A LA GLORIA DEL GRAN ARQUITECTO DEL UNIVERSO
Local Freemasons hold unusual Banner Dedication Ceremony
The Freemasons of Arenal Deportiva Lodge recently held a Banner Dedication Ceremony in their Lodge in Javea. This is quite an unusual ceremony as it is usually only held when a new Lodge is created. The reason for Arenal Deportiva holding one however, is because two years ago the two Lodges, Arenal and Deportiva decided to merge into one. For this reason, a new banner was thought necessary showing details of both Lodges.
The ceremony was presented by the Provincial Grand Master of Valencia RWBro Michael Shilan and many Masons attended to see a ceremony which many had never seen before. The Provincial Grand Master arrived in full splendour with his escort, consisting of the Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies, the Provincial Grand Standard Bearer, the Provincial Grand Sword Bearer, the Provincial Grand Chaplain and six Provincial Grand Stewards.
After a brief prayer the Provincial Grand Master unveiled the new banner and dedicated it to the new combined Lodge. The banner was then paraded around the Lodge. The Provincial Grand Chaplain made a short presentation on the use of banners generally and of Masonic banners in particular. WBro Brian Imber, who designed the new banner, then gave a short speech explaining the symbolism and meaning of the various details on the banner.
It was fitting that the previous Provincial Grand Master RWBro Norman Wheatley was at the ceremony as he had conducted the Ceremony of Amalgamation two years previously. It is also quite unusual to have both the past and present Provincial Grand Masters at the same ceremony, particularly one in which both had played such an important part. This was a splendid and unusual ceremony which all present enjoyed enormously.
Derek Guyett
Sadly, the 11th of November 2018 marked the passing of W.Bro. Derek Guyett to the Grand Lodge above.
Derek and myself were very close pals for some 30yrs. At the time of our first meeting in June 1988, Derek was still working and he and his lady Marie, used to visit Javea for 2 or 3 weeks in the spring and autumn.
After I was Initiated into Javea 40 in March 1991, he asked many questions about Freemasonry, to which my stock answer was “I can’t tell you that”. However, when Logia Deportiva was consecrated in October 1994, they decided that, as most of the local Lodges held their annual Ladies Festival in the autumn between September and November, they would hold theirs in May. This coincided with Derek and Marie’s regular visits to Javea and I invited them to their first Ladies Night, which they thoroughly enjoyed, and that became an annual event every May, until Derek retired to Spain at the end of 2001.
The first thing he asked me after he retired was, “when are you going to invite me into the Masons?”. I replied “I’m not”. “why?” he asked, because you don’t get invited, you have to ask, which he immediately did and Eric Burton was only too pleased to Second him. He was Initiated into Javea 40 on 22nd May 2002, Passed in May 2003 and in the October, still only a Fellowcraft, he became Javea 40’s Charity Steward. He was Raised in May 2004. In May 2006, he was promoted to PGStwd becoming a Founder of the Lodge and in February 2008, he was promoted again, to PAGChStwd, which he held for 3 years.
Coming to Masonry later in life, Derek struggled with the learning of Ritual, although he always did his very best, and that’s all you can ask of him. But on the social side, he excelled. In the six years that he was Javea 40’s Charity Steward, he raised many thousands of euros for the Lodge’s charities, in the many functions that he and Marie organised, they worked as a team and that was recognised by Province. To have a Junior Brother holding an active rank in Province was a rarity.
He was Installed in the Chair of King Solomon in Puerto de Javea Lodge 58, his second affiliation, in October 2012.
My wife Pat once asked him, just after he was Passed, how was he getting on in Freemasonry. His response was, that all his life he has been looking for something to believe in – and now he’d found it. That statement says it all.
The passing of Derek is a great loss to Javea 40, to this Province and to Freemasonry in general. It has also left a gap in my life, which will take a long time to heal.
W.Bro. Derick Wait
Eros Casagrande
Passed to the Grand Lodge above on the 11th of November 2018
PGM presents the Warrant (Carta Patente) to the newest Lodge in the Province
On Friday the 26th of October 2018 the Brethren of Dovre Lodge No.184 were delighted to receive the Provincial Grand Master, R.W.Bro. Michael Anthony Shilan who presented the Lodge with its Warrant (Carta Patente) to mark its formal establishment as a Lodge working under the Spanish Constitution.
The above picture shows the Provincial Grand Master delivering the Warrant into the care of the Deputy Master, W.Bro. Rolf Kristiansen with the Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Tom Halvorsen in attendance.
PGM and the Officers of the Day
The Provincial Grand Master was attended by Deputy Provincial Grand DC, W.Bro. Clifford Gingell and an Escort of Provincial Grand Stewards.
Once the PGM had been announced and entered, the first duty of the day was to present the Warrant of the Lodge issued by the Grand Lodge of Spain. Dovre Lodge meets at the Norwegian Church in (location) and formally worked solely under the Grand Lodge of Norway as the ‘Costa Blanca St. John Borderforening’. The Lodge was founded in Spain in 1978 (40 years ago!) before the reformation of the Grand Lodge of Spain and so was a beacon of Masonic light in this Province before the Province was formed. It was Consecrated into GLE as a Spanish Lodge under the name ‘Dovre’ on the 30th of January 2016, becoming the largest Lodge in the Province of Valencia in membership numbers.
Bro. Geir Will Johnsen
Dovre Lodge Choir
The Lodge was Opened under Norwegian Rite and in the Norwegian language and advanced to the Second Degree. During the ceremony all present were treated to musical harmony accompaniment from a choir formed from the Brethren of the Lodge. The basis of the work conducted in the Temple was a reflection on the duties of Man in ensuring that life is lived to the full. A presentation was made of a poem ‘Die Slowly’ (Muere Lentamente) which can be found in English here and in Spanish aqui. This was followed by a moving rendition of ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong and played by Bro. Geir Will Johnsen.
L-R W.Bro. Tom Halvorsen (WM), PGM, W.Bro. R. Kristiansen (DepWM), Bro. M. Bjørm (Asst.WM)
W.Bro. Rolf Kristiansen presents a momento to the PGM
Following the meeting the Brethren enjoyed a fine Festive Board with toasts and speeches and a presentation to the Provincial Grand Master of a memento of the day from the Lodge.
The Provincial Grand Master often refers to the gift that we have as Masons in this Province to be able to visit Lodges and experience Masonic work in various languages and expand our Masonic learning and experience. In this Province we can regularly attend meetings in Spanish, English, Norwegian, Dutch and German and you are all encouraged to take full advantage of this opportunity. The Lodges are always welcoming, if they know in advance then explanations of the work can be arranged. For more details please check the Lodges listed within the website page ‘LODGES OF GLPV’ or contact the Provincial Grand Secretary sec@glpvalencia.com.
Should you wish to visit Dovre Lodge please contact the Secretary at sec184@glpvalencia.com and the Lodge website can be found here.
Local Freemasons celebrate 100th anniversary.
Recently, Freemasons of Oliva La Safor Lodge celebrated their one hundredth meeting. This was a major milestone for the Lodge and, amazingly, two of the Lodge’s founding Brethren, WBro John Mony and WBro Derek Moseley, were there to celebrate this very special meeting. The meeting was held in Viva España restaurant in Oliva and was a ceremony to raise Bro Robert Monte to the third degree.
The ceremony was conducted in an exemplary fashion by the Worshipful Master of the Lodge, WBro Malcolm Burt and all of his Officers and, to further celebrate, the Lodge was honoured by two very special guests. The first being the Provincial Grand Master of Valencia, RWBro Michael Shilan, the other was no less than the Grand Master of Spain, MWBro Oscar de Alfonso Ortega.
Both of these honoured guests were very pleased to be invited along to take part in what was to be a very special evening. It is unusual to have one such high-ranking Officer to attend a meeting and extremely unusual to have two, the first being the highest-ranking Mason in Valencia, the other being the highest-ranking Mason in Spain.
We were particularly lucky to receive a visit from the Grand Master as, only the day before, he had returned from Central America where he had been visiting several countries as the Grand Masonic representative of Spain. Despite being exhausted from his journeys and a twelve-hour flight home he still made time to come and visit the Lodge.
The Grand Master was welcomed with full honours and enjoyed, not only the ceremony itself, but also the Festive Board dinner served afterwards. He stated that he felt Oliva La Safor Lodge to be one of the best in the Province and hoped he might be invited back in the future. A charity raffle was held which raised two hundred and fifty euros which, with other monies raised, will be presented to a local charity in the future. A very special evening which everyone enjoyed immensely. Special thanks must be offered to the Provincial Grand Master and the Grand Master for giving up their valuable time.
Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia Ladies Night
On Saturday, 20th October, the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia, held their annual Ladies Night at the Hotel Grand Bali, in Benidorm. This is one of the most prestigious Masonic gatherings of the year, held by the Province and run under the auspices of the Provincial Grand Master, RWBro Michael Shilan and his lovely wife Muriel.
It is a time when Freemasons from all over the Province gather together to pay tribute to, and say thank-you to, their long- suffering wives. Throughout the Masonic year most Freemasons attend an enormous number of meetings and many charity functions to raise money for the less privileged and deserving causes. Throughout the year our wives have a lot to put up with. Either through not seeing their husbands for a sufficient amount of time or being asked to help out at various functions.
In general, our wives do so without thought or complaint, sometimes at a huge cost to themselves and always taking valuable time and effort. This meeting is our way of saying thank-you for all their help and support. I think most Masons would agree that without the constant support of their better halves they would not be able to do as much, or enjoy their Masonic tasks to the same extent.
The meeting opened at 1815, with a cava and canape selection. Later at 1915 a four-course meal was taken by all. Music was supplied, in the first instance, by the ever-popular WBro Ian Henry who played and sang a huge variety of music in his usual excellent manner. Later, local group, Black Glitter, took over and played many songs designed to entice the by now replete diners onto the dance floor. They succeeded!
For the slightly more formal aspects of the evening, the Master of Ceremonies, WBro Clifford Gingell, presided over the proceedings with his usual style. The loyal toast to HM King Felipe VI was given by RWBro Michael Shilan, the toast to the Ladies was given by WBro William Russell in his inimitable style and the Ladies song was rendered in excellent manner despite the singer, RWBro Jeff Hyde, having an awful cold. Mrs Muriel Shilan then responded to the toast with an eloquent and witty speech which was appreciated and enjoyed by all, particularly the Ladies.
A grand charity raffle was held which raised the magnificent sum of one thousand five hundred and eighty euros. This money, along with other monies raised throughout the year, will be used, by the Province, to sponsor under-privileged children to go to a summer school in Guadalest. This has now become an annual event having been supported for the last four years. Each year we have managed to support more children than the last and this year we managed to sponsor a record forty-two children to visit the school and for the coming year we hope to beat the record yet again. This was an immensely successful evening and I believe most of the Masons, Ladies and guests thoroughly enjoyed it.
Local Freemasons from Old Tower Lodge donate €2200 to AFA Torrevieja
A presentation was made, at the premises of AFA Torrevieja, (Associación Alzheimer de Familiares y Amigos de Torrevieja) on 17th October by the Worshipful Master of the Lodge, WBro John Evans, and his wife Denise accompanied by W.Bros Lyn Organ and Ray Collins.
John said that he and his wife Denise chose A.F.A. as his charity for my year as Master of Old Tower Lodge as it is a organisation close to our hearts, having watched my mother suffer with this illness many years ago.
During my year we raised money for this well deserving charity by arranging various money raising functions including Denise’s Ladies Night which was extremely well supported. As a result I have been able to donate just under 2.200 euro’s to the A.F.A in Torrevieja. This has enabled them to purchase 15 high back chairs for their patients comfort and 2 new I Pads to improve their technical capabilities.
Photograph positions from left to right:-
Lidia Navarro. Director and Physio
Mrs Denise Evans
Maria Purificacion Garcia Alvarez. President of AFA Torrevieja.
W. Bro. John Evans. Past Master of Old Tower Lodge No. 49
Mario Cespedes. Committee member of AFA Torrevieja.
Emilio Corcoles. Committee member of AFA Torrevieja
Your Province Needs You
Are you computer literate and able to spend a little time helping the Provincial Secretariat? If so we might be glad of your help. Over the next couple of years, we have several projects in mind to help enhance the dissemination of news throughout the Province by means of internal communications, use of the Provincial website and possibly social media as well.
If you know your way around a computer and the Internet and are capable of using, creating and maintaining a website, and are able and willing to help, please contact the Provincial Grand Secretary via the email address given below. We look forward to hearing from you.
Caledonia No.68 Installation
The Provincial Grand Master RWBro Michael Anthony Shilan made a second official visit to Caledonia Lodge No.68 this year. The first visit was back in April to mark their 25th anniversary and whilst normal protocol is only visit once in each year the Provincial Grand Master made an exception in order to be present and see the Installation of Brother, now Worshipful Brother Ian Bullock.
Also in attendance were the AGM, R.W.Bro. Barrie Roy Mansell and the APGM, W.Bro. Roy A. Mitchell, both of whom are members of Caledonia Lodge.
W.Bro. Ian flanked by the Assistant Grand Master (r) and the Provincial Grand Master (l)
R.W.Bro. Michael Shilan – W.Bro. Ian Bullock – W.Bro. Roy Mitchell
W.Bro. Ian has been a very active member of the Provincial Grand Stewards Lodge and has supported the Province on many occasions, including being the Worshipful Master of the Provincial Lodge of Instruction in 2016.
The Temple in Ciudad Quesada was packed for this very special meeting and the Brethren of the Lodge delivered an exceptional ceremony in which the long-form of the Installation was done, known as the ‘Queen of Sheeba Workings’. The work was divided among the Brethren, with a very notable delivery of the Obligation by WBro Craig Fellows and RWBro Jeffrey Hyde who delivered a faultless delivery of the extended Inner Workings.
R.W.Bro. Jeffrey Hyde congratulates W.Bro. Ian
All Attendees
The Brethren then enjoyed a fine Festive Board and a commemorative gift presented by W.Bro. Ian and a raffle was held which raised an impressive 600 Euros towards charity.
Caledonia No.68 Lodge Officers – 2018-19
Newsletter for the Brethren of the Province of Valencia
Dear Brethren all,
As we are now approaching a busy time in our Masonic calendar, I thought this might be a good time to explain some of the things that I, as the Provincial Grand Communications Officer and the Provincial Secretariat in general have been doing over the last few months. before life becomes even more hectic. We have not been idle!
One of the earliest events to take place was the Provincial Grand Assembly which was a great success. For the first time the Provincial Grand Master took the time to meet all of the existing Worshipful Masters from across the Province and also every new Initiate. This was a great honour for the newly initiated and hopefully gave them a little better understanding of what Province does and how it works.
There have been many other notable successes some of which you are hopefully already aware. The Provincial website is now up and running better than ever before. The Calendar section is updated every week and the Yearbook section every month. This has resulted in much more up to date information with the result being that many more Brethren are now using the Website than ever before. Remember that it can only be as good as the information that we receive. If you do not tell us what is happening we cannot action it.
There is now more information available on the Website than ever before. As well as the very useful Calendar and Yearbook sections there are other areas which show Summons’ for every Lodge meeting available (As long as Lodge secretaries send it to us). Not only can you read it, you can also download it, so you can always receive the Summons that you want. There is another section of ‘Upcoming Events’. If you tell me that your Lodge is holding an event, and ideally send me a flyer, I will ensure that it is placed on the Website for all to see. Ideally, there will come a time when ALL Masonic information will be placed solely on the web. This will curtail the need for reams and reams of paper to be sent here, there and everywhere. This is obviously dependant upon you visiting the Website on a regular basis. The more you use it the better it will become. It is now a vast trove of information so please use it on a regular basis.
In July the Province of Valencia also took the lead role in sending under-privileged children, once again, to the Masonic Summer School in Guadalest. This year we raised enough money to support no fewer than forty-two children, a new record. This gives the children a short break from the regular hum drum of their lives and allows them to mix with other children, learn new skills and will hopefully help to make them better citizens. It might also foster a long-term appreciation of what Freemasonry can do to help less fortunate people. We visited the children mid break and the Provincial Grand Master of Valencia, RWBro Michael Shilan came along with his Provincial Charity Steward WBro Trevor Bagnall and the Assistant Grand Master of Spain RWBro Barrie Roy Mansell, though he was attending this event as the District Grand Master of Mark Master Masons who also contributed to this scheme. Twenty-two of the children came from the El Preventorio school in Gandia, eleven from the Red Cross in Javea and another nine from other areas.
Most recently we have also held an incredibly successful golf tournament which saw fifty-six Masons have a fantastic day out while raising no less than two thousand, eight hundred euros for the Provincial Grand Charity. A magnificent effort!
The booklet, ‘Introduction to Masonry’, is already on it’s second edition and is proving most successful. It is now presented to every new Initiate upon taking his first degree. This is presented, usually by a senior member of the Provincial Executive, with a letter from the PGM welcoming the new Initiate into Masonry. This is intended not only to help and guide the new Initiate but also to introduce him to the Provincial Grand lodge and help him find out what they can do to help him.
I have recently sent out a request for information from each Lodge secretary giving brief details of the charities they are supporting. Some of you have kindly returned this information but most have not. Please do so as this will enable us to see which charities we are currently helping and, to some extent, by how much.
The publicity generated by the Website and press is having good results. As a direct consequence of the press coverage since September of last year I have received fifteen requests for further information on joining a Lodge or joining Freemasonry in general. This may well lead to new members which is what we all want. A recent letter has gone out from the Provincial Grand Secretary asking you to send details of all articles, events and photos to myself for entering on the Website and publishing through the press. Please make sure you do this and as quickly as possible. I can only publish that which I am given. I do attend as many functions as I possibly can but, with the best will in the world, I cannot attend all of them. If someone is kind enough to send me the details and a few decent pictures I will do the rest.
At present I send each article to about eight Provincial English language newspapers every week, plus two Provincial Spanish papers, El Oriente and a couple of international websites. I cannot guarantee every article in every newspaper but I am getting a very good hit rate. I can almost guarantee at least one of these papers will publish my articles and often five or six. On occasion I get a full-page spread, the most recent examples being the Summer School article, the golf day article and my interview with the Grand Master of Spain The MWBro Oscar de Alfonso Ortega.
Finally, may I also draw your attention to the Summer LOI’s which are being run by Marina Alta Lodge of Installed Masters. This has proven to be even more successful this year than last. These are a great opportunity for all Master Masons, and on some weeks for junior Masons as well, to come along and learn many things about Masonry which they are unlikely to learn anywhere else. As well as practicing ritual there are question and answer sessions and also a discussion about particular aspects of Masonry. These Lodges are run by WBro Brian Imber who acts as Preceptor and who does an extremely good job. I have been delighted to hear very fulsome praise of Brother Imber and the LOI in particular. It is gratifying to meet junior Masons who are both interested and willing to learn. I can recommend these wholeheartedly to the whole Province. There is another such scheme running in the south of the Province. This effort will be repeated next summer so please let either WBro Brian Imber, WBro Matt James or myself know if you are interested in attending. All those who have attended this year have been fulsome in their praise and I am sure each would be happy to recommend it to you if asked.
If you have any (polite) suggestions for Provincial Secretariat which you feel might be of use please again contact me. My address is:
prensa@glpvalencia.com
WBro William G Turney
Communications Officer