Wavertree Gateacre Queensway Lodge No 2294 held their installation meeting in the Adams Suite, at Liverpool Masonic Hall. The meeting was attended by 28 brethren and was graced by the presence of Philip Gunning Deputy Provincial Grand Master. Also, in attendance were John James Assistant Provincial Grand Master, David Johnson Liverpool Group Chairman and other distinguished brethren.
The incumbent WM Jack Poller, being unable to attend due to ill health, the lodge was opened in due form by the immediate past master Darren Crane, who welcomed the Deputy Provincial Grand Master together with accompanying grand officers and acting Provincial grand officers into the temple.
After the formal salutations, Darren invited a past master of the lodge David Colquhoun to occupy the chair of King Solomon for the ceremony of installation. The master elect Ian Webster was then presented before the assembly.
There followed a flawless ceremony of installation which was performed by a very skilled team of brethren. David led by fine example, and was assisted by Jorge Perez, who did a super job of the inner workings. Derek Gaskell presented the working tools of an installed master without the need of a prompt, before continuing with the floor work as brethren were invited back into the lodge and salutations were given in the appropriate degree.
The third degree tools were skilfully presented by David Colquhoun, the second degree tools by Stuart Virgo and the first-degree tools by Bill Gaywood. The address to the WM was delivered by David Colquhoun, the address to the wardens by David Bell and the address to the brethren of the lodge by Philip Gunning. All fluently delivered and without prompting.
Upon completion of the installation ceremony, Philip Gunning rose to bring the congratulations of the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews to the newly installed Master. He spoke of the excellent quality of the ritual and congratulated the installing master and all the brethren who took part for what he described as a truly outstanding ceremony. He thanked the brethren for the hard work and commitment that had obviously gone into the preparation work leading up to the ceremony.
The WM presented 3 cheques to Philip that were going to the following charities; West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity £150, RNLIB £200 and Zoё’s Place £150. Philip thanked the brethren of Wavertree Gateacre Queensway Lodge for their very generous donations.
Following the ceremony, the brethren retired for a magnificent festive board of a ‘three meat carvery’ with seasonal vegetables, followed by fresh fruit salad, cheese and biscuits. So good was the quality of the food that many brethren were seen to unashamedly return to the servery for second helpings of the main course!
Philip responded to the toast to grand officers with a very informative update on matters relating to the Membership Scheme and Royal Arch recruitment, before congratulating the brethren once again for a truly outstanding ceremony of installation. The assembled brethren joined in a hearty and tuneful rendition of the ‘Master’s Song’ following the toast to the WM Ian Webster.
Ian responded to that toast, assuring everybody that he will do his best to continue the excellent standard of ritual performed by the lodge and thanked everybody for their continued support and advice. Ian then performed the pleasant task of presenting a beautiful oasis of flowers to Philip Gunning and David Johnson, each of whom thanked the brethren for their most generous hospitality.
Bill Gaywood then presented a special souvenir, a hallmarked silver secretary’s jewel affixed to a wooden base, bearing a suitable inscription to Bill Kermode who had held office as secretary of the lodge for over 20 years.
The tyler, John Hibbert, brought the proceedings to an end with a full rendition of the tyler’s toast in his own inimitable style.