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Manchester Masons' Race Night

Manchester Districts (Starkie, Derby and Sykes) organise two major fundraising events each year primarily to fund our widows party known as the 'Broken Column Evening' and to enable us to donate extra funds to charities who have already received support from our individual lodges.  This year we hope to extend our giving by also supporting the Friends of Freemasons' Hall in their efforts to raise money for the refurbishing of our own Masonic hall.
Our first event for 2010 is a charity Race Night and is to be held at Bridge St on Thursday 11th March commencing at 7.30pm.
Tickets for the race Night are £12.50 per person, unchanged from last year, and include a buffet meal comprising of traditional Hotpot, Chips & Mushy Peas, and Apple Tart & Custard with Tea or Coffee.
We are asking Lodges, Chapters and individuals to sponsor a race for £30.00 and are selling horses to individual owners at £5.00 each.  Both are still available to sponsor and buy.
The owner will of course name his own horse appropriately and this will be included in the Race Card.  The winning owner of each race will receive a bottle of spirits as the owner’s prize.

Please do your utmost to support this well worthy event, by inviting family and friends.
For further details please contact:
Mike Birks
Tel: 0161 747 5924
E-mail: mpbirks@btinternet.com

Manchester Masons
Weekend Away

A relaxing weekend by the sea in St. Annes was enjoyed by the Provincial Grand Master and his wife Dorothy when they joined members and families from the Manchester Lodges of; Yarborough, King Edward VII, Vigilance, Internet and Old Mancunian’s.

On the Saturday evening, Yarborough Lodge No. 633 hosted a dinner dance, which the ladies, gentlemen and brethren thoroughly enjoyed.  A good weekend was had by all!

Thank you to WBro Jack McManus of Yarborough Lodge for forwarding the picture.

Manchester Masons
Sportsman’s Dinner

The three Manchester Districts, of Starkie, Sykes and Derby held their Sportsman’s Dinner at FMH, Manchester on Thursday 12th November.

This annual event, supported by the Manchester APGM’s and District Chairmen, is held to raise funds for the Manchester Masons Widows, ‘Broken Column Dinner’ which will be held in May 2010.

Over 120 Manchester Masons and their Guests attended, and were treated to an exceptional meal and fabulous entertainment provided by, past Liverpool and Welsh International footballer Joey Jones, (European Cup winner, 1997 and 1998, First Division Championship winner 1997, with 72 International appearances for Wales) and Comedy Impersonator and ‘Man of a Thousand Voices’, Leslie Gibson.

A special thank you must be mentioned to all who supported the event and to Gordon Oliver who donated two major prizes for the auction and WBro Ken Buckley of Virtue Lodge No. 152 who acted as MC for the evening.

The evening’s entertainment was organised by WBro Brian Durkin (Deputy Chairman for Starkie District) and WBro Len Hayes (Chairman for Sykes District).

Derek Smith, Alan Archer, Carl Buckley from Volunteer Lodge	Gordon Olive
Leslie Gibson, WBro Len Hayes and Joey Jones	The three District Chairmen for Manchester
WBro Brian Durkin and guests	WBro's Martin Murray, Carl Dinsdale and Eddie Barlow

Manchester Masons Mentors Meeting
FMH Bridge Street

WBro Martin Roche, the Provincial Grand Mentor gave a very interesting presentation to Lodge and Chapter Mentors of the three Manchester Districts, on Tuesday 10th November. WBro Roche delivered his message with passion and enthusiasm to a much appreciated audience, which generated interesting discussions.

At the conclusion of the meeting WBro Roche offered his service and that of the District Mentors to support and assist with any activities that Lodges and Chapters may wish to implement.

The programme for the evening was organised by the three District Mentors for Manchester, WBro Elliot Moss (Derby District), WBro Jack Levene (Sykes District) and Brendan Harte (Starkie District).

Information on Mentoring can be found on this website by clicking the on following links:
http://www.pglel.co.uk/Education&Development/DistrictMentorsPage.asp
http://www.pglel.co.uk/Education&Development/Mentoring.asp

Manchester Masons Sportsman's Dinner 12th November 2009

Arrangements have now been completed for this year's Sportsman's Dinner, which will be held on Thursday 12th November at Bridge Street - 7pm for 7.30pm.

The main Speaker for the evening will be Joey Jones, Ex Liverpool footballer and present Coach of Wrexham FC. The Comedian will be Leslie Gibson, a comedy Impersonator. The meal will be, Soup, Braised Steak or Poached Salmon, Fresh Fruit Salad and Ice Cream, Cheese/Biscuits and Coffee, at £30.00 per head.

The usual Stand up Bingo, Raffle and auctions to raise funds.

Please contact WBro Len Hayes for further details:
Tel: Home: 0161 643 3152
Mobile: 07801454144
E-mail: Len@landbridge.co.uk

Manchester Masons Broken Column Dinner

The three Manchester Districts of Derby, Starkie and Sykes held their annual Broken Column evening dinner at FMH Bridge Street, on Monday 18th May.

Barbara Starkey & Louie Allport, Quadrivium Lodge

Approximately 150 widows and their escorts sat down to dinner.  Many of the Widows wore with pride the “Broken Column Brooch”, which was first used in the American Civil War by the ladies of Masons who were at war.  As so many men did not return, the ladies continued to wear the Brooch.  A member of the Earl of Chester Lodge, No. 1565 first introduced it into English Lodges.

Tony Berry of the Houghton Weavers accompanied by Chris Hornby provided entertainment on the evening. The evening commenced with a drinks reception held in the Goulburn Lodge Room, where widows renewed acquaintances with each other, remembering happy times from the past and this continued throughout the evening.

Worshipful Brothers Warwick Davenport, Brian Howells and Geoffrey Creswick can be seen below, hosting tables for the widows of King Edward VII Lodge and Yarborough Lodge respectively.

Warwick Davenport King Edward VII Lodge

Brian Howells & Geoffrey Creswick Yarborough Lodge

WBro Gerry Young, Chairman of Starkie District gave an amusing and lighthearted speech before proposing the toast to the ladies. Gerry can be seen in the picture below, rekindling acquaintances with Marjorie Crossley of Manchester St. David’s Lodge.  Marjorie has known Gerry since his childhood!

Gerry Young & Marjorie Crossley from Manchester St. David's Lodge

Marjorie Crossley receiving table flowers from Len Hayes
with Wyn Allen both from Manchester St. David's Lodge

Finally, the Masons of Manchester are extremely grateful to Len Hayes, Brian Durkin, the District Secretaries and all those who gave of their time to make this a truly excellent evening.  The cost of such an evening is borne by the Districts of Manchester Masons.

Manchester Masons Giving Evening

The three Manchester Districts, comprising of Derby, Starkie and Sykes held their Giving Evening at FMH Bridge Street, on Wednesday 6th May 2009.  Between them they distributed a magnificent sum of, £30,869 to local charities.

WBro David Basger Chairman of Derby District welcomed the Deputy Lord Mayor of Manchester Councillor Alison Firth and other dignitaries on behalf of the Manchester Masons and those charities present.

Earlier in the evening each of the recipients were able to display their work (see following photo) by giving an insight into the work of their particular organisation.  Their commitment was evident as was the passion they hold for the voluntary work that they do!  For example, John Slater of Renaissance Lodge No. 1219 had a kidney transplant in May of last year.  John is now actively involved with MINT (Manchester Institute of Nephrology & Transplantation.

Victoria Parker and Andy Knowles representing Water-Skiing for the disabled.  Andy has been involved with working with the disabled as an instructor since 1987.  Also present was Gerald Price, Chairman of the British Disabled Water-Skiing Association.  Though Gerald is blind he was the First World Champion in the sport in 1987 a title he went on to win a further three times.

The three Manchester Districts also made donations totalling £900 plus a further £500 to the Lord Mayor of Manchester’s Charity Appeal Trust.  These were as follows:

Sykes District:

Starkie District

Derby District

Della & Vicky Buckley with Eddie Barlow	Deputy Lord Mayor & WBro Geoffrey Litherland APGM
Deputy Lord Mayor with WBro G Litherland, The District Chairmen and Mr Andrew Fox Consort to the Deputy Mayor	Derby Lounge with Charity Representatives
Heathlands Village	Irene Chambers from Kidneys for Life with (in the background) John Slater from Renaissance Lodge
Manchester Jewish Federation	Margaret Beck from St. Ann's Hospice & Len Hayes
Shaun Higson District Charity Steward with members from Broughton House	Water-skiing for the Disabled

The District Chairman wish to place on record a special thank you to those Lodges and Chapters in their Districts for donations made.
After presenting each charity with a certificate, the evening’s proceedings were ended by the Assistant Provincial Grand Master WBro Geoffrey Litherland who thanked the Deputy Lord of Manchester and the representatives for attending and making the evening a success.  A special thank you was given to the event organiser
WBro Keith Hatton (Deputy Chairman Derby District), assisted by WBro Chris Prax, District Secretary for Derby.

Below is a letter we received from the Mayoral Office:

David Hudson
Communications Officer Manchester Districts

Manchester Masons Race Night

The three Manchester Districts comprising of Derby, Starkie and Sykes held a Race Night at FMH, Manchester, on the 23rd April. The attendance of around 70 Masons plus family and friends, had a very enjoyable evening of racing and a hot pot supper, which proved to be a very successful event.

The evening was organised by Brian Durkin and Len Hayes with assistance from a colleague of Brian’s, Ian Wilson who is soon to be initiated into Virtue Lodge No. 152.

The programme contained eight races, each race being sponsored by Lodges and Chapters, which the districts wish to thank along with numerous individuals who sponsored a horse.

Those Lodges and Chapters were: Ark Scroll Lodge, Shofar Lodge, Felicity Lodge and Chapter, The Woodland Lodge, Yarborough Lodge and Chapter, St. Thomas Lodge, Lodge of Integrity, T&G Eureka Lodge, Semper Fidelis Lodge, Caledonian Lodge, East Lancs Centurian, Minnehaha Lodge, Mount Sinai Lodge, Truth Lodge, Justice Lodge Volunteer Lodge, Old Mancunians Lodge and St Georges Lodge.

The highlight of any race night is always the final race of the evening and this race was no exception.  Our MC Brian Durkin auctioned the eight jockeys; this raised a further £168 of which 50% would be given to the winning jockey.  Horse number 7 named Rebecca’s Dance, sponsored by WBro William Porter and his wife Norah won the race and not only that, WBro Porter was also the winning jockey!

During the course of the evening several auctions took place and a special thanks to WBro Porter who was successful in bidding for four tickets for the main enclosure at Haydock Park, donated by General Welding.  Also to WBro Len Hayes who brought a one-night stay in the Premier Suite, kindly donated by the Palace Hotel, Oxford Road.

The proceeds made will be used primarily to fund the Broken Column evening, which takes place on Monday 18th May; the three districts are also making a donation to the ‘Friends of Freemasons’ Hall in their efforts to raise funds for refurbishment.

Finally, many thanks again to Brian and Len and everyone who assisted and supported the evening.

Brian Durkin, Len Hayes and Ian Wilson the Organisers	Carl Dinsdale on the phone to either his 'Bookie' or Lester Piggott for tips
District Chairmen David Basger and Gerry Young	District Team Member for Manchester
Len Hayes winning owner with David Cowen District Secretary for Starkie District	Martin Caller and David Basger
Norah and Bill Porter winning owners and winning jockey of race 8 celebrating their success	Norah Porter winning owner of Race 8 with Len Hayes

David Hudson
Communications Officer Manchester Districts

 SPORTSMAN’S DINNER

On 13th November, the Manchester Districts held their annual Sportsman’s Dinner at FMH, Manchester.

147 Masons and non Masons were treated to an exceptional evening, with Main Speaker, Jeff Winter, on excellent top form telling some humorous and some serious stories about his time as a Professional Football Referee, to which all present acknowledged with the usual acclaim.

Jeff was ably assisted by the Comedian, Ollie Spencer, a very funny man. WBro Ken Buckley of The Woodland Lodge, No. 5478, acted as MC for the evening, and did a brilliant job, particularly with the auction prizes.

Although all figures have not yet been finalised, it appears, at first glance, that the Manchester Masons have made a profit of between £2500 and £2700, to go towards the cost of the Manchester Widows Broken Column Dinner and other Charities.

Jeff Winter Signing Books	Guests enjoying game of Heads or Tails
The 3 Wise Manchester Chairmen	Comedian Ollie Spencer entertaining
Who won the Worst Tie? - Stan Bibby of course	Martin Caller with Wayne Rooney signed ball

Afternoon Cabaret at Hewlett Court

On 10th September, the City Districts of Manchester, arranged and hosted an afternoon cabaret for the residents and staff of Hewlett Court.

Apart from being wined by the Districts with a free raffle, they were entertained by W.Bro Brian Wilson of Virtue Lodge No. 152, who opened the show playing keyboards, sang and got them involved in a good old sing-a-long. Bro Harry Robson, baffled us all with his amazing magical skills and incredible humour that had the everyone roaring with laughter. The afternoon was made complete, with the appearance of Tony Berry, of The Houghton Weavers, who had the audience shouting for more at the end of his scintillating performance.

W.Bro Brian Wilson, Tony Berry, W.Bro Philip Crumbleholme and W.Bro Ed Cheadle

In attendance, on behalf of the City Manchester Districts, was Julie Ward, the ELMC Welfare Officer, W.Bro Ed Cheadle, The Chairman of City Sykes District and the main organisers of the event, W.Bro Brian Durkin, Deputy Chairman of City Starkie and W.Bro Len Hayes Deputy Chairman of City Sykes. The Warden of Hewlett Court, W.Bro Philip Crumbleholme, thanked the City Manchester Masons wholeheartedly for organising such an event for Hewlett Court, and stated that it was the best turn out from the residents that he could remember, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

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