The Right Worshipful Provincial Grand Master, Peter Connolly Congratulates |
Bro Alan Foster on completing his mission to visit every WL Mark lodge (60) , |
and is glad he found them in such good heart. |
'And the Lights Went Out on Alan Foster’s Trek Round the 60 Mark Lodges' |
It was supposed to be a happy occasion with another Advancement ceremony, but the visit to my 60th |
West Lancashire Province Mark Lodge, Semper Fidelis No. 880, was a memorable anticlimax. Arriving early |
at the St Anne’s Masonic Hall, the electricity failed just as we were walking in the building. Local workers |
had severed the power cable and a return to power was estimated as being after midnight. For safety |
reasons the ceremony had to be cancelled and the Lodge opened, conducted a minimum of business and |
then closed, all under the light from hastily assembled candles. I will obviously have to visit Semper |
Fidelis on another occasion. |
The simple statistics of my efforts are as follows: |
- Visited the 60 Mark Lodges in West Lancashire Province |
- First visit to Temperance Mark Lodge in Liverpool, on 6th September 2011 |
- Last visit to Semper Fidelis Lodge, on 15th October 2012 |
- Time taken = 57 weeks and 4 days |
- 3177 miles covered |
- 26 Installations |
- 15 Advancements |
- 6 Demonstration advancements |
- 6 Lectures |
- 1 Celebration of 50 years in Mark Masonry |
- 6 Basic meetings |
On several occasions I bumped into the Provincial Team, which gave one wag the opportunity to say that I |
might be regarded as the Provincial ‘groupie’. |
So what were the highlights of this sojourn? The one that readily springs to mind is the friendliness I |
encountered and the number of people who gave the impression of being really nice guys (even behind the |
banter). My experiences really did display Mark Masonry at its best, the Friendly degree, or to quote our |
ritual, “among Mark Master Masons you will ever find friends”. |
Another highlight is the fact that I was able to help out and do some work (IG, JO, SO, MO, Register of |
Marks and JW) when visiting some of the Lodges. I would recommend that all visitors should take their |
ritual book, since helping in Mark Lodges is often required. |
Despite being regarded as a more relaxed degree, I was very pleased to see the almost universal desire to |
produce good ritual. It was easy to see those people who were annoyed (with themselves) when they |
made small errors. They obviously cared and took a pride in what they were doing. |
Finally I regard it as a highlight that I was visiting villages or parts of towns to which I had never been. |
This has helped me to improve my ‘regional’ geographical knowledge and also given me the benefit of |
seeing the local countryside and many ‘new’ Masonic Halls (I had previously only been to 4). |
Well done Alan mb |
Alan Foster 18th October 1012 |