W.Bro A.D. Alberti - W.M. 2011

On Friday 4th February 2011, the Lodge met for the first meeting of 2011. There were 16 Brethren of the Lodge in attendance with 12 visiting Brethren.

The first meeting of the season in this Lodge is the meeting when the new Worshipful Master is Installed.

First on the agenda was to present a Grand Lodge Certificate to Bro Kevin Dann who has made a steady progression in Freemasonry. For this item, the Lodge was very fortunate to have in attendance from the Provincial Team, the Very Worshipful Brother R.C. Vaughan who presented Bro Kevin's certificate in an excellent manner.

Next up was to Ballot for a new Joining member to the Lodge, Bro Brian Tomkinson, which proved to be unanimously in favour and he was welcomed in to the Lodge.

Next up, in the traditional manner, W.Bro A.D. Alberti was installed as Master of the Lodge for the term of one year. The installing Master was the previous years Master, W.Bro Mervyn Cummings who did an excellent job.

For this very special meeting, the Lodge had the pleasure of a visit from the Very Worshipful W.Bro R.C. Vaughan The Deputy Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Worcestershire who lead the Provincial Team in the ceremony.

W.Bro Andy, unlike his predecessor is a fairly new Freemason, and having spent 7 years gaining experience through the other Offices, will be looking for guidance from the senior Past Masters in the Lodge to ensure a successful year is had by all.

Then, the Charity Steward W.Bro E.C. Kettleborough presented The Very Worshipful Deputy Provincial Grand Master with yet another cheque from the Lodge for £1500 to be added to the 2011 appeal. This was greatly accepted by The Deputy Provincial Grand Master who said a few kind words to the Lodge for its continued support..

At the Festive Board, the new Master was in the usual way and made a big fuss of and honoured with some very kind words in the Worshipful Masters Toast given by Bro Senior Deacon Kamran Shaikh. The Masters song was sung in good voice by W.Bro Ted Kettleborough.

The Almoners Raffle continued to help boost the Charity collection and was won this time by our very own Bro Ditta Alam who very generously followed the Lodge tradition and handed it back for further re-raffling. It should be pointed out that it has become a tradition in this Lodge that if any Lodge member wins the bottle it is usually handed back for re-raffle (the last bottle we had, raised over £1000 for Charity).

The charity collection along with the raffle raised a massive £400 which was very gratefully received by the Charity Steward who promptly stood up and once again praised the Lodges efforts.

All in all a very busy but very good night - Until our next merry meeting..!