With a packed lodge room at Blackpool Masonic Hall the members of North Shore Lodge No 7916 and their guests awaited the arrival of Mark Matthews, Provincial Grand Master of the Province of West Lancashire. It was also a big day for the Potter family as dad, Paul, was to be installed as WM for the ensuing year; his elder son Jordan was to be appointed senior warden; and not to be left out, his younger son Harry was to be appointed a steward.
With the lodge administration completed it was time for Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies, Rob Fitzsimmons to enter the lodge and advise that the Provincial Grand Master demanded admission. WM Drew Fraser was pleased to welcome his distinguished guest, who was supported by a strong contingent of grand and acting Provincial grand officers. Foremost of the supporting team was Assistant Provincial Grand Master Duncan Smith, along with the Senior and Junior Provincial Grand Wardens Michael Tax and David Rigby. Accompanying them was Blackpool group Chairman Steve Jelly.
Unusually, after the customary salutations, Drew presented Mark Mathews with the cheques and donations list for the previous year’s charitable giving. These Mark announced to the brethren as follows: Blackpool Fylde and Wyre Haemochromatosis Support Group £500, Pancreatic cancer £400, Brian House £400, Blue Skies £400, Streetlife £100, Tommy Sleep Out for Military Veterans £65, West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity £640, Blackpool Carers £500. A total of £3005. Mark then thanked the lodge brethren for their their very generous donations.
Drew then announced the main business of the day and invited the Provincial Grand Wardens to act as the installing wardens for the ceremony. The master elect was then presented for installation by Gordon Thomson and Drew proceeded with the opening address, during which he called upon lodge secretary John Guest to read to Paul and receive his assent to the ancient charges and regulations. Having acquiesced to all of these, Paul approached the WM’s pedestal and recited his obligation.
The ceremony then proceeded with Drew and Tony Lea sharing the installation duties to fine effect. Once Paul had been installed the working tools of an installed master were presented by Len Jolley, those in the third degree were presented by Tony Lea. A touching scene then followed as Paul’s son Harry presented the second degree tools in fine style and his other son, Jordan, presented those in the first degree with calm confidence.
The address to the master was then delivered with some feeling by Raymon Ashton. He was followed by Michael Tax who delivered a polished address to the wardens. David Rigby delivered the address to the brethren of the lodge, again in fine style. The address to the stewards was delivered by Bob Marsden, a Provincial Grand Steward.
With visible relief Drew then advised that the ceremony of installation was complete, which was the customary signal for the principal guest to convey greetings to the lodge and congratulations to the new WM and wish him good health for the coming year. Mark Matthews also congratulated those who had taken part in the delivery of a fine ceremony and praised the work of director of ceremonies, Ron Strangwick for his guidance of the brethren throughout. These sentiments were echoed later by Michael Tax on behalf of the Provincial grand officers at the festive board.
With the main meeting completed everyone retired to the bar and most proceeded to a fine festive board of duck liver pate, roast chicken and strawberry cheesecake. The fine food was followed by the customary toasts. In reply to Duncan Smith’s toast to his health, Mark Matthews repeated his congratulations to the new WM and to the lodge in general. He also discussed membership, thanking everyone for their help in bringing 350 new members into the Province in the last 12 months; he also spoke of the need to encourage members to join the Royal Arch and hoped that a rise to 50% of craft members could become members of chapters in the Province, adding that talks can be arranged for lodges wishing to arrange them through the Provincial office. He also encouraged the members to return to the time-honoured practice of visiting other lodges and arranging socials. He also invited members to attend Provincial Grand Lodge at the forthcoming annual meeting, where 50 plus light blues had been invited to attend. Most importantly he thanked Michael Tax, who is a member of North Shore Lodge, for all his support, work and commitment during his year as the Provincial Senior Grand Warden. He described Michael’s conduct in post as outstanding. Mark concluded by urging members to use the services of the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity whenever the need arose.
During his toast to the WM, Drew Fraser spoke of Paul’s proposer and mentor, Gordon Thomson, of his family both in and out of Masonry and the pride he had in seeing Paul installed. His speech was followed by the master’s song which was sung with customary aplomb by Peter Baldwin, who was accompanied on piano by Roy James, who is the Provincial Deputy Grand Organist. In his response Paul enthused over seeing so many brethren in attendance. He thanked everyone involved in this brilliant ceremony and thanked the members of the lodge for all of their advice and support in the months leading up to this occasion, in particular, Len Jolley, who had been the font of much advice. He concluded by presenting Drew with his past master’s jewel, then Mark Matthews with flowers for his wife, Debbie, plus a bottle of spirit for himself.
The evening’s proceedings were brought to a close by Juan Topping, who proposed the tyler’s toast.
