My Year In The Grand West

In August, at the reception held in Kingston for Ancient St John's Lodge, I was approached by WBro Ian Troyer, the President of the Masonic Association of Frontenac District, to participate in their annual Degree Team - and I agreed to do so - and attended Albion Lodge 109 on February 13 to sit in the West and assist the team to pass Bro Alex Rice, who was a very well prepared candidate, as was the whole team, featuring members from across the district. Albion's own SW, Bro Scott Forbes, sat as SD and did a perfect job guiding the Bro Rice - in the presence of his father, Bro Robert Rice. It was a great meeting on several levels, as I was the guest of honour and was certainly treated as such, at the pre-meeting banquet and after the ceremony, when I was handed a package of local items, which I greatly appreciated. I was also able to present Grand Lodge pins to Bro Rice and Bro Son Rice, while telling the brethren present about my own father and my own son, not to mention my ...

This was a special night for me. I had just come out of the hospital on the Saturday prior, having had my gallbladder removed, and this evening was an Emergent Meeting for The Beaches Lodge and it was a night where my oldest boy Eric was to provide the candidate with the SW lecture in the 2nd degree. I had to check earlier with RWBro Gord Crutcher as to what attire I was to wear, given officers typically only wear a regular business suit, and seeing as it was an Emergent Meeting of my own mother lodge I could in fact dress down and wear a tux... not a white tie and tails.  One thing you can notice in the photo is that my apron is falling down. Yes, I did lose some weight during my 4-day stay in the hospital, which began on Wednesday November 13, with the surgery being done on Friday night at 10pm. While there, Eric came to visit several times and we had an opportunity to go through his work together to be properly prepared for the degree, which he was. You might also be able to ...