Do you  know that Worcestershire Mark Province is to have a new Lodge formed specially for those who have an interest in Golf.

We are currently looking for Mark Masons who are interested in becoming Founder or Joining Members.

To register your interest you can visit the Worcestershire Mark Provincial Grand Lodge Web site (see Links on this site) and follow the instructions on the screen.

For those who have not yet experienced the friendly degree but are keen golfers why not register an interest in being Advanced into both the Order and this new Golfers Lodge.

Membership is of course open to any of our friends from the surrounding provinces with whom we regularly play our representative matches.

St Egwin Lodge of MMM was well represented at a recent meeting in Tenbury Wells when Teme Valley Lodge of MMM No 1260 celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the lodge and the Installation of the 51st Worshipful Master.

 The lodge rooms were packed to the rafters, as they say. The PGM having requested the support of the years Provincial Officers was not disappointed with a very strong turn out from the Province.

In the absence of the Provincial Grand Senior Warden, who was unable to attend,  our own W Bro john Icke, the Provincial Grand Junior Warden, was joined by W Bro George Simpson PPrGSW, as Acting Provincial Grand Senior Warden for the evening. A fairly rare occurrence for any lodge to have two members filling the offices of Wardens for an Installation Ceremony.

Our lodge was further represented by W Bro Mike Bruton, W Bro David Stean and Bro John Pritchard.   

A splendid evening ensued in excellent company which everyone very much enjoyed. 

86 Masons , families and friends enjoyed a very special treat on Saturday 17th September when the Worcestershire Mark Charity Committee staged a Variety Night in aid of the Festival 2015 appeal.

Seated in parties of up to 12 the room was full to near capacity and the atmosphere was fantastic.

The room layout was different to anything most of us have seen before thanks to careful planning by Mel Broadhurst.  Lodge groups were seated together on tables of up to 12 people. Great to be able to say that with a few guests, St Egwin, stretched to TWO tables. A great response from the lodge, thank you for such wonderful support.

Jeff Whiteley, our Provincial Director of Ceremonies, volunteered his professional services, a sound system and a stage which he erected for the evening, a welcome touch of professionalism to the whole proceedings.

After a drinks reception we were all welcomed by George Simpson who detailed the proceedings for the evening saying he thought we were in for a treat.

Following straight after the meal the entertainment got under way when Mark Watson  1st Violin, Jacqui Hill  2nd Violin, Fiona Swadling Viola and Jenny Pearson on Cello,  collectively know as “The Bellini Strings” played the first half of their programme for the evening.

Recognising the obvious quality of the performers, the audiences attention was grabbed right from the start and every piece played was applauded with great enthussaism.

The first half of their programme included music by Vivaldi and Elgar and their rendition of the Glenn Miller classic “Moonlight Serenade”  had the whole room imagining they were gliding around on the floor of a splendid ball room. The completion of the first half of their performance came all too quickly and was greeted with vocal encouragement and sustained applause.

“Follow that”  was on everyone’s mind when George stood to introduced his grand daughter Georgia.

Georgia has a beautiful voice and performed two numbers. Her performance matched the magic that had gone before as she held the audience spell bound with her rendition of “Make You Feel My Love” followed  by  “Jar of Hearts “.  A real treat especially for those who were experiencing  her talents for the first time.

George then introduced his other grand daughter Rhiannon whose instrumental musical talents are being well developed. On this occasion she played the violin showing every sign of matching her sisters flare and talent. She was accompanied by Fiona Swadling,  in a string duet during the first number. Fiona moving to the keyboard for Rhiannon’s second number.

Sending the girls around the tables promoting the raffle between the two half’s of the concert was a master stroke. It allowed everyone to compliment them both and helped swell the total amount raised by the raffle.

On their return to the stage, Mark Watson introduced the quartet saying it was formed in 1994 by graduates of the Birmingham conservatoire and the Royal Northern College of Music.

The second  half of the programme included a  selection of modern classics including ” That’s Amore” , “Can’t take my Eyes off of You” , ” She” , ” Lets face the Music and Dance” and the Abba hit “Mamma Mia”  ending the concert with “Viva La Vida” an ideal piece to round off a magnificent concert.

The completion of the programme was greeted with a standing ovation lasting some time.

Every one agreed that the whole evening  had been staged in a most professional manner.  From the temporary stage,  a first class sound system which complimented the performance of every artist, to the fantastic backing tapes which had been professionally produced for Georgia’s performance. I’ve already mentioned that this was in the main part down to the efforts of Jeff Whiteley.  His low key profile on the evening says everything about the man whose input into everything Mark in our Province, is nothing short of magnificent.

After the raffle had taken place George thanked all those who had helped make the night special.

He thanked the kitchen, Mel Broadhurst and John Icke for everything leading up to the evening.

He thanked the Sponsors for raffle prizes, Trevor Sleigh for the gallon of Whiskey he had auctioned and Jeff  for the use of the equipment that had made the night a tremendus success.

He paid special thanks to everyone present for their support which he could now say had raised the magnificent sum of  £1,117

Jeff then called for a well earned round of applause for George and Jenny Simpson for their wonderful enthusiasm and energy in making the whole evening happen.

Brethren its is with much sadness that we announce the death of Bro John Grindle on Thursday 15th September 2011.

John was advanced into our lodge in 1968 and although he did not attend regularly he remained a subscribing member until his death.

We await full details of the funeral arrangement which will be posted on receipt.

Threatened rain, wind and hail failed to deter the avid hunters who turned out to the St Egwin’s Treasure Hunt and Garden Party on Sunday 17th July.

With two large marquees and plenty of cover the organisers had gone to a lot of  trouble to make sure of every ones comfort. As it happened the sun shone for much of the afternoon and at times it was surprisingly warm.

Over 20 cars set out on the treasure hunt and they all made it home safe and sound. Some complained that it was too hard, but the high scores of most participants indicated that not all found it so difficult.

Perhaps it was the large picnic lunches that were consumed before setting out on the course that got in the way of solving the clues.

The Pritchard family, otherwise known as “Team Pershore Plums” were  once again victorious with 49 points from a possible 52 and John and his daughter Joanne, received the trophy from our hostess Jenny Simpson.

George and Jenny have hosted this event on behalf of our lodge for five years, in the course of which several thousands of pounds have been raised through both their efforts and your generosity.

Many others attended just for the cream tea and so when the cars returned the marques quickly filled.  A large Tombola Stall was well supported throughout the afternoon and a fine social event returned a healthy £900 towards the Mark Festival Appeal 2015.

For the first year ever Fred and Anne Hall were not present. Anne was poorly and went into hospital.

Bernard and Brenda Hardy returned from a  cruise with a chest infection and were also unable to attend.

We missed you and wish you well. We now look forward to seeing you on the 10th August at St Peters  for our next Mark social function.

Many thanks to all who attended and special thanks to those who baked cakes, donated prizes or made donations because they could not be there.

Near on forty brethren attended the installation meeting of our Mark Lodge to witness W Bro Richard Harper installed as Master for the second time.

W Bro Richard first became Master of the Mark Lodge in 2005.  His first Provincial Appointment was that of Provincial Grand Steward and in 2010 he again served the province as acting Provincial Grand Sword Bearer.

He is a Past Commander (2002) of our Ark Lodge.

He is a member of Elmley Castle Craft Lodge no 6247 meeting in Evesham and currently holds the office of Charity Steward. He is a past M E Z of  Abbot Lichfield Chapter No 3308 and a member of a Rose Croix Chapter in Chipping Campden.

Our Rt W PGM being otherwise engaged he had arranged for VW Bro John King PGJO to act as Presiding Officer and for W Bro Robert Reid PAGDC to act as Prov Grand Junior Warden. Our own W Bro George Simpson performed his duty as Provincial Grand Senior Warden,  the provincial team being completed by W Bro John Fleming, Provincial Grand Assistant Director of Ceremonies.

The Installing Master, W Bro Alun Humphrey’s, was no doubt pleased that Richard had previously occupied the chair. Alun was not at all well on the evening and had it have been any evening other than installation there can be little doubt that he would have sent his apologies. However his commitment to the lodge was such that he attended and installed his successor before leaving for some home comforts.

The meeting was enhanced with the attendance of Ron (Tempo) Gee  displaying his talent on the organ.

After the meeting the brethren dined in fine style on Evesham Asparagus followed by succulent roast loin of pork.  The afters choice being  Fresh Strawberries and Cream or a nice selection of Cheese and biscuits.

A raffle raised just over £100 and this was presented to the Provincial Almoner, W Bro Norman Yarnell, to help offset the expenses of his office in providing comfort to those who are sick .

What a super evening we had on the 9th May when W Bro Ron Brookes went into the Commanders Chair.

I know Ron won’t mind me saying that at 87 he is a shining example to us all. This man has celebrated his last two birthdays by doing a sponsored walk from his home village  to his craft meeting place in Stratford upon Avon.

His very good friend R W Bro Ray Smith the Provincial Grand Master of London and a member of the Grand Master Royal Ark Council,  was in attendance together with our own Provincial Grand Master R W Bro Frank Spencer making it a very special evening in many ways.

After the meeting the brethren enjoyed a splendid festive board.

We all look forward to a happy and productive year both in new memberships and charity fund raising.

A cheque for £2,390 was handed over to the Chief Executive Officer of Noah’s Ark Trust on Tuesday 15th March by the Provincial Grand Master of Mark Master Masons being the proceeds of the Mark Masons Christmas Grotto at St Peters Garden Centre Worcester.

Masons from St Egwin, Ark and Malvern Mark Lodges manned the grotto throughout December as they have over the past seven years.

In accepting the cheque Gabby Beddows CE of Noah’s Ark Trust acknowledged that the total now raised exceeded £25,000

PGM Frank Spencer hands a cheque to Gabby Beddows of Noah's Ark Trust whilst Deputy PGM Eric Bourne, Tony Blake, owner of St Peters, Bob Reid Organizing Coordinator and John Icke Provincial Information Officer look on.

Provincial Grand Junior Warden

W Bro John Icke is to be appointed Provincial Grand Junior Warden at the Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons in June of this year.

John was initiated into Freemasonry in 1986 into Elmley Castle Lodge No 6247. He became Master in 1996 in which year the lodge celebrated its Fiftieth Anniversary. He became the Preceptor and Director of Ceremonies in 2002 until 2008.

He joined Royal Arch in Abbott Lichfield Chapter No 3308. John became a member of Evesham Chapter Rose Croix 994 and held the office of Most Wise Sovereign in 2001. He was perfected into the Simon De Montfort  Preceptory of Knights Templar No 414 and held the office of Eminent Preceptor in 2004. At the same time he was Eminent Prior of the Simon De Montfort Preceptory of Knight of Malta.

John is a very keen Mark Mason having been Advanced into St Egwin Lodge of MMM No 1135 in 1990. He became Worshipful Master in 2000. He served the lodge as Director of Ceremonies from 2002 until 2009. He was Elevated into the St Egwin Lodge of Royal Ark Masons in 2002 and became Worshipful Commander in 2007.

He has been the lodge catering officer for the last ten years and more recently has developed and runs the lodges web site.

He has also assumed responsibility for his Craft Lodge web site and the Worcestershire Mark Provincial Grand Lodge Web site.

In a busy year for John he is also to receive Provincial Royal Ark Mariner Grand Rank in May.

Provincial Grand Chaplain

W Bro  Anthimos Papandreou is to become the next Provincial Grand Chaplain.

Nino as he is known throughout Evesham Lodges is a Past Provincial Deputy Grand Chaplain in  Berkshire.

Past Master and Past Commander of St Egwin’s, Past Master of Abbot Lichfield Lodge No 3308 and Past First Principle of Abbot Lichfield Royal Arch Chapter No 3308. Most Recently he became a member of the Preceptory of Simon De Montfort No 414

Provincial Grand Charity Steward.

W Bro George Simpson is very well known for his Charity work  not only in our Lodge but throughout the Province. Responsible for the introduction of the 100 Club in the Mark Province as a fund raiser for the 2015 Festival Appeal.

George is a Past Master of Abbot Lichfield Craft Lodge No 3308 as well as being a Past Master of our lodge.

He is a member and Past Most Wise Sovereign of Bordesley Abbey Chapter Rose Croix No 918 in Redditch.

He was Elevated into Ark RAM Lodge No 59 and most recently has become a member of the Preceptory of King John No 519.

George’s year as Provincial Senior Grand Warden has been a busy year and the next few years running up to the Festival in 2015 will be just as busy if not even more so.

Assistant Provincial Grand Secretary.

Our lodges service to the Province is completed by the reappointment of W Bro Adrian Carl Hutt in his capacity as Assistant Provincial Grand Secretary.

Adrian is a Past Master of the lodge of St John in Bedwardine No 7458. Past Master of our lodge in Mark Degree and  Past Commander in the Royal Ark Mariners.

Adrian is becoming more and more experienced in the work of Assistant Secretary of our province and we congratulate him and wish him well in his further term of office.