Social
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree
It was on Sunday 11th December with the snowy and Icey conditions prevailing that 82 souls descended upon the Wishaw Country Sports Club for White Ensign’s Christmas lunch. There was an air of expectation, good company, great food and much joyous singing, we were not to be disappointed. The raffle prizes grew in quantity as folk made their entrance.
Our new Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Martin Carver stood up and welcomed everyone to his first social event in his tenure of office.
The catering did not disappoint, many an observation were made of multiple visits to the servery for both the main and desert courses. The copious amount of food having to be assisted downwards by liquid refreshment in order to enable the lungs to expand for the impending singing. The carols rang out and much laughter and mirth occurred with the rendition of the ’12 days of Christmas’, each table being one of the days.
The dinners having had their fill, parted with their cash easily when it came to the raffle and neither Bro’s Virrdell and Paul had to resort to a ‘hard sell’ for the tickets. The generosity was fantastic, the raffle raising £644.10 for charity. The detectives at White Ensign are trying to find the culprit who slipped in the 10p.
Thanks go to W.Bro. Les Leek for the hard work he has put into making the Christmas lunch happen.
Foray to the Royal Yacht Britannia
The event booked a year before was to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
Her Majesty the Queen had passed away three days before the dinner, and it was touch and go whether the event was going ahead, but the trustees of the Royal Yacht gave a special dispensation for the dinner to proceed.
A twenty strong group of Freemasons, partners, and guests from White Ensign Lodge led by our Worshipful Master, W.Bro.WO1 Glyn Cardy visited Edinburgh on the weekend of 9/10/11th September 2022 for an exclusive dinner on Saturday 10th September in the State Dining Room on board the Royal Yacht Britannia which is moored in Leith Harbour.
They were joined by further groups of freemasons partners and guests from three other lodges, all of which have special associations with White Ensign Lodge. They are Saint Patricks Lodge No.295 IC Founders of Athol Lodge No.74, Knights of Malta Lodge No.50 from Hinckley in Leicestershire, and Athol Lodge No. 74 from Warwickshire.
The guests received a ‘Red Carpet’ welcome, and a Piper was on hand to welcome us. All guests received individual invitations from the Royal Yacht, and an individual brochure detailing the menu, the evening programme, toast list, the connections between the four lodges, together with the history of each lodge.
In total fifty-one freemasons from 30 lodges were represented from all across the United Kingdom, Holland and Australia and W.Bro. Gordon Hewitt, a Reserve Squadron Member from General John J Pershing Lodge in Maastricht, flew in to join us with his wife Debbie. Following canapes and champagne, the group were given and exclusive tour of the yacht and then entered the State Dining Room for dinner.
Twelve tables in the State Dining Room were adorned with flowers and candelabras and the ninety guests enjoyed a five-course dinner prepared in the kitchens of the Royal Yacht. Whilst it was tinged with great sadness with the passing of Her Majesty the Queen the Chaplain asked for a two-minute silence before the dinner began and gave a touching eulogy to Her Majesty. The speeches were kept to a minimum on the night and our own W.Bro. Anthony Wright delivered a superb ‘Toast to the Ladies’ which was received with rapturous applause.
The dinner ended at 12 midnight and all ninety guests bid farewell to the Royal Yacht Britannia after a truly wonderful evening.
Pig Roast
Sunday 21st August heralded our Worshipful Masters next social event, all made possible by the hospitality of our hosts, the lodge Junior Warden Bro. Chris Mason and his good lady, Sandra. The Pig Roast is a fund raising event, and this year any money raised was to be split between the Clock Tower military charity and the Worcestershire Provinces Festival 2022 appeal target.
Some 90 plus Brethren, family and friends made this yet another fantastic social event for White Ensign lodge, enjoying each others company with fine food and drink. Thanks go to Chris, Sandra, Claire and Leah and other helpers at the farm that made this event possible, to W.Bro. Les Leek our Mess Manager and Barman for his tireless efforts for making the social events happen, to W.Bro. Ian Fothergill for his tact and diplomacy in keeping things on an even keel, to W.Bro. Tom Kennedy our Treasurer for being fiscally astute, to Vikki Hart for her sterling efforts in devising the table quiz and finally to W.Bro. Ian Hart and Vikki for the execution of the raffle. The raffle could not take place without everyone’s generosity in contributing the prizes for the raffle. The amount raised for the two charities was a total of £1250 which has far exceeded the expectations of our WM.
“An amount I never dreamed we would achieve, which will be donated to the Festival appeal and to the Clock Tower military charity. I am proud to be the current WM of Worcestershire’s premier lodge. Thank you all for allowing me that honour and for the support you have given to our social events”. WM, W.Bro. Glyn Cardy
The bar has now been set high.
