Chris takes the Chair at Connaught for the 2nd Time

The Lodge was honoured by the presence of The Deputy Provincial Grand Master, the Very
Worshipful Brother Michael Greedy, accompanied by his DC, Andy MacKay, for the
2nd Installation of Chris James as Worshipful Master, during the evening of
Wednesday 15 April.

More than forty brethren, several of whom were colleagues of CJ from the Provincial Team,
attended the ceremony to witness Chris Brooke install Chris into the ‘Chair’. In the interests of getting them involved in Lodge activities as soon as possible, our two new Entered Apprentices were appointed as Stewards, Brian Parry and Neil Sunderland were appointed SW and JW respectively.

During a short element of Lodge business it was agreed to make donations to the Dorothy
House Hospice for their 50 th Anniversary Appeal and to SWALLOW, a local charity that
supports young people with learning difficulties, to develop their Craft Sales Project.
A lively Festive Board followed, during which WM Chris presented a bouquet of flowers to
the chef who had stepped in at short notice after the previous caters cancelled. He also
presented the latest edition of the Ritual Book to Lodge DC, Richard Gilson to replace his badly worn and rather dated, though much-cherished, edition.

Well lubricated voices gave a hearty rendition of the Master’s Song led by W. Bro Lindsay
Edwards. Although unsure at the time how much the very generous raffle had raised, WM
Chris announced that the proceeds would be put to the Lodge Charity Account for future
donations as suitable recipients became known, as well as the Provincial 2031 Festival. WM
Chris was very appreciated of everyone for making it a most memorable evening.