The Masonic Homes of Valencia Association have presented a second, 4 wheel drive vehicle, to the Benedoleig Protección Civil. The presentation took place in the car park of El Cid Restaurant on May 31st at 1.0pm. The Association made a similar presentation of another vehicle a few years ago, and  last year also presented a water bowser on a trailer to be towed behind one of the vehicles. The service they provide gives a more rapid response to people living out in the campo areas around Benedoleig and the other small villages of the Orba Valley area. Larger fire engines and ambulances coming from Denia have difficulty getting to these small places quickly, and these smaller vehicles can be vital in being first on the scene and providing the necessary help quickly. The whole team of volunteers are well trained in all aspects of emergency work and each vehicle carries a vast array of equipment.

The Association operates a Charity Shop in Moraira, and is always pleased to receive donations of good quality clothing and  other saleable items. On this occasion the presentation was assisted by a donation from the Charity Shop in Ondara, who last year presented a scooter for this  excellent rapid response team.

WBro William Turney   Press Officer

Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia

Masonic Homes of Valencia Donate €5000 to Children of Emaus charity.

On Thursday, 25th May, The Masonic Home of Valencia Association presented a cheque for 5000 Euros to the Children of Emaus charity fund outside their Charity Shop in Moraira. The presentation was made by, the Treasurer of the Association, Hugh Parker to Carole Saunders the Childrens Emaus representative.

Also present, as seen in the attached photograph, were Kath Taylor, far right, the hard working manager of the shop and next to her Brian Imber, the Vice President of the masonic Homes of Valencia Association. Also present were several of the shop volunteers. These good folk put in a lot of time, and hard work, staffing the shop and helping in many ways to raise money for such worthy causes.

Next Wednesday another presentation will take place at El Cid Car Park in Benidoleig of a second specially adapted 4 wheel drive vehicle for the Protección Civil in Benedoleig.

On Saturday, 25 May, local Freemasons from Arenal Deportiva Lodge No 65 celebrated their annual Ladies Night in style at Satari’s restaurant in Moraira. Arriving for a cava and canapé reception, at seven fifteen, almost seventy Masons, Ladies and guests arrived to a glorious summer evening and chatted among the flowers and bougainvillias of the restaurant. At eight o’clock they entered the restaurant for what turned out to be a fantastic four course meal prepared by the owner, Abi Satari, which included a wide selection of well prepared and well cooked food, including a delicious starter consisting of Persian specialities

During the meal the guests were entertained by the internationally renowned, and always popular, Ian Henry who played a wide variety of tunes on the piano and sang beautifully. Later, after dinner, many of the guests danced to more music and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. There were gifts and flowers for all of the Ladies as a small thank you for all the support they have given over the past year.

The evening was hosted by the President of the Festival, WBro Bob Bullingham and his lovely wife Avril. This was a great chance for Bob and all the Masons of the Lodge to relax after a hard years work. This is Bob’s last formal event as Master of the Lodge as very soon at the beginning of June he will be installing his successor, WBro Ian Brown to take his place.

All in all a great evening and, judging from the comments I have heard, a great success. Many thanks to all involved in organising this event.

It is hard to find words to describe the bravery of these men and women. The truth is that when we are running away from a fire these gallant volunteers run towards it. I emphasise that all of these people were volunteers, acting on our behalf regardless of nationality, fighting fire and generally helping to save lives. It is a testament to their bravery that we didn’t suffer a massive loss of life and we can all give thanks that they are there to help us.

Much of their equipment is old and at least partly worn out. Much of it has a limited life span and needs to be replaced regularly for them to be able to function as a firefighting team. More still was lost in this and other fires. This equipment is absolutely necessary but also can be very costly! Many local organisations offered help when it was most needed including local Freemasons, from the Lodge of Armonia de Ifach, the Calpe Charity shop, and The Lions.

In the photos attached you will see some of the equipment bought for the future use of the Calpe Civil Defence Firefighters. This comprises, vital breathing equipment which allows the firefighters to fight the blaze from close quarters, a light portable pump, again allowing closer access than a fire tender might be able to get, the hoses necessary to be able to connect from the water deposit to the pump and some more new hoses for connecting the pump to the nozzles.

The second shows WBro Stewart Gammer of Armonia de Ifach Lodge, Councillor Carole Saunders, Mr John Bridges of the Calpe charity shop and Sr Mattias Torres from Civil Defence.

Members of The Masonic Temple in Quesada were recently delighted to receive a cheque for six thousand euros, donated by The Masonic Homes of Valencia to go towards the cost of installing a new lift at their premises. Unfortunately the old one had been condemned as unsafe and this situation was causing real problems at the centre. Many of the Masons using the centre are of advancing years and some not as fit as they once were. To constantly climb and descend quite steep steps was becoming a problem, especially for those such as I forced to use a wheelchair. It was also difficult to transport the various Lodge equipment for use in ceremonies.

The overall cost of installing the lift and making good was around fifteen thousand euros. No small amount! The rest of the money was raised from the various Lodges using the temple which, together with this donation, was sufficient for the work to go ahead. I am sure the Masons using this centre will breathe a sigh of relief that they can now visit their Lodge in style and with less hardship. The photo below shows WBro Bernard Wilson presenting the cheque to WBro Roy Mitchell