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A
patient man
The brethren of Lodge of Equity and Appleton No 1384 were honoured and delighted to have
present at their installation meeting Assistant Provincial Grand Master Ian Boswell on his first visit to the lodge.
Accompanying Ian were four Grand Officers, Widnes Group Chairman David Redhead, Arthur Ford, Derek Hunt and Ted Hughes.
With all the initial proceedings taken care of, the master elect, Geoff Enright was presented to the installing master
Brian Rafferty by Derek Parker. Geoff joined Appleton Lodge No 6468 10 years ago and is now the first Master Mason of that
lodge to go into the chair of King Solomon in the amalgamated lodge. He was due to go into the chair three years ago, but
with the amalgamation has waited patiently for his turn and is thrilled it has finally come.
Geoff was installed
onto the chair of King Solomon in fine style by Brian in a flawless ceremony. Ian Edge, who was initiated into Freemasonry
in March 2010 and was the first initiate into the amalgamated lodge, impressed everyone with his exceptional presentation
of the working tools in all three degrees.
Geoff carried out his part of the ceremony and appointed and invested
his officers, which he did with firm confidence.
The address to the WM, wardens and brethren were commendably
delivered by Derek Parker, Keith Lysons and Ian Boswell respectively.
When the installation work was accomplished,
Ian conveyed to Geoff greetings and congratulations from the Provincial Grand Master who hopes you have a good year in office
and conducts the lodge business well.
Geoff them presented Ian with a cheque from the lodge for £400 made
out to West Lancashire Freemasons’ Charity. Ian thanked Geoff and the lodge, on behalf of the beneficiaries, for their
generous donation. A donation of £80 went to Friends of Ecclesholme and Gary Turner received a cheque for £520
for Widnes Masonic Hall, for which he was very thankful.
At the festive board which followed the ceremony, 70
brethren from far and wide sat down and enjoyed a wonderful meal. As well as visiting brethren from other groups in the area,
there were brethren from other Provinces, from nearby Cheshire and as far afield as Warwickshire.
In his response
to a toast to his health, Ian said: “I am pleased to be here, it’s nice to be among friends. I would like to offer
my congratulations and on behalf of the Grand Officers, for the excellent work in the ceremony, I was particularly impressed
with Ian Edge and his presentation of the working tools and the installing master did a wonderful job.” Ian also mentioned
charities and again praised the lodge for their generous donation to WLFC, a very worthy cause and the excellent donation
to Widnes Masonic Hall. Ian concluded by saying: “The lodge is clearly in good hands and it was a first class festive
board.”
Replying to a toast to his health, Geoff said: “I appreciate the work done by Brian in the
ceremony and I am now looking forward to the year ahead.” Geoff has got a number of ceremonies in the pipeline including
two first degrees, one of whom is joining as a result of the open day, and a third degree.
 Geoff
Enright (left), being congratulated by Brian Rafferty
Ian Boswell
(left), congratulates Geoff Enright after the ceremony.
Pictured
from left to right, are:
Norman Speed, Ian Edge, Chris Douglas, Geoff Enright, Andy Maginn, Brian Rafferty, Joe McLean
and Derek Parker
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Olde
England Merriment
An Olde England Nite was celebrated at the festive board of Lodge of Equity and
Appleton No 1384 which was presided over by the WM ‘Baron’ Brian de Raffety. A company of brethren and gentlemen
dined together on traditional English fare of beef broth and roast meats, although Trevor Price was fined for allowing the
inclusion of a foreign desert. They were entertained with much ribald, merriment and monologues.
A splendid team
of Fines Men, commanded by Derek Parker who mustered together Christopher Douglas, Ian Edge and Andy Maginn to make sure that
every man paid his due for their offenses however large or small; this Most Gaye Company of Cavaliers with their splendid
apparel patrolled the festive board seeking out the base culprits who broke the rules of the evening. Our Norman Speed championed
the list for the most chiefly sneak of the night. The evening realised £250 for the charities.
Every man
attending the festive board received a decorated pen as memento of the night. Brian Raffety thanked all the brethren and guests
for their generosity, wished them well and hoped to see them again.
 Fines
Men on the prowl.
Picture
left to right are the band of Fines Men;
Andy Maginn, Derek Parker (Fines Master), ‘Baron’ Brian Rafferty,
Chris Douglas and Ian Edge.
Lodge of Equity and Appleton make their first Master Mason
The last meeting of the Masonic season
saw the Lodge of Equity and Appleton No 1384 achieve another landmark in the history of the Lodge as they made their first
Master Mason. The meeting was well attended with 35 members and visitors; including two visiting WM’s and a Grand Officer
present to witness Ian Edge complete the final part of his journey in becoming a Master Mason.
Before the ceremony started Ian said, “I
am very much looking forward to the ceremony as I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have done in my progression so far”.
The ceremony was conducted in an excellent
manner by Brian Rafferty, WM of the Lodge and his team, Geoff Enright SW, Andy Maginn JW, Chris Douglas, SD and Joe McLean
JD. From the start of the ceremony Ian displayed a good level of confidence as he answered questions put to him by Brian and
with clear instructions from Chris he was able to maintain his confidence and enjoy the ceremony.
At the end of the ceremony Ian said,
“It was a magnificent experience, really enjoyable. I am now looking forward to taking the first step to become Master
of the Lodge, which hopefully will be in February next year when I take up the position of Inner Guard”.
The evening concluded with everyone
enjoying a superb meal at the festive board at which Brian made himself very happy by pulling his own ticket out of the bag
to win a bottle of whisky in the raffle.
 Pictured left
to right, are: Brian Rafferty and Ian Edge. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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