Members and visitors of Radio Millennium Lodge No 9709 were delighted to welcome local grand officer and former South Eastern Group Chairman Mike Adams as the representative of the Provincial Grand Master at their recent installation meeting.
Mike was accompanied by fellow grand officer Brian Hayes, group deputy chairman Nigel Paton and group secretary Eddie Wilkinson, together with other group and Provincial officers and distinguished brethren to witness the far from usual installation by a father, Robert Murphy, of his son, Deniol Murphy as master of the lodge for the ensuing year.
The current master, Karl Sinclair completed the opening business of the lodge in efficient manner and then handed the gavel to Robert who commenced the installation proceedings ably assisted by the officers of the lodge with Peter Hankinson as installing senior warden, Ezra McGowan of Hand and Heart Lodge No 4109 as installing junior warden and Norton Fletcher of Royal Protector Lodge No 3471 as installing inner guard.
With the ceremony carefully controlled by director of ceremonies Peter Harding, Deniol was installed with touching care, in an excellent manner by his father Robert, and was then treated to excellent presentations of the working tools in the third degree by Eddie Wilkinson, the second degree by Ron Behan and finally the first degree by Norton Fletcher.
The address to the master was given in dignified manner by Brian Hayes followed by an excellent address to the wardens by Robert Murphy and, in heartfelt style, to the brethren by Mike Adams.
On completion of the installation ceremony, Mike rose to bring the sincere heartfelt greetings, congratulations and best wishes from the Provincial Grand Master Mark Matthews, saying that Mark was aware that Deniol was taking the master’s chair for the first time and wished him and the members of the lodge a very happy, healthy and enjoyable year ahead.
Mike then congratulated installing master Robert saying that if Mark had of been present on the evening, he would have taken delight in congratulating him on his work during the evening and similarly congratulated the director of ceremonies Peter Harding and the brethren who delivered the working tools.
In response, Deniol rose and thanked Mike for the good wishes and presented him with charitable donations in the form of cheques for the very generous value of £300 made out in favour of the Toy House, a local charity who provide toys, games and other resources for disabled children and their families and a further £300 to the West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity.
Mike commented that this was an excellent example of charitable giving and congratulated the lodge members on providing such a superb donation on behalf of those who will ultimately benefit from their very kind generosity.
On the first rising Brian Hayes rose to bring the greetings of the grand officers saying those who were present had experienced an excellent evening’s ceremony and that they were all looking forward to the remainder of the evening, assuming they were to be invited of course!
At the social board, in the response to the toast to grand officers, Mike added his own congratulations both to Deniol and the lodge for an excellent evening’s entertainment. He mentioned that, coincidentally, both he and Brian had been present 23 years ago to the day, as a group officers, when Radio Millennium Lodge had been consecrated. He then went on to mention the Strategic Road Map launched in December 2022 by the Provincial Grand Master and the continuing drive for membership of the Royal Arch.
Mike went on to mention that we have to keep our traditions, but present them in a modern setting, because as an organization that has existed for over 300 years, we are the custodians of the history and guardians of the future of Freemasonry and it is up to us to draw in new members and bring back former members.
Finally, Mike once more congratulated Deniol, Robert and the lodge for their warm hospitality and a very enjoyable night drew to a close in peace and harmony.