50 Years a Freemason!
Our Provincial Grand Master had a splendid start to the celebrations of his 50 years in Freemasonry last night. He attended the regular meeting of Scots Lodge No.2319 held at MMH and witnessed the Raising of two Brethren. In attendance also was a very large contingent of Brethren from Romania, there at the special invitation of W. Bro. Iain Colquhoun who has also been instrumental in supporting Tom and his Mark/R.A.M. members in establishing the R.A.M. degree in that District.
At the Festive Board Tom gave his usual splendid Address to the Haggis and followed up that performance with a Toast to the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns, into which he had interlaced snippets of Burns’ songs and poems. There were surprises in store, however, as W. Bro. Jerry Gangadeen had been commissioned to produce two of his speciality cakes – one for Tom to cut and be served to everyone with coffee and another to take home. The moment of cutting the cake coincided almost exactly, to the minute, with the end of his Initiation ceremony at 8pm, on Thursday 16th January 1975! That ceremony had taken place in his Mother Lodge, Buchan St John No.636 – which by another coincidence was consecrated the very same year, 1889, as The Scots Lodge.
The Brethren from Romania, led by W. Bro. Daniel Dumitras, (all of them well known to Tom from his various visits to Bucharest), also presented him with a bottle of local Malt – “Carpathian”.
In Tom’s own words, he was “overwhelmed by the many expressions of kindness and congratulations”. A foretaste of other celebrations still to come at his Dartford Lodge on 1st February and later this year when he will celebrate 50 years as a Mark Master Mason.
Congratulations, Tom!
