A clubhouse full of excited youngsters, a rugby league mascot causing happy chaos, and a brand-new set of shirts handed out one by one; the Portico Panthers’ kit presentation night had it all, thanks to the Masonic Charitable Foundation and the members of Lodge of Hospitality No 5074.
There are some evenings that stay with you, and for the young players of the Portico Panthers, this was surely one of them. The club gathered at their clubhouse for a very special shirt presentation night, at which the youngsters were handed the smart new playing and training kit generously funded by the Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) and the members of Lodge of Hospitality. But before a single shirt changed hands, there was the small matter of a feast to enjoy, hot dogs, chips and cold drinks, laid on by the Panthers club, were disappearing at the remarkable speed only hungry young athletes can manage.
Then came the moment the children had been waiting for. As Boots, the St Helens mascot, bounded into the clubhouse, the room erupted in screams of delight. Alongside the guest of honour, Dave Atkinson, Chairman of the Mersey Valley Group, Boots worked the room, chatting to every child and posing for photographs. If truth be told, Boots was the star of the show, and Dave was the first to admit it, perfectly content to watch the beaming faces light up around the big mascot. “The smiles on their faces were fantastic,” he said, and no one was arguing.
For many of the youngsters, it was a second brush with the big time in as many weeks. Only days earlier, they had been invited to carry the flag onto the pitch before the Saints clashed with Toulouse, then take to the field themselves for a junior game at half-time, a memory they will treasure for years to come.
With tummies full and excitement at fever pitch, it was time for the main event. One by one, the young players were called forward to collect their numbered shirts from Dave and Boots, each one stepping up a little taller than the last. The pride on every face was a joy to behold. As Dave put it: “It’s moments like this that make it all worthwhile.”
As the evening drew to a close, Michael McBride and Kevin O’Connell, past master and charity steward of the Lodge of Hospitality, came over to thank Dave for giving up his time to present the shirts. Ever gracious, Dave turned the compliment straight back, insisting it was Michael and Kevin who had done the real work in making the night happen, and in showing, quietly and without fuss, that West Lancashire Freemasons truly do care for their community.
It is a simple thing, a new shirt. But for a young player pulling it on for the first time, it is a badge of belonging, and behind it stands a group of men whose founding values of Integrity, Friendship, Respect and Service were on full display that night. Freemasonry, after all, is about making good men better, and about the good they can do together. On the evidence of one very happy clubhouse in St Helens, that work is in very safe hands.