John Hayes was installed as WM of Torrisholme Lodge No 5245 in the presence of Past Provincial Grand Master Tony Harrison. Tony was accompanied by Provincial Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies Rob Fitzsimmons and grand officers; John Robson, Neil McGill and Paul Broadley.
Also in attendance were Scott Devine, the Chairman of Lancaster and District Group and group secretary Daniel Crossley, along with Provincial Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies Larry Branyan; Provincial Assistant Grand Superintendent of Works Paul Dent and Provincial Grand Steward Andy McClements.
The lodge was opened by WM Graham Taylor who conducted the installation ceremony together with assistant director of ceremonies John Bates. The installing officers were, senior warden Marion Korzeniowski, WM of Morecambe Lodge No 1561, junior warden Daren Reeve WM of Heysham Lodge No 4108 and inner guard Matt Catlow WM of Poulton le Sands Lodge No 1051. The master elect was presented for installation by his proposer Chris Dent.
Brian Dewhurst presented the working tools of an installed master. The third degree working tools were presented by John Bates, the second degree working tools by Kevin Hodgson and the first degree working tools by Paul Marshall. The WM appointed Dave Tarbun as senior warden and Paul Marshall as junior warden.
The address to the master was given by John Bates, to the wardens by Paul Dent, to the brethren of Torrisholme Lodge by Tony Harrison and to the stewards by Andy McClements. Tony Harrison was presented with a list of donations that the lodge had made to Masonic and non-Masonic charities totalling £1,700. Tony thanked the brethren of the lodge for their generosity.
The organist was David Tattersall and the Master’s Song was performed by John Bates. A total of 59 brethren attended the festive board. The raffle raised £460 plus £55 from the Master’s Swindle. The toast to the WM was given by Chris Dent.
WM John Hayes was born in County Wexford, Ireland, in 1947. He came to work in England in 1963 to join his sister in Ellesmere Port. His first job was working in a coal yard during the hard winter that year. John worked in the coal yard for three years and then worked at Shell Stanlow and then Calor Gas, where he met his wife Valerie who he married in 1968.
John became an operator at Associated Octel and remained there for 10 years before employment in the Middle East and various other countries. John came to Morecambe Bay to work on the gas rigs in 1983 and after eight years he was offered a nine month contract in Scotland which turned out to be for 18 years. John retired to look after Valerie who was in poor health, and she sadly passed away in 2012.
John joined Heysham Golf Club and met a lot of nice people. He also does voluntary work at the St Patricks Church and cuts the grass to keep it looking tidy. John is also a bingo caller and cooks meals for the homeless on Wednesday evenings in addition to doing home visits to people who are not able to get out. John is the almoner for Torrisholme Lodge and is kept busy!
John was proposed as a candidate for initiation by Chris Dent in January 2015 and was passed and raised in February and March of 2016. He is a member of Lancaster Castle Chapter No 5952 and another Masonic Order.
