Starkie Mark Lodge No 159 held their latest meeting on 19th December at Accrington Masonic Hall Adelaide Street. It was a very wet and windy evening but the Master and brethren of Starkie Lodge still had a full summons to deliver for the meeting.
It was very pleasant to have the R.W.Provincial Grand Master Alexander Sillars McLaren in attendance with several visiting brethren from across the province. More of this later.
The Worshipful Master W.Bro Noel Keans PProvGSO welcomed the PGM and the brethren to the meeting. At this point, it became clear why the Provincial Grand Master had attended. He was pleased to announce that the Starkie Mark Lodge had attained Grand Patron Status for the 2021 Festival and proceeded to invest the WM with the collerette awarded. It was a great achievement and one the members of the Lodge can be very proud of. But no reason to slow down in their continued efforts toward a grand total in 2021.
T
he business on the summons slowly progressed until the main event of the meeting. A team of four Mark Master Masons W.Bro Les Bond, W.Bro Brian Derbyshire, Bro Derrick Fielding and W.Bro Brian Tattersall delivered a lecture entitled “The Mark Master Masons Degree” This lecture can be found in the Mark Ritual Book, but I must confess I had never seen it delivered by anyone, let alone by a team of four brethren. It was constructed very well and ably presented to the members. You do tend to forget the ritual that is not regularly delivered and it was a good reminder to all of the unique aspects of our degree and the important lessons to be learned from them. The brethren certainly gave their approval and the PGM and WM responded with thanks for the masterly work displayed.
The brethren retired after the meeting to the social board and a very nice meal. No, it wasn’t another Christmas Dinner. You can have enough of those at this time of year. The regular toasts and responses took place whilst the brethren enjoyed their festivities and social time together. The Provincial Grand Master Alexander Sillars McLaren responded to his toasts and again congratulated the brethren on their Festival achievement and wished all a very merry Christmas and new year.
A rather grand bottle of Grahams Port and a bottle of Red wine had made it into the raffle with several eager eyes on the Port. They call the raffle style at Starkie Mark the Chorley Swindle. Well, £73.00 was admittedly swindled out of the brethren for the benefit of the 2021 Festival. No idea who ended up with the Port, but it wasn’t me.