Scorton at the Double
 
Scorton Mark Lodge No 1103 meets at the purpose built masonic hall nestling on the banks of the Lancaster Canal at The Moorings, Garstang. But despite this wonderful facility the lodge has over recent years struggled to attract members. That is until a very pro-active approach to encourage non- marked men to attend a presentation about the degree revealed a seam of potential members. With as many as 10 candidates suddenly on the books the presentation has been suspended and considerations turned towards dealing with this influx.
Alan Gregory, Michael Frankland, Robert Bradshaw, Frank Hogarth and Giles Berkley
The first step taken was to call an emergency meeting in order to advance two of the
candidates, namely Michael Frankland and Robert Bradshaw.
 
Of course fitting in extra meetings when both the hall is available and all members can attend is not without its problems. In the event other commitments meant some members could not be present with volunteers being required to fill the breech caused by their absence.
The new members with their fellow Mark Master Masons.
Worshipful Master Frank Hogarth undertook the first part of the advancement. He then handed over the reins to Alan Gregory of Morecambe Mark No 716. Following the presentation of the badge and jewel the rest of the advancement was undertaken by DPGM Giles Berkley of Bispham with Norbreck Mark Lodge No. 866. All played their part well with the three different styles of delivery complementing each other.
 
Others too made guest appearances with Peter Quirk and Jim Richards of Jubilee Mark Lodge No 375 putting in stints as, respectively, senior and junior overseers. The Furness Mark Lodge No 36 was represented by your northern correspondent who acted as master overseer (the noise you can hear is the scraping of the bottom of the barrel for this appointment). Senior deacon John Nelson had probably the hardest job in shepherding two candidates through the unusual ceremony. He coped admirably and can reflect on a job well done.
 
So it can be seen that in addition to the home lodge there were members of four other lodges involved in the ceremony making it a great team effort. Special mention is warranted in the case of Martin Swarbrick who not only stepped from behind his secretary’s desk to take up the mantle of director of ceremonies but also stood in as junior deacon.
Giles Berkley, Michael Frankland, Frank Hogarth, Robert Bradshaw and Alan Gregory.
As some who are not yet Mark Master Masons may read this it is difficult to go into detail about the unusual ritual employed to advance two candidates in this manner. I can however reveal that the candidates were together for the majority of the time with joint custody of the keystone. However following the decision of the master overseer one of them retired and they each went through that part involving the junior warden on their own. It seemed to work well and both Michael and Robert were later to say how much they had enjoyed it.
 
The meeting apart from being extremely enjoyable and displaying all the friendliness of the Magic of the Mark also illustrated two other points. Firstly that there are men who would like to join this wonderful degree if a pro-active approach is adopted – don’t wait for them to come to you. And secondly, no lodge is on its own - there always others available to help with the work if circumstances so dictate.
 
As Giles was later to observe, “It was a delight to be invited to take part in the ceremony. It was a real pleasure to be part of what were the 98th and 99th advancements in the province this year. The members of Scorton are to be congratulated for their efforts and they should now be looking towards the future with great confidence.”
 
A thoroughly enjoyable meal followed the proceedings in the lodge with happy banter filling the room as usual.
 
Next up for Scorton? Look out for the announcement of a further emergency meeting in August in order to advance two further recruits into the order.
 
Words and pictures by Dave Sear