Provincial Grand Lodge of East Lancashire
Archived News from Rochdale District

Archived Stories - July - Sepember 2007

Mother and Daughter

The WM of Hope Lodge No 54, WBro Alan Whatmough in a moment of madness challenged their daughter Lodge, the Rochdale lodge No 6721 to a ten pin bowling match. Bro Clive Burgess the WM of the Rochdale Lodge again in a moment of madness accepted the challenge. Rochdale Lodge's Senior Deacon, Bro Ken Greer was tasked to arrange the match, and the duel of the giants took place on Thurdsday 27th September at the ‘Strike Ten' Bowling Alley on Sandbrook Park in Rochdale.

With 6 lanes and 40 bowlers, both masons and their ladies the competition was very fierce; there was much cheering by both the bowlers and the spectators each time a strike occurred. A running commentary by the staff encouraged and cajoled and sometimes embarrassed the bowlers. At the end of the game the player who scored the most points in each lane points was declared a lane winner and received a bottle of champagne. The adjudicator of the games, Lisa Greer proceeded to collate the results, the total scores of all the players in each team were then added together to find the winning team – and on this occasion it was the challengers – Hope Lodge.

A booby prize was also presented to WBro Brian Wilson of the Rochdale Lodge who prefers to remain anonymous.

The evening was rounded off with a buffet and everyone enjoyed a good night out.

Whilst still on a high WBro Alan Whatmough wants to know

Are there any challengers out there ?

Another chapter in the Rochdale Springhill Sensory Garden Story

On an absolutely atrocious day in July a team of judges from The North West in Bloom visited the Rochdale Springhill Hospice to look at the garden and grounds and refused to let the wet weather dampen their enthusiasm. Their visit was due to the generosity of Bro Mark Brazil of St Chads Lodge No 1129, who kindly funded the entry into the North West Bloom Awards. The end result was that the Springhill Hospice celebrated its success on winning of the Best Hospital Grounds Category of the North West in Bloom Awards.

Nick Dent, the Hospice's Gardener and Peter Hewitt the Rochdale District Vice-chairman attended the event and a Gala Luncheon held at Manchester Town Hall. After proudly receiving the award, Nick said: "Whilst it's nice to be recognised, that's not my motivation, the important thing for me is to make the grounds look as inviting as possible for the patients and their families." North West in Bloom is the regional campaign of Britain in Bloom, an annual event organised by the Royal Horticultural Society. Its aim is to help communities to make long-term improvements to their local environment through best practice and the involvement of all sections of the Community.

Christine Webb, the Hospice's Chief Executive, said: "We are thrilled with the North West in Bloom Award, Nick and his volunteers work incredibly hard in making the grounds so beautiful for the many visitors who come to Springhill Hospice. There are so many lovely spaces to sit and the recently completed Sensory Garden, funded by the Freemasons of Rochdale and the East Lancashire Masonic Charity Community Fund, is an area of great delight for our patients and families alike."

Sarah Ford, Support Services Manager at the Hospice, added: "We are very proud of Nick and the hard work he put Into making our grounds look so wonderful. You'll find him beavering away in all weathers and he always finds time in his busy day to chat to the patients and their families who come over to talk to him."

The Hospice grounds are blooming wonderful

Like Father – Like Son

At the September meeting of The Rochdale Lodge No 6721, the WM, Bro Clive Burgess offered the Chair of King Solomon to WBro Antony Brearley to initiate his son Matthew into freemasonry. Matthew is the fifth Lewis the short history of the Rochdale Lodge.


The senior warden’s chair was occupied by WBro David Whiittaker who was Matthew’s seconder.
The junior warden’s chair by WBro Geoff Howard who initiated WBro Antony Brearley into freemasonry in 1980.

The junior deacon Bro John Ball conducted the candidate around the lodge room with great dignity,
WBro Geoff Howard in a single breath gave an explanation of the Working tools of the first degree,
Bro Simon Rogers gave the first-degree charge, and Bro Ken Greer the explanation of the first degree tracing board, both of which were exemplary.
WBro Eric Kirkbride stepped into the shoes of the organist who could not attend and played magnificently with music appropriate for the occasion.
The ritual was of the highest standard.

WBro Anthony Brearley has been appointed as the district mentor for Rochdale and the officers of the district team attended to support this unique occasion.

The festive board meal was superb and the meeting, which followed was both dignified and lively.
His proposer and father WBro Antony Brearley gave the Toast to the newly imitated candidate, 
Bro Matthew’s response received a standing ovation.

The district chairman, WBro Eric Kirkbride responded on behalf of the visitors, congratulating the officers whom had performed the ceremony so superbly and to the members of the Rochdale lodge for their hospitality

Another memorable occasion at the Rochdale Lodge No 6721

THE SENSORY GARDEN DEDICATION STONE  

Thursday 27th September was a special day for the Freemasons of Rochdale, it saw the completion of the Sensory Garden at the Rochdale Springfield Hospice with the unveiling of the dedication stone.

The ceremony was performed by the Provincial Grand Master for East Lancashire RWBro Paul Rink OBE and the Chair of the Trustees of the Hospice Mrs. Margaret Geoghegan MBE.

The PGM had been in America at the official handover of the sensory garden but was kept in touch with the progress by e-mail. He made it known that he wished to see the garden on completion. Both Marlene his wife and Paul were impressed with the results, the colours, the smells and the many different flowers and shrubs were truly impressive.

The water feature donated by the Mark Masons was revolving and the sound of running water gave a lovely soothing sound. The PGM expressed his delight that the ELMC had contributed the sum of £7500 to the Sensory Garden, and that this project demonstrates the commitment and dedication of freemasons in the community

The patients, the visitors, the volunteers and the staff of the hospice are delighted with the sensory garden. The three benches which were donated by Rochdale Lodges and positioned within a pergola are a refuge from the pressures of life, and the sounds and smells are themselves are appreciated by all who sit in this sea of tranquility.

The unveiling of the dedication stone marks the start of the next phase, Nick the hospice gardener is delighted with the results to date. The future will be a labour of love with constant updating.

Charity Event at Richard Street

The Mayor of Rochdale, Councillor Peter Evans has chosen the Rochdale Moorland Children's Home as his charity for his year in office, and a fundraising event was held in The Masonic Buildings, Richard Street, Rochdale on Saturday 1st September 2007.

The event was organised by the Mayor's Charity Committee of which WBro David Greenhalgh is the Secretary. David is also the Rochdale District Charity Steward. The Mayor is a member of Royds Lodge No 816, who meet in Todmorden. Support for the event came from many Freemasons including members of his own Lodge, as well as from the Lodges who meet in Rochdale. There were two APGM's present along with members of their District Teams from both Rochdale and Rossendale.

The Compere for the evening was non other than, yes - you've guessed - WBro David Greenhalgh who did a splendid job. The meal was a traditional fayre of Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding with lashings of roast potatoes and vegetables.

After the meal the guests were entertained by ‘Swing & Soul'. The first part in the classic ‘swing' style had the guests dancing and foot tapping to the beat. The raffle followed with some superb prizes. This was followed by an auction for a teddy ‘hippo' for which a local tradesman bid £420 to secure the ‘hippo'. The evening was brought to a close by ‘Swing & Soul' with music in the ‘soul' mood.

On the night the total sum raised was a staggering £2,274.

'If You Go Down to the Woods Today, You're Sure of a Big Surprise......'

.......and so it was for the Brethren of the Lodge of Friendship No 277 and their guests who responded to an invitation from the Worshipful Master, Bro Roger Fielding to partake of a Summer Charity Luncheon at the Olde Golf House Hotel, Outlane, Nr Huddersfield on Sunday 19 th August. A splendid 74 people supported the event despite the perils of traversing the M62 in heavy rain.

A pre-lunch ‘Teddy Bears Picnic' with three Steiff teddy bears as prizes was a runaway hit which soon sold out, and together with a raffle and finally a 'Silent Auction' of Disney Dwarves doubling up as table centres, the event raised a staggering sum of £1,715.

In line with the commitment to 'Working in the Community', some of these funds will be used to help Rochdale Samaritans - who have recently been forced to move to alternative premises within Rochdale, and also for the fitting out of the new NW Headquarters of the St John Ambulance Service in Stockport. This will provide a world-class first aid training facility for young volunteers from all over Greater Manchester.

On a day like today we passed the time away

The words of a sixty's song that summed up the Rochdale Lodge No 6721 Annual BarBQ . The first one held in 1996 was a ‘one off', but it proved so popular that it has became an annual event.

This year it was held on Sunday 5 th August, and the terrible weather we have experienced this summer had a well-deserved rest and we were lucky to have a warm and sunny day.

There were over 80 people at the barBQ from the oldest member to the latest initiate, and ages ranged from the mid 80's to under 1 year making this a truly family affair.

The Rochdale Lodge was delighted and thrilled that our APGM, the District Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Secretary and their wives attended the event as did the WM of our mother Lodge Hope No 54, Alan Whatmough and his wife Dianne.

The highlight of the day was the chef's special of Barbequed bananas with ice cream, which has been known to cause a stampede! A raffle followed and the event raised £351

This amount will be added to the lodge charity funds which will be distributed at the Installation in February.

  Needless to say a good time was had by all !

 

Water logged and heavy going -

The Grand National? No the Derby Golf Cup

This year on 18 July Rochdale entered 2 teams in the Derby Cup Golf Competition hoping to repeat last year's success.The weather could not be more different than last years 90 degrees. This year we had to wait for a course inspection of the Whitefield course to see if it was playable, at 12.30 it stopped raining and it was decided we would just   about be able to play. The course was absolutely water logged making the playing conditions very heavy going. This reflected on the scores coming in, the winning score was 36 points, with Brian Cropper of St Chad 's lodge coming 3rd with 34 points.Although I was rather disappointed we did not repeat the success of last year, we did extremely well to come 3rd and get a mention out of some 80+ golfers .

All players played extremely well under difficult conditions, thanks to everybody who took part.

.

Harry Bell - Captain

Picture left - K Davenport, G Adamson, D Rigg Pictured right - B Cropper, P Tomlinson, H Bell

Although Rochdale picked up bronze medals as a team and individually ,   Central Area no 2 (HAROLD'S PATCH) picked up Gold medals so all in all it was a tremendous day for Central Area no 2.

Royal Arch MEZ's Garden Party 8 July 2007