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2008-09 Colin Silver Worshipful Master
For most people the mention of Switzerland conjures up images of ‘Cuckoo Clocks’ and the ‘Gnomes of Zurich’ banking world.
For the Lodge of Faith for Duty however it reminds us that our WM resides in that country and has commuted every month to attend Lodge of Instruction and of course our Lodge meetings. (Approximately 20 trips per year).
It should be no surprise that Colin has undertaken these journeys with all the confidence a experience of one who used to own and run a Travel Agency for humans. This more recently changed to a travel service for Dogs and their owners with Colin and his wife Debby arranging all the required inoculations and paperwork.
Anyone seeing Colin perform in the Lodge will see that he has brought this organisational skill to his freemasonry and the meetings under his direction are always meticulously planned and presented.
Colin has a good sense of humour and this is reflected in the manner with which he conducts the Lodge meetings and in his dealings with others.
Hosting a very successful Ladies weekend at Sandbanks Hotel near Poole in Dorset, Colin was delighted to hear that the charitable fund raising during the weekend had resulted in just under £1500 being raised for charity. A remarkable end to a remarkable year.
2007-2008 Lionel Wolfe installed as Worshipful Master
Lionel Wolfe is an Old Boy of the Tottenham Grammar School and has been a mason for many years.
It was a chance meeting between him and Rodney White, the then Secretary of the Lodge of Faith For Duty, that first alerted him to there even being a Lodge associated with the school. He promised that once he had retired from work he would join Faith For Duty and true to his word, he did just that. Although an experienced mason, Lionel had no qualms about taking on the junior offices and working his way up to the Master’s Chair for the year 2007-08.
Employed as an accountant by Siemens Instruments, working life for Lionel required him living in the Midlands during the week and returning home for the weekend.
Some might say that was a recipe for a happy marriage and it may explain why his wife, Gloria, also took up Freemasonry as one of the growing number of lady masons.
Lionel is a very private person but those that get to know him soon realise that he has a wicked sense of humour and a very wide knowledge of Freemasonry. If ever there is a query as to the appropriate Masonic procedure, Lionel will invariably know the answer.
His year as Worshipful Master ends in April 2008 but in the year he has encouraged the less experienced brethren of the Lodge to take on parts of the ritual for each of the 3 degrees that he has presided over, most generously allowing W.Bro Julian Barterer to perform the main parts of each ceremony so that he could experience each ceremony as WM.
Lionel is a stalwart supporter of the Lodge of Instruction and his Masonic knowledge has proven invaluable to the junior brethren.
2006-2007 Julian Barterer Installed as Worshipful Master
- Just Like that!
Anyone meeting Julian for the first
time can be forgiven for thinking he is a quiet retiring chap. A longer
acquaintance will reveal that he has a good sense of humour and a liking for
the unusual. The older Brethren in the Lodge will remember that Joe Elman
(one of the Founders) was an accomplished magician. Julian looks set to follow
in that tradition and has already entertained the Lodge members and visitors
with his slight of hand. As Junior Warden he would regularly propose a very
unique toast to the visitors and on one occasion this entailed turning a
banana into a yellow duster. As Worshipful Master Julian comes from that LOI
stable that has produced so many excellent WM's in past years. Congratulations
must go to W.Bros Brian Jackson and Dickie Moss for the time they have
invested in the brethren to ensure our ritual is always of the highest
standard.
We can look forward to the year ahead
with some anticipation of the unexpected......but don't blink or you'll miss
something.
2005-2006 (Last?) Old Boy of the School Takes the Chair.
Gordon Williams was installed as the
Worshipful Master of the Lodge in April of 2005. For a number of years he felt
that he may be the last Old Boy of the School to occupy the Master's
Chair.....but...it seems not as there are still others who also attended the
school in the distant past, who are likely now to follow him. For Gordon,
Freemasonry seems to have been a natural step for him to take and he has
enjoyed meeting many old friends and making still more new friends through
this wonderful organisation. Gordon like Martin before him has applied himself
to learning the ritual so that he may make the experience of others attending
Lodge meetings that much more enjoyable. An accomplished pianist he has
provided the musical accompaniment for renditions of the School Song the
Masters Song and the Entered Apprentice Song performed admirably at the
Festive Boards by that well known 'Balladeer' Martin Freedman. Gordon
conducted his first ceremony as the Worshipful Master on 11th October 2005
when he provided a blemish free ceremony of initiation for the son of our
former WM the late W.Bro Jack Shewring. The years of attendance at LOI clearly
paid off for all involved in an excellent initiation ceremony and it was an
evening that the candidate will be able to look back on with much
satisfaction.
Where did the year go? Gordon
conducted the Lodge through the second and third degree ceremonies for Bro.
Derek Shewring, culminating in a faultless installation ceremony of his
successor Julian Barterer into the Chair of King Solomon.
2004-2005 Martin Freedman's Year as Master
There was never a doubt that Martin
would take his responsibilities as Master of the Lodge seriously and he
managed .....well most of the time.....to restrain his natural tendency
to crack a joke or four. As expected Martin conducted the work of the Lodge
with consummate efficiency and those privileged to witness his theatrical
presentation of parts of the ceremonies were given a genuine insight into what
Freemasonry should be like ie Fun.
A successful Ladies weekend in January
2005 at the Sandbanks Hotel was enjoyed by some 150 Masons, wives and friends.
Martin is a natural entertainer and is never happier than when he is providing
a rendition of some masonic tune or other accompanied on the piano by that
graduate from the Les Dawson school of music W.Bro Gordon Williams. It was a
truly enjoyable year. Thank you Martin Freedman.
Events of Last Year and Hopes for 2004-05.
During
2003 the Lodge experienced the sad death of it's reigning Master W.Bro
Jack Shewring. Following his installation as
Worshipful Master in April 2003 W.Bro Jack was
looking forward to his year in the Chair of King Solomon. The many hours he'd
spent attending LOI meant it was certain that he would have presided over the
Lodge with consumate efficiency and confidence. His
untimely death on the 10th
October 2003 robbed the Lodge of it's
Master and deprived W.Bro Jack of the privilege of
completing his year as Worshipful Master. W.Bro
Neil Hougham was prevailed on to take the Masters
Chair for the remainder of the year and in April 2004 we saw a superb
ceremony at which Bro Martin Freedman was installed as Worshipful Master.
Like W.Bro Jack before him Martin has been a
stalwart of the LOI, rarely missing an evening at which he would willingly
take on any role/office to practice the ritual in preparation for his
continued advancement in the Lodge. The hours of practice and rehearsal were
clearly seen at his installation when he faultlessly proceeded through the
ceremony watched by many visiting Brethren, who afterwards joined together at
the Festive Board to celebrate with W.Bro Martin.
W.Bro Martin is reknowned
for his sense of humour and his meticulous
attention to the work of the Lodge. It is without doubt the Lodge has an
extremely able individual as its Master for the coming year, 2004-2005 and
the Brethren are looking forward to the coming year with some anticipation.
During
the year the Lodge was delighted to hear that 2 of it's
brethren, W.Bro Brian Jackson and W.Bro Tony Smith, were to receive London Grand Rank honours. The congratulations of their fellow brethren are
extended to them.
The
Lodge membership continues to remain bouyant and
surprisingly still manages to attract initiates who are 'Old Boys' of
Tottenham
Grammar
School as well as other individuals, who
rapidly adopt the traditions of the Lodge. The coming year will certainly be
lively and enjoyable.
Charities
"Have
you anything to give in the cause of charity?"
Every
candidate is asked this question during the ceremony of his Initiation and he
is taught that Charity will be a recurring theme throughout his Masonic life
- indeed Charity has been a fundamental Landmark of Freemasonry for hundreds
of years. However, few laymen have any idea of the huge contribution
Freemasons make to charities or that Freemasonry is one of the biggest
providers of charitable giving in the country.
As in
many trades, Benefit Societies, Livery Companies and the like, Masonic
charities were first concentrated on the welfare and support of indigent or
injured operative Masons, their widows and children and this aspect is now
represented by the the three great Masonic
Charities:- The Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys
(MTGB) founded in 1788 to support orphans of Freemasons and children in need.
Last year over 2000 children were helped through school, college or
University. Some sheltered accommodation in London is available
for young people leaving school. Help is also given outside the Craft. For
example, in 2002, twenty-three Cathedral
Choral
School bursaries were
provided to benefit both poorer children and to support our great Cathedral
choral heritage.
The
Benevolent Institution (RMBI) which provides Residential, Nursing, care and
sheltered accommodation for some 1150 older Freemasons and their dependants
in some 17 retirement homes.
The New Masonic Samaritan Fund (NMSF)
gives assistance to those in urgent need of surgical or medical care not
readily available under the NHS or affordable privately.
In
addition to the millions given by Freemasons to these charities (and
incidentally, relieving the taxpayer from the burden), the GRAND CHARITY
provides millions of pounds every year for non-masonic purposes. Major gifts
will range from, say, the funding of a Chair in some medical field, to
immediate aid for an earthquake, flood or other
disaster worldwide. In addition hundreds of well-known and many little known
charities now benefit from an annual cheque of £1000/£2000
.
But
that is not all. Every Craft
Province, every Craft
Lodge and many other Masonic Orders and their Lodges and Councils, give
substantial sums to charity - mostly unrecognised
by the media. For example, the £2 million given by Mark Masons to renew the
St John's Ambulance Brigade's fleet of vehicles; the hundreds of thousands
given by London Masons to Prostate Cancer Research, Moorfield
Eye Hospital's Children's dept., the All Alone Fund to rescue London children
'living rough', research studies into the causes of Asthma, and aid to the
Deaf.
None
of this money is raised by public subscription; we make no mail shots, send
no 'begging letters', we shake no tins in the streets. It comes from the
brethren alone.
The
appendix lists the giving of the Lodge of Faith for Duty to local and other
Charities over recent years( excluding support to
the Masonic Charities listed above)
APPENDIX
Donations
made by the Lodge of Faith for Duty to non-masonic Charities
HOSPICES
AND HOSPITALS
Highlands
Hospital, Mount Vernon Hospital, Montreal Ward Trust,
Jewish Homes Hospital, Great Ormond Street Appeal, Barnet General Hospital,
North London Hospice, Trinity Hospice Clapham, Isabel Hospice, Victoria Hospital Lewes,
Princess Alice Hospice, St Luke's Hospice, Lister Hospital.
OTHER
CHARITIES
The
British Heart Foundation, National Heart Foundation, British Diabetics UK,
Save the Children Fund, Marie Curie Foundation, Royal National Lifeboat
Institution, Abbeyfield Association, Anthony Nolan
Appeal, Chicken Shed Theatre Company, Macmillan Cancer Relief, Mayor of Haringey's Fund, Barnardo's,
MIND, YMCA, Sue Harris Bone Marrow Trust, Breakthrough for Cancer, Alone in
London, SOS Children's Villages, Moorfields Children's
Eye Centre, Children's Country Holiday Fund, Firemen's Benevolent Fund,
National Asthma Campaign, Cancer & Leukaemia in
Childhood, Make a Wish Foundation, Prostate Cancer Research, RNID (Deaf), The
Salvation Army, HEAL (Prostate Appeal), Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Parkinsons Disease Society, London County Cricket Assoc.
This
year (2004) we raised some £2,000 and supported the London Masonic Appeals
for the Research into prostrate cancer and the London Deaf funds; the
Salvation Army and the RMBI.
Both our
Benevolent Funds are Registered Charities and members (and friends) are
reminded of the importance of completing a Gift Aid Declaration. Tony Smith
has details.
News of Old Boys
The
Lodge again preceded their December meeting by hosting the 10th annual `White
Table` Reunion Dinner, providing a `get together` for Old Boys of the
Tottenham Grammar and Somerset
Schools to a capacity
attendance at Southgate. This event is
eagerly awaited by many Old Boys of the school and other friends of Lodge members.It would be nice to believe it can continue ...BUT..unless the Lodge continues
to attract new members the very organisation that makes this get together
possible will be faced with the same threat of demise that resulted in the
sad end of the school's Old Boys Association. If you are one of those who
have attended the 'White Table' and would like to see it continue then you
are urged to take the positive step of becoming a member of the Lodge thereby
ensuring a sound membership base that will maintain the traditions of TGS
...'our school'.
The Rugger Club
More good news. The Club has
at last got the Middlesex
University to honour its agreement with the Rugby Club and work has
started to rebuild the Clubhouse at Worlds End
Lane, Winchmore
Hill, N21. It is hoped that this building work will
be completed by the start of the new season in September 2004 and the Club
offers all supporters a warm welcome (as well as the bar!!).
Far
through the mists.......
A
recent message posted on the Old School website sent a flurry of old boys to
the Ebay.com auction site to bid for a commemorative brochure of the opening
of the school building in White Hart Lane, Tottenham in 1938. It was bought
by an Old Boy of the school and he intends to send a copy to Paul Wood so
that it can be enjoyed on the school website.If you
would like a copy of the Brochure via the web and you are on Broadband
contact John Fowl.
Our Web Site
Whilst
considering a web site for the Lodge and School out of the blue we discovered
that Paul Wood had already made a good start on a site for `Old Boys` to meet
through a TGS and Somerset Schools Guest Book. More work needs to be done to
provide additional information, material and links, but those interested can
log on at http://www.tottenhamgrammarschool.co.uk
.
And
Finally
If
you have any news, views, changes of address or anything of interest to `Old
Boys` of either Tottenham Grammar or Somerset Schools, please contact:-
JOHN FOWL (Lodge Secretary)
01920-421488
JOHN FOWL (Web Site)
01920
421 488 or e-mail
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