Page 8 - Essex Mason Issue 85

Provincial

The Essex Provincial Grand Stewards Mess
Makes a Ruler’s Coup By Phillip Walker
Mess Secretary

he informal twice yearly gathering of past and present members of Essex Provincial
TGrand Stewards Lodge and Chapter met on Friday 14th of September for the late
Summer Mess at Hutton Masonic Hall.
The evening was Chaired by E.Comp Laurie Justice PGStB First Principal of the Essex Provincial
Grand Stewards Chapter with over 90 Brethren in attendance.
An excellent meal was enjoyed by all and a very interesting talk which was created and delivered
by W.Bro Paul Masters titled, “The End of the Age of Innocence”, a reflection on the years of the
Great War, its Masonic casualties and the rebuilding of the Craft.

The evening raffle raised £500 of which £450 was donated to the Essex 2022 Festival and £50 to W.Bro Paul Masters, a member
of the Comrades Lodge 2976 Paul choice of charity was BLESMA, the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association.
The evening was honoured by the presence of Mess members, the R.W. Provincial Grand Master for, and Grand Superintendent
in and over Essex, Rodney Lister Bass OBE, Past Provincial Grand Masters R.W.Bro. Col Sir Neil Thorne OBE TD DL and R.W.Bro. John Webb DSEM,
Deputy Provincial Grand Master V.W.Bro Paul Reeves PGSwdB and Deputy Grand Superintendent E.Comp Cliff Thoms PGSwdB.

Upminster’s
1st Lodge Cluster Meeting in Nearly 20 Years
By: W.Bro. John Mansfield.

On Wednesday 7th November 2018 the Sylvan Lodge – 6381
hosted a Lodge Cluster meeting, the first in almost 20 years,
for those smaller Lodges that meet at The Square in Upminster.
The purpose of holding this Cluster meeting was instigated
by W.Bro. John Mansfield PPJGW, Sylvan Lodge No 6381 and
W.Bro. Bill Caten Little Heath Lodge No. 5935 in late February
of 2018. The rationale broadly being;

• To enable Brethren to join together • Brethren more involved in
to increase their Masonic knowledge Freemasonry
• To enjoy each other’s • An opportunity of visiting other
companionship lodges
• Provide a good opportunity to • Brethren involved in bigger
rekindle old friendships meetings.
• Catalyst for new friends • As well as raising funds for FEST0222
As you can imagine a lot of hard work, planning and organising went into this event to ensure a successful
outcome. As a result the event was very well supported. The Provincial Executive gave their full support
to this great initiative and in attendance were Very Worshipful Provincial Deputy Grand Master Bro. Paul
Reeves, PGSwdB, W.Bro. Peter Hollingsworth, PSGD, APGM (for Sylvan Lodge), W.Bro. Lee Taylor, ProvGDC,
with other members of the Provincial Executive team, and Grand Officers.
Furthermore, the meeting saw some 27 Lodges with an attendance in excess of 100 Brethren which
exceeded my overall target! Our Guest speaker was W. Bro. Mark Smith, ProvSGD, who added to the event’s success with a talk on;“In Pectore Robur”
(Heart of Oak) which was very informative, interesting and entertaining.
The Very Worshipful Provincial Deputy Grand Master Bro. Paul Reeves, PGSwdB was presented with a cheque for over £1200 for FEST2022. A great
achievement – many thanks for all your support. The afternoon’s proceedings were rounded off by a fantastic Festive Board created by the Head Chef – Gary
Mitchell and his team. The whole event enjoyed a great atmosphere and camaraderie.
An important part of any Cluster meeting is to keep it going ‘year on year’ to ensure all Lodges reap the benefit from an event of this importance. So
needing a small piece of inspiration on how we might help achieve I looked no further than the Olympic games! As we know the Olympic flame was first
introduced into our Modern Olympics at the 1928 Amsterdam Games. Since then, the flame has been passed from host nation to host nation and come to
symbolize “the light of spirit, knowledge, and life.” Therefore, the ‘flame’ for our Cluster meeting - a plaque was presented to the 2019 host Lodge – Little
Heath No 5935 to ensure we keep The Square at Upminster Cluster meeting continuing for many years, and to become a regular and memorable event
in your masonic calendar. A note for your diary, next year’s Cluster meeting will be held on Thursday 5th September 2019.

Masonic Trout & Salmon Fishers

13 Intrepid Masons volunteered on Tuesday 18th September to show
an equal number of disabled youngsters from an Essex school how
to fish for trout at Chigbro fisheries.

The event was organised by the Masonic trout & salmon fishing trust,
Provincial APGM Charles Elliot attended to watch and present the
prizes after a superb barbecue run by the proprietors of the location.
Every youngster went home with a fish. They all seemed to enjoy
themselves as the pictures show.

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