Saturday,24th March, saw the gathering at the Hotel Masa Torrevieja, of the Worshipful Master, Worshipful Brother Norman Barrall, his Wardens and Brethren of Logia de las Salinas with their Ladies, Guests and members of Other Lodges to celebrate their ‘Ladies Gala Dinner Night’.
A cava and canapé reception was held prior to the assembled guests being called to dinner promptly at seven thirty The President for the evening, Worshipful Brother Norman Barrall and His Lady, Carol, were introduced by Worshipful Brother Clifford Gingell Director of Ceremonies of the Lodge, who (by special request) as a ‘Professional Toast Master and Master of Ceremonies’ came out of retirement and donned his red Toast Master rig for one evening only.

The one hundred and five guests were wined and dined with excellent meals, with choices of Asparagus soup, Seafood Cocktail, Sole fillets with Menuiére sauce, Loin of pork with Pepper sauce, Banana cheese cake with Berries and Custard or Strawberry Cake, accompanied with copious amounts of wine.
The Toast to the King was made by the President ,Worshipful Brother Norman Barrall, followed by the toast to the Ladies proposed by Worshipful Brother Keith Hutchinson, The Ladies song was sung by Worshipful Brother Colin Harlow, who was accompanied by the Brethren of the Lodge who formed a choir to sing the Corus.
The Presidents Lady, Carol, responded to the Toast and the Ladies Song extending thanks to all those who had assisted in putting the evening together and thanked all of the guests for supporting the evening. Norman and Carol then made a number of presentations, including a bouquet of flowers to Mrs Joan Waddington who’s Birthday fell the next day, the assembled guests all stood and sang happy birthday and raised their glasses to Joan. Carol concluded the presentation by presenting Norman a ‘Half Hunter’ Masonic pocket watch.

The Master of Ceremonies introduced Mrs Mary Chambers co-ordinator of ‘Debra’ who gave a short but moving talk on the Masters chosen charity for the year. The charity ‘Debra’ supports ‘Butterfly Children’. The Butterfly Children suffer from extreme fragility of the skin, and need lifelong support. The proceeds of the evenings raffle which raised seven hundred and seventy-five Euros will be donated to the charity. More information on the Charity can be found at www.butterflychildrencharity.com

The formalities concluded, the President and his lady, Norman and Carol led the dancing, with the first waltz of the evening; they were joined in quick succession by all of the guests, Music for the evening was provided by Karen Noble a female vocalist who sang a wide range of songs from the fifties through to the present day including a selection from the operas and musicals, during the interval the guests were entertained by Brother James Bowyer whilst conducting the raffle, The evening continued with more dancing and a thoroughly enjoyable evening was had by all until the time for carriages came all to soon; guests departing to fond farewells, some gliding to waiting cars whilst other stumbled upstairs to bed. Many thanks again to all concerned for a wonderful and memorable evening.

On Saturday, March 10th, Freemasons of local Lodge, Santa Faz, held their annual beach walk, organized by WM Mick Rayner and his lovely Lady,  Maureen, to raise much needed funds for the Children’s Home at Rellue. This is the chosen charity, for this year, by the Master of the Lodge.

More than seventy Freemasons and guests took part, and were very lucky in that the weather stayed fine for them. The walk was followed by an excellent barbecue and the extremely good entertainment was provided by our very own WM Mick Rayner.As well as providing an extremely pleasant day for the Freemasons and their guests an extremely useful sum totalling one thousand euros was raised for the Children’s Home.

This will be presented at a later date. Well done to all of those who helped to organise this very successful day and especially to all those who turned up and walked for charity.

Freemasons support local charities.

On Saturday, 17th March, local Freemasons Lodge, Dama de Elche held their annual Ladies Night. This took place at Salones Brindis, Catral and was very well attended with over one hundred Masons, wives and guests putting in an appearance. This turned out to be a fantastic night with great food, great company, great music and much dancing to the sound of ” It Takes Two “, a fabulous duo consisting of Paul & Linda Randall who entertained the assembled guests and were very much enjoyed by all.

The Master of the Lodge, WBro Nigel Sanders, much assisted by his lovely Lady, Lynne and the rest of the Brethren of the Lodge are, this year, supporting two local charities, the first being the Elche Children’s Home and the other, is the Paul Cunningham Nurses for Cancer. Two very important charities and both well deserving of our support.
Over five hundred euros was raised for the two Charities – a fantastic amount. Many thanks for the very strong support to everyone who attended.
                        

Local Freemason’s from Caledonia Lodge donate food.

In this week of love the Brethren of Caledonia Lodge No 68 (Worshipful Master Sid Formby) made a donation of five hundred euros worth of food to the Alimentos Solidarios of Torrevieja. This money was raised from various social functions held throughout the year.

WBro Freddie Samrai, and his wife Carol, together with friends from Alimentos Solidarios went to the Dialsur Cash and Carry to buy the much needed food. Dialsur were very helpful, giving a good discount on the purchase and also organising a free delivery to the centre.
Alimentos Solidarios provide a hot meal on a daily basis to the families in need in Torrevieja and also supply food parcels. The centre is staffed entirely by volunteers who work in the hot kitchen preparing the meals all year round, come rain or shine.

On Saturday, 10 February, local Freemasons Lodge Javea 40 held a successful and very enjoyable Valentines celebration to honour their Ladies.
Fifty-one Masons and guests attended the celebratory Valentines meal at the Attico restaurant in Javea Port where, the Worshipful Master, WBro Matthew James, presented each lady with a personal gift from himself, suitable for the evening – a floral arrangement containing two red roses.
Everyone agreed that the food was really excellent and it was enjoyed by all.
Continuing the Valentines theme, the star raffle prize was an amazing flower arrangement, which was won by Mrs Diane Jackson, wife of WBro Neville Jackson.

The WM also presented a surprise bouquet to his beloved lady, Beatriz.
WM Matthew James then thanked Bro.Malcolm March for organising the evening at short notice and presented a lovely bouquet to Malcolm’s wife, Margaret, for all the work she had undertaken during his year in office, and supporting Javea 40’s social events with advertising and IT help.
The evening’s raffle raised an additional three hundred and sixty-five euros for the WM’s chosen charity, the La Fe Children’s Oncology Research Department and Oncology Ward.

On Thursday, 25th January, the Provincial Grand Treasurer of the Grand Lodge of Valencia, WBro Fred Miller, visited El Preventorio children’s home in Gandia to present another cheque for two thousand Euros. Having now supported the home for several years this was the latest in a long line of cheques and gifts for the children in an attempt to make their lives just a little better.
The money was largely raised by a grand charity raffle held late last year at the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia’s Ladies Night where over two hundred Masons, and their wives, made every effort to raise the magnificent sum of one thousand, six hundred euros. When local Masons of Oliva La Safor Lodge heard of this, they were moved to add another four hundred euros to round the total up to a very respectable two thousand euros.

The cheque was presented by Fred to Sra Maria José Castelló Morant, the Director of the home, who was immensely grateful for the donation. She said that this cash would be added to other monies raised to support a paid, part time worker to help clean, wash and dry bedding etc which was a constant chore for the volunteers and becoming almost impossible to sustain. As most of you will know, looking after the hygiene requirements of two or three children is difficult, with upwards of fifty it becomes a major chore. If sufficient money can be raised it is hoped that this post could become a permanent one in the future.
The first photo shows WBro Fred presenting the cheque to Sra Castelló and the second a group shot of Fred with some of the workers and volunteers.
The home is always in need of children’s (and young teenagers) clothes, shoes, bedding, toiletries and hygiene items. If you have anything to spare, no matter how small, please contact El Preventorio as they can always use items you no longer need.

In early January, most Spanish children look forward to the arrival of the Three Kings (or Tres Reyes) who are far more important than Father Christmas, as these are the gift bringers that the children most want to see. None look forward more eagerly than the children of the Per Ells day care centre in Turis.

Fortunately for them, this event has been sponsored by the local Freemason’s White River Lodge for the past eight years. Each year three Masons dress up as Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar and make the journey to the day care centre to give the children a treat.
The centre currently caters for around twenty severely disabled children who are able to attend, usually on a daily basis, this allows them to meet with other children and also gives their parents a short respite from their constant care needs.

As is often the case, the centre receives almost no money from the local authorities and relies heavily on volunteers and charitable donations. Over the past eight years the Freemasons have done a great deal to make their lives a little easier both by donations and giving up their time to help whenever possible. The centre also has a nearby garden centre which has been adapted so that up to ten children can visit and stay overnight or even, in some cases, for a weekend which gives them a much needed break from their daily routine. Originally this building was unable to be used as there was no electricity to provide power, light and heating. However, a generator was sourced and the local Masons supplied, and had installed, all of the electrical cabling necessary to turn this previously unused building into a useful extra facility.

On Saturday, 6th January, over fifty parents and guests arrived to join in the fun and the children were very excited. They became even more excited as the Three Kings arrived and filed into the assembly hall ready to greet them. The three Kings took their places at the front and one by one the children came up to meet them to be given a gift, some sweets and often a big hug as well. It was both humbling and motivating to see how these children reacted and it is obvious that they are very well looked after and loved by the carers at the centre, many of whom are the parents of the disabled children.
The centre was originally built and donated by a former owner of the Valencian Football Club and is now a much used feature in the town of Turis. The Masons of the White River Lodge have done a fantastic job in continuing that tradition and the children’s lives are a little better for it. We were joined on our visit by Ms Jackie Moore who kindly acted as both liaison and translator and we are very grateful to her for giving up her time to help us.
If you wish to help Per Ells they are always grateful for any donation and you may feel free to approach them directly.

Worshipful Brother Gordon Ramsey, of Dama de Elche Lodge, recently visited two local charities to present cheques to the representatives of those charities to assist them in continuing to support the children in need.

The first visit was to DEBRA (The Butterfly Children) These are children born with a genetic disorder which causes their skin to be as fragile as a butterfly’s wing. This creates enormous problems and needs very careful treatment. This is both difficult and very expensive. The one thousand euros donated will be a great help in continuing the treatment of the children.

The second visit was to the Elche Children’s Home where a further cheque was presented to buy one thousand litres of fuel oil to help keep the children warm through the winter.

MASONIC SUPPORT FOR DEBRA “The Butterfly Children”
Mary Chambers, the representative of DEBRA receives a cheque for €1000 from Worshipful Brother Gordon Ramshead and his partner Sheila Fairbairn at their La Marina store. This sum was raised by the Brethren of the Dama de Elche Lodge No 163 during his year of Mastership, as their chosen charity!

MASONS PROVIDE WARMTH FOR THE CHILDREN

The members of Dama de Elche Lodge No 163 have donated one thousand litres of heating fuel at a cost of seven hundred and sixty euros, to the Elche Children’s Home! This much needed fuel will keep the children warm at Christmas and on into 2018! This is a regular donation by the Dama de Elche Lodge with the home being one of it’s charity recipients.

The picture shows Annette English of the Children’s Home receiving a cheque for €760 from Worshipful Brother Gordon Ramshead and his partner Sheila Fairbairn.

On the evening of December 23rd the Provincial Grand Stewards’ Lodge No.154 under the direction of the Worshipful Master, W.Bro. Rodney Bignell hosted an evening of  Christmas Carols at the Masonic Centre in Ciudad Quesada.  The event was also ably supported by the Assistant Grand Master of Spain, R.W.Bro. Barrie Roy Mansell and the Provincial Grand Master, R.W.Bro. Michael Anthony Shilan and the Provincial Assistant Grand Master, W.Bro. Roy Mitchell.

The singing was led by V.W.Bro. Jeffrey Hyde and everyone was accompanied by the fine playing of W.Bro. Mal Cordall of Caledonia Lodge No.68 who was thanked warmly by the Provincial Grand Master and all present for supporting the event despite his wife having recently left hospital.

A wonderful selection of food was donated and prepared by some of the wives and partners including various appetisers, hot beef, chicken and vegetarian mains and mice-pies and cheese to end.  The monies raised at the €6 per head function will be used towards essential maintenance and repairs to the building.

Highlight of the evening was rousing rendition of the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ with accompanying gestures, though perhaps the singing did not hit the right note with everyone….

The evening certainly got everyone present into the Christmas spirit.

A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Last week the Brethren of Caledonia lodge continued to play a vital part in the local community by donating in the region of 1000 euros worth of food and other essential items to Rojales town hall Social Services department for distribution to local family’s in food poverty.

The Rojales town hall Social Services director asked W.Bro Ian Gibson and Bro Ian Bullock, shown here presenting the donation, to inform the Worshipful Master and  all the Brethren of Caledonia Lodge Number 68, that they were very grateful for this much needed food and other essential items, as the demand for their services was increasing all the time. It is always much busier in the winter and especially near to Christmas when the lack of food is even more noticeable.
The Food bank donation to Rojales town hall social services department is part of a continued commitment to the local community by Caledonia Lodge who have been regularly making donations of food and other items to charities in the local area. Early that day a similar donation of food was made to the Red Cross in Torrevieja.
If you could help these charities they are always in need of food and clothing and many other things. Please free to contact social services directly who will be extremely grateful for any items you may care to donate.