Due to a postponement of Bootle Pilgrims installation, there was an unavoidably reduced number of officers and members in attendance for the proclamation of Steven Payne, which was expertly resolved by the director of ceremonies Stephen Oliver.
Following confirmation that the dispensation had been received for the meeting, Stephen sought permission from the WM to retire and form the procession of the Provincial representative Roy Pyne, accompanied by the Ormskirk and Bootle Group Chairman Graham Chambers and Mark Holloway.
After greetings and salutations had been completed, the master, having previously been installed, was proclaimed and then appointed his officers. Three of whom were light blue brethren who are now progressing through the various offices of the lodge on their pathway to the master’s chair, Graham Daly, who unfortunately could not attend will be invested as senior warden at the next regular meeting as well as Paul Johnston as inner guard and Philip Lawton being invested as senior deacon. To complete the light blue progression, three brethren, Chris Jones, James Goodwin and Ricky Lawton, were invested as stewards of the lodge, which indicates the effectiveness of the recent recruitment initiative.
As many of the offices were retained, there were only addresses to the wardens and deacons which were flawlessly presented by Simon Gray. The address to the brethren of the lodge was given by Roy Pyne, who then expressed the sincere best wishes of the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews, that we all have a very enjoyable evening and that we continue to enjoy the brotherhood of Freemasonry. He went on to acclaim the ceremony and wished the brethren to enjoy the evening as much as he was.
Prior to his sitting Steven presented Roy with cheques to the value of £750 to benefit the Air Ambulance, 12th Bootle Scout Group, Tithebarn, Street Life Trust and FROTH. All of which were accepted with appreciation on behalf of the eventual recipients. It was also noted that during the year the lodge had previously gave cheques to West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity for £1,473 at its 150th celebration and £307.70 to the food bank appeal.
The installation having ended the business of the lodge resumed and the charities were honoured. Following the first rising, the Provincial representative and dignitaries and were assembled to regress from the lodge to take their refreshments prior to the festive board.
Before the 23 brethren gathered at the festive board to celebrate the proclamation of Steven Payne as master of the lodge, Graham Chambers assembled all the brethren at the drink’s reception as it’s usual in the Province for the representative to give a toast to the WM. Roy also gave a sincere thanks to the secretary Russell Skidmore and director of ceremonies Stephen Oliver for the hard work they had done putting together the evening. The joyous congregation of brethren then enjoyed a well-chosen mackerel pate followed by pork steaks topped with a delicious cider and leek rarebit and an unusual dessert of pineapple upside down pudding, accompanied with wine and followed by coffee and mints which were all well prepared, received and presented by the hall’s diligent staff.
Between the toasts, the treasurer announced that the alms plate had raised £45 and the raffle had raised £185 for future gifting. In response to his toast, Roy again gave thanks to the lodge brethren for their generous charitable donation He went on to say that we can all be confident that the Province is also very cautious in its own grant distributions and that it thoroughly investigates a charity reserves and salary levels prior to gifting to ensure that our monies are put to effective use.
He reported that the Freemasons charitable giving was the second largest amount in the country. We gifted £45,000,000 last year, but he said that the organisation needed to be further maintained and developed to which end Roy emphasised the need for recruitment, retention and the attraction of returnees. The recruitment Pathway had been successful but in the past 40 years, membership in the province had declined from 36,000 to 6,000, the Pathway Initiative had helped towards reducing our age profile. White table events, general activities, social events, encouraging the light blue clubs and making enquiries for the return of lapsed Masons could all help towards growth since further decline and reduced charitable giving would be a great loss to the region and the nation.
The shadows of night drawing on and the evening’s festivities coming to an end, the chaplain rose to say Grace which appropriately reminded us of the plentiful and exquisite festive board we had all enjoyed in friendship and trust, but cautioned that we should be ever mindful of the unhappy and less fortunate since the scourge of sadness and need is ever present. Finally, the tyler’s toast was given after which the brethren then slowly departed in satisfied friendship, harmony and peace.