FreemasonNEW ZEALAND

Issue 1 (Vol. 42), March 2014

www.freemasons.co.nz

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Editorial 2

Hot news 3

From the Grand Master 4Responding to the challenges and Let’s keep in touch

News clips 6

OPINIONRitual as a significant and meaningful experience 10

From ritual to millennial – Where to now? 12

Letters to the Editor 14

FREEMASONS IN ACTION

Strategic direction 16Moving forward

Front line leaders 17Introducing the new District Grand Masters

IN THIS ISSUE

EDUCATION

The Potter Masonic Trust 28The legacy continues

Find your field of dreams 30

The language of Freemasonry 32Symbolism

Jing Jing (Alice) Wang 33An extraordinary achiever

HEALTH

The Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge 36The Freemasons team stands out

72-year old completes his quest 39Cape Reinga to Bluff

A world where no one is needlessly blind 40

The Widows Sons ride again 42

REGULARSNew initiates 43

The Roskill Foundation 44Royal Arch 46

The back page 48

Service Awards 49

Cover picture: John Scott conquers himself

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33

43

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20Looking to the future 20Kapiti Freemasons Centre

Roadside rescue 23

A twin celebration 24

Masonic Villages Trust 26

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At last — men of letters

D uring the course of the past three years, since I took on the role of

Editor, I have frequently been asked by Brethren to institute a Letters to the Editor section. A great idea, but those offering this advice did not actually wish to write letters themselves. Meanwhile, with the help of some arm-twisting I have been able to coax regular Opinion pieces out of generally reluctant contributors.

At last, a break through. This issue has brought forth two Opinion pieces plus a range of letters. Several things, including development of the Strategic Directions, have produced this mini deluge from both long serving and new Freemasons.

The well-constructed paper, originally a presentation to the Research Lodge of Wellington by WBro Bob Lancaster, has resulted in several views being expressed as have the regular columns written by VWBro Dr George Allan, Chair of the National Education Committee

This debate is healthy, although some long serving Brethren have questioned the right for opinions to be expressed by newer members of the Craft. These include the challenges issued by Bro Professor Dai Gilbertson, which have brought forth the strongest responses. His contribution is, perhaps, the wake up call we all needed.

Simmering away beneath this debate is another revolving around the function of charity. Here, opinions range from charity being personal, and maybe secret, to individual Freemasons to it being the public face of the Craft in New Zealand. The Grand Master has made his position clear on this issue as set out in the previous issue of New Zealand Freemason.

Charity takes the Brethren out of their lodges and into the wider world. It is no coincidence that lodges that are active in their communities and involve their families are vibrant and growing.

Readers may have noticed that this column is headed ‘From the Editor’ rather than ‘From the Editorial Committee’ as before. The latter was part of the Communications Committee, which has now been disbanded in favour of a new approach arising from the Communications Pillar being developed by VWBro Peter Benstead. Meanwhile, the core of communications activities, such as this magazine, needs to keep going. However, changes in the way we communicate with our Brethren, our Alumni and the public are continuing to evolve. This trend can be seen in the spread of the multi media Divisional and District Newsletters that are produced by WBro Russell Pratt. While these are not intended to replace New Zealand Freemason it is inescapable that there will be some integration of these means of communication in the future.

WBro Morris Robertson, Editor

The New Zealand Freemason is the official journal of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New Zealand. Unless otherwise indicated, the opinions expressed and the advertising content are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policy of Grand Lodge.

Articles appearing in this journal may be reproduced without permission provided acknowledgement of the source is made and a copy of the publication is forwarded to the Grand Secretary.

Queries or comments regarding subscription or distribution should be addressed to secretary@freemasons.co.nz or the Chief Executive PO Box 6439, Marion St. Wellington 6141. Queries and comments regarding content and advertising should be addressed to the Editor.

Contributions to the magazine, preferably in electronic form (e.g. MS Word documents) are greatly appreciated and should be of interest to a wide audience. Photographs should be high quality, preferably in jpg or tiff format. Contributions may be edited in order to fit space available and to achieve overall balance. Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words. A guidance sheet for preparation of publishable material is available on request from the Editor. Contributions should be forwarded to editor@freemasons.co.nz

Freemasons NZ contributions to Morris Robertson, editor@freemasons.co.nz

Royal Arch contributions to Geoff Davies, merlin81@xtra.co.nz

Magazines are distributed in March, June, September and December. The deadlines for contributions are the first day of February, May, August and NovemberLayout by Bartlett Projects, WellingtonPrinted by Wickliffe (NZ) Ltd.Copyright © 2014 Freemasons NZ

FREEMASONS NEW ZEALAND Level 6, Freemasons House 195–201 Willis Street Te Aro, Wellington 6011

PO Box 6439, Marion Square Wellington 6141 New Zealand

Ph: +64 4 385 6622 Fax +64 4 385 5749 Email: secretary@freemasons.co.nz editor@freemasons.co.nz www.freemasons.co.nz

From the Editor

GRAND MASTER’S VISITSMarch 7 Royal Arch Convocation, Nelson

March 14 Waipa Lodge reopening

March 19–25 Grand Installation, Melbourne

April 3 Southern Cross Lodge, Invercargill

150-year celebration

April 23 The Gate Pa Lodge,Tauranga

50-year Service Badge for

VWBro Les Borrell, PG Lec,

First Grand Principal, Royal Arch

May 10 Southern Division Conference

May 17 Northern Division Conference

May 24 Central Division Conference

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HOT NEWSwas born in New Zealand in 1902 and moved to Australia in 1910. He became a teacher and eventually Principal and Education Director of International Correspondence Schools, retiring in 1974. He was awarded an OBE for Services to Education in 1969.

He was initiated in Lodge Apsley in 1924 and was installed as Master of Lodge Tullibigeal No.619 in 1945. He was District Grand Inspector of Workings, 1958–60, and Grand Librarian from 1982.

Harry Kellerman was an outstanding Masonic researcher and teacher. In 1960 he was Foundation Chairman of the Committee of Masonic Education of Grand Lodge. He wrote many articles

and several books and promoted cooperation and communication between Masonic researchers throughout Australia. When ANZMRC was established in 1992 it was decided that papers of

merit should be denominated Kellerman Lectures and those delivering them given the title Kellerman Lecturer. ANZMRC holds meetings every two years and up to seven Kellerman Lectures may be presented at each Conference, the intention being that such lectures should have standing similar to that of the Prestonian Lectures in England and Wales.

A Phoenix rises from the ashesOn 12 February the Waipa Lodge No.119 held its first meeting in the newly constructed Lodge rooms replacing that which was earlier lost in a devastating arson related fire. The formal reopening is scheduled for March 14th.

Hot shots wantedCentral Division clay bird shoot, Saturday 29 March 2014, 9am–4pm, Waitawa, 339 Ponatahi Road, MartinboroughWanted: teams of 3 persons, experienced or inexperienced. However this year there is another option for those that can’t or don’t want to pay $120. This year two people can now shoot as one but each individual pays $70 all-inclusive — they will shoot 50 targets each. A lodge can submit as many teams as it likes.

Cost — $120 per head, or $70 each if two people shoot as one — this will include all Clays, Ammunition and BBQ lunch. Shotguns available.

For full details please contact: Bro Matt Dyer 04 589 5792 or 0276 555 151 Email:Matthew.dyer@telecom.co.nz

2014 Kellerman LecturerVWBro Dr George Allan, Chair of the National Education Committee, has been invited to be a Kellerman Lecturer. He will be presenting a lecture later this year in Cairns at the ANZMRC (Australia and New Zealand Masonic Research Council) Conference.

The lecture is named in honour of the late RWBro Maurice Herman (Harry) Kellerman, OBE, PDGM, UGL NSW & ACT, who

Divisional ConferencesThe 2014 Divisional Conferences will be held on the following dates at the noted locations.Southern DivisionFriday/Saturday 9–10 May at the Shirley Freemasons Centre, 9 Shirley Road, Christchurch.Northern DivisionSaturday 17 May, at the St John Lady Blundell Centre, Mt Wellington.Central DivisionSaturday 24 May at the War Memorial Conference Centre, Marine Parade, Napier.

Charity begins in your lodgeThose Brethren who attended The Free-masons Charity seminar at the Grand Installation gained a good insight into the workings of our charity. The illustrated presentation, including how to maximise publicity opportunities for Lodge projects and events, is now available on a CD with an accompanying booklet. It is recommended that Lodges devote one of their meetings to this topic. For a copy of the CD and booklet contact Sheila Hicking: sheilah@freemasons.co.nz phone 04 385 5748. The late Harry

Kellerman.

Almost ready — the new Waipa Lodge building.

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THE GRAND MASTER

RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGESwill be providing reports to the quarterly Board of General Purposes meetings and this will ensure the Strategic Direction remains a ‘living’ document.

I am confident that we will see progress being made but it must be remembered that there are no quick fixes to many of the long term challenges we face.

In February I dedicated the new Kapiti Freemason Centre lodge rooms in Waikanae. The completion of this Centre is a tribute to the lodges of the area coming together and pooling their resources and skills to create a modern and welcoming facility which will be a real credit to Freemasonry and one which could serve as a model which illustrates a sustainable answer to the accommodation problems facing many of our lodge buildings today. More details of the Kapiti Freemasons Centre are illustrated in an article in this edition of the magazine.

The Southern Cross Lodge No 9 in Invercargill will be celebrating its 150 years anniversary in April and it is pleasing that they are organising a full programme over two or three days while I am there. In my address at the Grand Installation I emphasised the need for us to raise the profile and knowledge of freemasonry in local communities. I am sure that this will be achieved by the brethren of the Southern Cross lodge during the celebrations and I hope I can assist them with this during my time there. I congratulate the Lodge on a wonderful achievement and thank them for the considerable efforts they are making for the continued success of the Lodge.

The cover story in this issue of New Zealand Freemason, brings together two very important objectives of Freemasons New Zealand, those of community engagement and men’s health. I am most appreciative of the effort made by WBro Anthony Clouston to organise a Freemason’s team to participate in the Taupo Cycle Challenge and particularly for his designing and arranging the production of the very distinctive uniforms which drew much favourable comment from participants and spectators alike.

Over the years we have encouraged our brethren and their families to participate in a number of health initiatives both by way of education in such fields as prostate awareness and physical activities such as the Live Life Lighter events. In this issue we tell the story of one man, WBro John Scott, who appears on the cover and who is close to achieving his journey from obeseity to athletic fitness. The Taupo Cycle Challenge has been one further step towards reaching and maintaining his objective.

We are frequently amazed by the on going achievements of those who have been awarded Freemasons University Scholarships. Each year up to three New Zealanders are awarded Rhodes Scholarships and, for the past four years our alumni have averaged one per year. The latest is Alice Wang who is profiled in this issue. Originally an immigrant from Beijing, Alice has chalked up remarkable achievements and experiences over a wide range of fields in her 22 years. We congratulate Alice and wish her well for the next steps in her stellar career.

With best wishesJohn Litton, Grand Master

B Before providing some thoughts for 2014, I would like to record the

appreciation of Diana and myself to all of those who organised, participated in and attended the 2013 Grand Installation. You gave us a wonderful experience and a memory which will always stay with us. I have received so many compliments reflecting the high quality and enjoyment of every event which made up the three days. A big thank you to everyone.

2014 will be an exciting year and as I begin my tenure as Grand Master, I am stimulated by the great opportunity we have all been given with the issue of the Strategic Direction 2013–2018. The document is the result of much review and research by the Board of General Purposes and input following discussion and debate with the brethren, particularly those who attended last years three Divisional Conferences. This strategic plan is therefore robust and challenging and will ensure that all our future efforts are co-ordinated and have the same focus. We all have a responsibility to embrace the plan and it is incumbent upon us to become familiar with the goals and support them for our future success.

The Strategic Direction sets out the seven pillars which are the practical business or action plans to achieve the goals of the plan. Action task groups are being set up for each pillar and, as the various tasks groups start to function under the direction and guidance of the Chief Executive RWBro Laurence Milton, regular progress reports will be made to him. In turn the Chief Executive

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The Acacia Society

Making a bequest to The Freemasons Charity plays an important role in helping to maintain the tradition of caring for our communities and will ensure Freemasonry remains a force for good in New Zealand.

If you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation or would like to discuss making a bequest, please contact Sheila Hicking in confidence: 04 385 5748 or sheilah@freemasons.co.nz

Registered Charitable Entity CC46016

Acacia Society ad.indd 1 19/02/14 8:39 AM

LET’S KEEP IN TOUCHA message to our whanau from Diana Litton

I t has been a tremendous privilege to have become ‘Mrs Grand Master’. It

will be a tremendous challenge and, I’m sure, a very rewarding one. I’m trying to get used to so much attention.

I’m really looking forward to being able to meet so many more lovely people, as well as being able to see so much more of ‘our’ beautiful country at the same time. I say ‘our country’ for, although we weren’t born here, we knew very soon after we arrived on that sunny day in 1974 that we wanted to make New Zealand our home and bring up our family here. We have always been grateful for the warmth and friendship we have been given over the years, not least by those we have met through being involved in Freemasonry.

As I said, I do consider it a great privilege to be in my current position and I hope it will enable me to encourage more wives and partners, and family friends to become involved in what Freemasons do for the community.I have always thought of the Freemason brotherhood as a large family and there is nothing to stop it expanding into a wonderful whanau.

So, ladies, do please think of ways you can become more involved, not only

with social lodge functions, but with projects and activities that involve the community. I would love to see more family-related activities that involve the children, both providing enjoyment for the children within our own families and also raising awareness of other needy children and how we can all help in some way, however small.

The neo-natal knitting project initiated by Jan, wife of our past Grand Master Selwyn Cooper, was a tremendous success, producing fantastic positive results. I have been unable to dream up a similar project of the same calibre but I am happy to receive suggestions and help of any kind. Similarly, I will be more than happy to do anything to help and encourage wives and partners to become more involved in Freemasonry and its driving principles.

Communication is a very important factor in understanding Freemasonry and its members and I would like to encourage all wives, partners, families and friends of Freemasons to exchange ideas and share experiences. We can all learn from one another.

To this end, I am intending to send out a low-key, simple newsletter by email, just a

few pages as a PDF attachment, from time to time, to anyone interested — mainly aimed at the ladies — where we can share ideas, make comments, give our views on anything related to Freemasonry. Photos of recent social and fundraising activities or anything else relevant and interesting could be included.

I haven’t a title for this newsletter but I am open to all suggestions, just as I am open to all suggestions of how we can raise awareness of the work done by Freemasons and how we ourselves can do more to assist with helping those less fortunate than ourselves.

I also want to use the newsletter to enable us to keep in touch with one another, to inform those in the South Island what is happening in the North and vice versa. And, I will let you know of my own involvement which will reflect some of the important Masonic occasions as they take place.

If you would like to receive this newsletter please send me an email at dianalitton@live.com and I will add you to the mailing list. If you know of anyone else who might be interested, please spread the word.I look forward to hearing from you .

Diana Litton

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NEWS CLIPS

Let there be musicThe Midland District Masonic Men’s Choir was formed 28 years ago and still has two foundation members singing, one of whom travels 160 kms to attend.

The Choir is very popular throughout the district and is asked to perform at various functions. It sings annually at The Caledonian Lodge Burns Night Concert, Lodge Koranga’s Anzac Night Concert, the Combined Almoners’ Christmas Party for and any freemasons in the choir who are installed into the Chair of King Solomon.

The Choir performs two charity concerts each year, at Timaru and Ashburton, and lead the singing at the South Canterbury RSA Carol Concert. They have travelled as far as Napier, Blenheim and Alexandra to provide the music and song for Third Degree Ceremonies.

In recent months the choir has raised funds for the Stroke Foundation and, in conjunction with the Sophia Street Carpark Trust, has donated cheques of $500.00 each to six selected pupils from the secondary schools in the South Canterbury area to further their musical education

A charity concert was also held in Ashburton when a cheque for $3,250 was presented to the Life Education Trust. At that concert a pupil from each of the five secondary schools in the area was presented with a $500.00 cheque.

The Sophia Street Car Park Trust was established by Freemasons to organize and distribute all the donations from the public and the payment received from the Timaru District Council for staffing the Farmers Car Park in Sophia Street, which is organized and controlled by volunteers from the 13 Midland District Lodges.

Takapuna centuryLodge Takapuna No.202, one of the first Masonic Lodges to be formed on the North Shore of Auckland, celebrated its 100th Installation last November at its meeting in the Masonic Centre in Albany. The Lodge was the third to be started on the developing North Shore, following the establishment of The Albion Lodge, Devonport, and Lodge Onewa in Northcote.

By 1913, the suburb of Takapuna was growing so quickly that local residents concluded it was time they had more control over their own affairs, leading to it breaking away from the Waitemata County Council and the creation of the

Takapuna Borough Council. Many of the founding fathers of the new Borough Council were also Freemasons, and, with the continuing population growth, it was decided that it was time for the Borough to have its own Lodge.

The new Lodge’s first meeting place was Forrester’s Hall in what was then known as Katrine Street, now Anzac Street. The building later became the Gately Theatre and is now the Tudor Coffee Lounge.

The membership of the Lodge grew rapidly after the First World War, which lead to a decision by the Lodge to establish its own building on a section in Hurstmere Road that was its home until 1961 when it moved to a new building, on the corner of Killarney Street and Pupuke Road, where it remained until the beginning of this century when it became part of the new North Shore Masonic Centre in Albany.

To mark the centenary of the Lodge, a number of events were planned including the production of a book detailing the lodge’s history and donations to charity projects.

From bear to thereThe stuffed bears, made during the ladies session at the Grand Installation, were safely delivered to the Salvation Army on 5 December. The blankets, made at the same function, were delivered to Ronald McDonald house.

Lodge Takapuna 100th Installation.

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NEWS CLIPS

Making wavesThe Waiheke Sea Scouts’ combined efforts at fundraising received a major contribution from Lodge Waiheke No.367 and The Potter Masonic Trust. This has enabled them to complete the purchase of their boats and their much-needed equipment.

Marcel Vroege, in charge of the sailing section of the Waiheke Sea Scouts, said that they were thrilled with this most generous offer and words cannot describe the level of appreciation that the local troup and the Scouting Association have for the Freemasons. This generous grant is overwhelming he added. ‘We have been without a safety boat for several months now and without that boat we have been unable to sail. This is just so amazing.’

WBro Richard Burke, Master of Lodge Waiheke, said ‘There are many examples locally where we have assisted Waiheke organisations and individuals and we will continue to do so. We are very proud of what we have achieved on our island and the community support that we have also received in the past.’

Laughter in the Lodgeby Steve Chadburn

This new book is described as ‘a 112 page compilation of hilarious gags and humorous observations of a Mason’s life both at home and within the temple.’ For those who love Freemasonry this book is sure to amuse, entertain and offer a unique insight into how freemasons balance their commitment to families and work with the duties, obligations and fellowship to be found in Freemasonry.

For details of cost and how to order go to www.lewismasonic.co.uk or email: vera.west@lewismasonic.co.uk

Warwick Roberts on a highThe last few months have been rather significant for VWBro Warwick Roberts. In a ceremony held at Alpha Lodge N.81, he was presented with his 50-year jewel, he was elected President of the Fieldays Society and, last but not least, he married Lesley Cunningham on 21 December.

Warwick was initiated into Alpha Lodge in December 1963, and was installed as Master in 1981. He has subsequently served as Grand Steward, Assistant grand Director of Ceremonies, Grand Lecturer and District Grand Master. He has also served as Master of the Waikato Lodge of Research. For several years he has been the Northern Division representative on the Board of General Purposes.

Warwick has also been very active in side orders including leadership of the Rose Croix. In 2010 he was made the 33rd degree Deputy for the Province of New Zealand Central (Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite), a position he holds for 5 years.

With thanks to the Alpha GazetteABOVE Family photo on the occasion of Warwick Roberts’ 50-year presentation. Front row — Warwick, Fiona, fiancée Lesley Cunningham [now Mrs Roberts], Nick's wife Angela, and Kirsty and Back Row: Kirsty's fiancée Grant Taylor, and Nick.

LEFT Warwick and Lesley on their wedding day.

From the first seedling the Kauri growsIn the year since its Dedication in February 2013 Kauri Lodge No.474 has gone from strength to strength. They have conducted five Initiations, with three further candidates, along with 3 joining members, in process. The Lodge has increased its membership by over 26% in 5 months. The fruits of their labours are now starting to germinate and, if looked after, will continue to flourish.

The Master, along with his entourage, visited nearly every Lodge within the District in the past year. Officers have also been asked to act as Presenting Officers, have delivered the tracing boards and working tools at lodges.

During its first year the Lodge held five social events, one being a visit to a local restaurant and another was the first of what they hope will be an annual Lodge Kauri karaoke night charity fundraiser.

Kauri Lodge celebrates the end of its first year with a barbeque.

A highlight during the year was a live Skype interview with WBro Roni Zulu, a PM from Lodge Hollywood in the USA. The August meeting saw the first official Grand Lodge visit by the District Grand Master, VWBro Roy Stephen.

With the first year as a constituted lodge over and the honeymoon period passed the newly elected Master, Officers and Brethren look forward to steadily growing Lodge Kauri.

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NEWS CLIPS

Hearty gift from FreemasonsVisitors to Mangonui in the Far north can be comforted by the knowledge that there is now a defibrillator, gifted to the Doubtless Bay St John and located at the local Four Square store. This has been installed the as the result of fund raising initiated by the Mangonui Kaitaia Lodge No78. The Lodge Master, WBro Peter Aickin, presented the defibrillator to Doubtless Bay St John Team Leader, Mike Burrows, who was accompanied by St John Territorial Manager, Ben Lockie.

A Mason and IOnce upon a time the role of Ladies in Masonic activities was to ensure that their husbands clothes were in order for those mysterious Lodge nights. Occasionally they would be called upon to provide tea and scones. Freemasonry was not a subject to be discussed at home.

Some twenty years ago one Mason’s wife, Joan M Leaf, broke the silence and set out, for the benefit of her own knowledge, to research the history of Freemasonry, its legends and symbols, it’s place in New Zealand and in Northland in particular, concluding with the state of the Craft in the 1990s.

The 195 pages of the illustrated book cram in a lot of information covering history, charity, the lodges of Northland and special activities including Masonic Debutante Balls.

Joan Leaf ’s concluding words are. ‘May Freemasonry advance as they have planned in the Grand Lodge of New Zealand Freemason Strategic Plan of 1994–2000, their statement then being. ‘To be a modern, viable organisation within New Zealand retaining its unique historical tradition based upon sound moral standards, fellowship and benevolence.’

That was written when the membership stood at 25,000. Since then membership numbers have changed but are the words of the current Strategic Plan any different?

For those interested, limited copies of the book are available and can be obtained from Joan’s daughter, Nina Seakens, phone 021 166 5515. Email: nseakens@gmail.com

Party thanks to FreemasonsChildren confined to Kidz First Child-ren’s Hospital enjoyed a visit from Santa and a day out before Christmas, even if it was only to the foyer downstairs.

Clowns, face painters, musicians and even fairies were on hand to sprinkle magic dust and Christmas cheer for the youngsters at the annual in-hospital party hosted by the Freemasons. Even

Heather Mitchell enjoys the face painting.

Clifford the Big Red Dog turned up and, to make sure he didn’t get lonely, Bryan and Bobby, the Kidz First police dog team, were there too. Father Christmas visited the wards, checked out who’d been good and distributed presents.

The Freemasons have hosted the annual party for several years. Middle-more Health Foundation spokesman David Kemeys says. ‘The Freemasons are a terrific group to work with.’ They go about things very efficiently and just get in and get things done. ‘And when you see those children, some of whom don’t have an awful lot to smile about, grinning from ear to ear, I hope the Freemasons know how appreciated they are.’

Spreading the wordLocal Freemasons were represented with a stand at the recent Horowhenua A&P Association Show in Levin. The stand was arranged by United Horowhenua Lodge, which invited other lodges in the Kapiti District to participate by manning the information stand in shifts.

Participating lodges were United Horowhenua, Otaki, Tawera O Kapiti and Lodge Waikanae. They were also joined by members of Te Awahou Lodge from north of the border in Ruapehu District.

To promote the stand the participating Lodges placed an informative adver-tisement that included the following: The Kapiti/Horowhenua Masonic Lodges have a proud history, with the oldest Lodge (Otaki) formed well over 100 years ago and a joint ancestry reaching back into the middle ages of Great Britain.

Freemasons operate one of the largest charity programmes in New Zealand with the five local Lodges focussing on local projects.

The Kapiti District programme sup­ports the outfitting of a new patrol boat for the Paraparaumu Surf lifeguards. In Levin the Lodge has distributed more than $50,000 within the community over the last 5 years. These include Education Scholarships; very recently fencing for a community garden project and support for the local Freemasons Retirement home.

Pamm Wilson and Maree Mander show that women, too, can promote Freemasonry.

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NEWS CLIPS

1814 — The First Year of the United Grand Lodge of EnglandThe New Zealand connection

On the feast of St John the Evangelist, 27 December 1813, at the Freemasons’ Hall in Great Queen Street, London, two rival English Grand Lodges were united into a single body, known since as the United Grand Lodge of England. The consolidation took place throughout the year 2014. It is thus appropriate that this year’s Prestonian lecture, by Dr Mike Kearsley, which runs throughout 2014, should take as its subject the 200th anniversary of this momentous event in English and, indeed, worldwide Freemasonry. The lecture is recorded in the book, Consolidation and Change.

This book traces events leading to the union and then to covers some of the changes that were effected in the short and longer term thereafter. The story is presented through the perspective of three individuals, each of whom played an important role in the union. They were Frederick Augustus, Duke of Sussex, the first Grand Master, William White, the first Grand Secretary, and Sir John Soane, the first Grand Superintendant of Works.

Dr Mike Kearsley was born and raised in Lancashire. He attended Liverpool University and trained as a teacher in Geography and Economics. After teaching in Liverpool he emigrated to

Dr Mike Kearsley.

New Zealand where he taught Economics as well as taking a masters degree and other teaching qualifications. He then left teaching for the commercial world. During his career, he was in sales and management in IBM, marketing director for Alexander Stenhouse and Marsh Mclennan, insurance brokers, marketing director for Computations Plc, now part of Misys and principal consultant in Coopers and Lybrand (PWC) management consultancy. On his return to the UK he gained a doctorate from Surrey University. He has operated as an independent management consultant for many years and continues to lecture in marketing, consultancy and general business areas at several Universities.

In his Masonic career he was initiated into Freemasonry in the Hawera Lodge No.34, in Taranaki, and was passed and raised in Mairehau Lodge No.391 in Christchurch, Later, he joined the David Bonner Lodge No 9678, the Musicians Lodge of the province of Middlesex, He has subsequently served as Master of that and several other lodges and side orders.

Dr Kearsley has always had an interest in Masonic research and was a member of the correspondence circle of Masters and Past Masters Research Lodge,

Christchurch, He has produced many papers and presentations for Masonic audiences. He is Provincial Grand Orator for Middlesex. In 2011 he was awarded the Norman Spencer prize, by Quatuor Coronati Lodge, for a paper on the formation of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand and was subsequently offered full membership of the lodge, where he is now secretary. He was awarded the Prestonian lectureship for 2014 and took up his appointment as editor of The Square in December 2013. He lives in Walton on Thames with his wife, Anne, and amongst other hobbies, is principal tuba with the British Airways band.

On call againThe Te Aroha and District Community Hospital faced a major fund raising issue when it was found that its nurse call system was beyond repair, thus posing a risk to patients. A new, state of the art system would cost in the vicinity of $50,000.

The Te Aroha Lodge No.52 came to the rescue and, with the help of The Free masons Roskill Founda-tion, donated $25,000 to the project. The remain ing $25,000 was secured through

David Mace presents the Freemasons cheque to Barbara Hill, Chair of the Te Aroha Health Trust. They are accompanied by WBro Dave Freeman, Master of Te Aroha Lodge.

the Trillian Trust, The Lion Foundation and the Te Aroha and District Health Services Trust.

In presenting the cheque, repre-sen ting the Freemasons portion, Past Grand Master, MWBro David Mace

said that it was in the Roskill Foundation’s best interest to support communities around New Zealand. He added. ‘Each year the Freemasons donate more than $10 million to charity organisations. Like Martin Luther King Jr ‘we also have a dream’ and that’s to support communities we are part of.’

9

OPINION

Ritual as a significant and meaningful experienceFrom a Mason of less than 3 years

Regarding the Craft and membership problems I keep hearing ‘be

progressive… retain new members… make the Craft more modern…’ etc. The answers offered are always the same; update/change Ritual, make it more relevant to modern society. This is an ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff ’. It’s trying to solve ‘the problem’ when the right problem hasn’t been identified. Declining membership is just a symptom.

It’s obvious, if men join the Craft then leave it’s because when they get in expectations aren’t met. The common sense thing is to find out why men join, what were/are their expectations before joining the Craft and deliver on that — if it fits. From the outside, Freemasonry has a sense of mystery and wonder; that there is something valuable to be gained from membership. People simply don’t get this when they get in. They get ‘ritual’ delivered in superficial, rote ways, often even jokingly.

Don’t judge all new initiates on the findings of the breakout groups attending Bro Gilbertsons’ talks. Even if one did, the advantages pointed out in WBro Dr George Allan’s article also have many disadvantages. I know many new/young Masons who are in the order for reasons of personal, spiritual or philosophical development. Maybe those in the focus groups mentioned have similar reasons. Simply, because a person knows what they want doesn’t mean they know how to get it. I couldn’t attend Bro Dai Gilbertson’s address but have read Dr George Allan’s article and can say without doubt that 60 minutes is too long for unmonitored and unfacilitated groups to stay on subject! One may think that this amount of time gives in-depth answers — it doesn’t!

Freemasonry has for centuries delivered practical, personal, spiritual and philosophical advancement. Trends change — people don’t. We’re fundamentally the same physically and psychologically as we were thousands, even millions, of years ago. What was true for people then transcendent of culture is the same now, in the same way as our lower and higher needs1 then, are the same now. Freemasonry transcends time and culture. This begs the question; what is ‘Truth of Freemasonry’? This is what’s at the core of our order; the search for fundamental, unchanging Truth.

It’s because of the use of ever changing ‘cultural lenses’ being used to ‘change/update’ Freemasonry that the craft is actually in decline. I’ll make a bold statement; I think NZ ritual is too ‘PC’ compared with older more traditional ritual2 and it’s this that has been contributory to declining membership.

Freemasonry is an oratory organi-sa tion. People live their lives through language.

In the beginning was the Word.— Genesis

Words and magic were in the beginning one and the same thing, and even today words retain much of their magical power.

— Sigmund Freud

We make sense of the world and ourselves through the internal languages of mind. We create meaning through language. Our new Grand Master touched on the importance of meaning in his opening Installation address.

We communicate meanings through spoken language.3 And language/communication is a complex field. People ‘join’ Lions, Rotary, etc. Candidates are ‘initiated’ into Freemasonry.

Candidate: Latin; Candidatus meaning ‘white robed’ (1st Degree Apron). Candidate; aspirant, seeker, inquirer, entrant.

These meanings imply someone who has not got something and is looking to learn. But learning comes after ‘initiation’.

Initiation: Latin; initiat ‘begun’, from the verb initiare, initium ‘beginning’. Act of starting something new. Initiate; to begin, commence, start, induce, launch, induct.

Search all synonyms for initiation; nowhere does it say ‘to learn’. To chop up our Ritual as suggested by WBro George Allan (Sept 2013) so that initiates can ‘learn as they go’ defeats the very purpose of the ceremony. The purpose of initiation is to prepare the candidate in his mind/body/soul for transformation, to put the candidate outside of his comfort zone. This is where growth occurs.

Why? Because ‘psychological impact’ is necessary to create meaningfulness. Meaningfulness correlates to values. If a Mason’s experience of Freemasonry has no meaning they are bound to leave because there’s no value. The third point in WBro Allan’s article, by its very nature, defeats the object of

The ongoing trend of wanting to ‘change in line with society’ to retain members isn’t working. The way to grow Freemasonry is to reconnect it with its deeper, purpose; ‘what men join for’. The answer is to not change things and not in the ways proposed. The answer is to understand more deeply what Freemasonry is at its core. More people these days are becoming dissatisfied with the shallowness of modern life and are looking to reconnect with deeper, more fundamental truths.

As a Mason of less than three years I agree wholeheartedly with VWBro Eoin G Dryden’s letter published in the December 2013 issue of New Zealand Freemason.

10

OPINION

Ritual as a significant and meaningful experienceFrom a Mason of less than 3 years

creating meaningfulness. Ceremonies must create emotional impact. A definition of emotion is ‘felt meaning’. It’s the embodiment of what’s going on in our mind, it also informs mind (systemically). If emotions felt by a candidate are ‘superficial’ this will be the meaning he forms of Freemasonry; does that contribute to the growth of Freemasonry or trivialise it?

Ritual ought to be delivered so it takes the candidate on an emotionally charged rollercoaster, a metaphorical journey of transformation. WBro Bob Lancaster’s article (Dec 2013) expresses this. The term ‘Ritual’ has its own meanings; the verb of ritual relates to ‘a significant rite of passage’. Do candidates come away from our ceremonies feeling they’ve been through a transformational rite of passage … or a confusing fiasco before getting to the whisky in refectory?

The purpose of ritual isn’t to ‘learn’ (learning comes over years after); the purpose is to have a ‘significant and meaningful experience’. The overwhelming feeling that accompanies the ceremony is part of what makes for a powerful emotional experience — it’s necessary. If candidates are not ‘properly prepared’ they will be ill-prepared to have their contemplation guided to ‘that most interesting of all human studies, the knowledge of yourself ’. WBro Bob Lancaster’s opinion illustrates this in depth and the point regarding the ‘unchanging truth’ that’s at the core of Freemasonry.

If men are initiated into Masonry by those without a proper understanding of the language/meanings of ritual, are

they qualified to update it? This dilutes the Craft to the point where truths are lost, the craft suffers and we speak of superficial change. This is not the answer! There’s a correlation in the date line in WBro Lancaster’s article and the editors comment about the last review of Ritual: If NZ Ritual was changed 70 years ago and the generation of initiates over the subsequent 20 years levelled out and then started to decline (mid 60’s) could the changing of ritual then have caused that decline, which continues now? As WBro Lancaster points out, Freemasonry’s roots have an interesting blend of alchemical and scientific thinking. Today we’re strong in scientific thought but lack alchemical/philosophical.

I agree with WBro Allan’s concepts over the past issues of Freemasons magazine and confess to being an avid fan of his work. But the September article and reports from Bro Gilbertsons’ lecture has prompted concerns.

To solve the problem of declining membership, the real problem has to be identified. I suspect the answer isn’t about changing, but deeper understanding of timeless truth that is Freemasonry. Its purpose is ‘to make good men better’, the implication is that Freemasonry is better than we; and we need to allow it to change us — not us to change it.

Dr Alan Fayter

References1 Abraham Maslow — Hierarchy of Needs 2 The salute in each Degree is the penal sign.

It’s the constant reminder of the penalty of our Obligation. In the Scottish ritual I’m familiar with, candidates repeat aloud in the first person… ‘I would rather have my…etc’. In NZ ritual the candidate is simply reminded that this is the salute of ‘someone else from hundreds of years ago’. There’s no personal connection, meaning or emotion. When a Mason of NZ constitution salutes, it’s actually an act that has no personal connection to their obligation at all. The difference in the context of psychological impact; I’ve watched Scottish ritual performed poorly, even jokingly, yet when the candidate repeats that obligation in the

Dr Alan Fayter

Alan Fayter has previously contributed to this column (June 2012) on the subject of Learning Charges where he introduced readers to the hippocampus and its relationship to exercising memory through participation rather than observation.

As a holder of a Doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Alan is a trainer in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Neuro-Semantics he runs his own coaching and training business in Christchurch. He has delivered Earthquake recovery programmes to many business and government departments.

Alan is a member of The Crown Lodge no.138, initiated May 2011. In his own lodge he has become passionate about the language of Freemasonry and is an accomplished ritualist.

A full version of this article is available on request. Contact: alan@optimum-mind.co.nz / 03 942 2103 / 021 260 5486.

first person — there’s a visible and audible shift in their state.

3 Before quoting the commonly mis under-stood research; communication is 7% words, 38% tone and 55% body language it would be better to read the original research Nonverbal Communication Mehrabian, Albert. (1972). Or I’m happy to send an article from an expert which examines this over-generalised myth in detail.

11

OPINION

From ritual to millennial — where to now?

I must say that I enjoyed reading the ‘opinion piece’ by WBro Lancaster in

the December 2013 issue of New Zealand Freemason, which made very interesting reading and got me to thinking. I would like to add my thoughts on some of the comments made in this article. There were two main topics that I saw in this paper, the first being the morals conveyed in our ritual and the question of future membership. WBro Lancaster begins his paper with the development of the craft ritual, mentioning that it is primarily that of the English constitution.

On this I would like to differ with him, as I believe it is primarily that of the Scottish constitution. I say this for two reasons, first because I am a member of St Andrew Lodge No 418 SC and the ritual we use, which has been with us since 1861, is almost identical to that of the current New Zealand ritual. Secondly, if we look at the history of the development and formation of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand in 1890, the primary movers were Scottish masons, and the majority of the lodges that first formed it were Scottish lodges, although there were more English lodges than Scottish lodges. The history of Grand Lodge tells us that there was no end of trouble with the United Grand Lodge of England at that time and many English lodges did not come over to the New Zealand

constitution until much later. As early as 1892 the subject of a

standardised ritual was first considered an item of business at the Quarterly Communications. It was not until 1898, some six years later, that a motion was carried at the Annual Communication, ‘that, it instructed the Board of General Purposes to consider the advisability of approving and adopting a uniform ritual.’ During the period of 1892–98 there had been a constant demand from the members of those lodges chartered by the NZ Constitution for a ritual and a draft one was completed by the Board of General Purposes, although not yet approved by Grand Lodge. It was printed privately and became available for purchase from those booksellers who handled Masonic literature. Up until then, every lodge was working their own ritual, ie, English, Irish and Scottish of which there were many variations. The first standardised and approved New Zealand ritual did not appear until 1903 and, in the history of Grand Lodge, there was no mention of which constitution the Board took as base for a standard New Zealand ritual.

In 1912 the ritual was made mandatory for all newly formed lodges and a new rule was enacted providing for all lodges receiving charters after 16 May 1913 to use the standard NZ ritual. Lodges in

existence prior to this date could, if they wished, continue to use their original ritual. In 1929 Grand Lodge appointed a committee to consider and submit a revised ritual and all lodges were invited to offer suggestions of which over some 500 were received but, it was not until 1934, five years later, that the work was finally completed and adopted. There was another change in 1980 when the antient penalties were removed from the obligation and were introduced as traditional penalties. This was the revised edition of 1981. There was another attempt some years later to revise the ritual but this was rejected by Grand Lodge, so to claim that our primary ritual is that of the English is to me to be a bit obscure.

One cannot argue with the allegorical messages conveyed in the three degrees as this is what freemasonry is about, especially today, as compared to what our operative brethren used the two ceremonies for in the 1400’s. Their ceremonies were for the sole purpose of initiating the apprentice into a trade, beginning from an apprentice through to a fellow of the craft, otherwise known as a master mason. The ceremonies were very simple and short, with an obligation to his Master, the King and his Craft. There were no penalties or an oath in God. These were an addition to the ceremonies, which came much later with the advent of speculative Freemasonry.

Following on from this, I found the comments made on the various ‘Generations’ most interesting and do not for one minute believe that any of these points raised is, or was, the problem of why we lack candidates for membership.

12

Freemasonry, as we all know, evolved from the Stonemasons of the 1400’s and slowly developed into speculative freemasonry, similar to what we have today, the only difference being that we apply all the ornaments, furniture, jewels and other items displayed in our lodge, to the morals and principles of our life inside and outside the lodge room. Or at least we try to.

Coming back to the question about membership, once again I refer to the history of the New Zealand Constitution which, from its inception in 1890 through to the present day, has had its highs and lows. We all talk about the ‘old days’ when Freemasonry was strong and lodges would have large numbers of members present. If we go back to the 1890s, history will tell us that many of our newly formed lodges struggled through this early period with some not being able to open due to lack of numbers. There was no TV, 6 o’clock closing, or any other form of entertainment then. Take Waiuku Lodge No 90 for example, (before the formation with Peirce Lodge No 450 IC) when, in the late 1800s to the 1900s, it was not able to open on several occasions because only three or four members would turn up. Hence it went into recess for a period of 12 months.

As the population grew it was natural for lodges and members to grow with it and, by 1964, the membership of the craft was at the highest it was ever going to get with 46,940 members. The biggest growth period was in the years straight after the second world war. The ceremonies that our brethren did then are no different to what our brethren have been doing since the 1800s and the same applies today, the only difference is the technology and social standards of the different eras. That should not change the way we are or what we do. Freemasonry is about having high morals, high standards, high principles, discipline and commitment. Our main focus in the lodge should be enjoyment, education and benevolence to our members, wives and family first and foremost.

Freemasonry in these early days was also shrouded by secrecy, but

Freemasonry was not a secret, lodges regularly advertised their meetings in the local paper and other items were regularly printed for all to see. It was this mystic of the unknown of what we did in the lodge that was the secret and this I believe helped our membership.

There is no doubt that, with the advent of the TV in the 1960’s, the change in our social lifestyles, more particularly from the 1970’s onward, and the many other forms of entertainment have all contributed to the difficulties of getting new members. Age was another factor with a large percentage of our members being on the 60 plus side of life. Nature was going to play its part and we would begin to lose members through either death or resignations. As we lost these members, the lodges never really made an effort to replace them and, all of a sudden, the lodges, bereft of members, began to close. The hardest part of replacing these lost members was finding the right men with the right qualifications. They needed to have the commitment and dedication for a start, and the younger generation of the 80s–90s did not have that same sense of commitment or responsibility as our members of the early period. Their whole attitude to life was totally different from ours. No amount of advertising or other form of promoting the craft was going to make any difference to our declining membership.

Opening our doors, telling the public we are not a secret society and giving away millions upon millions of dollars was not going to help because Freemasonry is not like just any other social club. I like to refer to Freemasons as a special breed of people because our thinking and our whole attitude is different to what is prevalent today and it is this, and what we do in the lodge, that keeps us there because it is what we like doing.

And what do we do? We are simply play acting out a theatrical performance on candidates when putting them through the three pure and ancient degrees

WBro Reg Watt

WBro Watt was initiated into Lodge Pukekhoe in 1988. Since then he has been a member of four NZ Constitution Lodges and served as Master eight times. He has previously contributed to New Zealand Freemason, with an article on the 150-year history of St. Andrew Lodge No. 418, Scottish Constitution, which was published in the June 2012 issue.

of Freemasonry. We strive to excel in putting on our best performance and hopefully the candidate will understand the moral ethics conveyed in it. Whatever one gets out of Freemasonry will all ways be different from someone else, and someone else’s views will all ways be different from others. What will never change is what we are about and why we do it, it’s just difficult finding the right candidates to join us.

WBro. Lancaster says ‘the millennials and the digital natives will ultimately decide the fate of Freemasonry.’ If that is the case, and if these millennials and digital natives start to hold lodge meetings over the internet or their ipads, then I won’t be part of it. The technology and electronic age will no doubt play a big part in the future of our organisation and it does today, to a point. Members have already come knocking on our doors, via the internet and when that door opens they socialise in person and not electronically. This is where we will fail or pass. Each must understand the needs of each other. We need to understand the technology and use it to our advantage and they need to understand the morals

and principals of the organisation. I certainly don’t believe Freemasonry

will die or fade away, it will only be a matter of time when these so called millennials and digital natives will see the light and understand just what Freemasonry is and what it has to offer and what it is about.

WBro Reg Watt

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The view from the newIn response to VWBro Eoin G Dryden’s comments in the December 2013 issue of New Zealand Freemason I must say, as a new Freemason, I am somewhat aghast at the view expressed that a Freemason of a mere three years standing can not tell an organization such as ours what to do and how to do it. It would appear that length of service in the craft is, according to VWBro Dryden, the necessary qualification to express an opinion. The writer states that Freemasons are encouraged to be moral philosophers who happen to endeavour to assist charities, educational institutions and individuals by their own accumulated personal contributions in various forms. It strikes me that Bro Dai Gilbertson has done precisely this and it is unfortunate that VW Bro Dryden has responded in the way he did.

In direct contrast are the views expressed by WBro Reg Watt in the same publication, who, whilst accepting that ritual isthe motivating force behind the craft, has nevertheless expressed a view on the way forward. He pointed out that the social side of the craft which was one of its original objectives, has gone. The concept of benevolence has been replaced by Rank, Regalia and Regulation where Ritual and Charity have now taken over the role of what we are all about. It strikes me that this could be the root cause to our problem and whether we like it or not the current situation is deteriorating with craft numbers falling.

New thinking is required and if this means a modification in ritual, social and other activities, so be it. In my Lodge, recently, a simulated first degree working was held and afterwards comments were sought from those present on ways to improve things. Divergent views were expressed but the general impression was that change was desirable. How this is to be achieved can only be done by a contribution from all members in the Craft and not just those with lengthy service who believe they have all the answers.

Bro Don Scott, Palmerston North

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Seeking commitmentI write in response to the letter by VWBro Eoin G.Dryden with regard to the comments made by Bro Dai Gilbertson and the article written by VWBro George Allan.

Last December saw the 20th anniversary of my initiation which took place in Ireland three days after my 21st birthday. I became the fourth generation from my family to join the Irish Constitution. In the eight years I have been in New Zealand I have been a member of two lodges and I have been the youngest member in each. I recently attended a first degree which was the first for that lodge in nineteen years and the new apprentice was a Lewis.

Bro Gilbertson may be of only three years standing but what he raised is a serious matter. I do not see the amount of time he has been in the order as an issue in fact I think that could be his saving grace; fresh eyes, fresh perspective and fresh thinking.

Many lodges have ceased to exist over the past twenty years and membership numbers have fallen significantly. The Annual Report charts the losses both in lodges and membership numbers.

What is the average age of the order today, when at 41, I am generally the youngest member in attendance at meetings?

We need to take a look at ourselves as an institution and ask a few questions. How do we survive, how do we improve and how do we grow? That which does not grow dies and brethren we have stopped growing. I would like to quote two of our former Brothers who I believe hit the nail on the head.

If you have knowledge, let others light their candles from it.

— Winston Churchill

Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects.

— Will Rodgers

If you want to know how to attract and retain younger candidates then consult our younger Brethren. Why, after twenty years, have I never gone through the chair? It is because, with work, three children and voluntary roles, I have not got the time in to be the ritualist I am expected to be. Many of our younger brethren are in the same boat.

I have been a Senior Warden and walked away as I did not want the role of Master and, to be honest, I will probably never take that role the way things are now. A lodge has to mean something to its members. It has to remain part of their lives, every day, every week, every month. Because, once it’s more fun, or less hassle, to stay squeezed comfortably in the LazyBoy, curled up with a remote control, than it is to go to Lodge, we have lost them. No one would ever voluntarily join a memorization club, and no one wants to join the oldest, greatest, most legendary fraternal organization in the world, only to be sentenced to a lifetime of cold cut sandwiches made with suspicious meat, and monthly meetings of nothing but minute-reading, bill-paying and snivelling over why no one comes to meetings anymore.

If we keep on our current course no one will get to appreciate the value of the ceremonial teachings of our beloved order as we won’t have one.

Bro John Adams, West Coast

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Going it alone?Congratulations Bro Editor, on the inclusion of a ‘letters’ section, where one can express an opinion, a much needed improvement/feature, for ‘rank and file’ to express their personal opinion, without fear of criticism from the ‘Rank and Regalia’ brigade. The opinions of our younger set are important and vital towards the future and the ultimate good of the Craft. Let us hope they use this opportunity.

One of the letters in the December issue talked of Freemasonry having evolved from a social and convivial organisation, into what today appears as a ‘rank, regalia and regulatory’ one. How right he is, and one could no doubt add to those ‘R’s’, — ‘rules and rhetoric’. One must ask oneself, why do we need to evolve from that social and convivial role, why do we need all these committees telling us what we should be doing, and how to do it?

our teachings, customs, tradition and rituals. If this is accomplished in each of us, then are we not true to ourselves and our craft? Hence, why do we need committees attempting to telling us how to do it better.

To put it very succinctly, and realis-tically. ‘Let each individual Lodge do its own thing.’ The strong and motivated lodges will survive and prosper, while the lazier, weak lodges will fall by the wayside and disappear. A positive, forward thinking lodge (most of us) really does not need to be told what to do, or how to do it. We have the skills and expertise amongst us, all we need is the ‘will’ and we will not get this from Leadership, Education, and Communication, committees. This ‘will’ comes from within each individual.

Let us get on with the real business of being Freemasons and practice those tenets and virtues which were so dear to our predecessors and on which the true foundation of Freemasonry rests. Lets not try taking the ‘horse to water’ but let us just get on with the real business of becoming good Freemasons and better citizens.

WBro Cecil Hiles­Smith, Wanganui

Is it not the primary role of Free-masonry to take good men and make them better, to have men under stand them selves better and improve them-selves into better citizens? Surely, history shows that this is accomplished by

Getting up to speedHaving read the excellent opinion piece by WBro Bob Lancaster I wish to provide a comment on technology.

Far from being separate to the craft, technology has blossomed concurrently with the craft. Those joining throughout the post war years did so at a period of the greatest technological advance in history up until that point, with global air travel, rocket propulsion, complex avionics, space exploration and heart transplant surgery to name but a few. All were realities by the late 1960’s, and indeed the high point of Masonic membership globally.

Technology remains an enabler. It enables us to do things in new and interesting ways, but by and large it builds on what we already do.

W Bro Lancaster gets it right when he says we need to have good web sites and understand how to use current technology. My point is that technology is not to blame for any membership malaise.

The fact is that the most fundamental thing any organisation can do for long term strategic success is recruit the right people, and then keep them. We have had a nearly 300 year obsession with recruitment. However, the high demand for membership in the post war era meant it was too easy to pick and choose from a long list of quality candidates. In recent years, selection has probably been too lax. The fact is that we have lost the art of attracting, selecting, and retaining talent.

So yes, let’s make sure we are technologically up to speed. At the same time, let’s challenge ourselves to actively find people who will really enjoy what Freemasonry is all about, whether using tomorrow, or indeed yesterday’s, technology.WBro Matthew Rea­Rankin North Shore

Write a letter to the Editor – preferably 300 words maximum.Submit an Opinion piece – 1500 words plus an author biography, 200 words, and a photo.Attend a 2014 Divisional Conference – see dates and locations page 3.

HAVE YOUR SAY

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Strategic direction — Moving forwardAt the Business Session at Grand Installation 2013 Grand Lodge endorsed The Strategic Plan for the period 2013–2018. You might think that this voting support by the Lodge delegates would indicate that the Lodges themselves support the Plan however post meeting feedback has indicated that there is still a pessimistic view prevalent in some areas that could have a detrimental effect on the achievement of the strategic plan.

T he reasons that such plans often fail to achieve their goals are known and

it is fully intended to avoid these traps. By working together with the Districts and Lodges our National Committees intend to achieve our goal of implementing a strategic plan that actually achieves results. The positives we have are:• We do not have a plan simply for

plan’s sake. Just like most everything in life, you get out of a plan what you put in. As an organisation we are going to take the time to do it and do it right. This means bringing the Lodges along with us. You are all part of this journey, partakers rather than observers.

• Unlikeagoodkiwiredwinestrategicplans don’t have a good shelf life so we have not just written our plan to put it on the shelf. Our Strategic Plan is to be an effective management tool; it will be used and reviewed continually.

• Our National Committees willpay attention to changes in the environment, they will set meaningful priorities, and understand the need to pursue results not just at the national or divisional level but right down at the lodge level.

• The Grand Master, the Boardof General Purposes, and the Divisional Grand Masters are fully committed and fully understand how our strategic plan can improve

freemasonry in New Zealand. What we want now is for the Districts and Lodges to become equally as committed remembering that actions speak louder than words.

• Asyouwill see in thismagazinewehave the right people involved. Those charged with executing the plan are all committed to seeing through its execution.

• Weknowwehavetherightpeopleinleadership positions. They are willing to make the tough decisions and they will advocate for and champion the strategic plan and keep Freemasons NZ on track.

• AsChiefExecutiveIhavebeenmadeaccountable for the achievement of the goals in the Strategic Plan. The plan is developed and resources have been committed and I will be ensuring that we deliver on the strategy.

• OurPlanhas amanageablenumberof goals, objectives, and programmes. Fewer and focused is better than numerous and nebulous.

• Ourbiggestchallengethoughisthatwe need our Lodges to join in the journey and to make the decisions necessary to adopt the changes that our progress toward a brighter future will require.

By avoiding the pitfalls and creating an effective planning process, we will build a realistic direction for the future, and

greatly improve the chances for successful implementation of our strategy.

The basis for all decisions will be. ‘How will this action benefit our members?’ We will treasure our values and ideals.

Each of the Pillar Chairs and the committees they may assemble now have the task to develop and implement the operational details arising from the Plan. They comment on their specific roles and objectives as follows.RWBro Laurence Milton, Chief Executive

Organisational Development Bro Dr Dai Gilbertson

We will ensure a robust administrative base for Freemasons New Zealand that is properly resourced under the respected banner of recognised values and ideals.

I am a relatively recent Freemason and a forty year veteran of working with organisations worldwide in their desire to create an exciting and sustainable future. Thus I will not be working on the knowledge base of Freemasonry, that is the province of my colleague Dr George Allan. Rather, I will be developing and sharing my experience to help various groups develop the organisation – Organisation Development is the name of my discipline (OD for short).

To date I have worked with the President of the Board and the Chief Executive in developing, and now implementing, the Strategic Plan that the immediate past and current Grand Masters see as vital. To this end we have opened an OD Clinic that will work

16

LEFT The 7 Pillars Task Group Chairs at their first meeting — Back row Neville Patrick, Professor Dai Gilbertson, Dr George Allan, Kathleen Haskell (Executive Assistant), Terry McConnell. Front Rob Crabtree, Peter Benstead and Laurence Milton — Absent, Warwick Bell (inset).

strategically and operationally, as in a recent Christchurch workshop, to help bretheren help themselves. My constant job will be to help be the glue that holds the Chairs together and focussed so that we and our families can all enjoy the experience of Freemasonry in all its forms.

Leadership RWBro Neville Patrick

We will enhance, nurture and promote brethren to develop to their full potential, resulting in advancement, fulfilment and enjoyment within the craft.

Leadership is a critical component of life and indeed Freemasonry and is often confused with management. The two are linked but most definitely are not the same and the Strategic vision for Freemasonry is to have well developed leaders throughout the fabric of Freemasonry to take the Craft into the next Century.

The Leadership task group will create plans to develop brethren throughout the structure of the Craft. There is a high expectation that the Craft will embrace these efforts and will provide structured feedback and evaluation after wide consultation has established the actual needs.

The Craft has experienced varied levels of leadership throughout the years and whilst there is no intention to critique the past, we must at all costs establish a structure that develops people, enhances growth and creates an environment that embraces the full intent of the Strategic Plan for the enjoyment of all Freemasons and their families.

Education VWBro Dr George Allan

We will provide the means and the environment in which brethren can improve their knowledge, capability, understanding and their appreciation of Freemasonry.

Education is the means by which we are rendered fit members of regularly organized society. Masonic education can be the cement that binds the various aspects of Freemasonry together. This doesn’t happen unless you make it happen by working at it in its position among each of the 7 pillars of our Masonry.

A detailed discourse on the direction proposed by the National Education

Committee was set out in an article on page 40 of the December 2013 issue of New Zealand Freemason.

Communications VWBro Peter Benstead

We will ensure, through the use of our recognised brand, the delivery of our fundamental ideals and principles to our brethren, their families and to our wider community.

Good, clear and appropriate communications are the ‘life blood’ of any organisation and its membership.

It is a ‘two way’ process that should result in the enhancement of all involved – either through increased knowledge or the achievement of goals. Over the coming weeks I will be asking our Divisional Grand Masters to assist in selecting people, from within their divisions, to join me in making this happen.

Charity RWBro Terry McConnell

We will ensure our resources, experience and expertise are directed to the benefit, promotion, advancement and wellbeing of our brethren and their families as well as to the wider community.

The Freemasons Charity enables Freemasonry to raise its profile by reaching into the community including schools and universities where many of our future members become exposed to our organisation.

The message is really doing the same as we have done for the last seven years only do it better, by working closely with our Divisional Grand Almoners, Benevolence Officers and Almoners, providing support and training to our volunteers and working with them to raise the profile of The Freemasons Charity inside and outside our membership.

Membership VWBro Warwick Bell

We will attract and retain highly motivated, engaged and diverse men to be part of our organisation.

The membership task ahead for 2014, is to ‘manage and enhance the joining experience of all new members.’ That is not something that can be done by a task group or by divisional and district teams. Members join and belong to individual lodges so managing the enhancing the

new member experience has to be done by brethren in our lodges.

Enhancing the joining experience requires a good lodge management structure and sound leadership by the Master and senior members of the lodge. It requires on-going education for a new freemason to maximise his understanding of our organisation and teaching. It requires effective and relevant communication, participation in meaningful charitable and community initiatives instilling a sense of pride and belonging and a good meeting structure, great refectory meals, interesting social activities, a positive environment

Our role with the Membership Pillar is provide the encouragement, ideas and tools for lodges to achieve this. During the next twelve months we will endeavour to do just that. There are however some immediate things that all lodges should do. These include -

Appointing a mentor coordinator and ensure all master masons have a mentor appointed.

The Master and/or Wardens sitting down with every Master Mason to discuss what they would like to achieve out of their participation during 2014.

Ensuring that all members have an email address on the Grand Lodge database. Establishing a regular, inexpensive, and varied social programme, involving families, away from the Lodge rooms.

Agreeing to undertake a charitable project especially involving the newer brethren.

Community Engagement Bro Rob Crabtree

We will use our recognised brand, culture, resources and experience to work within our communities to promote understanding and acceptance of Freemasonry, our principles and aims.

No organisation can be effective or indeed survive in today’s society, unless it embraces the need for open communication by all means at its disposal – but most importantly through members committed to making it work.

The tasks facing this group include reviewing and developing our brand, the presentation of lodge buildings and encouraging and aiding lodges to build sustainable partnerships with their communities.

17

Front line leadersIntroducing the new District Grand Masters

F or the purposes of facilitating the operation of the Craft and serving

the brethren of the lodges the leadership is divided into three divisions and 21 districts, the latter under the care of 21 District Grand Masters whose brief is to facilitate the operation of the lodges in their district and assume the role of their principal advisor. In addition to their service to lodges the District Grand Masters are also tasked to carry out or support any directions given by their Divisional Grand Master. They assist and encourage attendance at divisional conferences and provide such forecasts and reports as are requested by the Divisional Grand Master.

In this article we introduce the new team of District Grand Masters who took office, for a term of three years, from November 2013. They each have four principal functions, namely pastoral,

advisory, benevolence and ceremonial. While they are most commonly perceived in the latter role, it is the former three which largely determine their activities.

In the Pastoral Role their brief is to: Foster Freemasonry in their districts by providing all possible encouragement and assistance to Lodges to rehabilitate themselves as a meaningful and valued part of our society.

Become fully acquainted with each lodge’s situation by frequent visits and business meetings to discuss the issues of membership, finances, property, charity, Masonic education and interaction with the community.

Encourage the development and maintenance of high standards in all aspects of Masonic activity, namely its business affairs, ritual and ceremonial, refectory proceedings and contributions to charity.

3 North ShoreBarry Rushton

Health practitioner •

TV Presenter • Golf

8 WaikatoJim McLaggan

Ministry for Primary

Industries • Overseas

postings • Current affairs

1 Northland Rex Alexander

Retired • Golf • Fishing

4 Auckland WestGary SalmonRegional GM, St Johns • Community service • Golf

• music

12 Bay of PlentyMike Cooke

Second time around • 5 times Master • Badminton • Golf

6 Auckland EastMichael Wyse

Forestry marketing (retired)

• Served on trade missions •

Classic cars

14 TaranakiBernie Black

Second time around • Farming background •

Cycling coach

7 Counties/Manukau

Mike Hattie

Fleet manager • Hospice •

Travel and architecture

Establish advisory groups who can provide Lodges with expert advice and assistance in areas where it is needed, and make use of the services of the Divisional Advisory Teams as appropriate.

Employ all possible means to encourage lodges to increase their membership and take the necessary steps to retain members’ active interest in both their lodges and Freemasonry generally.

Encourage a community of interest throughout their districts through social activities, combined charitable projects, participation in community activities and lodge visits. This should be extended, where possible, to embrace adjacent districts. All historic connections should be preserved.

Take every opportunity to bring the benefits of Freemasonry before the general public and generally foster good relations within the community at large.

18

28 MidlandJohn Kinvig

Retired farm adviser • Philately • Family history

30 Otago LakesGordon Girvan

Real estate agent •

Local body politician •

Hunting & fishing

31 WickliffeRon Hunter

Retired engineer • Group cycling • Gardening

17 EastlandSteve Shuker

Door company owner • Basketball rep. • Jaguars

23 Nelson-Marlborough

Bruce Pagan

School Principal • Former

Mayor of Bluff • JP •

marriage celebrant

18 Ruahine

Graeme Evans

Company Manager •

Bagpipes • Rugby and

motor sport

24 WestlandDick Scadden

Army (retired) • Scout leader • RSA

19 Kapiti-Wellington

Graham Redman

Accountant in hospitality

industry • 4 years in

Cayman Islands • Diver

25 Pegasus

Callum MacLeod

Consultant —

Legal management •

Almoner and organist •

History and genealogy

15 RuapehuDavid Johnston

Retired police officer • Peacekeeping •

Community involvement

21 Hutt WairarapaGlen Houlihan

Semi-retired computing • Toastmasters • Rock’n’roll

dancing

26 Canterbury

Tony Crafts

Retired building

and joinery instructor •

Genealogy • 4WD

33 Southland

Alan Gurney

Financial controller •

Rotarian • Music • golf

In the Advisory Role their brief is to: Be accessible to provide advice on Masonic matters to all the lodges in their districts and to generally assist them to operate effectively within the rules laid down in the constitution and the policy directives of the Board of General Purposes.

In the Benevolence Role their brief is to: Carry out the directions of the Board of General Purposes and

ensure that the organisation and procedures required by the Freemasons Charity are adopted throughout their districts.

In the Ceremonial Role their brief is to: Arrange the ceremony of Installation in accordance with established custom, to be carried out by themselves or their nominees, assisted by officers of Grand Lodge, active or past and/or other Installed Masters.

Access the services of

quali fied officers from other districts where this is necessary or appro priate. Generally to co-operate with other District Grand Masters in the use of Grand Lodge Officers for cere mo nial duties.

Take responsibility for and to carry out any other ceremonies at the request of, or formally to receive, the Grand Master or the Divisional Grand Master.

19

Looking to the futureThe Kapiti Freemasons Centre points the wayIt was indeed a significant step, truly in the spirit of Freemasonry, two years ago when two Kapiti Coast lodges, Tawera-O-Kapiti and Lodge Waikanae made the decision to sell their properties and pool funding to establish a central Freemasons Centre on the Kapiti Coast. This project came to fruition on 15 February when the Grand Master, MWBro John Litton, dedicated the new Kapiti Freemasons Centre. Given that the lodge room could accommodate only eighty persons it was opened to the crush area during the ceremony in order to accommodate the large overflow. Those seated in the crush were able to view the ceremony via a video link.

The story — so farDuring the course of the Dedication ceremony an Oration was delivered by VWBro Chris Bryant, Master of Lodge Tawera-O-Kapiti. What follows is an abridged version of his address.

The first meeting of Lodge Tawera-O-Kapiti took place at a beach house in Raumati South on 17 February 1923. The name Tawera-O-Kapiti was agreed as it represented the ‘Star over Kapiti.’ Meetings took place on the evening nearest the full moon each month. The light of the moon being an aid to travel to lodge meetings.

In the early 1920’s Paraparaumu, was a small tight knit community based on farming, fishing and timber milling. Rail was the only viable method of conveying goods to market. Roads were dirt tracks and the usual mode of transport horse and or horse and cart, vehicles being an exception, unlike today.

TOK was Constituted and Consecrated in July 1924. As with many other lodges the meetings for the first seven years took place in a church hall. Land was

eventually purchased which is the site of the TOK building as it stands today. The Lodge was an integral part of the local community with many of its members being involved with local businesses or local body affairs. Membership started with 23 and by the early 1990’s was around 140. Since then numbers have declined to between 50 and 60, reflecting the national trend.

Some 40 years after Lodge Tawera-O-Kapiti was established, the Great Depression just a distant memory but the Second World War rather more fresh in the minds of many, a new lodge, Waikanae No.433, was established.

During the course of those four decades much had changed in the Kapiti District. It had moved from a rural outpost to an established community with its own shopping mall, the first in New Zealand to trade on the weekend. The number of permanent residents had markedly increased particularly for the senior members of society who

figured the climate on the Coast was a significant improvement on that of Wellington City.

Lodge Waikanae installed its first Master on the 1st of August 1964, namely WBro Charles Moihi Te Arawaka Bennett DSO DCM who was knighted in 1975 for his services to the public of New Zealand.

WBro Charles Bennett’s own career was very distinguished. He was educated at Te Aute, where he was head boy, and then Canterbury College where, in 1936, he graduated with a BA. At the outbreak of the Second World War he volunteered and Private Bennett began his Army career. He fought in Greece and Crete. He

then moved to North Africa and was leader of the Maori Battalion with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel the youngest Battalion Commander in the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Here he led

many successful campaigns against the Germans, several of which are legendary

(continued page 22)Sir Charles Bennett.

20

T he two storey 1960s building at 16 Mahara Place, in the heart of

Waikanae Town Centre, which now houses the Kapiti Freemasons Centre, was purchased with a ground floor coffee bar tenant, The Olive Grove Café, and vacated office space upstairs.

RWBro Barry Millage was appointed architect and project manager and entrusted to assist the newly formed Board to deliver modern premises for the benefit of Freemasons in the Kapiti District. The Board comprised three members from each lodge and, under the chairmanship of RWBro Michael Scott PGW, worked in functional groups, each responsible for aspects of coordinating the design brief at all stages along the way to the delivery of purpose made new furniture.

Of major significance was the generous and truly Masonic gesture by Lodge Otaki, which now meets in Levin and which agreed to offer the residual funds it had from the sale of its Otaki building towards the development of the Kapiti Freemasons Centre. VWBro Jim Watt who was then Kapiti-Wellington District Grand Master facilitated negotiations.

The ground floor, now occupied by the Olive Grove Café links the outer car park area with the inner courtyard. The upper floor was vacated by commercial office tenants and left free to be re fitted as a lodge

room and crush area.There was early concern about the

possibility of the Kapiti Coast District Council (KCDC) assessing the building as a change of use and causing the need to strengthen to current earthquake standards. However, from the planning point of view it fitted in to the District Plan as a private club, not a place of public assembly and the Board was eventually granted Resource Consent without too many problems. The Building Consent officers looked favorably on the concept, agreeing that the building would be improved by the addition of a lift and facilities for the handicapped.

The entire upper floor was only to contain the lodge room, multi purpose crush area, domestic scale kitchen, toilets, storage for regalia and access to the lift. Disabled toilet facilities were already established adjacent to the café and able to be accessed by the new lift. The Board determined that all catering for refectories would be done by the tenant, Olive Grove Café.

In order to achieve a reasonably high ceiling in the centre of the Lodge, it was necessary to alter one of the existing open web steel trusses. These alterations were assessed by Engineer, Bro Peter Smith, and the alterations made to the bottom chord to raise the centre of the ceiling by 90 cms.

There were no other spatial problems, except that the lodge room width was restricted to 8.4 metres by a light well. A storage area was created at the back of the lodge room, accessed by a narrow corridor with new toilets on one side. A bridge was built over the light well linking the stair and lift lobby, thus providing a secondary means of egress from the lodge room.

The Pavement was built to size from a photograph of the one in Wellington’s Westminster Lodge room and the celestial canopy, which is a photograph, penetrated with fibre optic cables of varying diameters to display the Constellation Pleiades or Matariki. This was copied from the Shirley Freemasons

Centre.The crush area is set up to

function as a meeting venue with audio-visual capacity and a tea and coffee kitchen. As with the restaurant below this facility contributes to the economics of the building.

With thanks to RWBro Barry Millage and RWBro Michael Scott

Creating the lodge rooms

Trustees of Kapiti Freemasons Centre Ltd with Project Architect, Barry Millage. From left Jim Watt, Malcolm Harfitt, Stephen Sherring, Michael Scott, Eddie Martin and Chris Bryant.

Celestial ceiling.

21

battles for North Africa. In 1943 he was severally wounded in the legs and after repatriation he spent three years recovering and then always required a stick to walk.

After his recovery he joined the Department of Internal Affairs as an official interpreter and then moved on to the Department of Maori Affairs where he held a number of posts and continued to excel. Sir Walter Nash appointed Charles High Commissioner for Malaysia in 1958 and he formed a very close association with the then Malayan Prime Minister, Tunku Abdel Rahman. In 1963 he moved to Waikanae and he finally retired from public service in 1969.

What a great Freemason and indi-vid ual to be the First Master of Lodge Waikanae. He was in fact instrumental in the formation of the lodge in many ways but particularly in the crest and motto of the lodge, namely ‘Te Ao Marama’ Translated into English as ‘The Enlightened Word.’

For the first few years the lodge met in the local Memorial Hall. The Te Moana Rd property was opened in November 1969 with 115 in attendance. The lodge started with 55 members, which is around the present membership base today, though the composition has somewhat changed.

Chris Bryant concluded with the following comments. ‘I wish to say that it is not in my view the bricks and mortar

(continued from page 20) which are paramount but each brother who shares our special interest and love for Freemasonry. We as individuals are not buildings but men of the Brotherhood of Masons and it is the human traits that make men Masons who continue to strive to learn and improve. The individual is supreme and not the bricks and mortar which now stand here.’

The DedicationThe Ceremony of Dedication was held under the Charter of Lodge Waikanae No.433, opening with RWBro Barry Millage in the chair. Following the reception of VWBro Chris Bryant and the Brethren of Lodge Tawera-O-Kapiti No.253 visiting Masters were received followed by Past District Grand Master, VWBro Jim Watt.

The Grand Master, MWBro John Litton, accompanied by Officers of Grand Lodge, was received and the Lodge closed down to the First Degree in preparation for the dedication. The Grand Chaplain, VWBro Keith Knox, began the ceremony with a prayer and the sprinkling of perfume. The elements were then presented by the assisting Grand Lodge Officers in procession beginning with MWBro Mike Pope (corn), followed by RWBro Brian Kennedy (wine), RWBro Roger Gillatt (oil) and RWBro Steve Salmon (salt). Following circuits by the Grand Chaplain who sprinkled incense the Grand Master declared the Lodge Rooms duly dedicated.

In his closing remarks MWBro Litton thanked those who had been involved in bringing the project to fruition and especially com-mended Lodge Otaki for its generous gift, which enabled the rooms to be furnished in style. Before handing the control of the Lodge back the

Grand Master presented RWBro Barry Millage with phials containing the elements.

Models for the future The new premises have ensured that generations of Kapiti Coast Freemasons yet to come will have a great home in which to meet and work in Masonic harmony. There is much to be learnt, and passed on, from the process, especially for the many lodges which are struggling to maintain the viability of their ageing premises in the face of falling membership, high maintenance costs and escalating insurance premiums. The Trustees of the Kapiti Freemasons Centre is only too willing share the benefit of its experience and to offer guidance to other lodges contemplating a similar consolidation.

Many of our towns and cities contain several lodge rooms, individually serving one or two lodges, with usage restricted to three or four nights per month. The distance between them was often established by the range of a horse and cart on a moonlit night. As has been demonstrated in Kapiti the opportunity exists to combine resources and, by incorporating commercial uses, a viable model can be established

This approach, however, does not necessarily solve the problem for remote rural lodges. Earlier in this article it was noted that, for the first seven years, meetings of Tawera-O-Kapiti took place in the Anglican Church Hall. Lodge Waikanae initially met in the local Memorial Hall. The question to be addressed is – should a small rural lodge struggle to maintain its own building or should it join in other community facilities and, in doing so, enhance its engagement with the community? That possibility could be the seventh pillar in action.

Photos — Morris Robertson

Bright shining stars — Waikanae Master, Barry Millage and TOK Master, Chris Bryant.

The elements.

Blessing the corn. RWBro Steve Salmon delivers the salt.

22

Roadside rescueA princess in red shiny armour

M onday 18 November. I was travelling home with a brother,

WBro Don Wilson where we, from Lodge Apanui No. 395, Whakatane, had been attending a meeting at Lodge Arawa No. 406 in Rotorua. Don had decided to drive his car back to Whakatane via Paengaroa by way of the Rotorua to Tauranga Highway. Unfortunately, at an isolated place in a forest some 20km inland from Paengaroa, Don’s vehicle suddenly died. There was obviously a major mechanical defect with hot fumes pouring out from under the bonnet. Upon inspection with a torch there appeared to be a burst oil

line somewhere.Picture the scene… around

11.30pm on a very dark night on an isolated spot somewhere inland from

the coast, car broken down, two helpless penguins with

very sketchy cell phone coverage. We did

finally manage to

get through to Don’s wife and arrange for a rescue vehicle to be sent out from Whakatane, some 45 minutes away. I also managed to get a call through to the AA, only to be regaled by the usual computer speak and background music which, at our time of need, was really not very helpful. It is at times like this when you actually need quick contact with a PERSON. A couple of huge noisy rigs came rumbling past and we had had no success in torching down a couple of speeding cars.

Then, along came what I can best describe as my ‘Princess in red shiny armour’. A racy red Honda two seater sports car pulled up window wound down and a pleasant young lady asked us what the problem was etc. It was now around 11.45pm. To cut this lengthy story short, she offered to take me down to the coast where there was obviously better cell phone coverage. After being assured by Don that I should go and leave him to wait for his rescue, I squeezed into the

front seat of her car. She had, on a bit of a whim, taken a few days off work, had left Wellington at 5pm and was travelling to visit a friend in Tauranga. The usual pleasantries and, to my astonishment, I discovered that Caroline was the daughter of a deceased Past Master, WBro Allan Thomson, of Lodge Taia Raukawa No 229 in Wellington. She told me how grateful her mother had been for the assistance she had received from that Lodge at the time of the death of her husband and for their continued support. Caroline then insisted on turning right at Paengaroa rather than left to Tauranga and taking me home to Whakatane, half an hour away. As you can imagine I was eternally grateful and the whole experience has certainly renewed my confidence in human nature and how amazing coincidence can be.

Thank you, thank you Caroline Spencer, my ‘Princess in red shiny armour’.

VWBro Ian Lawson PG Lec.

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23

A twin celebrationTwo South Canterbury lodges join together for a re-dedication marking 100 years

J uly 20 2013 was a unique date for South Canterbury when two lodges

in the same town celebrated 100 years since their dedication. Lodge Timaru No 196 and Lodge Koranga No 197 realised the importance of the year and it was suggested that both lodges could be re-dedicated on the same day allowing the Grand Master to be present for a joint celebration. The week-end of 19–21 July was chosen by mutual consent.

Friday Evening saw an informal get together with the Ceremony of re dedication taking place on the Saturday afternoon, followed by entertainment and a formal banquet. A devotional service on Sunday morning was followed by a farewell morning tea.

Orations, delivered by VWBro DG Pearce on behalf of Lodge Timaru and VW Bro PRA Johnston of Lodge Koranga, included the following.

Lodge Timaru

Lodge Timaru No 196 was dedicated on 3 June 1913 by the Grand Master and a

large team of Grand Lodge and Provincial Grand Lodge Officers.

The ceremony of consecration took place at 5pm in the Caledonian Lodge Room, on Sophia Street. Many old Timaruvians will remember the old lodge room that stood for many years on a site between Wilmot’s and South Canterbury Finance, which was demolished to form part of a car park. Following the Consecration Ceremony the lodge re convened for its first installation ceremony at 7pm. The Installation Collection amounted to six pounds five shillings and three pence.

The prime movers in the formation of this lodge were W Bros CW Wood, JH Inglis, and ET Costello from the Lodge of St John No 1137 EC. WBro Costello was the chairman of the committee and was installed as the first Master. There have been several theories put forward as to why The Lodge of St John was keen to found a daughter lodge in Timaru.

Perhaps their numbers were getting unwieldy, or perhaps they wished to be somewhat exclusive.

Of the 27 foundation members of Lodge Timaru, 20 were

described as ‘professional men’ and 7 were ‘working men’, suggesting

it was intended to form a lodge of mainly business and professional men, limit the membership to a maximum of 80, to use the NZ ritual, but follow the English ritual as

closely as possible. The Joining Fee was one guinea and the annual dues two guineas, the latter being close to the average week’s pay of the day.

It was initially intended to meet in the St John’s Lodge Rooms in Church St. but, for some reason, Lodge Timaru held its meetings in the Caledonian Lodge Room until 1919 when it moved to St Johns until August 1928 when it, again, moved to the new Bank Street complex, meeting there until September 2008. Membership peaked at 98 in the early 1960s.

Lodge Koranga

Lodge Koranga’s history began on the 11 February 1913 when a group of Masons called a meeting at Hutchinsons Tearooms, Stafford Street, for the purpose of forming a new Lodge.

This was carried unanimously and, after much discussion, the group decided on the name Aorangi but, as this name was already in use by two other Lodges in New Zealand, the name Koranga was

The Grand Master presents Centennial Jewels to WBro Jim Annear RH, and the Master of Lodge Timaru, WBro Ross Jennings, and Lodge Koranga, WBro Bob Clark.

The Centennial Jewel.

24

chosen and approved. Koranga means raising or lifting up.

The proposition for the formation of this new Lodge was put to the other Lodges in the area and received the necessary approbation under the sponsorship of the Caledonian Lodge No 16 following which other meetings were convened to make the necessary arrangements for its dedication.

Commencing at 5pm on August 21 1913, in the Caledonian Lodge Rooms, Sophia Street, Timaru the meeting for the dedication of Lodge Koranga No 197, on the Roll of the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, was conducted. At the end of the Dedication the Lodge was adjourned until 7.30pm for the purpose of installing Bro Morgan Evans as the first Master of Lodge Koranga and the investiture of his officers.

The Lodge had 29 Charter members and, during the first decade, 64 brethren were initiated. For the first 13 years of its existence the Lodge met in the Caledonian Lodge Rooms in Sophia Street and, in 1926, made its first move to the St John Lodge Rooms in Church Street. In 1928 the Lodge moved to the new Combined Lodge Rooms in Bank Street, erected by the Timaru Masonic Temple Company and became one of the four tenant Craft Lodges. In 2008 the West End Masonic Complex was completed and the four Lodges moved to the present, comfortable and well appointed meeting place.

As with most Lodges, Lodge Koranga has its own customs and traditions two of which are worthy of mention.

LEFT The Grand Master, MWBro Selwyn Cooper and the Grand Lodge Officers who participated in the ceremony.

The first relates to alcohol in the Lodge. Lodge Koranga has always been a dry lodge. Although not referred to in early records this is believed to be one of the reasons for forming the new Lodge. However, it remains a strictly observed Lodge custom.

The second custom of the Lodge relates to the April regular meeting. For many years the Recessional Hymn has been sung at the end of that meeting. Some years ago a suggestion was made to expand the April meeting into a full Anzac service, open to all Lodges, wives, partners and families. It has become a district event with a guest speaker. These have included a Grand Master,

Saturday evening banquet.

Mayor of Timaru and ex-servicemen, all accomplished orators. The service includes a poppy laying ceremony. Both lodges therefore have similar histories and have contributed many members to Grand Lodge where they have served with distinction there and in District, and Provincial Grand Lodges.

The future

What lies ahead for Freemasonry in general and Lodges Timaru and Koranga in particular, rests in the hands of the brethren of each Lodge together with the other lodges meeting in and around Timaru?

Quantity and quality of new members is essential. Quantity because the numbers are reaching critical levels and quality because the new members must believe in the Craft and its principles, be dedicated and active, and be passionate about the Lodges, the District, the desire to lead by example and do good works in both public and private endeavours.

Complacency and leaving the task to someone else will see its rapid demise.

Both lodges would like to place on record their sincere thanks to MWBro Selwyn Cooper for coming to Timaru and conducting the double dedication ceremony with all due decorum with his team of past grand masters and for his friendliness and sociability together with his charming wife Jan.

VWBro Dennis PearcePhotos by John Handy

The oldest serving member, Bro Alf Jones, cutting the Centennial cake.

The Grand Master addresses the banquet.

25

The Masonic Villages Trust is a charity set up in 1960 by Freemasons in the southern North Island to provide care and services for older people. Since then, the Trust and its charitable operating companies, Masonic Care Limited and Masonic Villages Limited, have earned an enviable reputation for quality accommodation and personalised care.

Yet, like all human beings, every older person is an individual with the right to be respected and to be heard and, when vulnerable, to be cared for in a way that meets their needs.

Doing this in a professional manner lies at the heart of The Masonic Villages Trust’s mission of providing its residents with compassionate and quality care. To make it happen, the Trust relies on staff who are trained, motivated and committed to excellence.

Danielle Farmer, manager of Glenwood Masonic Hospital in Masterton, says she and her management team find it hugely rewarding to grow their own registered nurses and carers.

“In this way we instil the values of the Trust, a commitment to excellence and a work ethic. We then all share the same expectations, because they’re home-grown.”

Glenwood education co-ordinator Shalini Vij takes pride in nurse Lyn Stewart who recently graduated ‘RN’ after 12 months practicum at Glenwood. Shalini was Lyn’s mentor as she has been for other newly graduated nurses joining the Glenwood team.

“There are fortnightly meetings between the nurse and the mentor. It’s a lot of work and quite intense. The nurse needs to learn how to apply the theory they have learned to practical situations.”

Once this milestone is reached, a newly registered nurse may choose to do post-graduate papers. But even if they are too busy or not inclined to do this, professional development and refresher courses are still part of their workplace routine.

“All our carers and professional staff have education plans, with courses they must attend. If there is a good reason why they can’t attend, they must still read the course material and be able to demonstrate that they understand the content,” Shalini says.

On the 2013 agenda for registered and enrolled nurses are sessions on wound management and dysreflexia (a life-threatening syndrome affecting paraplegics). In addition, nurses and carers must attend courses on subjects as varied as infection control, elder abuse and neglect, fire evacuation and the manual handling of patients.

Danielle says refreshers and reminders are essential. “One of our maxims is that excellence is a habit that takes practice and perseverance. Without practice, without exposure to new information, everyone risks becoming stale or simply forgetting.”

All new staff coming into the Trust’s rest homes and hospitals are immediately brought into this culture of excellent patient-focussed care.

“Orientation takes up to six weeks and involves learning important techniques, rules and procedures. Under the guidance of a mentor or buddy, the new staff member has to complete a checklist showing they have had training in key subjects, like restraint minimisation, infection control and safe lifting and moving.

“The steps are explain, test and then – after six weeks – review. If the staff member is not confident in a subject area they go through re-orientation until they get it right,” says Shalini.

Good care is no accidentCaring for the elderly is not for the faint-hearted. With age comes increasing physical frailty and for some – especially in their final months and years – a loss of the ability to care for themselves.

Glenwood education co-ordinator Shalini Vij with Lyn Stewart, who recently graduated as a fully fledged registered nurse

Carers, once they have passed through the orientation hoops, are strongly encouraged to embark on ACE (Aged Care Education) courses. Indeed, in all the Trust’s care facilities, carers and other non-nursing staff are incentivised to do so – getting pay increments for each milestone they reach.

A new innovation at Glenwood has been to encourage laundry and kitchen staff to complete ACE modules, such as infection control, that are relevant to their work. Once again, if they complete their courses, this is reflected in their pay. There is also regular in-house training for service staff on safe chemical handling.

The topics covered by the ACE programme reflect the reality of providing compassionate, quality care. In addition to those mentioned above, they include nutrition, food safety, continence promotion and management, dementia, depression, cultural safety and challenging behaviour.

It is in the nature of being a human being that most of us who live to a ripe old age will one day depend on the services of professional carers. It is reassuring to know that should this happen, there will be trained compassionate professionals at The Masonic Villages Trust facilities who are dedicated to making our lives as rewarding and dignified as they can.

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five of his 12 years at Wairarapa Village he tended the rose garden until caring for his late wife Dora required his full attention.

Dora, who was also a national rose judge, died five years ago. But her roses live on – with her favourite Sally Holmes growing in pride of place in front of Glyn’s villa.

Now as a registered agrichemical applicator, Glyn is back supervising the spraying of the newly invigorated garden and as a hospice volunteer he tends the roses there too. He’s also advising the newly-elected Masterton District Council on aspects of the town’s beautiful Queen Elizabeth Park.

Seventy eight years ago Glyn was given a pair of secateurs by the doting grandfather with whom he lived at a country estate during the worst of the London Blitz. They were good years, ones in which Glyn learned the fundamentals of rose growing.

In the years since, Glyn has adopted John Lennon’s maxim and given peace a chance. At the same time, he has brought great floral beauty to the lives of many.

The Masonic Villages TrustHead office: 63 Wai-iti Crescent l Woburn l Lower Hutt 5010New Zealand l Tel +64 4 569 8512 l www.masonicvillages.co.nzwarick.dunn@masonicvillages.co.nz

In his spare time, he tended the airfield gardens where he was stationed, planting beds of his favourite rose variety, Peace. “It was my way of making a statement. Peace is not only a beautiful rose, it is also carries a message which is highly relevant to the world in which we live,” he says.

Today, aged 82, he lives in the retirement community at Wairarapa Masonic Village in a villa surrounded by “wall-to-wall” roses.

Throughout his life, Glyn has tirelessly promoted roses and helped private and municipal gardeners to grow them. For his efforts he has been honoured with the title, President Emeritus of the NZ Rose Society and was last year presented with the New Zealand Rose Award.

Honours like these often mark the time when the recipient can put his or her feet up. Not Glyn.

He’s been working with the gardeners at the Masonic Village to renovate the community’s impressive rose garden. Many plants have been replaced, a new concrete edging has been poured and a bark chip mulch is in place. Ironically, he helped create the original garden 35 years ago when he was president of the Kapiti Rose Society.

“I appreciate that all this has cost money … the village has been very supportive of my activities,” he says.

But then Glyn has done much in return. In the mid-1970s, as an active Waikanae Freemason, he helped set up the gardens at the new Horowhenua Masonic Village in Levin. Then, in the first

Dr John Bonifant has joined the board of The Masonic Villages Trust. A fellow of the Royal NZ College of GPs, he retired from full-time practice in 2012 having developed an international reputation as a palliative care specialist, with experience in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.

Since then John has consulted at Mary Potter Hospice in Wellington and latterly at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide. He is now assisting at Hospice Waikato.

John was initiated into Freemasonry in 1973, in Bentley Priory Lodge, 6134EC. He joined Wellington Lodge 1521EC in 1976 and was the master in 1990. He is also a member of Aorangi RAC, and holds past district grand rank in both. Both John and his wife Barbara are Anglican priests, assisting at St Marks Church, Raumati.

Palliative care specialist joins board

Construction at Woburn has reached the second level … time to choose your colour scheme

Residents who sign-up for an apartment at Woburn Masonic Village before the end of March will be able to select their own colour schemes. Construction of stage one of Woburn Apartments is proceeding apace with a view to the first residents moving in before the end of the year.

Chief executive Warick Dunn says the Occupation Right Agreements the Trust is offering new residents are among the most equitable on the market and reflect the Trust’s charitable mission.

Weekly service fees are fixed at a flat rate for as long as residents live at the apartments. Then when they leave, they get a 30% share in any long-term capital gain from the resale of their apartment. Many retirement communities retain all the capital gain.

www.woburnapartments.co.nz | Tel: 04 586 9758

Choose your apartment colour scheme

Bomber pilot promotes peaceIn the dark days of the cold war, when British nuclear bombers were on constant alert, RAF pilot Glyn Saunders was quietly doing his bit to promote peace.

Glyn Saunders and friends

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The Potter Masonic TrustTHE LEGACY CONTINUES

F rederick Seymour Potter was a Freemason who gave freely of his

wealth as a successful businessman. Born in London in 1857, Mr Potter came to New Zealand the following year with his parents and elder brother William aboard the steamship Lord Ashley.

He made land donations to various organisations in several parts of Auckland including an acre of land to the Takapuna Borough Council for a park in 1929 that became Potter’s Park. Places for children to play were his inspiration.

In 1930 the Potter properties and endowments were entrusted to the Grand Lodge of New Zealand, which created the Potter Masonic Trust. Mr Potter died at Auckland Hospital on March 29, 1941.

The main focus of the Trust is on children of up to 18 years who are located in the area north of Lake Taupo.

Although the Potter Masonic Trust has an important Masonic connection by virtue of its appointment of the Grand Lodge Trustees, for the time being, also being Trustees of the Potter Masonic Trust and also by reason of the engagement of Freemasons New Zealand to provide it with administrative services, it is quite a separate charitable entity.

Target allocationsIn June 2013 the Trustees discussed how the terms of the Trust Deed might apply in the future. This was to ensure that the charitable funding was well directed and to prevent over exuberance in any particular area.

The Potter Masonic Trust expects to enjoy a substantial income in future years, a large portion of which, perhaps in the vicinity of $450,000, will be available for distribution in terms of the Trust Deed.

The Trustees have set a range of targets to guide deliberations on grant applications. These are intended to give a guide to the areas for support by the

Potter Trust. The Trust Deed has a clear focus on children up to 18 years of age, broadly speaking who are located in the area north of Lake Taupo.

There were two steps involved in setting Targets, the first to decide on the broad range of categories, which the Trustees might wish to support and, second, to then decide how much of the notional budget ought be allocated for that particular category. In this fashion, the Trustees can influence the nature of their support year by year, by increasing or decreasing the allocation for each sector.

The areas and percentages of the available funding in which the Trustees may wish to distribute could include:-

1 Community facilities 35%. This category would include playground areas, gardens, and similar projects where a large number of children might have free access to a resource funded by Potter Trust.

2 Educational programmes 20%. This might include special training or educational programmes directed at extending the knowledge and development of children.

3 Music 10%. A focus on matters relating to the liberal arts and sciences, and so to extend the children’s appreciation of music, or develop their interest in and skill s at an important cultural activity.

4 Disadvantaged 15%. A category specifically designed to provide funding for disadvantaged children. This is an area where alternative resources are not always available, but where Potter Trust could play a useful role.

5 Health 10%. An important part of any curriculum is healthy outdoor pursuits, notwithstanding the breadth of other funders active in this area.

6 Other 10%. For the applications that are meritorious and which don’t fit neatly into anything above.

Two projects, which have benefitted by contributions from the Potter Masonic Trust, are illustrated in this issue of New Zealand Freemason. They are ‘Find your Field of Dreams’ (page 30) and the following article.

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The Potter Masonic TrustTHE LEGACY CONTINUES

Support for girls sportEpsom Girls Grammar and community benefit from Potter Masonic Trust donation

At the presentation in October 2013. From left, Dr Gerald Young — Chairperson Board of Trustees, MWBro Selwyn Cooper — then Grand Master, Freemasons New Zealand, Sheila Hicking — Potter Masonic Trust, Madeline Gunn — Principal, MWBro David Mace, Chairman — Freemasons Roskill Foundation.

Furthering their fundamental principles of integrity, goodwill and charity, The Potter Masonic Trust has donated $30,000 to the Epsom Girls Grammar School Leading Women in Sport campaign.

T he Leading Women in Sport campaign organisers are challenging

the community to raise $7 million for much-needed facilities for the school. The school’s current sports facilities do not meet the need or demand of the 2,200 students who participate in more than 40 sports and physical education classes. The campaign includes the Lady Joyce Fisher Sports Centre and the Sports Complex.

In passing over the donation Past Grand Master, MWBro Selwyn Cooper, said that Freemasons New Zealand and its associated trusts are pleased to continue its tradition of charity and community service. ‘Supporting young women in education and sport aligns with the goals of the Potter Masonic Trust and Freemasons New Zealand.’ He said: ‘It is a complement to our long term support of the Freemasons Scholarships to support these young students by providing for this wonderful facility that both the students and the community will benefit from.’

The School Principal, Madeline Gunn, said: ‘New Zealand has always been, and continues to be, a strong sporting nation but we have traditionally focused on men’s sports. Girls have always been as interested in sports as boys, but in the

past girls’ schools were funded much less for facilities because it was thought that girls didn’t need as much room for sports.’

She added: ‘Sports build important skills and offers young girls life-long leadership tools. The competencies girls develop in sport complement our key education competencies. Employers look for teamwork, commitment, initiative and self-management.’

The initiative will also benefit the residents of Epsom and the surrounding areas who will have immediate access to world-class training and sports facilities. The Sports Complex will serve as a sporting facility as well as a venue for community activities, meetings, performances and events.

Madeline says: ‘In building the Lady Joyce Fisher Sports Centre and the Sports Complex we are acknowledging that sports are a part of a healthy education and we want to be a part of it as much as the boys.’

Designed and inspired with longevity and sustainability in mind, when completed, the Sports Complex will include an Indoor Arena with two full-sized multi-use courts for netball, basketball, volleyball, badminton, dance and physical education; an all-weather multi-use turf covered Outdoor Arena and three competition tennis courts and more.

Epsom Girls Grammar School hopes to showcase the Sports Complex at their Centenary in 2017.

The proposed sports complex. Drawing — JASMAX Architects.

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Find your field of dreamsPotter Masonic Trust boosts free swim programme

Last November Community Swim, the flagship programme of the John Walker Find your Field of Dreams Foundation (FYFOD), received a big boost with a donation of $75,000 from the Potter Masonic Trust.

A t a poolside function to present the donation Find Your Field of

Dreams General Manager, Rick Pickard, said ‘the generous cash injection by The Potter Masonic Trust will enable the Foundation to continue to provide seven free swim lessons to around 18,000 year 3, 4, 5 and 6 youngsters, from more than eighty primary schools across Auckland south.’

‘The programme costs more than $420,000 to run including pool entry,

free bus transport to and from school for the pupils and no charge for the lessons,’ he said. ‘We are indebted to our principal partner, The Lion Foundation, for their substantial support over the last five years, which is continuing. Now, with this generous contribution, the sustainability of the programme can be ensured.’ Mr Pickard added that the Foundation had been fortunate that its programme delivery and funding partners ‘have shared our vision of

providing the opportunities for young people to pursue their sporting dream.’ Tribute was also paid to the professional instructors at Swimgym who deliver the lessons.

Mr Pickard went on to say. ‘The feedback we get from schools that take part in the programme, teachers and parents is incredibly positive. The most recent survey shows that 98% of pupils report they feel more confident in the water and almost 90% have improved

Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation Trustees and Potter Masonic Trust representatives watching the Community Swim Programme in action.

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their swimming ability as a result of their involvement in Community Swim. Schools report that the programme is extremely well run and highly effective.’

Speaking on behalf the Potter Masonic Trust MWBro David Mace said the trust was delighted to support Sir John Walker’s Foundation and the Community Swim programme. ‘It takes our investment across a range of children’s activities this year to around $500,000.’ He reminded those present that Freemasonry is the longest established philanthropic organization in New Zealand.

Since the start of the ground-breaking freeswim programme in late 2008, just months after FYFOD was established,

thousands of Manukau children aged seven to ten are well on their way to achieving the target of being able to swim 200 metres. The programme recently marked a major milestone with the delivery of its 500,000th free swim lesson.

The Foundation founder, Sir John Walker, said that The Potter Masonic Trust funding assistance would ‘go a long way to help us ensure youngsters in the region get the chance to pursue their sporting dreams and, if we can help save one person from drowning, it makes the swim programme worthwhile.’

‘Swimming is an essential life skill,’ he said. ‘In South Auckland, where many

youngsters don’t have access to pools or swimming lessons, we identified Community Swim as a priority. Since its introduction there has been an increase in junior swim club membership and schools report that absenteeism is greatly reduced on the days students are involved in the swimming activity. While pool capacity can be an issue because of the success and popularity of the programme, this has been partly resolved with the purchase of a portable pool and we are looking to expand our portable pool resources to enable the Foundation to deliver free swim lessons to young people in Auckland’s areas of greatest need.’

The Sir John Walker Find your Field of Dreams Foundation

F ounded by Sir John Walker the Find Your Field of Dreams Foundation is

a charitable trust, aimed at encouraging the young people of Auckland’s area of greatest need to pursue a more active lifestyle through sport and physical recreation that would lead to a fitter, healthier and more caring community.

It is a catalytic entity, rather than a grant making body. It adds value to existing programmes and facilitates the development of new ones. Programmes will be delivered across Auckland’s areas of greatest need through partnerships between the council, NGOs, government agencies and business. It will roll out across the community to the widest range of participants.

The Foundation was born out of a vision to bring about a positive change by providing every young person the

opportunity to participate in an active, healthy lifestyle through sports and other forms of physical activity. The Trustees believe this will produce fit, healthy and active young people who will make positive choices, daring to pursue their dreams and maximising their potential for positive, fulfilling lives.

They want to engage at-risk young people to embrace new activities, challenge them to get off the couch or street and start down the active and healthy journey that sport offers. They believe this will encourage young people to become prosperous citizens, connected with and committed to their community.

The Trustees believe that, given the opportunity, more of our youngsters have the potential to become future sporting champions. They want to identify those

Sir John Walker.

talented young people who, with support and encouragement, could follow in the footsteps of Auckland’s many sporting greats and accomplish their own extraordinary feats.

Working together with the many schools, clubs, sponsors and organisations in the community, The Trustees are confident that they can build greater social cohesion a n d community pride and turn around some of the negative stereo-types associated with Auckland’s areas of greatest need, thus creating a safer and healthier city. They are determined to make a difference.

Throw for GoldDelivered by Athletics AucklandOne of the John Walker ‘Find Your Field of Dreams’ Foundation’s high level objectives is to produce more Olympic medalists and national sports representative for New Zealand. In line with this aspiration the Throw for Gold programme has been set up to unearth a new Valerie Adams or Stuart Farquhar.

Other Find Your Field of Dreams programmesPrimary SportDelivered by Counties Manukau Sport26% of Manukau’s population is under 15 years of age. Many of these young people live in socio-economically deprived areas, attend low decile schools and many do not get the opportunity to participate in sport and physical recreation.

Secondary SportDelivered by Counties Manukau Sport and College SportTrends are showing there are fewer secondary school students taking part in sports, although there is a large number who would like to, but can’t. Reasons for the downwards trend include lack of infrastructure and resources in many schools, making it hard for enthusiastic students.

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Dr George Allan.

EDUCATION PILLARThe language of Freemasonry — Symbolism

B rotherly love, relief and truth are the grand principles on which our

Masonry is founded. These are taught in our three degree ceremonies where words and symbols are used to illustrate major points. Learning the words is important to tell the story to candidates while understanding what those words mean usually makes the telling more meaningful for those listening.

After each degree the candidate is given a booklet of the ceremony and it is up to every one of us to help each candidate understand the message contained in the words and symbols used in that degree. We can do this by pointing out the symbols and discussing with the candidate likely meanings in modern day life. I recommend that experienced masons resist the temptation to tell candidates what the symbols mean and instead adopt a more reasonable approach. Let the candidate reason his own meaning and the experienced mason explain any misconceptions without being dogmatic. This is where Brotherly Love comes in. To help our newer Brethren in their, and our own, understanding takes time and effort on both sides.

We have to work at what each phrase and symbol can mean in the everyday world of our lives. This will lead some masons to ponder symbolic meanings on a higher level, developing in them a deeper understanding. It has long amused me that, as our understanding goes deeper and deeper, our intellect rises higher and higher. Is this a paradox, an oxymoron or a mixed metaphor I wonder? Learning is not confined to what a symbol is and means, we need to consider how each symbol will relate to our home and family, our everyday world of work, our masonry and our other hobbies and interests. Further study and

thinking will lead us to where, when and why these symbols apply to us and this will definitely make us better masons. Masonry can be much more than a once-a-month evening out.

Learning takes time and effort if it is done properly and to any depth. One technique I have developed with thousands of people is to get them to write their thoughts in a notebook and then look at them. Thus, I ask you to think about a Masonic symbol and draw it in your notebook: then write what it is, what it means, how you could use this meaning, where, when and why it makes you a better man. Having written it on paper or entered it into your computer look at it and see what you are thinking. You will probably see that you can make improvements straight away. Make changes to what you have written, add the new thoughts and repeat the process over and over, getting better and better every time you do it. You will be amazed at how quickly this improves your thoughts.

The reason why this technique works is writing your thoughts and seeing them enables you to see where changes can improve your thinking. The truth is that we spend most of our mental time kidding ourselves that we know what we are thinking and we do nothing to advance our own ability.

Writing things in a notebook keeps a record of our thoughts as an aid to memory. I recommend taking your notebook when attending a discussion group and sharing Masonic ideas with other people. Listen when others tell of their different interpretations and learn from this, add their interpretation to

your knowledge. Who is to say whose opinion is right or wrong? We would like to think that we are right most of the time but should face up to being wrong sometimes and this is where Brotherly Love comes in. Be kind and patient when another mason has a different point-of-view and learn from it as there could be something there that you have not previously considered.

As Chair of the National Education Committee (now the Education Pillar) I am encouraging young New Zealand masons to get together and form their own discussion groups (with their notebooks) to talk through our Masonic symbols and hence get to know the language of Freemasonry. It is by discussion, rather than just listening, that most improve their learning. I suggest that you make notes on the discussion points at your meetings so you can see and think about them later. This will further develop your understanding and knowledge, as opposed to learning the words, ready to discuss your new and higher level understanding at your next discussion group meeting.

Start with the symbols of the Hidden Mysteries of Nature and Science. As one of the symbols in nature is a tree have a really long look at a tree near you and make notes on what you observe. Think about your notes as outlined above how, where when and why this applies to you, your family, job and friends. Then find out about The Tree of Life (the Kabbala – there are various spellings including Cabala, Qabbala). Another symbol in nature is water so go and look at the waves or different forms of water nearby and write about how, where, when and why it affects your life – not someone else’s but your own. This is not easy, learning takes time and effort but the rewards are wonderful. When you start to discover things about this language of Masonry e-mail me at drgeorgeallan@gmail.com and let me know how you are getting on. If you get stuck, e-mail me and we’ll see how I can help.

VWBro Dr George Allan

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Jing Jing (Alice) WangAn extraordinary achiever

A lice Wang was awarded a Freemasons Scholarship in May 2013 and has

used it to advantage, as she comments. ‘It is a privilege to have received a Freemasons University Scholarship. The scholarship made a signi ficant contribution to my study costs during my final year of study at the University of Auckland, and enabled me to pursue my interests and volunteer activities without the burden of financial constraints. I am very grateful for the generosity and support of The Freemasons Charity.’

Alice’s story — my life so farI was born in Beijing, China on May 15, 1991. My mother’s family was originally from Guangdong province in southern China and my father’s family came from Heilongjiang province up north. My parents met in Beijing when they were in their late 20s. Before moving to New Zealand, they were based in Beijing with mum working as an engineer and my father as a university lecturer. Dad came to New Zealand first in 1994, and mum and I followed a year later in 1995. My little sister Jane was born in Auckland two years later.

Although I spent the first four years of my life in Beijing, most of my earliest memories are of growing up in Auckland. The first house that I remember living in was a bungalow in Three Kings that my family shared with a few other immigrant families. We moved around quite a lot when I was growing up, but we’ve mostly been based in the Avondale/Mt Albert

area since around 1996. The shift was quite hard for my family,

as my parents had to put their former career and success behind them and start from scratch. Mum used to talk about how she came to New Zealand with me in one hand and only a suitcase of clothes in the other. I think my parents did miss their life back in China, and I’m really grateful for the sacrifices that they made when they decided to stay here for good. Neither of my parents were able to continue their former professions here in New Zealand, as was typical for most immigrants, and so mum went into real estate and dad retrained in computer programming. My parents separated when I was about 12 years old, and I spent my

teenage years growing up with a single mother and my younger sister. 

My family encountered quite a few bumps along the way. My mother struggled with bipolar depression throughout my high school years and was unable to work and so I feel that I owe a lot to the safety nets that

exist here in New Zealand to support families going through tough times. For example, my interest in social welfare systems comes from the fact that I pretty much grew up on the DPB.

It’s actually quite surreal to receive the Rhodes Scholarship and look back at this journey over the past 22 years. One quality that I think ‘runs’ in the family is one of resilience, and to keep putting one foot in front of the other. My parents experienced a lot of hardship growing up, and this greatly influenced how I was raised. Seeing how hard they worked to give my sister and me a good upbringing really also put things into perspective.

I will probably never know what it was like to grow up as my parents did — such as being born during a devastating famine in the late 1950s/early 1960s, and to experience the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution during their youth/teenage years — but I have so much admiration for what they and many people of their generation went through. Although my parents always emphasised the virtue of hard work and persistence, I am also really grateful that they gave me the freedom

Alice with her mother in Beijing.

Within months of that achieve-ment she was selected for a Rhodes Scholarship, one of three awarded in New Zealand.

Alice is not wasting her time in the period up to her departure for Oxford University. For six months, from February to September, she is serving as Judge’s Clerk to Justice William Young in the Supreme Court. The role is a pres ti-gious one, reserved for recent law student graduates who performed at or near the top of their class. Editor

Learning to walk, Tiananmen Square.

Alice in Yogyakarta.

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to pursue the things that interested me, such as music, and to sometimes learn things the hard way.

I was educated at Avondale and Gladstone Primary schools followed by Kowhai Intermediate and Avondale College. I had a really wonderful upbringing and some fantastic teachers. I credit a lot of my success to them. I’ve also been fortunate to have had some incredible mentors over the past couple of years, who have been very influential in shaping my ambitions. The Rhodes Scholarship involved a lot more than just my own hard work — and I am very grateful to a lot of people who have inspired and supported me along the way.

My interest in music started when I was about 5 years old, after spending a lot of afternoons at a friend’s house watching her practise the piano. My first piano was purchased by my mother at an auction for around $50 and I started lessons when I was 6 years old. I’m really grateful that my parents took my interest in music seriously, because I know that the piano, and piano lessons, were pretty big purchases for my family at the time. I had always wanted to learn other instruments but it wasn’t really something that my

family could afford and it was only at high school that I picked up the oboe, viola and trombone. Piano, classical and jazz, was always my main instrument and I sat my performance diploma with the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (dipABRSM) in 2008. With the oboe and trombone, I was able to travel to Sydney and Germany on tour with different orchestras and bands. I found a love for music composition when I was

about 15, and two of these pieces went on to win national awards (Song for Ophelia and Autumn Rain — I was invited to play Autumn Rain at the opening of the 2009 Lantern Festival in Auckland). I did consider studying music at university for a while when one of my dream jobs was to be a conductor but, fortunately, music is one of those things that you can always take with you, wherever you end up!

I taught music after school and on weekends to over a hundred students of varying ages, backgrounds and abilities (including disabilities). An intellectual curiosity led to success in a broad range of subjects in the sciences, humanities and creative arts, and I relished my first taste of university at the age of 15, taking a psychology paper through the University of Auckland’s Young Scholars Programme. I became interested in the field of policy-making in my senior years of high school. This was developed during my two years on the Auckland City Youth Council and my involvement in the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Challenge, which culminated in being a national finalist in 2007.

Where to now?Growing up, I believed that a person’s ability to succeed in life was primarily determined by skill and effort. It was during high school, however, that I began to appreciate how much a person’s journey is dictated by things that have little to do with the individual. I came

Jogja School.

Rhodes Scholarship awardees, including Alice, at Government House.

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to realise how important it was to live in a society that cares for and protects the vulnerable. The vital role of social welfare was unmistakable as I saw my mother, then a single parent, struggle with a debilitating mental illness that left her unable to work. In my final two years of high school, I struggled to accept that the troubled backgrounds of close friends would come to determine and shape their outlook, decisions and prospects in life. I realised how privileged I was to grow up with parents, teachers and mentors who believed in my potential and nurtured my dreams. These experiences, coupled with the relentless battle through hospital wards and palliative care until the loss of my mother to cancer in June last year, embedded in me a sensitivity to the needs of other people, an instinct to take responsibility for the well-being of others, and a firm grounding in resourcefulness and resilience.

These early experiences gave me a fuller understanding of adversity while kindling strong notions of social and economic justice. I went to university with a desire to improve what I saw to be a failing status quo for people from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and a belief that it is both possible and imperative to effect change. These factors led me towards the study of law, economics and philosophy. My academic studies have deepened my fascination with the role that ideas play in shaping society. This fascination led me to explore the use of policy as an engine for social change, culminating in a forthcoming publication on how taxation policy can have profound implications for the well being of families.

These ambitions impelled me towards leadership positions and service in areas of social change. I led Make a Difference with Economics (MADE), an organisation that empowers students to create tangible social change through the application of economics, and delivered a series of

public talks and debates on topics such as international development, the role of human rights in economics, and advocacy for social change. I founded initiatives to facilitate the use of economics in the community (the inaugural Applied Economics Workshop in 2012) and to create awareness and discussion of pertinent policy issues (the MADE Policy Group). A commitment to building healthy communities through the creation of socially valuable endeavours guided my leadership of Spark’s social entrepreneurship programme and motivated an eye-opening volunteer teaching internship at two ‘alternative education’ schools for underprivileged children in Indonesia last year.

My passion for confronting issues of inequality through public policy has been shaped by an academic background in interdisciplinary thinking, first-hand insight into the impact of policy decisions on affected communities, and practical experience gained through research work for the Centre for Applied Research in Economics at the University of Auckland on projects which seek to reduce child maltreatment in New Zealand and consider the ethical implications of policy intervention. My aspirations lie in policy research and in promoting the adoption and implementation of good ideas. Although my interests span a range of interrelated issues, including tax and health policy, I intend to focus on social and education policy as a catalyst for economic and social development. Ultimately, I wish to return to the university and contribute to the development of public policy in New Zealand and to the development of a future generation of thinkers and leaders.

To achieve these goals, I intend to pursue a Master in Public Policy (MPP) in Oxford’s newly formed Blavatnik School of Government, followed by an MSc

in Economics for Development. The two programmes follow naturally from my study in law, economics and philosophy and, together, form an ideal stepping-stone to a career in public policy. The interdisciplinary nature of the MPP curriculum in particular will provide exposure to a diverse range of teaching in the humanities and social sciences, areas of particular distinction at Oxford, and a strong foundation in critical and practical skills. Additionally, the intellectual rigour of each programme brings together an ambitious and diverse cohort of students from around the world. It is within this animated environment that I seek to learn from others and share my own ideas.

Jing Jing (Alice) Wang

Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to the University [Service and Leadership] Auckland University 2013.

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The Lake Taupo Cycle ChallengeThe Freemasons team stands out

Once regarded as highly secret, Freemasonry is now out in the open as an organisation that engages with and serves the public. A key objective of the Strategic Plan is to develop the brand to enhance and support a new public image. A positive contribution to this objective was demonstrated by Anthony Clouston, Master of Ngatiawa-Russell Lodge no 345, who organised a distinctively outfitted Freemasons team for the 2013 Taupo Cycle Challenge. Underlying the race story is the personal journey, undertaken with much determination, by one participant, WBro John Scott, on his quest to transform himself from a morbidly obese man back into a healthy weight man with new aspirations for the future.

The challengeThe Contact Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge is the largest NZ cycling event. Up to 12,000 riders from New Zealand and over 20 countries across the globe take part each year. The event is best known for its 160km Bike Barn Solo, the one-lap circumnavigation of Lake Taupo, Australasia’s largest lake. The course starts and finishes next to Taupo’s Great Lake Centre and heads in an anti-clockwise direction around Lake Taupo, which is 357 metres above sea level. The highest point on the course is at 650 metres. The event caters for riders of all abilities and no special equipment is required, just a helmet, a safe bike and the determination to finish. This is just one of 15 categories on offer, with both

road cycling and mountain bike options for individuals and teams.

A popular option is the Relay. For this category, the 160km circuit is split into 4 legs of approximately 40km each. A relay team may have 2, 3 or 4 cyclists riding one or more consecutive relay legs. There are relay interchange points for each leg at Tihoi, Kuratau and Motuoapa. Bikes are conveyed to the interchanges, which havebike racks and toilets.

The gearAnthony’s design incorporated the Freemason’s square and compass logo, and the Freemason’s Charity logo on each shoulder. This was

Heading uphill.

Anthony and Vaughan Clouston (father and son) display the Freemasons gear.

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The raceAnthony Clouston gives his inside view on the 2013 race: ‘Hello Brother was said to us a lot at the start of the ride on Saturday 30 Novem ber. We stood out from the crowd, as well heeled, finely tuned Masonic ath-letes all psyched up and ready to roll. The prob-lem was that the first leg was predominantly up hill, so there was little rolling involved.

John Scott and Marty Arrell rode the whole course while Vaughan and I did the first leg in our respective relay teams and the others com ple ted with atti tude and aptitude. We were only a few of the 12,000 entries across a

wide range of entry options.Wheel chairs to monocycles, 5 year

olds to 90 plus, small to large, and … they obviously let us Freemasons ride. We are really keen to get more Masonic relay teams entered next year.

As well as participating in the ride we were contributing funds for the Sea Rescue Craft for the Kapiti Coast, a

The 2014 Taupo Cycle Challenge takes place on 29 November. With more entrants the Freemasons team has an even bigger opportunity to make a splash. Now is the time to make plans and get into a serious training mode. Anthony Clouston welcomes enquiries from potential entrants and suggestions for the design of the 2014 gear. Contact anthonyclouston@gmail.com.

project initiated by the then District Grand Master for Kapiti-Wellington, VWBro Jim Watt. Profits from sales of the gear contributed to the funds.

The specifically printed cycling gear attracted a lot of attention, with calls from the spectators including a ‘Go chequers’. We all finished what we set out to achieve.

It was amazing how many people commented on knowing someone who was a Freemason and equally interesting to note the people who asked what Freemasonry was.

The day was slightly overcast, with occasional showers, a perfect day for a road ride in the country. The constant chatter and the humour was indicative of a good day out. The chatter stopped half way up the first hill climb and resumed on the longer down hill stretches.

It did get to a point where we thought that standing up would be easier on our butt muscles but, as we quickly discovered, our legs needed some rest and we sat down again. This was the point where some of us had decided that more training before the race would have been a good idea. My own illusions of treating the first 20km as a training ride for the remaining distance were seriously brought in to question.

Many thanks to all who assisted, and to those who are seriously looking at joining us next year.’

WBro John Scott, who hails from Palmerston North where he is employed by Fonterra, was initiated into The Eketahuna Lodge No.92 in 1991, becoming Master in 1996/1997 and Master of The Ruahine Lodge No. 80 in 2005. John rode on 30 November 2013 as part of his personal challenge to Live Life Lighter.

Victory came from his suc cess ful trans for-mation from 160kg plus, to a healthier weight of 96kg. John personally considered 160kg, as ‘morbidly obesity’

and now, having lost weight, has many new aspirations for the future. To achieve this new healthier weight, cycling 160km around Lake Taupo on a sunny, wind-swept, day is just a part of the story.

John still hopes to lose another 20kg, (76kg’s being less than half his original weight) and is more focused and determined, having completed the Taupo Cycle Challenge. The

irony is, that on the bike ride, John was unable to drink or eat while riding at the

One man’s journey to fitness

(continued next page)

The ‘original’ John Scott.

a bold attempt to get Freemasonry ‘out there’, especially on the bike ride, on the road, and before the spectators.

Part of the design was the full size square and compass on the back of the top, which was most noticeable to the many cyclists behind the wearers. Other aspects of the design included the black and white checkerboard pattern, resembling the tessellated tiles of a lodge. These were on the front and back. Both sections had a randomly placed red square, which had two real functions, the first being to get people asking the wearer ‘what is that red square all about?’ It was there to generate debate and engage people in discussion.

The second reason was to incorporate the red side order. Red on black has always been a graphic design of choice.

What was exceptionally good were the calls from the sidelines, along the lines of ‘Greetings Brother’, ‘go Checkers’ and ‘Fraternal Greetings.’ The tops, which were well noticed, are still available for sale ordered through anthonyclouston@gmail.com.

They are available in most sizes, but the shapes will vary depending on the person wearing them.

Anthony is open to design input for the 2014 version of the cycling gear.

37

same time, so he stopped frequently to do this rather than risk causing a crash or hurting himself.

As a young man, John was physically active and very fit as a sheep shearer before joining the Dairy Industry. He was, what he considered, a typical Kiwi male who took his health for granted and would never have believed that he would become over-weight or end up with health issues.

However, he recently discovered his potential mortality when, at 60 years of age, he found himself in hospital having suffered a heart attack and, as a result, having a triple bypass operation. Not only does he have a big scar on his chest to prove it, he has a very interesting story to tell.

Prior to this he had recognized that his health was deteriorating and had tried multiple times to lose weight unsuccessfully, becoming a ‘yoyo’ dieter. This, he claims, was certainly the lowest point of his life and had even considered getting a Zimmer frame after his operation, which was only prevented by his pride. He discovered supermarkets a good place to do his daily walks when recuperating after his operation as he could make use of the trolleys to assist him.

Although joining a gym was the first step in the right direction, like a lot of people, he made every excuse to prevent himself from starting an exercise programme, therefore his membership went unused.

Despite the heart attack being a

massive wakeup call he still lacked the motivation or knowledge that he needed to change his life-style or to fix his weight problem. John started having mobility issues because of knee joint problems, especially at work where this was visible to his co-workers and he was really struggling to do his job to his expectations. John admitted that he had to swallow his pride and ask for help to get him through the work season while he sorted out his health issues.

The good news was that work assistance was provided by his employer, Fonterra, at Longburn. Enter Linda Shailer into John’s life as his helper who turned out to be a personal trainer and he inevitably took the opportunity and asked her if she would like to train him, with the purpose of getting his weight down.

Without hesitation, and encouraged by much enthusiasm, Linda and John were soon at the on-site work gym on a regular basis. It was 2 November 2012 that he had his first session in the gym with Linda and, straight away, he realized that he had a very knowledgeable, committed and talented person at his disposal and, coupled with the Longburn gym, it was now all over to him to do some serious work. They came to an agreement that Linda would concentrate on the resistance training, with three sessions a week, while John would be responsible for the aerobic training between these sessions. It took him a couple of days to fully commit to what he had taken on but, once that bridge had

been crossed it, has been full on since. Despite a few sideway looks from other gym users when starting there back in November, he has now lost 65kg and has become an inspiration to many of them.

John can’t thank Linda Shailer enough for her commitment, her expertise, her friendship and her ongoing support. However, he added that the journey has still not ended, as he has not reached his weight goal with the hard work continuing to achieve this. John has not put his cycle away as he still intends to do the Round Mount Taranaki Cycle Challenge (150kms), The Bush Cycle Ride (110kms) and the Manawatu Country Classic (165kms) before the end of March. After this it is his intention to concentrate his efforts back in the gym to get toned up and ready to enter the Hawke’s Bay bodybuilding competition in July.

While John looks back over what has been achieved since starting this journey, he is still shocked how close he came to becoming a truly bariatric invalid, wheelchair bound and unable to work any longer. He is also very proud of what has been achieved and can’t stress enough the importance we have to pay to our health and wellbeing as we get older. But at the same time he gets really excited about the coming year and some of his goals are bringing butterflies to his stomach at the thought of some of the things he has committed to.

Starting the workout programme.

Made it! John Scott crosses the finish line.

(continued from previous page)

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72-year old completes his questJohn Smithies fund raising old bike ride from Cape Reinga to Bluff

The ‘Hot News’ section of the September 2013 issue of New Zealand Freemason reported on WBro John Smithies intention to cycle the length of New Zealand to raise funds for blood cancer sufferers and their families. John undertook the challenge in memory of his wife Alison who died of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2011. So far he has raised over $15,000 for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC). Just over two months after setting out on a rusty 1940s three-speed bike John reached Bluff.

T he ride from Cape Reinga began on 15 September, which happened

to be World Lymphoma Awareness Day. This was the start of a succession of numerous most rewarding personal experiences. The support freemasons, family, friends and, often, complete strangers gave to the Old Bike Fundraiser ride project is going to leave a permanent mark on John. Offers all down the country of a bed, a meal or shelter when necessary were frequent and, although not always able to be taken up, the view he has of Kiwis being big hearted and generous was emphatically reinforced. ‘I received random calls from people saying come and stay with us, there will be a roast dinner waiting for you when you arrive,’ says John. Facebook was flooded with requests to host John in various parts of the country. Friends and strangers from all walks of life offered hospitality and even cycled part of the way with him. He shared a beer with the Mangaweka social club and was shouted a coffee on Quay Street in Auckland. John says the support has really amazed and humbled him.

As for the bike, he says, ‘she’s been lovely. I’ve talked to it, I’ve blessed it at times in forceful terms, but mostly it’s been a faithful servant, it’s gone well. It went through three sets of tyres and the odd bolt came loose, but nothing that a bit of wit and kiwi ingenuity with the help of a Stanley knife couldn’t fix.’

Freemasons came out in numbers when John arrived in South Canterbury, his own Lodge District. Morning tea at the Winchester Lodge, warm welcomes in Geraldine and Timaru and a marvellous send off with accompanying riders were typical ways brethren showed their support.

On the last lap, Invercargill to Bluff, John had the privilege of being able to ride the 29km to the end of the long road with brethren, families and friends.

‘There was a general call out for cycling groups, supporters and those who wanted to get in behind LBC,’ said John. ‘There were some motoring, there were some on bikes and we rode the last few kilometres to Bluff, finishing at Sterling Point under the signpost pointing to the South Pole.’

Chief Executive Officer of Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand, Pru Etcheverry, says she is incredibly inspired by John’s personal efforts in raising awareness of lymphoma. ‘John has been such an inspiration to our whole team and his unique personal quest has done so much in raising awareness about lymphoma, which is the sixth most common form of cancer in New Zealand, yet still largely unknown. We are so very grateful to John for all he has done on our behalf. The money raised will help fund our services across the country, supporting patients and their families, providing information, funding for research, raising awareness and advocating on behalf of patients.’

In John’s final words. ‘The ride was in memory of my wife, to whom I had been married for 48 years, and I have met many people who have been affected by cancer either directly or through a loved one and, hopefully, my efforts raised a little awareness and in some small way I have helped.’

John is now back at the home he built with Alison at Lake Ohau in the Mackenzie Basin and is planning his next project. Morris Robertson

View John’s fundraising page here: www.leukaemia.org.nz/view_event_profile/2513

Destination reached.

A warm welcome at Winchester, South Canterbury.

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A world where no one is needlessly blindA former Freemasons Scholar continues the Fred Hollows vision

Jesse Gale received a Freemasons University Scholarship in 2004. Since then he has gone on to become an Ophthalmologist and is continuing his specialist studies. Dr Gale has embraced the vision of the Fred Hollows Foundation and devoted his working time to making a difference to so many people in many of the poorer countries of the world.

J esse was born in Wellington on 4 September 1981. His family heritage

is a mix of early English and Scottish settlers who settled across New Zealand and Australia in the 19th century. They are mostly intellectuals and academics, but not doctors.

Jesse attended Wadestown Primary School and Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School. He lived in Dunedin for a few years attending Logan Park High School (1994–1996) then returned to Wellington to finish high school at Onslow College in 1997–1998. He then went on to the University in Otago, graduating with MB ChB (medicine) followed by a research year a research year called a BMedSci (Hons).

In commenting on his scholarship Jesse says. ‘Medical school is expensive and too busy for part time work, so most students must borrow to live. Any relief helps, and builds the sense of public spirit and reciprocity, which is so important in retaining our best graduates and doctors. My Freemasons University Scholarship also helped to fund my elective studies in Brisbane, Amman, and Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, in the final three months of my medical degree in 2005. These elective studies in ophthalmology were important direction for my future pathways.’ Jesse started medicine at Otago not really knowing what he was in for, but found his niche in clinical ophthalmology. ‘It’s

scientifically fascinating and you get job satisfaction from improving someone’s life. You also don’t face the tragic side of medicine — my patients aren’t in danger of dying.’

‘Ophthalmology is a rewarding satisfying job because it is common to be able to improve someone’s vision and to enjoy their appreciation when they return to clinic seeing better. There is a lovely patient interaction because so much of the diagnosis can be made in the clinic without additional tests. The specialty is always expanding and improving as new science is translated into better care for our patients. I’m also interested in the challenges of improving eye health systems for populations, which is where

Dr Jesse Gale performing manual cataract surgery in Vaiola Hospital, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.JAMES ENSING-TRUSSELL

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the Fred Hollows Foundation fits in.’ Jesse says that he had always been interested in the Fred Hollows Foundation work, and was encouraged by his family to pursue it when his training was completed. He became involved with the FHF Australia when he successfully applied for the fellowship in 2012. After graduating in 2005 he had been working in several New Zealand hospitals and training under the supervision of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO). He left his District Health Board job in Auckland on 7 December for an orientation day with FHF in Sydney and then travelled to Nepal for three weeks of surgical training, subsequently work with FHF in Alice Springs in January 2013.

Jesse became more involved with Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand with FHF New Zealand when he moved from Australia to Fiji in April 2013, because the Pacific Eye Institute in Fiji and the outreach trips around Pacific are overseen by FHFNZ.

After working to restore sight in Nepal, Alice Springs and around the Pacific, Jesse is prepared to commit to most things if it means supporting

fundraising for the Foundation.‘It’s not so much a charity organisation

as a development organisation. It has such a long-term goal and that is an important point of difference. It’s really worthy of all those $25 donations. It’s money well-invested.’

Jesse has seen where the money goes. He’s seen the excitement and gratitude of patients when the bandages come off and they can see for the first time in years. He’s seen the future return to people who thought they had none and he’s seen a world where acceptance of loss of sight is the norm, even though it can be treated easily and inexpensively.

He’s also learned techniques and skills that are rarely seen in mainstream eye care.

‘I haven’t finished my training. There’s still a lot to learn and the Foundation job was a great opportunity to learn more. It’s a great privilege to be able to travel so widely and be able to learn from lots of different people. You quickly find you are not there to fix the problem — local doctors are often doing that on their own — but you are there to see new ways of doing things. I was being trained, not just to become a better doctor, but also to

have the skill-set to train other doctors in the future. The Foundation’s goal is not just to address current needs, but to create long-term strategies.’

The Foundation has given him new insights. ‘You do new operations and find out about diseases not common in New Zealand, and about matching the health service to the needs of the population.’

Learning went both ways and Jesse was able to pass on some of his knowledge at the new Pacific Eye Institute in Suva, where some trainees would become the first eye doctors in their home countries.

Jesse has most recently been in Los Angeles, ‘a planet apart from where I’ve been,’ studying neuro-ophthalmology, and is moving on to study glaucoma at Cambridge University before returning home to New Zealand. ‘I’m not sure what shape my contribution will take, but my long-term plan includes going back to some of the poorer countries.’

Jesse Gale is carrying on Fred Hollows’ vision of a world where no one is needlessly blind. Freemasons New Zealand is proud to have helped him along the way.

Acknowledgements to the University of Otago Magazine

The Fred Hollows FoundationThe Fred Hollows Foundation carries on the work of a very special New Zealander, the late Professor Fred Hollows (1929–93). Fred was an internationally acclaimed eye surgeon and social justice activist who championed the right of all people to high quality and affordable eye care.

The Foundation was established in Sydney, Australia, on 3 September 1992, just five months before Professor Fred Hollows passed away.

The Foundation has a vision of a world where no one is needlessly

blind. It works  to restore sight and end avoidable blindness in more than 29 developing countries across Asia, Africa and the Pacific. The sight-restoring work is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

In the last five years, the Foundation has performed nearly one million sight-restoring operations and treatments; in many cases all it took was a simple 20 minute operation costing as little as $25. It has also trained more than 38,000 eye health workers.

In 1993, The Fred Hollows Foundation opened an office in New Zealand. In the early days money was raised to support the intraocular lens laboratories in Eritrea and Nepal.  Since 2002 the programme has been devoted to restoring sight and training eye health workers in the Pacific

Islands, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste where 4 out of 5 people who are blind don't have to be.

In 2011 alone 44 Pacific eye health workers were trained, sight was restored to 6,886 people, 6,357 people were screened and treated at the diabetes eye clinic in Fiji, 14 surgical outreaches were held in remote communities in the Pacific Islands, and spectacles were dispensed to more than 7,069 patients.

The late Fred Hollows in action.

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The Widows Sons ride againThe Widows Sons were introduced to our readers in the June 2012 issue of New Zealand Freemason. Since then they have continued to grow in strength. The New Zealand chapter, formed in November 2011, is part of an International Masonic Motorcycle Association formed in 1998 for the purpose of aiding and assisting widows and orphans of Master Masons. Subsequently, two further goals were added: To promote fellowship and unity among brother Masons who ride motorcycles and to introduce Freemasonry to the world of motorcycling. Worldwide, there are over twenty thousand members with chapters from Alaska to New Zealand. The NZ Chapter has members from Hamilton to Invercargill with the majority being South Islanders.

Members of the Widows Sons during the Poker Run March 2013.

T he prerequsite for membership is to be a Master Mason. While we do

wear identifying patches or regalia, the Widows Sons are not a gang or club. We are required to represent the fraternity in a positive light at all times.

I have been a Mason for the past twenty years and I am also a retired Detective Sergeant. I would not associate myself with something that I believed would be negative for the fraternity but I am very proud to be a member of the Widows Sons Grand Chapter of New Zealand.

The Widows Sons serve as a Masonic booster club by helping to raise Masonic awareness while we attend public motorcycle events and by supporting our blue lodges in what ever capacity we are able. Chapters have helped to increase Masonic membership through our presence and visibility while we carry out charity work in each chapter around the world.

We provide a social and fraternal outlet for freemasons who ride and desire to socialize with and travel the open roads with their brethren.

Our president is WBro Peter MacDonald who is also one of the founding members of the chapter.

Last year we carried out our inaugural Poker run on the West Coast of the South Island to raise funds for Hospice New Zealand and we also raised money for a child on the West Coast with leukaemia. There was a good turn out to this event with over fifty riders taking part with one of our brethren, Padre Ned Kelly, making the ride from Hamilton in order to join us for the ride. Our resident judges on the day were John Sturgeon, former New Zealand Rugby Union President, and Tony Kokshoorn, the Mayor of Greymouth.

It was a good day for the Sons who won four out of six prizes. Best British Bike went to Ned Kelly, Best Japanese Bike went to Ray Moroney, Best American Bike went to our vice president Graham

Steer although he did have to share this with his lovely

wife Heather and the prize for Best other went to Bob Day with

his Spyder.A number of our

members take part

in the White Ribbon Ride against family violence each year and participate in the Pike River Run to help raise money for the families of the mine disaster.

Attending such events and being visible as Masons shows a public face of Freemasonry supporting local causes via a medium not normally used by brethren.

I have had a lot of very positive feed-back from local community groups who thought that seeing members of the Masonic order supporting and taking part in rides like the White Ribbon Ride showed us in a new light compared with the typical public perception of Freemasons as a secret society.

Further information can be found at:www.widowssons.com and www.widowssons.ws/newzealand

On Saturday 29 March we will be having our AGM at the Drifters Inn, Hanmer Springs. Feel free to come along and meet the guys. You can contact us via the e-mail address on the web site or you can reach me on my mobile at 0211907741.

Widows Sons New Zealand Raised to Ride, Ride to Raise

Jackie Adams, Westland

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NEW INITIATES

Initiations between 31 October 2013 and 31 January 2014

Brendan Miller Scinde Lodge No. 5 Cidrex Ramos The Beta-Waikato Lodge No. 12 Stuart Hughes The Canterbury Kilwinning Lodge No. 23 Mark Bourne The Lincoln Lodge No. 33 Craig McIntosh The Lincoln Lodge No. 33 Donald Pearson The Lincoln Lodge No. 33 Kris Donovan Hercules Lodge No. 36 Joseph Chagger The Hiram Lodge No. 46 Roy Matthews The Manawatu Kilwinning Lodge No. 47 Ainsley Watson The Manawatu Kilwinning Lodge No. 47 Andrew Oliver The Advance Mawhera Lodge No. 61 Mike Van Der Kaag Lake Lodge of Ophir No. 85 Christopher Daymond The Eketahuna Lodge No. 92 Richard Rankin The Cromwell Kilwinning Lodge No. 98 Christopher Hanes The Taupiri Lodge No. 118 Eric Leathley The Saint Bathans Lodge No. 126 Mark Mather Lodge Rotorua No. 153 John McGartland Lodge Kurow No. 164 Michael Scott-Walton Wellsford Marsden Lodge No. 169 Ian Cormack Lodge North Harbour No. 182 Stuart Reader Lodge North Harbour No. 182

Norberto Aguilar Lodge North Harbour No. 182 George Taylor The Avon Shirley Lodge No. 185 Craig Gilder Lodge Waihopai No. 189 Bruce Groves Lodge Manurewa No. 222 Andrew Saunders Lodge Gisborne No. 233 Brodie Ruttan Lodge Arawhaiti No. 267 Robert Marshall Te Mata No. 298 Levi Wrathall Herbert Teagle Lodge No. 300 Anthony Martin Westminster Lodge No. 308 Christopher Romley Lodge Windsor No. 377 Mohammed Imam Lodge Fendalton No. 384 Stephen Lee Lodge Takahe No. 397 Mark Bentley Lodge Arawa No. 406 Michael Brady Lodge Arawa No. 406 Robert Hay Lodge Maungarei No. 427 David Peters Lodge Waikanae No. 433 Shaun Bryan Lodge Hamutana No. 437 Richard Shelford-Woodcock Lodge Whitianga No. 443 Warrick Price United Horowhenua Lodge No. 464 Brenton Dix Lodge Kauri No. 474 Dayne Collinson The Avant-Garde Lodge No. 503

GEMLINKQualified Gemologist, Diamond-Grader, Internationally Qualified Jewellery Appraiser

Dennis D. Blacklaws

04 566 3668www.gemlink.co.nz dennis.blacklaws@gemlink.co.nz10 Laings Rd, Lower Hutt

A fter a period without attracting any new initiates Lincoln Lodge No.33 initiated Rolleston residents

Bros Donald Pearson and Mark Bourne last September in a double degree ceremony followed by the initiation of Bro Craig McIntosh in December. Mark Bourne and Craig McIntosh are brothers in law. Craig`s father, Bro Robert McIntosh, a member of St Andrews Lodge EC No.1916 Scotland, was present to see his son initiated.

At the February meeting the expla na tion of the 1st Tracing Board was given, by WBro Marty Gerkin of the Takahe Lodge No 397, to the three newly initiated brethren. Marty Gerkin’s own unique style of delivery was well received by members and visitors alike.

Due to a data error Bros Pearson and Bourne were incorrectly published in the list of New Initiates as being admitted into The Canterbury Kilwinning Lodge. The error is regretted.

LEFT From left: WBro Marty Gerkin, Bros Craig McIntosh, Donald Pearson and Mark Bourne, WBro Paul Buttell (Master).

FEATURED INITIATES

Three new members for Lincoln Lodge No.33

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Roskill Foundation RepoRtingFreemasons

Early last year Elinor was awarded an Auckland Masonic Education Foundation scholarship which she used to help fund her trip to work in collaboration with the Institute of Carbon Composites at the Technical University of Munich. She was exposed to new research and theories and gained practical skills and invaluable information which will have a significant impact on her PhD.

Working alongside researchers in the field, she assisted in the establishment of a collaboration agreement between the Munich institute and her research centre here at the University of Auckland. She also presented her work at several German companies that are active in the field of composite materials and attended and presented work at international conferences in Denmark and Belgium.

Elinor says ‘In the remaining 16 months of my PhD work, I will work hard to successfully achieve my research goals maintaining the contact I made with researchers and pursuing the collaboration opportunities that were presented by this experience’.

She will also continue her work at St John Youth in Manuwera, leading a group of young adults teaching them first aid and general

Seven months in Europe working with researchers at the cutting edge of composite materials technology has given Elinor Swery a huge boost to her work at Auckland University for a Ph D in that field of engineering.

life skills. ‘This is something that I am especially passionate about, as I have seen the huge benefits of providing a positive learning environment for young adults. Thanks again for your generous support’.

Freemasons award gives student European edge

The Foundation has made a small donation to Mt Richmond Special School in Auckland for the purchase of special toys to be used in the education of their young and vulnerable students. The children range in age from 7 to 9 years, often with developmental ages of just six months. Simple and robust control units are attached to brightly coloured electronic toys. The toys come to life by pushing, with flashing lights, sounds and bubbles bombarding the senses. Using this method together with other intensive physical therapy, the School has seen remarkable progress by the children. We salute the dedication of the Mt Richmond Special School staff and the changes they are making to young people’s lives.

Elinor in Germany with a BMW i8 hybrid sports car – one of the first mass-produced cars made from composite materials.

Special toys for special children

Freemasons Roskill Foundation provides management for the Auckland Masonic Education Foundation.

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ROSKILL FDNROSKILL FDN

Roskill Foundation RepoRtingThe Foundation can be contacted at PO Box 113144, Newmarket, Auckland 1149.

Telephone: (09) 520 6414 or email: info@roskill.org.nz

A large group of local Freemasons, their wives and friends took advantage of the opportunity to learn more and even be coached when the tutor for ‘voice’ for the New Zealand Opera School’s Opera Week, Professor Paul Farrington of London, through Opera Week sponsor Freemasons Roskill Foundation, made himself available to talk to our people.

The audience was quickly spellbound by the knowledge and ability of the internationally acclaimed Professor’s presentation, which before long had them on their feet vigorously participating! Trained as a classical tenor, Professor Farrington has a long list of credentials in teaching and consultation in the UK, Europe and in the US, as well as being a consultant to the medical profession. This was his ninth year as guest vocal coach and consultant.

Based in Wanganui since its founding by well-known opera personality W Bro Donald Trott, ONZM, of Auckland, this residential school for emergingyoung opera singers celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. About 20 of them work long hours for ten days at the school, including entertaining the residents of Wanganui and the many visitors who are attracted to the city from all parts of New

Zealand. Many public events include café appearances and a finale concert in the Royal Wanganui Opera House.

Hosts, W Bro Graeme Calman of United Lodge of Wanganui No 468 and W Bro Andrew Kidd, St Andrew Kilwinning Lodge No 79 and their guests learnt a lot about opera singing and voice projection from the Professor and more about the Roskill Foundation and the Opera School from David Mace and Donald Trott.

Wanganui Freemasons get ‘delivery’ lesson

‘It all comes from here’

Voice tutor Professor Farrington & W Bro Donald Trott

NZ Opera Programme for 2014

La Traviata – Verdi Auckland – JuneWellington – July

La Boheme – PuciniChristchurch – July

Don Giovani – MozartAuckland – SeptemberWellington - October

Wanganui Freemasons ritual delivery may well leap ahead of other Lodges around the country after Opera Week in their city in January.

Thanks to Rod Johnson for his report and photos.

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Spot the difference

W hy are the legends of the New Zealand, English, Scottish and

the Irish Royal Arch different?Many readers will be well aware of

the close relationship of the Royal Arch to the Craft, as set out in the Book of Constitution. Many will be equally aware that, as with the Craft, Chapters of the English, Irish and Scottish Grand Chapters are at work in this country over a century after the establishment of our sovereign body.

However, many Royal Arch Masons might not be aware, unless they live in Auckland or Thames, that the legend in the Irish Royal Arch ritual differs from the other Constitutions.

In brief, New Zealand’s Royal Arch structure and ritual is primarily based on Scotland’s, and the differences from the English Constitution are more in the structure than the ritual. In all three cases the legend involved follows, to a great extent, the Hiramic legend with aspects of a discovery allegorical in nature but with a connection to the Craft.

The Irish story used to convey the same allegorical lessons is based on the repairing rather than the rebuilding

of King Solomon’s Temple and hence is set about 120 years before the Zerubbabel legend followed by the other Constitutions. A full review of the historical setting of the Irish Royal Arch is beyond this article but those interested can refer to the Transactions of the Research Chapter of New Zealand No 93 particularly volume 1/28 and volume 6/2.

Although the Irish ritual is of different origin, that wasn’t always that case. Until around 1863 both legends appear to have been common in Irish Chapters, leading to some degree of confusion.

Our Constitution was formed in 1892 after the establishment of Grand Lodge and for reasons associated with that event. The main reasons the Scottish workings were adopted as the basis for the new Grand Chapter seem to have been pragmatic and based on compromise. At that stage the members present at the early meetings setting up the national body represented several English and Scottish Chapters although several included Auckland’s Ara Chapter No 348 of the Irish Constitution amongst their affiliations.

Essentially, English Royal Arch

Chapters only offered the one degree, leaving the Mark degree to a separate body and ignoring the Excellent degree completely, whereas all three degrees were offered by Scottish Chapters at essentially the same cost. Hence the ritual was relatively the same for the Scottish and English Royal Arch members involved. And there weren’t many Irish members around at that time. Ara Chapter was moribund and formally went into recess in 1893 leaving only the Hauraki Chapter 454 in Thames as an Irish outpost.

There are numerous differences between the four main rituals followed in New Zealand, but the story is the same and the lesson of our endeavouring to be better persons is a constant theme. Just to complicate matters, while the Irish and Scottish follow the rituals set down by their governing bodies, the English Royal Arch follows the lead of the Craft, in that Chapters are at liberty to adopt their own ritual, be it something unique or based on one of the established rituals such as Aldersgate, Domatic, Metropolitan, Oxford, Staffordshire and others.

VWBro Alan Hart

Warren jewel presented to James Dunlop-Storey

T he installation meeting of Brooklyn Chapter No 24 in Porirua on the

second Wednesday of February always gets the Wellington District Royal Arch year off to a flying start.

The re-installation this year of VE Comp Glen Houlihan, also the District Grand Master of the Hutt-Wairarapa District, was also the occasion of the annual official visit of the English Constitution, in the person of the District Second Grand Principal, E Comp John Hume. The Divisional Grand Principal for the Central Division, RE Comp Ray Arnold, Depute First Grand Principal, made his first official visit to the District.

The February 12 meeting also saw the second presentation of the Warren

Jewel, which commemorates the late ME Comp Jack Warren PGZ and Past District Grand Master of the Kapiti-Wellington District, who died in 2012.

This very special jewel made its debut last year. The recipient is selected each year by the incoming First Principal and announced at his installation. It is awarded to the Companion who the First Principal considers has done most in the preceding year to engender/create/ensure fun in the Chapter.

Like many honours it carries responsibilities. In his year the recipient has to: • wear the jewel in all refectory pro­

ceedings — failure to do so, or missing

a refectory, incurs a $5 fine, with the proceeds going to the Social Fund

• relateajokeorfunnystory at each refectory, at the conclusion of which the ‘J Warren Hat’ is passed around for a gold coin donation from everyone present, which is also placed in the Social Fund.

This year’s recipient is new 2nd Sojourner James Dunlop-Storey.

The BRAC Social Fund pays the costs of widows’ attendance at the Chapter’s social functions and for a small Christmas gift for them each year.

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From athletics to stethoscopeRoyal Arch scholarship bridges the gap

In this instalment of our series profiling Royal Arch Jubilee Memorial Scholarship winners, high-achieving Dr Sarah Oberer says she considers herself fortunate to have been a recipient. Sarah tells her story.

M y family has a strong connection with Freemasonry. My grand-

father, Oliver Smallholme, served as a Grand Lecturer in the Craft, Grand Superintendent of the-then Westland District (1985–87) in the Royal Arch and held the 32nd degree in the Rose Croix. Great-grandfather, Albert Smallholme, was also a Past Master and although appointed as a Grand Steward, he sadly he passed away before he could be invested.

Before entering Otago Medical School in 2008 I had an international career in athletics, competing for New Zealand as a 100m sprinter and long jumper from the age of 14. Having a career as an international athlete from a young age taught me many valuable life skills that I have found can be transferred into many parts of my life and career as a doctor.

The commitment to both school and university study and athletics taught me skills in self-discipline, time management, perseverance and, most importantly, how to prioritise and manage stress. Unfortunately, as is the case for many athletes, I had considerable illness and injury issues throughout my career and just prior to the Commonwealth Games in 2006, in which I had hoped to be competing, I sustained a knee injury forcing me out of competition for that year.

While recovering from this injury I began to think about my future and where I was heading and, the next year, I applied for entry into medical school which had always been a goal for me. I was accepted into Otago Medical School as a graduate entrant, having just completed a Bachelor of Science at

Victoria University.Faced with a large amount of student

debt I was very fortunate to be awarded a Royal Arch scholarship for the duration of my studies. This was a very valuable financial contribution and I used the scholarship to help pay some of the medical school tuition fees and buy necessary equipment like my stethoscope and textbooks.

I did my initial medical training in Dunedin and then moved to the Wellington School of Medicine for my hospital-based training.

As part of my final year at medical school I did a three-month elective in which I was able go anywhere in the world and practise medicine in a specialty of my choice. I chose to go to a small town of Zihuatanejo on the Pacific

coast of Mexico. Having studied Spanish, both at school and university, I thought practising medicine in Spanish would be an interesting challenge.

I worked in a very small general practice in the heart of the little village. There is a big difference between general practice in Mexico and New Zealand. It was a real eye-opener. As nobody spoke a word of English, every day was a challenge and my Spanish quickly improved.

A presidential election was about to be held while I was there and, as part of some of the political parties’ election campaigns, they paid for professionals to go

out into isolated rural communities with limited facilities to offer their services at no cost. I was part of a team which included doctors, dentists, lawyers and accountants.

It was very basic medicine. We set up tables in the fields and the locals came in droves to see us with their medical problems. There was no such thing as confidentiality in this setting, but this didn’t seem to worry the patients who were happy to be seen by a doctor and given free medication.

Currently I am a junior doctor at Tauranga Hospital. In the future I want to become a GP and work in the Bay of Plenty region, a goal which will require further years of study. However, I am highly committed and passionately driven, and I want to make a difference to the lives of others in my community.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Freemasons for their considerable contributions and support throughout my studies. This has helped to ease some of the enormous debt incurred over my years of tertiary study and the scholarship allowed me to better focus on my journey to become a doctor. I will always be grateful for this support.

Sarah Oberer

Sarah on Graduation Day.

At Mexican clinic.

Medical consultations in a field in Mexico.

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The Back PageMy wayIn the previous issue of New Zealand Freemason we reported on the musical rendition of ‘My Way’ expertly sung by Graeme Houston as a tribute to Selwyn and Jan Cooper. This was supported by an on screen visual presentation of the Coopers’ three-year term of office. We now have the opportunity to bring readers the lyrics, courtesy of Graeme, as Selwyn might have written them.

And now the end is near My current term is now ending.My friends I’ll say it clear I’ll state

my case of which I’m certain.I’ve had three awesome yearsEach weekday full as Grand MasterAnd more much more than this I did it

my way.

Graeme Houston.

Regrets I’ve had a fewBut with your help my

confidence grewI did what I needed to doAnd saw it through without

exemption.I’ve planned the Freemasons wayEach careful step, we sought perfectionAnd more much more than thisWe did it our way.

Yes there were times I thought you knewWhen I bit off more than I could chewBut through it all when there was doubtYou picked me upYou helped me out.We faced it allAnd we stood tallAnd we did it our way.

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I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and criedI’ve had my fill, my share of losingAnd now as I step asideI’ve found it so overwhelming.To think we did all thatAnd may I say not in a shy wayOh no, oh no not meFreemasons did it our way.

For what is a man, what has he gotIf not Lodge supportThen he is notTo say the things that he believesAnd thank Masons, for how he feelsThe record shows, It was not my showFreemasons did it our way.

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SERVICE AWARDS

70 YEAR BADGE WBro Rex Sydenham Malthus PM The Hiram Lodge No. 46 WBro Henry Johnston Thayer PM Waikaka Lodge No. 151 VWBro Robert East PGDC Lodge Takahe No. 397 WBro Albert Ira Charles PM Meridian Lodge No. 449 WBro Neville James Mudford PM Geyserland Daylight Lodge No. 462

60 YEAR BADGE WBro Kenneth Wallis Kyle PM The Fortitude Lodge No. 64 WBro Owen Baker Mountfort PM RH The Tauranga Lodge No. 125 WBro Bevan William Olsen PG Swd B The Crown Lodge No. 138 WBro Alick Rae Vining MM Hikurangi Lodge No. 140 WBro Trevor Darrien Blanks PM Wellsford Marsden Lodge No. 169 WBro Leonard George Domb PM Taia-Raukawa Lodge No. 229 Bro Douglas Robert Lory MM Lodge Awatea No. 258 WBro Robert Lindsay Budge PM Lodge Riccarton No. 276 WBro Alexander William Burr PM Lodge Herne Bay United No. 340 Bro Douglas Owen Bedggood MM Hillcrest Lodge No 363 WBro Harold Edward Clague PGBB Lodge Mt Maunganui No. 376 Bro Francis Thomas Hallam Pettit MM Lodge Mt Maunganui No. 376 Bro Richard Lewis Graham MM Lodge Aquarius No. 466

50 YEAR BADGE WBro William Francis Hulme PM Manukau-Westmere Lodge No. 24 WBro William Gordon Bell PGS The Robert Burns Lodge No. 50 VWBro Alan William Peter Robertson Dist GM RH The Advance Mawhera Lodge No. 61 VWBro Warwick Ramsden Roberts P Dist GM The Alpha Lodge No. 81 WBro William Arthur Cook PM St Augustine Lodge No. 99 Bro David Mervyn Harold Saunders MM The Wallace Lodge No. 129 RW Bro Lionel Charles Berry P Prov GM Rongotea Lodge No 146 WBro Roger Mowat Mackie PM Hutt Valley Lodge No. 176 WBro Ronald Frank Baker PM Lodge North Harbour No. 182 WBro Brian Maxwell Vincent PM Lodge Timaru No. 196 WBro Milner Alexander F Jacob GS Lodge Erewhon No. 200 WBro John Samuel Wrigley PM Lodge Titirangi Mt Albert No. 204 Bro Donald Milne Williams MM Lodge Switzers No. 223 Bro Peter John Woodward MM Lodge Tawera-O-Kapiti No. 253 Bro Alexander Robert Tait MM Lodge Tawera-O-Kapiti No. 253 Bro David John Stephen PM Lodge Awatea No. 258 VWBro Brian James Ross PGDC Lodge Eckford No. 334 WBro Douglas Henry McGechan P Asst GDC Lodge Frimley No. 359 WBro Robert Leslie Ancell PM Lodge Hillcrest No. 363 WBro John Stockan Spence PGIG Lodge Waiheke No. 367 Bro John Andrew Nisbet MM Lodge Rangitane No. 369 WBro Donald MacLean PM RH The Milford Trinity Lodge No. 372 WBro Colin Irving Hickman PM RH Lodge Otahuhu No. 387 WBro Lawrence Richard Taylor PGIG Lodge Otahuhu No. 387 WBro Ian Hugh Fraser Grapes RH PM The Hawkes Bay Daytime Lodge No. 453 VWBro David St George Hammond PG Alm Geyserland Daylight Lodge No. 462 WBro Ernest Charles Allen PM RH Geyserland Daylight Lodge No. 462 WBro David Charles Mitchell PM The United Lodge of Wanganui No. 468 RWBro John Daniel Matheson PGW The Lodge of The Liberal Arts No. 500

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*Freemasons New Zealand is not a promoter of and does not guarantee the obligations of Heartland Bank Limited in relation to Heartland Bank deposits. Copies of Heartland Bank’s Disclosure Statement and Investment Statements are available from www.heartland.co.nz or by

calling 0508 FREEMASONS (0508 37 33 62).

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With roots stretching back to 1875, Heartland Bank has a proud history of providing families, small-to-medium sized businesses and farms with financial solutions to help them achieve prosperity.

Through our partnership built on shared values, Heartland Bank is working with Freemasons New Zealand to support the Craft in local communities, while providing Freemasons and their families with competitive interest rates on their deposits.

To find out more about Heartland Bank and the Freemasons Deposit Scheme, see the inside front cover of New Zealand Freemason. Alternatively you can contact a dedicated Heartland Bank Freemasons Deposit Scheme representative on 0508 FREEMASONS (0508 37 33 62) or email freemasons@heartland.co.nz.*

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