another year. The past 12 months have gone really quickly and I've enjoyed every moment. I'm sure the next year will follow the same pattern and I can only thank the brethren of 482 once again for allowing me this honour. Installing Masters are Bro. Gordon Yeoman P.M. and Bro. David Swan I.P.M. Where Gordon is an 'old hand', the is Bro. David's first time as Installing Master and I'm sure the ceremony will be one to remember. As I said, we've had a busy time but all the original Lodge furniture is now in place and, until our new carpet arrives, we're delighted the brethren of Lodge Kirknewton & Ratho No. 85 have agreed to loan us theirs in the meantime. We've added a few more modern display items to the mix and when we set everything up for our rehearsal last night, it was a really good feeling. We aslo have a backdrop for display in the East which shows the mural from our former premises in the village. The image for this was pieced together from various photographs by Bro. W. Raymond King P.M. and many thanks to him for his patience in putting this together. I think it will be more than a bit nostalgic to see it in place but it's a sight I never thought I'd see again. The 'room dividers' we ordered were delivered today and will be in place for the Installation and I look forward to welcoming members and visitors to the ceremony and to the Festival of St. John that follows. Now that we've moved back to Kirkliston, we've had more than a few members say they'll be returning to the Lodge. I really hope they do and help take 482 from strength to strength.
Next job is to set up for the ceremony and this will be done on Saturday morning at 8.30am. To coin the old phrase, 'many hands make light work' and I'm hoping a good few brethren will come along to lend a hand. I'll be back soon!! |
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