Leigh Lodge No 4744 is a member of the Wigan and Leigh Group, and for its installation, the lodge brethren were honoured on the occasion by the presence of Assistant Provincial Grand Master Jonathan Heaton, accompanied by Frank Willkinson, Past Assistant Provincial Grand Master.
Also, in attendance accompanying Jonathan were grand officers Geoffrey Bent and Len Hart, Ian Green the group chairman and Mike Purcell the group vice chairman, acting Provincial Junior Grand Deacon David Pickles and acting Provincial Grand Steward Ryan Mangnall.
The lodge was opened in the usual competent manner by the WM Shane Hopkins, after which the lodge DC, Stephen Gerrard retired from the lodge and on his return announced that outside the door of the lodge stood Jonathan Mark Heaton, AProvGM, the representative of the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews, together with grand and Provincial Grand Officers.
Shane formally welcomed Jonathan to the lodge and thanked him for joining the lodge for their installation ceremony. Shane then offered Jonathan the gavel of the lodge, to which Jonathan said thank you but, on this occasion, he would hand it back.
David Edmondson, the mater elect, was presented by the DC to the WM and was installed into the chair of King Solomon in a calm and competent manner by Shane. At the conclusion of the ceremony Jonathan rose to give greetings on behalf of the ProvGM and congratulated David on his installation and thanked Shane for everything he had done for the lodge.
David thanked Jonathan for his kind words and then presented him with a list of charitable donations that the lodge has made. The donations were as follows; Lilford District Scouts £200, Daddys with Angels £200, Blood Bikes £200, Blessings in Disguise £200 and Astley Youth Band £200, making a grand total of £1,000. Jonathan thanked David and the brethren of the lodge for their very generous donations.
After the first rising, the DC then called on those distinguished brethren to accompany Jonathan by forming the recession out of the lodge, after which David, in a competent manner, closed the lodge in peace and harmony to continue the celebrations at the festive board.
At the festive board, Jonathan thanked the brethren of the lodge for their hospitality and told the story of how David had asked if he would be the principal guest at his installation before becoming an AProvGM for another group and how this was a promise he was determined to keep. Jonathan also congratulated Garry Bryon, Steve Ralph and Mick O’Brien on their recent field promotions to PPJGW, Glenn Bryon on his upcoming promotion to ProvGStwd and Paul Hook to PPDepGSuptWks.
Shane gave the toast to the heath of David, which was written by and on behalf of David’s son Martin, who sadly was unable to be in attendance. To round off the evening, David presented Jonathan with a lovely bouquet of flowers on behalf of the lodge. All in all, a wonderful evening for all in attendance.
