There was rather a good turnout at the recent Roberts TI Mark lodge Installation. Bro Bohdan Lisnyj being the Senior Warden and master elect.Accompanied by a larger than usual Provincial deputation providing full support and a little glamour to the proceedings, but having said that, if you take a closer look at most of them glamour is not what you would associate with the bunch. They did enjoy themselves somewhat though.  

The Masonic Temple at Rochdale is a grand lodge room and if you have never been it is certainly worth a visit. On this occasion, numbers were such as to make the best use of the size and layout of the temple. The installation ceremony went very well, ably performed by the IPM W.Bro Bernard Forbes, who it appears has a bit of a habit installing his close friend Bohdan into various Masonic chairs throughout his career. In all honesty, the ritual was very good,  with certain aspects of the installation ceremony coming across very well. 

The Deputy Provincial Grand Master John Smith retired on the second risings along with the Deputation. I now know why they do this. It makes getting to the bar a heck of a lot easier. The privileges of rank I suppose.

Rochdale Masonic Halls social board room is equally as magnificent and it was a joy to sit down with a full compliment fo Mark Master Masons and enjoy a well served dinner with like minded brethren. 

The Deputy Provincial Grand Master responded to the three toast’s to the Degree and went on to talk about increasing membership of the Roberts TI Mark Lodge. He had spotted that there were more Craft Lodges meeting in the Masonic Hall than is usually the case and suggested that the opportunities to gain members from them was indeed greater and should be taken advantage of.  

The visiting deputation and brethren had a great evening and I’m sure the members of Roberts TI will remember this installation for a while yet.