Newsletter
Autumn 2007
From: W Bro Philip Hoy Provincial Information Officer
Making His Mark
Len Mellows Celebrates his 90th Birthday but it was a toast to absent Brethren.
On 21st July around fifty friends of Len Mellows gathered at the Rosewalk Radlett to celebrate his 90th Birthday which had occurred on the previous Saturday.
Len at the previous weeks the family party with his partner Mary and daughter Susie
Unfortunately Len had decided to collapse the day before and was whisked into hospital to await the fitting of a pacemaker.
Len being Len, decided that the party should take place without him and his long term partner, Mary Pope, insisted that we all have a good time and that’s just what happened.
There was an excellent spread with freely flowing wine and champagne. The party was attended by many heads and past heads of orders that Len is involved with and various friends from the Lodges and other units he is a member of.
Some of the guests
There was even a birthday cake and as Len was absent, the candles were blown out by Mary Pope, his daughter Susie, his son in law Stephen and his niece Jeanne who had travelled all the way from Gloucester for the occasion.
Len was initiated into the Duke of Connaught Lodge No. 199 at the Great Eastern Hotel in 1955. He was advanced into the Mark Degree in Middlesex in 1977 and was honoured by the Mark in Hertfordshire with ProvGSW in 1998 and then PAGDC in 2002. He is in a number of Mark Lodges and RAMs and I know was delighted to be a founder of Stanstead Abbotts Lodge in the year 2000.
He has always been an active Mark Mason and has been noted for his willingness to help anybody to learn the ritual. (I still refer to him as my personal Tutor as he got me through both chairs for which I personally will ever be grateful)
Apart from that he is a really nice person and he is much loved throughout the Province; not just in this degree but in all the others he belongs to.
At the time of writing, Len has had his operation and is back home with Mary recuperating.
We all wish him well and look forward to seeing back on duty shortly.
Provincial Grand Lodge 2007
There were so many exciting announcements made at the Provincial Grand Lodge meeting on Tuesday the 17th July that it is hard to know which order to put them in.
For starters, the meeting was honoured with the presence of the Assistant Grand Master RWBro Benjamin Addy seen here with our Provincial Grand Master RWBro Keith Emmerson.
RW Bro Keith Emmerson & RW Bro Benjamin Addy.
Then during the meeting Keith announced his intention to retire as our PGM sometime next year and that this would be his last Provincial Grand Lodge meeting.
The PGM also announced a number of donations that the Mark would be making this year as follows:
A donation of £5000 was made to the Craft Province of Hertfordshire in support of the Provincial Grand Master’s 2009 Festival appeal which was accepted by the RWPGM Colin Harris.
A donation of £2000 was made to the Mark Province of Leicestershire & Rutland in support of the Mark Fund of Benevolence Festival for 2008 which was accepted by the PGM of the Province.
A donation of £2000 will be made to the Hertfordshire Community Foundation Local Network Fund as follows:
- £500 to the Stepping Stones Pre-School, Knebworth
- £500 to Treasure Tots Pre-School, Colney Heath
- £500 to Hertfordshire Boat Rescue, East Hertfordshire
- £500 to Tracks (Autism), Stevenage
Finally, he announced that following on the success of the support we have given to students at Hertfordshire University it was the intention to take this a step further by introducing, and providing in perpetuity, a Scholarship Endowment Fund to be known as the ‘Hertfordshire Mark Masons Endowment Fund.’. To endow a scholarship at the University costs £25,000; the interest generated from this will allow us to support an undergraduate student every three years at £1,000 a year.
We are the first Order to establish such a fund and it will be to the benefit of our children and our children’s children from now on. This is a legacy that every Mark Mason can truly be proud of.
In light of this, the Province have launched a new Charity Appeal to raise the £25,000 over a 3 year period.
We also said goodbye to W.Bro Jim Sharpley as our Provincial DC although he hasn’t gone very far since he was appointed as this years Senior Warden. I also believe he has some sort of job in another degree!
The Festive Board that followed was excellent and for once, the temperature, although hot, was not unbearable.
After the Meal the PGM called upon our honoured guest Professor Wendy Purcell of University of Hertfordshire to explain what the endowment scheme meant to the University. Her talk was greeted with very warm applause and the RWPGM presented her with an initial donation of £1000 as a commencement to the Hertfordshire Mark Masons Endowment Fund
Professor Wendy Purcell of the University of Hertfordshire
Sierra Leone – Educational Grants for Amputee Children
Once again, Masonry is proved to be universal when on the 3rd May this year, the Lea Valley Mark Lodge presented educational grants to 15 children of amputees who had been injured during the civil war which devastated their country a few years ago.
The money was raised after a passionate plea from two Sierra Leoneans, W.Bro.Henry M. Lynch-Shyllon and W.Bro. Justice Cornelius Harding, Both are members of Lea Valley Lodge and the sum they raised was matched by the Province.
After the money was raised, both Brethren were nominated as trustees of the amputees' trust fund, and upon enquiry from the amputees themselves were told that they requested educational grant for their children which is a wonderful indicator of people wishing to make a better future for those who come after them.
The presentation ceremony took place at the District Grand Lodge of Sierra Leone and the Gambia (EC) Freemasons’ Hall, Tower Hill, Freetown.
W Bro Henry M Lynch-Shyllon and Mr Jarka
The parents of the 15 children came from their Grafton amputees camp to receive the grant of LE 200,000.00 (£40) per child. Their leader, Mr Jarka, had both hands amputated but manages to write with metal attachments in place of both hands. The fifteen parents all managed to sign or make their mark on receipt of the grant for their children.
W Bro Justice Cornelius Harding, W Bro Henry M Lynch-Shyllon and the recipients
Both trustees told the gathering that, "we will continue to assist them if we have more donations," stressing that they sympathized with their sufferings and lauded them for their efforts to ensure that their children had quality education.
Responding on behalf of the parents, Alhaji Jusu Jarka thanked the Lea Valley Lodge for their wonderful gesture made through the two trustees, emphasising that "our children are the future bread winners for us, so we are extremely delighted for the assistance that would give our children to quality education which we have been yearning for."
He assured both trustees of the fund that they would ensure that the children attended school, secure the necessary school materials needed and would ever be grateful to the Mark Masons of Hertfordshire.
Making His Mark (2)
W Bro Sydney Lever of Ravenscroft Mark No 920 was presented with his Grand and Provincial certificates of service to Mark Masonry at the Annual Meeting celebrating fifty years since his advancement on 12th June 1957.
Giving is Good For You!
A short while ago Colin Taylor received a plea for help from a friend of his, over the plight of a little boy called Luke McDonald who attends The Acre Day Wood Nursery at Stotfold
Luke was let out of hospital for his special Gala Day. Seen here with his father.
Luke, a four year old boy, has been diagnosed with cancer and has a one in four chance of survival. His family, as you would expect, are devastated. They are being supported, extremely well, by The CLICK-Sargent Charity No. 1107328. This is a Charity that acts as a lifeline keeping families together when the unimaginable happens……..children with cancer.
The Nursery decided to hold a “Luke McDonald Gala Event” to raise funds for the Charity and Colin appealed to the Brethren of the Stevenage Mark Lodge to help in donating a worth while figure to the appeal.
As the cheques rolled in Colin was advised by the PGM to get in touch with the Provincial Grand Almoner, W.Bro Warren Vinecor, who was extremely supportive and helpful, when he told him they had collected £1000, he obtained the agreement of the RW Provincial Grand Master to increase the amount by £500.
Colin Taylor presenting a cheque for £1500 to CLICK Sargent staff.
So on the 4th of August Colin and his wife Vera were delighted to go along to the Gala Event and present a Cheque for £1500 to the CLICK Sargent Charity from the Mark Master Masons of Hertfordshire.
No News is No News
To me as Provincial Information Officer, the biggest mystery in Freemasonry is how do you get anybody to keep you informed of what is going on. I know Lodge Secretaries and members of the executive must be fed up with me going on about lack of news from the Lodges.
I put this point to our PGM recently and he has suggested that in order to ease the burden on overworked secretaries, Lodges might consider appointing a Lodge Information Officer whose sole responsibility would be to keep the Provincial Information Officer informed about anything interesting happening in the Lodge, which could be considered for publication.
I would ask all of you to discuss this suggestion with your Master and the brethren of your Lodge as soon as possible please.
These pages are for you to find out what is happening across the Province, not just from the Provincial Office. Any news from Mark Lodges and RAM Lodges, whether Masonic or not, will be considered for publication. As always my contact detail are on this page.
Items of news should be sent to Philip Hoy at info@hertsmark.org or by fax to 01279 817793.
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