Provincial Grand Lodge of 
Mark Master Masons of Bedfordshire

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Provincial Grand Lodge 2009 - New Deputy PGM Appointed 

At the meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge on 20 June 2009, before investing his Provincial Officers, the Provincial Grand Master  thanked V. W. Bro. David Picton PGJO for his dedication to Mark Masonry in Bedfordshire having served for many years as Provincial Secretary and Deputy Provincial Grand Master.  He invested V.W. Bro. David with a Past Deputy PGM's collarette and jewel on his retirement from office.

The PGM then went on to install W. Bro. Peter Vaughan PAGDC (pictured below) as the Deputy PGM and they brethren saluted him in the time-honoured way.

He then appointed W. Bro. Peter Burnage as Provincial Grand Senior Warden and W. Bro. John Quince as Provincial Grand Junior Warden.  The full list of appointments and promotions is shown below.

Provincial Grand Lodge was honoured by the presence of 14 R. W. Brethren and many other distinguished guests whom the Provincial Grand Master welcomed in the usual way.  In his address, he said how pleased he was to "be able to offer, on your behalf, some hospitality to our distinguished guests from other Provinces to repay their generosity when we have had the pleasure of visiting them.  

To the Masters and brethren of Bedfordshire lodges, I also express my thanks and those of other members of the Executive for the warm welcome we have received when visiting them. 

Although they are not members of our Order, we are, once again, to welcome E. Comp. Bob Lovesey, the Grand Superintendent for the Holy Royal Arch of Bedfordshire and W Bro. Ron Vaughan, the Craft Assistant Provincial Grand Master who will be joining us for lunch. 

Earlier this month, the Grand Master MW Bro. HRH Prince Michael of Kent appointed W. Bro. Billy Miller to the rank of Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies.  In addition, W. Bro. Ron Rawlings was given the Acting Rank of Grand Steward.  To both these senior brethren I offer my personal congratulations – it is their commitment to Mark Masonry which makes them deserving recipients of these high honours. 

Brethren this is the occasion when a number of Acting Provincial Officers retire from their posts and, on behalf of my Executive, I thank them all for the hard and I hope enjoyable work they have had in the last year.   I especially pay tribute to my past Wardens who have had more than their fair share of visits and particularly to my retiring Charity Steward, W Bro. Martin Wilson, who has been so diligent in all his administrative work to the confusion of Mark Masons’ Hall when Martin’s figures have proved more up to date than theirs!.  Of course today is especially about rewarding those brethren who have put so much into Mark Masonry in Bedfordshire.  I congratulate all those brethren whom I have appointed and promoted today – their new ranks are earned through “patient industry and merit” - these are the brethren who have given, and continue to give, willing service and dedication to their Lodges and to the Province.  I invite them all to join our Provincial Officers’ Mess and to have an opportunity to play a further part in the life and direction of the Province.  

Only a couple of weeks ago, I and many of our distinguished visitors had the great privilege of attending the naming ceremony of the new RNLI Lifeboat called “Mark Mason” which we have helped to fund with a donation of £1.6M.  This took place at Angle in Pembrokeshire and it was a fantastic and rather emotional occasion as the Grand Master was present to hand over the new vessel.  Such a major donation is only possible through your efforts and it is a pleasure to be able to recognize some of those efforts with the presentation of the charity collarettes today.   

Last year, I promised a competition to claim the title of “Friendliest Lodge” with the award of a “certificate” to the Lodge, which has the highest ratio of visitors to members. In addition, the winning Lodge is entitled to a year free of Provincial Dues!  I am now delighted to award that honour to the Lea Lodge No. 405.  Brother Director of Ceremonies, will you please escort the Worshipful Master, W Bro. Chris Burgess to me to receive the Certificate on behalf of the Lodge. 

Next year, we shall be celebrating our first 25 years as a Province; until then, we were joined at the hip to Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire.  I hope it is just a coincidence, but very shortly after I was advanced into the Stuart Mark Lodge here in Bedford , Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire decided to drift away from Bedfordshire. In retrospect, that was probably good for them and me!  To mark the occasion as the Provincial Secretary has indicated, we shall be having a celebratory dinner in February next year, which I hope you and your families will be able to attend.  

Despite the present financial situation, I hope you will all feel able to retain your membership of both your Mark and Craft Lodges and to continue to support our charitable efforts.  On your behalf, I hope to be making a donation towards the Bedfordshire Craft 2015 Festival later this year as well as towards the 2009 Festival for the MBF in Cumberland and Westmoreland next month.  

In my Installation Address in 2007, I asked you to support your Lodges by mastering the ceremonies and in regular attendance at meetings.  To paraphrase the late President Kennedy - “ask not what your Lodge can do for you - ask what you can do for your Lodge.”  Look after one another; support your Master and enjoy your meetings! 

Finally brethren, on your behalf I thank all those brethren who gave of their time and effort to make this meeting happen, especially my Provincial Secretary, W. Bro. John Luttrell. To my new Director of Ceremonies, W. Bro. Russ Howard and his team; to the Stewards and Car Park attendants I also offer my grateful thanks.  Brethren, thank you for your kind attention – enjoy your lunch and in true Mark spirit, enjoy each other’s company!".

2009-2010 Appointments

Provincial Grand Lodge 2008

At the meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge on 20 September 2008, the Provincial Grand Master  appointed W. Bro. Ron Rawlings  PPrGJO as Provincial Grand Senior Warden and W. Bro. Jim Varnals PPrGJD as Provincial Grand Junior Warden.  The full list of appointments and promotions is shown below.

The Provincial Meeting, which was attended by many PGMs and distinguished guests from other Provinces, took place at The Keep, Kempston, Bedford and in his Address the Provincial Grand Master thanked them all for making time to come to Bedfordshire.  He went on to say;

"Since my Installation in January 2007, I have somehow managed to avoid having our Provincial Meeting on our usual day, the third Saturday in June!.  We swapped with our near neighbours, Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire last year and due to circumstances outside our control, couldn’t swap back again this year but next year we are back to our usual slot in June.  Nevertheless brethren, it is my very pleasant duty to welcome you all here today and to thank you for supporting both the Province and me. 

I am also pleased to be able to offer, on your behalf, some hospitality to our distinguished guests from other Provinces to repay their unfailing kindness when we have had the pleasure of visiting them.  To the Masters and brethren of Bedfordshire lodges, I also express my thanks and those of other members of the Executive for the warm welcome we have received when visiting them.  

I am also delighted to welcome our Past PGM RW Bro. Harry Arnold who wasn’t able to attend last year for reasons of Masonic protocol but whom we could not keep away this year!!  Harry is a continuing source of sound advice and wise counsel and I pay tribute to all he has done and continues to do for the Province.  Although he is not a member of our Order, we are, once again, to welcome E. Comp. Bob Lovesey, the Grand Superintendent for Bedfordshire who will be joining us for lunch.  In addition, W Bro. Ron Vaughan, the Craft Assistant Provincial Grand Master will also be dining with us.  

In June this year, the Grand Master MW Bro. HRH Prince Michael of Kent promoted our Deputy Provincial Director of Ceremonies; W. Bro. Russ Howard to Past Grand Junior Deacon having previously held the rank of Grand Steward.   W. Bro. Martin Wilson, the Provincial Grand Charity Steward, was given a first appointment as Past Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies.  To both these senior brethren I offer my personal congratulations – it is their commitment to Mark Masonry which makes them deserving recipients of these high honours.  

Of course today is all about honouring those brethren who have put so much into Mark Masonry in Bedfordshire.  I congratulate all those brethren whom I have appointed and promoted today – their new ranks are earned on merit - these are the brethren who have given, and continue to give, good service and dedication to their Lodges and to the Province.  I invite them all to join our Provincial Officer’s Mess and to have an opportunity to play a further part in the life and direction of the Province.

I would also like to express my grateful thanks to W Bro. Ian Walker who retires today as our Provincial Almoner to take up the equally important role of Provincial Orator in the Craft.  His place is taken by W Bro. Ashley Green who is also the Provincial Almoner in the Craft.  I offer them both my best wishes in their future roles.

In July this year, I had the great pleasure of attending the 2008 MBF Festival under the Chairmanship of the PGM for Leicestershire and Rutland , R W Bro. Tony Morris.  This fabulous occasion produced an equally fabulous total of £627,115 – within that sum; we managed to contribute £7,042, an average of £782 per Lodge. In addition, you have been extraordinarily generous in supporting our charitable activities within the Province and each of the 9 Lodges has been allocated the sum of £1,000 to donate to a charity or charities of their choice.  In this way, all those brethren who raised the funds can have a direct say in how they are distributed.  Such charity is only possible through your efforts and it is a pleasure to be able to recognize some of those efforts with the presentation of the charity collarettes today.   

We have a great tradition of visiting in Bedfordshire Mark Lodges and there is often competition to claim the title of “Friendliest Lodge”.  It seems to me that we can put this on a more scientific basis and I therefore intend to award a “certificate” to the Lodge which has the highest percentage of visitors to members each year. – the prize is a year free of Provincial Dues!. Oh, and by the way, members of the Provincial Executive on official duties are excluded from the calculations!.

Earlier this year, we supported the Craft at their Fun Day by running a strawberry tea stall and I wish to thank W Bro. Owen Parker and his wife Angela for their hard work in organising the event.  Our support of the Craft and their support of Mark Masonry is good for both Orders – please approach younger members of your Craft Lodges to encourage them to join us.  Similarly, if you know of any non-masons who would like to be members of the Craft, encourage them as well – it is the only way that they can join us!.;  

At the risk of ruining your lunch, I would like to be a little more serious for once.  The present economic difficulties and changing social pressures will inevitably have an effect on our membership and on that of our Craft Lodges.  Sometimes members become disillusioned and drift away – to these Brethren I say, look at all the good things which our membership provides – the support and comradeship, the sense of achievement which we feel after joining in our ceremonies, the ways in which we make good men better, the spiritual and moral standards which we share and the worldwide welcome we can expect from other Masons.  All these things and many others are available to any member who gives his time to his Lodge – the costs are small but the rewards are priceless.  

Finally brethren, on your behalf I thank all those brethren who gave of their time and effort to make this meeting happen, especially my Provincial Secretary, W. Bro. John Luttrell. To my Director of Ceremonies, W. Bro. Peter Vaughan and his team; to the Stewards and Car Park attendants I offer my grateful thanks.  

Brethren, thank you for your kind attention – enjoy your lunch!.  "

2008-2009 Appointments

Provincial Grand Lodge 2007

At the meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge on 23 June 2007, the Provincial Grand Master  appointed W. Bro. Alan Townsend MBE  PPrGSO as Provincial Grand Senior Warden and W. Bro. Reg Jones PPrGSO as Provincial Grand Junior Warden.  The full list of appointments and promotions is shown below.

The Provincial Meeting which was attended by PGMs and many distinguished guests took place at The Keep, Kempston, Bedford and in his Address the Provincial Grand Master thanked them all for making time to come to Bedfordshire.  He went on to say;

"Firstly brethren, it is my very pleasant duty to welcome you all here today and to thank you for supporting both the Province and me.  As I am sure you know, we are not meeting today on our usual date - the 3^rd Saturday in June. 

I am also delighted to welcome, on your behalf, our Past PGM RW Bro. Alan Alvey and our Past Deputy PGM VW Dougie Davies.  Masonic protocol does not allow our immediate Past PGM RW Bro. Harry Arnold to be with us today – but I look forward to him joining us next year.  Although he is not a member of our Order, we are to welcome E. Comp. Bob Lovesey, the Grand Superintendent for Bedfordshire who will be joining us for lunch. 

I am also pleased to be able to offer some hospitality to our distinguished guests from other Provinces to repay, in some way, their unfailing kindness when we have had the pleasure of visiting them.   

To the Masters and brethren of Bedfordshire lodges, I also express my thanks and those of other members of the Executive for the warm welcome we have received when visiting them.

You may have noticed that we have decided to make the dining fee inclusive of pre-lunch drinks and wine with the meal.  This may make the bar a bit crowded but there is a second bar available if needed.  That means that our distinguished guests will have to rub shoulders with all their hosts from Bedfordshire   - but as we say “Among Mark Master Masons you will ever find friends”!. 

Our Installation Meeting in January was a wonderful day for me and I hope for all those who were kind enough to attend.  Having a separate meeting for our Provincial Grand Lodge today allows me to concentrate on investing the new Provincial Officers and to make the occasion special for them.  I congratulate all those brethren whom I have appointed and promoted today – their new ranks are earned on merit - these are the brethren who have given and continue to give good service and dedication to their Lodges and to the Province.  I invite them all to join our Provincial Officer’s Mess and to have an opportunity to play a further part in the life of the Province.

I would also urge the new Provincial Officers to support the two Lodges of Instruction and to use their skills to help the younger brethren to improve their knowledge and understanding of our Order. 

Bedfordshire has a proud record of supporting both the Mark Benevolent Fund as well as local charities.   Many of you will know of the donations that we have been able to make to the St. John’s Hospice and to the Luton & Dunstable Hospital.  Such charity is only possible through your efforts and it is a pleasure to be able to recognize some of those efforts with the presentation of the charity collarettes today. 

You can hardly fail to have noticed the Osteoporosis Scanning Service vehicle parked outside.  This was funded as part of our £3M donation to the National Osteoporosis Society which was announced at our wonderful 150th Anniversary celebration at the Royal Albert Hall.  Please take the opportunity to have a look round and see the results of your charitable efforts.  Richard Munro, the Project Manager will be pleased to answer your questions. 

Earlier this month, the Pro Grand Master MW Bro. John Hale invested a number of our members with first appointments and promotions in Grand Rank.

My Deputy, V.W. Bro. David Picton, was promoted to Past Grand Junior Overseer.
W. Bros. Don Ansell and Vic Brown were promoted to the rank of Past Grand Senior Deacon.  
W. Bros. Ian Baker, Norman Bliss, David Collom and John Luttrell were given first appointments as Past Assistant Grand Directors of Ceremonies.  
And W. Bro. Owen Parker was appointed as a Past Grand Standard Bearer.  
To all of these senior brethren I offer my personal congratulations – it is their commitment to Mark Masonry which makes them deserving recipients of these high honours.

 n April this year, the Craft Grand Master, HRH the Duke of Kent acknowledged “formally the existence and regularity, and in particular their sovereignty and independence” of many other Orders, including Mark Masonry. Arguably this was the most important statement on other Orders since the Preliminary Declaration of the Act of Union of the two Craft Grand Lodges in December 1813.   He went on to say, “What is important is that Brethren who join these other Orders still retain their membership of a Craft Lodge and I am pleased that the Orders will be encouraging their members to do so”.  For my part, I am happy to give my support to this initiative and I would ask you all to do the same – for we are all Craft Masons.

For the Internet surfers amongst you, our Provincial website has been re-launched at www. bedsmark.org.uk. – please keep an eye on it as we will endeavour to bring you the latest news about Mark Masonry in Bedfordshire.

 As many of you know, the Province is blessed with many traveling Mark Masons, affectionately known as the “pikies” – they have swelled the ranks at our meetings and have helped out in filling vacant offices on many occasions.  I commend them to you and if you would like to join, please have a word with either W. Bros. John Walder or Denis Perkins – they will be happy to put you on their list!.

Finally brethren, on your behalf I thank all those brethren who gave of their time and effort to make this meeting happen, especially my Provincial Secretary, W. Bro. John Luttrell who has had the dubious pleasure of arranging two Provincial Meetings in less than 5 months.  To my Director of Ceremonies, W. Bro. Peter Vaughan and his team; to the Stewards and Car Park attendants I offer my grateful thanks - without them the whole meeting would be “heaved over amongst the rubbish”

 Brethren, thank you for your kind attention – I look forward to joining you very soon for lunch!.  

2007-2008 Appointments

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Last modified: June 20, 2009