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Victoria Lodge welcomes its first Muslim member.
Members
of Victoria Lodge No. 4629 were very pleased recently to welcome Mehrdad Daliri as its first Muslim member; he is also the
first Muslim in the Widnes Group of Lodges. Mehrdad, an IT Manager, says that he has been thinking of becoming a Mason for
some time, so when his proposer, Brian Boothroyd, asked him to join Victoria Lodge he had very little hesitation in saying
yes. He is now very happy to be a member of Victoria Lodge and looks forward to the coming years as he makes his advancement.The
initiation ceremony attracted quite a large number of visitors, including David Redhead, Chairman of the Widnes Group of Lodges
and Masters of Lodges, who along with members of Victoria Lodge, congratulated Mehrdad at the start of his Masonic career
and wished him well for the future. At the festive board David presented Mehrdad with an information pack containing a brief
explanation of the First Degree and other Masonic information.
Pictured
below left to right are, Mehrdad Daliri, Steve Nash, Master of Victoria Lodge and David Redhead, Group Chairman
London Weekend
Officers and brethren
from a number of Widnes lodges and their guests had a very enjoyable weekend in London in November 2009 when they visited
The United Grand Lodge of England and also took in the Lord Mayors Show.
Organised by the newly installed Master of
Victoria Lodge, Steve Nash, who said “The weekend was a great success. Since joining freemasonry I have always wanted
to visit Grand Lodge at Gt Queen Street and the afternoon did not disappoint”.
The group were met in the museum
where a very knowledgeable guide gave an explanation of a number of exhibits on display. They then continued on the tour of
the building stopping to see the Memorial to those who fell in The First world War before proceeding into Grand Lodge via
the very impressive and hugely ornate main doors.
Picture: The War Memorial at Great Queen Street
All
the features and fittings in the main Temple were described very eloquently by the guide who also allowed us ample time to
take photographs. The visit concluded in the museum where time was spent taking in the many exhibits before a quick visit
to the shop for souvenirs.
We spent two very comfortable nights at the Tower Hotel on the banks of the Thames including
a dinner on the Friday evening.
On Saturday morning the group had grandstand seats for the Lord Mayors Show which was
very entertaining although a little wet. The weather did not spoil our enjoyment as we were well prepared for the all that
the weather had to offer as early that morning the Immediate Past Master Peter Kenny, an emergency planning officer, put his
experience to good use when he had the foresight to visit a local Sainsbury’s store where he bought a number of wheelie
bin sized plastic sacks which kept the wet weather at bay.
London Freemasons pass St Paul’s Cathedral during the Lord Mayors Show
During
the afternoon most of the group had a flight on the London Eye before enjoying free time to visit theatres, restaurants and
take in some liquid refreshments.
Sunday morning was spent in the Oxford Street area of the city doing a little Christmas
Shopping before returning to Widnes.
Everyone said that they had enjoyed the weekend immensely and plans are underway
for the next one. It has been suggested that we go to the Colonels Review which is the dress rehearsal for the Trooping of
the Colour Ceremony at Horseguards Parade the week before the main event.
New Master for Victoria Lodge 4629
The installation of a new Master was carried
out at the October meeting of Victoria Lodge No. 4629, by retiring Master, Peter Kenny. Steve Nash was installed as Master
of the Lodge for 2009 - 2010. On this occasion, the Lodge was honoured by the presence of Leon Tax, Assistant Provincial Grand
Master. Also attending was David Redhead, Chairman of the Widnes Group of Lodges. After performing the installation ceremony,
Peter presented a cheque to Leon for £250 on behalf of the Lodge towards the 2010 Festival, added to this was an anonymous
personal donation, which with Giftaid, made a total of £325. Other charities that benefited from Peter’s
year as Master were, Halton Haven £1200 and McMillan Nurses £800 from money raised at the Sportsman’s Evening.
Ken Myers received a cheque for £250 on behalf of Widnes Masonic Hall Ltd for the Building Fund. Valiant, a group who
run Sport for Disabled Young People, received £250 and Help for Heroes received £250, making a grand total of
£3075 in charitable donations.
Sportsman's Dinner raises over £2K
A Sportsman’s Evening organised by Victoria Lodge Social Committee for all Lodges and non-masons raised £2145
for its two chosen charities, Halton Haven Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support. The guest speaker was David Johnson, ex Liverpool
and Everton legend with supporting act, top comedian Lester Crabtree.
Before the evening got underway we were introduced
to Shaun Pollard, Operational Director for Halton Haven Hospice who gave us a brief insight to the work of H.H.H. The Hospice
provides a free, quality of life service and a Family Support service to those who need it, at a cost of £1.8m per year,
of which £900k needs to be raised from donations.
Following the meal, we were entertained by David Johnson, who
gave a masterly talk about football and his career. This was followed by Lester Crabtree, who had us all in stitches with
our eyes watering with his quick fire jokes.
The evening raised £1800 from Bingo and raffle plus £345 from
a spontaneous glass collection for H.H.H. The Master of Victoria Lodge, Peter Kenny would like to offer his personal thanks
to all his supporters throughout his year for their generosity and he feels that the reason for the success is because the
two charities are close to everybody’s heart. Macmillan
Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer. They provide practical, medical and financial support and
push for better cancer care. Cancer affects us all. We can all help. The primary goal for Macmillan Cancer Support is to reach
and improve the lives of everyone living with cancer and they’ve set themselves an impressive ambition to achieve this
aim.
During Peter’s year as Master we have raised over £3k which was given out to Masonic and Non Masonic
charities at our October Installation.
 Pictured left to right, Peter Kenny, Worshipful Master of Victoria
Lodge and Shaun Pollard, Operational Director of Halton Haven Hospice.
Pictured left to right, Peter Kenny, Worshipful Master of Victoria
Lodge, comedian Lester Crabtree and guest speaker David Johnson.
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