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Ladies Festival 2010
This year saw a change of venue for the Lodges
Ladies Festival, a total of 68 guests, which included Lodge
members and friends with their ladies sought refuge in the
middle of Shakespeare country at The Billesley Manor Hotel on
the weekend of February 26th-28th where
Bro Matt Dennis hosted what proved out to be a very enjoyable
and successful Ladies Weekend. This
beautiful Elizabethan manor house is set deep in the
Warwickshire countryside situated three miles from
Stratford-Upon-Avon.
For those who arrived Friday
a magician entertained with his trickery and slight of hand
during the evening meal. On
Saturday many of the guests ventured away from the hotel taking
the opportunity to visit many of the surrounding attractions
including Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick Castle and Ann Hathaway’s
cottage.
The banquet
on Saturday evening was enjoyed by
all, with an array of entertaining speeches including the debut
public speeches from W. Bro Matt’s daughters Emily aged 8 and
Megan 10. The raffle and silent auction raised in excess of
£1000 for charity which is to be donated to The
Keech Cottage
Hospice for terminally ill children.
Included within the silent auction was a signed book from
J K Rowling which alone raised £300.
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£20,000 for Chile Earthquake
The President of The Freemasons' Grand Charity,
Grahame Elliott, has approved an emergency grant of £20,000 to
the Red Cross following a large earthquake in Chile. The
earthquake struck at 03.35 hours local time on 27 February 2010,
measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale. It is reported to be the
worst earthquake to hit the country in 25 years, and has been
followed by aftershocks of up to 6.9 magnitude. 802 people are
confirmed dead and over 2 million are believed to have been
affected.
The earthquake hit 90 kilometres north-east of the city of
Concepción in central Chile, and has reportedly caused
considerable damage to infrastructure in the Bíobío and Maule
regions. Many roads and buildings have been damaged,
particularly in coastal zones, while some areas continue to
suffer from power outages, though Santiago remains largely
unaffected. |
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Haiti Earthquake - £30,000 and
Relief Chest Opened - January 2010
Following
the devastating earthquake which took place in Haiti on Tuesday
12th January 2010, the President of the Freemasons' Grand
Charity has approved two emergency grants totalling £30,000.
The 7.3-magnitude quake, Haiti's worst in two centuries,
struck at 1653 local time (2153 GMT) on Tuesday. The epicentre
was within 10 miles of the centre of the densely-populated
capital, where around one million people live, more than 50,000
people are feared dead.
The Red Cross have pre-positioned relief supplies for 3,000
families in Haiti. These emergency supplies consist of kitchen
kits, shelter kits and tarpaulins, personal hygiene kits,
blankets and containers for storing drinking water. Red Cross
volunteers in Haiti are currently assisting the injured and
supporting hospitals who do not have enough capacity to deal
with this emergency. The most urgent needs at this time are
search and rescue, field hospitals, emergency health, water
purification, emergency shelter, logistics and
telecommunications.
On the 20th January 2010, in response to requests from
members of the Craft and as the extent of the devastation caused
by the earthquake in Haiti became clearer, the Council of The
Freemasons' Grand Charity opened a dedicated Relief Chest. This
centrally administered service is for those who would like their
donation for victims of the earthquake to be part of a
co-ordinated Masonic response.
Any individual Freemason or Lodge wishing to make a donation
via the Council's Relief Chest and in support of the longer-term
recovery efforts can do so by sending a cheque payable to "The
Freemasons' Grand Charity" to: Relief Chest Scheme, 60 Great
Queen Street, London WC2B 5AZ and noting that it is to be paid
into the Haiti
Earthquake 2010 Relief Chest No. E0125 |
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£650,000 for
Hospices Across
England and Wales
Continuing an annual programme of support, The
Freemasons’ Grand Charity is donating £500,000 to hospices
across England and Wales, in total 225 services will receive a
grant. In addition to this grant £150,000 was awarded to
Lifelites, to provide educational and recreation technology for
children in hospices.
The money is an important contribution towards the millions of
pounds needed each and every year to ensure these respected
services can continue providing free physical, emotional, social
and spiritual care to patients and their families.
Freemasons have been dedicated in their support for hospices
across England and Wales for the past 25 years, and this year
takes the total donations to the sector to more than £8
million, complementing the generosity Provincial and
individual Masonic Lodges regularly show for their local
services.
10/12/2009 |
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East Hertfordshire Lodge Supports Ian Rennie Hospice at Home
On March 25th 2009 members of East
Hertfordshire Lodge donated £700
to
Ian Rennie Hospice at Home.
The funds were raised at the recent Ladies weekend and
were added to the proceeds from a
variety of raffles at other events held
throughout the past year.
Ian Rennie Hospice at Home (IRHH)
was selected by Immediate Past Master W. Bro Alan Verney as his
chosen charity of the year. His choice was influenced by his
brother Clive whose wife Rita was cared for by the Iain Rennie
nurses. For 6 years prior to her death in 2008, Rita had been a
dedicated and popular volunteer in Iain Rennie's Tring shop.
The £700
cheque was presented to Liz Clarke by Alan and Clive Verney and
Ken Carbin.
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Installation Ceremony March 12th 2009
Our installation meeting this year was
attended by nearly eighty brethren including on behalf of the Province,
The Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master W. Bro Colin Harris.
They came to witness our Senior Warden, Bro Matthew Dennis being
installed as Master of the Lodge by his father W. Bro Michael Dennis.
Matthew was initiated in 2001, and
has steadily worked through the various offices eventually culminating
in the top job. Despite having had the opportunity of getting
there a year earlier it was his wish to have served in all the offices
prior to becoming Master and to this end W. Bro Alan Verney already
himself a past master, took the chair last year to enable this to
happen, at the same time allowing Michael to install his son.
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The emotionally charged
ceremony was conducted with both dignity and good humour, yet retained the
absolute solemnity befitting the occasion. It was a credit to all
those who took part.
Later on in the proceedings,
another landmark in the history of East Hertfordshire Lodge was noted by
the presentation of a Certificate of Service by The Right Worshipful
Provincial Grand Master to W. Bro Brian Mills, celebrating 50 years in
Freemasonry. All in all it was an unforgettable day. |
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Ladies Festival
2009
Our Festival this year was a return to the Hotel Miramar
Bournemouth from Friday 28th February to Sunday 1st
March and it was
blessed with the best weekend weather we have had this year - sunshine
all the way.
Initial problems with numbers posed
some concern as to whether the event could take place
this year due to the credit crunch.
However, we eventually managed to
sit a creditable 46 for the banquet and in
conversation afterwards it seemed that the
smaller numbers did not detract from a successful
event but on the contrary, enabled those
present to circulate more freely and meet friends both old and new.
The
President, W. Bro Alan Verney
was accompanied by his wife Shirley,
members of their family and their 10 month old
granddaughter, Jemima. They were
supported by Officers and Brethren of the Lodge along
with their families and friends which included four delightful
young ladies under 12 years of age being introduced to the established
standards of Ladies’ Festival etiquette.
That process enabled the President to “take
orange juice” with them during
dinenr!
During the evening,
various Raffle and Auction prizes were on offer, resulting in over £600
being raised for the Masters List.
The chosen Charity this year
was
The
Iain Rennie Hospice at Home
and a cheque presentation to
representatives of that very worthy cause will be arranged
shortly.
W.Bro Alan
would like to offer his sincere thanks to those members of the Lodge who
supported and contributed to such a successful Festival.
Some of the photos taken at the festival
banquet can be seen
here. |
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The Early History of East
Hertfordshire Lodge
Thanks to Honorary Member W. Bro Brian Mills, a
banquet program has come to light
produced in 1965 celebrating the 50th anniversary of East Hertfordshire
Lodge. This will be of great interest to
members of not only East Hertfordshire Lodge, but also of Masonic
historians and lodges throughout the Province of Hertfordshire.
The booklet
contains a
wealth of information regarding the early
days of East Hertfordshire Lodge and has
now been reproduced on this web site.
Click on the lodge emblem on the right to
view it. |
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Freemasons
Support
Victims of China 'Quake
The President of the Grand
Charity has approved a £20,000 grant to the
Red Cross to support relief efforts
following an
earthquake on May 12th 2008 measuring 7.8 in
south-western China. The Freemasons’ Grand
Charity is the first organisation to support
the British Red Cross’ response to the worst
earthquake to strike China in more than 30
years.
The Red Cross Society of
China’s local branches have been active in
the 48 hours following the quake providing
emergency relief to the affected areas,
including tents and blankets.
At the time of writing,
the official death toll stood at over 40,000
with over 250,000 people injured.
The grant of £20,000 from
The Freemasons’ Grand Charity will be an
important contribution to the continuing
rescue and relief efforts and is enough to
provide approximately 200 relief tents which
will provide shelter for many of those
affected and act as a first aid point to
treat casualties and also 850 quilts. |
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Myanmar
(Burma) Cyclone
Following
Cyclone Nargis
in Burma the President
of the
Grand Charity
has announced an emergency grant of £20,000
will be made available to
Save the Children
to help provide
much needed aid to the victims of this
terrible disaster.
The Freemasons’ Grand Charity
is also in discussions with District Grand
Lodges in the affected region to identify
what support it may be able to provide to
their own efforts.
More than 32,000 people
are now believed to have been killed by the
high winds and resulting tidal surge which
struck on May 2nd 2008
destroying homes, crops and infrastructure.
Following the Cyclone,
Save the Children
quickly redirected the efforts of 500 staff
already in the Country from work on
longer-term projects to the emergency relief
response and essential supplies including
food and clean water have already been
distributed to over 100,000 people.
The grant of £20,000 from
The Freemasons’ Grand
Charity will be an important contribution to this
ongoing work and is enough to provide
plastic sheeting for temporary accommodation
to 1,400 families, including around 33,000
children.
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£530 for Macmillan Nurses
W. Bros Mick Dennis and Alan Verney are seen here
presenting the remainder of the money raised from the
Ladies Festival to Carla Poole, Hertfordshire Community
Fundraiser for
Macmillan Cancer Support.
The presentation took place on 22nd April 2008 at the
Hertfordshire fundraising office based in Welwyn.
Macmillan improves the lives of people
affected by cancer. They help
with all the things that sufferers
both want and
need, from specialist health
care and information, to
practical, emotional and financial support.
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Donation to Keetch Cottage Childrens Hospice
On
16th April 2008 W. Bro Mick Dennis presented a cheque on behalf of East
Hertfordshire Lodge for £530 to
Keech Cottage
Children's Hospice.
The hospice supports families from across Hertfordshire
and Bedfordshire who
are caring for a child or young person diagnosed with a life
limiting condition. Such illnesses sadly
prevent most of these young people from reaching adulthood. The staff
offer medical and social care, emotional support and friendship
to the whole family, throughout the child's illness and after their
death, for as long as it is needed. This
valuable care is provided free of
charge to families in need, regardless
of race, religion or culture.
Pictured with Mick
is Janice O'Neill -
Community Fundraiser and Stephanie Bullen
- Staff Nurse. |
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Installation March 13th 2008
W. Bro Alan Verney
was installed as Master of East Hertfordshire Lodge by outgoing Master W
Bro Mick Dennis. It was the culmination of a very successful and
enjoyable year for both Mick and the Lodge and we look forward to an
equally happy time with Alan at the helm.
To mark the occasion,
photographs were taken of both Mick and Alan with the officers and
members of the lodge. Click on the thumbnail images below to see
the full size pictures...
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W. Bro Mick Dennis Master 2007-2008
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W. Bro Alan Verney Master 2008-2009
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Ladies Festival
2008 A total of 64
guests, comprising Lodge members and friends
with their Ladies, once more descended on
the Miramar Hotel in Bournemouth
on the weekend of February 22nd - 24th
where W. Bro Mick Dennis presided over
what proved to be a wonderful ladies
weekend.
The Miramar commands a prime location
situated on the sea front at East Cliff. The
food and accommodation provided are of a
very high standard and as usual W. Bro
Alan Verney did a marvellous job in both
organising the weekend and in his role as Master of Ceremonies.
Th e weekend kicked
off on the Friday evening with a race night which
was an outstanding success
as not only being
entertaining but also productive in
serving to boost the money raised for charity .
The Banquet on Saturday
Evening was most enjoyable, with
speeches relevant, entertaining and enlightening .
The dinner was duly rounded
off with dancing to a live band .
Altogether the race night on the
Friday with the raffle and silent auction
on the Saturday resulted in a total amount
raised for charity of £1060 .00.
This is to be divided between
Keetch Cottage Children's Hospice
and The
Macmillan Nurses.
Both charities which were chosen by the Lady
President , Mrs Pauline Dennis.
A selection of the photographs from the
weekend can be found
here.
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East Herts Lodge Donates
£550 to the Isabel Hospice
Following on from our successful Ladies Weekend in February, W
Bros Ron Barlow and Mick Dennis presented a cheque for £550 to
the Isabel Hospice based in Welwyn Garden City Hertfordshire.
The
presentation was made on 26th April 2007 to Phillipa Grainger pictured
here with Ron and Mick. The Hospice provides invaluable assistance
throughout Eastern Hertfordshire to enhance the quality of life for
patients living with cancer and other life limiting illnesses.
Their services include Day Hospice care for up 60 patients each week,
two satellite day hospices, "Hospice at Home", a family support service
and a 16 bed In-patient Hospice and a Bereavement Service. This is
provided through a team of Community Nurse Specialists supported by a
fully trained team of volunteers.
To find
out more about the Isabel Hospice, go
here. |
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2009 Festival - East
Hertfordshire Lodge Achieves Grand Patronage Status
Due wholly to the
generosity of our members, East Hertfordshire Lodge has now achieved the
elite rank of Grand Patron of the 2009 Provincial Grand Lodge of
Hertfordshire festival.
The Certificate of Grand Patronage was
presented in open Lodge by Assistant Provincial Grand Master W. Bro Paul
Gower to our new Worshipful Master W. Bro Mick Dennis on the afternoon
of his installation into the chair on 8th March 2007.
On an
individual level, we are now pleased to note that many of our members
have achieved, Steward, Vice Patron and even Patron status, based upon
their charitable contributions leading up to the festival. To find
out more about this and what it means, go
here. |
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Ladies Weekend 2007
East Hertfordshire Lodge
Ladies Festival was hosted this year at the Hotel Miramar in Bournemouth
during the weekend of 9th -11th February 2007.
The event, organized by
Alan Verney on behalf of this years President W. Bro. Ron Barlow and his
Lady, Sue, was very well attended. So much so that the hotel was
filled to capacity requiring a further hotel to be utilized
to accommodate the overflow of guests. A great weekend ensued,
culminating in the Gala dinner on the Saturday night. All agreed
that the evening was a huge success and that they were very well looked
after by the Miramar management and staff. Excellent food, good
music and first class company ensured a memorable night, even leading to
the subject of next years event being discussed in various quarters
before the night was over!
A vast selection of
raffle prizes were generously donated which enabled the total money
raised for charitable giving to amount to a very respectable £1,100.
To see a selection of
photographs from the Ladies Festival click
here.
If any attendees wish
to add more pictures please send them to the webmaster (see the contacts
page for his email address). |
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Masonry Overseas
In
April 2006, two members
of East Hertfordshire Lodge were fortunate enough to be selected to take
part in the consecration of a new English speaking Lodge in Bulgaria
after having previously visited Sofia in July of the previous year to demonstrate the full
Emulation ritual comprising the 3 degrees and installation ceremony.
Read the full MQ
Magazine article
here.
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Please in the first instance
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the webmaster for consideration.
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