Not one, but two new members for White Hills Lodge No 5209, with Matthew White receiving a successful ballot as a joining member and accompanying him was Steven Peel to be initiated into the lodge. It was also great to see a handful of other lodges bringing their own new initiates with them to witness a first degree ceremony themselves for the first time.
The first degree ceremony ran very smoothly, with Gordon Mitchell and Nicholas Medway supporting their WM Christopher Wilson in sharing the ritual and working together as a team.
White Hills Lodge junior warden Daniel Dewhurst presented the working tools for the first degree perfectly and on returning to the lodge room Steven was delivered the charge after initiation by Michael Hughes, who had everyone enthralled with his expressive delivery and story-like timing as he presented the impressive piece of ritual.
A total of 31 Freemasons attended the meeting, with visits from Provincial Membership Officer Neil Ward, grand officer Peter Hadfield (a member of White Hills Lodge) and also a handful of group officers including group membership officer Nigel Monks, group mentor Derek Robinson, group publicity officer Kieran Taylor-Bradshaw and group almoner Anthony Price.
The festive board was just as friendly and team-focused as the ceremony was, with plenty of conversations and laugher being shared. Steven, as the candidate, responded to the toast to his health and later commented that he knew the evening was going to be eventful but that it was even more special than he thought it would be.
The night ended as always with words from the WM who thanked his members for the fantastic ceremony and evening, followed by how White Hills Lodge members work together as a team and as brothers to better help those around them.
