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I WAS TAUGHT TO BE COURTEOUS!
The Provincial Officers Mess held at the Winter Gardens, Margate on
Thursday 27th March , was a thoroughly enjoyable and very informative
evening. During his address, the Provincial Grand Master passionately
exhorted members to practice the common courtesy ever encouraged through
membership of this fraternity.
Having renewed old friendships at the bar, members of the Mess were invited
to dine, and enjoyed a substantial three course dinner before Toasting the
Queen and relaxing back in their seats for the speeches.
The first speaker was EComp Reg Walter, who in the absence of WBro Peter
Brooshooft on other Masonic Business, was acting as Deputy President of the
Mess. He entertained and informed in equal measure, taking the opportunity to
congratulate WBro Malcolm Brooks upon his forthcoming active appointments at
Grand Lodge and Supreme Grand Chapter. EComp Walter spoke at length in
glowing terms about the work and dedication of the Provincial Grand Master.
He reminisced about a challenge set him some years ago whilst on professional
training at Harvard Business School, when he was tasked to select just two
words which would accurately and best describe a given person or activity,
and reflected that he would repeat that task with respect to RWBro Bailey.
The two words he decided upon were UTTERLY COMMITTED which surely offer an
accurate description of the Provincial Grand Master's dedication to the well
being, reputation and usefulness of our Province.
EComp Walter referred to the three main principles behind the Provincial
Grand Master's Mission Statement, namely:
• Recognition of a changing world
• Planning for the future
• Planning for the involvement and enjoyment of members and their families
East Kent has the second largest headcount of all Provinces in England, and
it is imperative to utilise the skills and knowledge contained within that
large body of members to the benefit of the Province and the membership -
present and future.
With the clear approbation of all present, EComp Walter stated that the
energy and enthusiasm to drive that mission forward is amply provided by The
Provincial Grand Master.
The next speaker was RWBro Michael Bailey, Provincial Grand Master and
President of the Mess. He began by thanking his joint Executives and
commented how privileged he felt to be a part of such a wonderful team
effort, going on to give apologies for unavoidable absence from RWBro John
Bonomy, VWBro Peter Brooshooft, and WBro John Grumbridge, all of whom were
engaged on other masonic business.
Having extended a very a warm welcome to the new members of the Mess, the
President went on to share some news, information, and thoughts.
• The mentoring programme was gathering excellent momentum and was now
"moving forward at a pace" at 18 Centres across the Province.
• A strategic paper has been prepared for the Royal Arch in the Province by
the Executive (and especially EComps Martin Ransom and Brian Barden, the
Second and Third Provincial Grand Principals respectively) which will be
presented at the Chapter Festival Convocation on 15th May.
• Lodge Secretaries are encouraged to be more informative when delivering
Provincial news and details of Provincial events during the Risings - for
example "I have details here if any member is interested" is not acceptable.
• General standards of behaviour and manners are falling in today's society,
and Freemasons are greatly encouraged to be seen to be better than that.
Simple courtesies should be observed at all times. One example of this
unacceptable falling of standards is the number of members who do not even
have the common courtesy to offer apologies for non-attendance at Lodge
meetings.
• The recent Almoners meeting was very well attended. The formation of a
Ladies Circle for widows across the Province is greatly encouraged.
• The Freemasons Grand Charity has given £1.5 million during the last year to
non-masonic causes, and members of the Mess are encouraged to extend that
intelligence far and wide.
• The launch dinner of the 2014 Festival will take place on 26th September,
at which time the Festival Target will be announced.
• Lodges are strongly asked not to start meetings too early, especially
Installation Meetings, so that working members are more easily able to
attend. Installation Meetings can be shortened by, for example, not
calling-off, not presenting the Working Tools, asking the Rep to congratulate
new WM on behalf of everyone, etc., etc.. 3.30 starts are strongly
discouraged. 5.00pm is put forward as a reasonable start time. It is the
Provincial Grand Master's express and personal wish that Lodges strongly
consider this item.
• Lodges and Chapters are further encouraged to consider breaking ceremonies
up into smaller sections so that work can be shared between a number of
members, thus enabling those whose lives are too busy for them to be able to
learn all the ritual at once to have the opportunity to go through the Chair
with the active support of the Lodge. The example was given of an Initiation
Ceremony where the work was carried out in part by the Worshipful Master, and
with the active participation of four other members.
The President then invited brief updates from members of the Executive as
follows:
WBro Charles Boxer explained that an initial Planning Grant of £8K had been
received from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The next stage was to present an
Audience Development Plan which was already under construction. WBro Roland
Wade has been elected as Vice Chairman of the Trust. A video of the museum is
available to view on the provincial web site. The library is preparing for
the Historical Records Project.
WBro Brian Powell gave a run-down of the provincial web site, and also
discussed the roles of the Provincial Information Officer and his team across
the Province, urging members to increase support of their important work. He
would like to hear from people to enhance the PR and Communications structure
of the Province, and anyone with web development skills, or backgrounds in PR
and Media, or copy-writers etc., are encouraged to contact him via the
Provincial Office.
WBro Tony Denne thanked Lodges and individuals for their generosity to non-masonic
causes, stating that more than £200,000 was given during 2007. He requested
that Lodges please set their targets for the 2014 Festival without delay, and
certainly by the end of April. The launch dinner for the festival will be
very well subscribed by Masters and Charity Stewards with their ladies, but
some "reserve" seats might be available, and members are encouraged to get
their name on the reserve list very soon. WBro Denne concluded by thanking
everyone for their tremendous support during his tenure as Provincial Charity
Steward, and requested that a similar level of support be realised for his
successor WBro Stewart Cale.
The Right Worshipful President of the Mess then gave his thanks to the Lodges
and individual Members who have so far contributed to his Appeal Fund for the
office move, stating that £70K has already been received, and that by the
time the appeal ends in the autumn, it is hoped that sufficient money will
have been received to avoid any requirement for bank borrowing.
WBro Roger Odd, Provincial Grand Secretary then gave a short presentation on
the development of the museum and the forthcoming office move.
Click here for
full details of the presentation slide show (Picture slides are slow to
load)
The excellent evening ended with Provincial Junior Grand Warden, WBro Nick
Waller, proposing the health of the President of the Mess.
WBro Roger Waltham
Editor of The Provincial
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