The members and visitors of Foundation Chapter No 5394 were honoured to receive Andrew Barton as the representative of the Grand Superintendent Tony Harrison to their installation meeting which was held at Urmston Masonic Hall.
Andrew was accompanied at the convocation by Gareth Edwards, (South Eastern Group Chairman), Nigel Paton, (South Eastern Group Deputy Chairman) and other grand and Provincial grand officers and distinguished visitors.
After opening the chapter, first principal Phil Rampling efficiently dealt with the business of the chapter. Phil then welcomed Andrew and somewhat hopefully offered him the first principles sceptre, which Andrew politely declined much to Phil’s disappointment.
The installation ceremony then proceeded with the chairs of second and third principals being temporarily occupied by Eddie Wilkinson and Gareth Jones respectively and Peter Stockton occupying the position of installing scribe Nehemiah. Darren Gregory was then installed as first principle of the chapter, Christian Hansford as second principle and Norman Lowe as third principle. The red robe address was given by Ian Wood, the purple robe address by Ezra McGowan and the blue robe address by Howard Lloyd and the ceremony was guided in exemplary fashion by the director of ceremonies Ezra McGowan.
On completion of the ceremony, Andrew rose and brought the greetings and good wishes for a prosperous and, given the events of the recent past, healthy and enjoyable year from the Grand Superintendent Tony Harrison, saying that if Tony had been present, he would have witnessed a most interesting ceremony of installation and, on Tony’s’ behalf, congratulated the installing first principal Phil, director of ceremonies Ezra and all those who took their part in the evening’s event.
Newly installed first principal, Darren rose and thanked Andrew for his kind words and on behalf of the chapter presented a cheque which, with Darren’s permission, Andrew read. The cheque was made out to the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity for £250. Andrew thanked the members on behalf of all those who would eventually benefit from the chapter’s very generous donation.
At the first rising, Peter Muriel conveyed the greetings and good wishes on behalf of the Grand officers, saying it had been a most entertaining ceremony, was pleased to see such good support and welcomed Darren into the chair as a first principal in the South Eastern Group and wished him, the other newly installed Principles and the chapter an enjoyable ensuing year.
A very friendly and good-humoured festive board continued into the evening where, in his response to the toast to grand Officers, Andrew offered his own congratulations to the companions and commented that the evening had been extremely satisfying and the ceremony well carried out. He also touched on numerous subjects relating to the forthcoming year including the promotion of the Royal Arch, general support for our Masonic halls and following the successful conclusion of the 2021 Festival, the importance of now contributing to the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity.
The toasts of the evening having ended, and the festivities being suitably concluded, a most enjoyable meeting was brought to a thoroughly satisfactory conclusion.