Provincial News - Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia

Jacob Seur

Published 04/12/2018 | By Phil

Jacob (Jaap) passed to the Grand Lodge above on the 4th of December 2018

Jacob Seur, Born 11 July 1931 in Rotterdam .

His father was a police officer and his mother took care of the family, two girls and two boys. Jaap completed his study as accountant and in 1954 decides to join his fiancé in Australia. This relation was not meant to be. 1959 Jaap met Rietje his lifelong love.

In Australia, Jaap worked for Mobil oil as a purchasing manager of everything that had to do with oil, from barrel to tap and everything in between, privately Jaap owned a landscape gardening company .

Mobil planned to appoint Jaap at Papua new Guinea however Jaap possessed a Dutch passport and the Dutch were not welcome there in those days. In 1970 Mobil assigned him to the Netherlands where Jaap lived and worked until 1995 then in 1996 they moved to Spain. They build a house in Javea and joined the Dutch and golf club. In the recent years they lived in Benidorm, Ciudad Patricia.

Jaap became a mason in Australia and reminisced over the strong bonds between brethren. Jaap was a man of great integrity, he loved to bring his family together but also connecting us, he was proud and modest to be a mason.

My acquaintance with Jaap started in the lodge.

Jaap was the first male brother with whom I went arm in arm Wednesday evening and as we entered the steps of the lodge. The fun was that we both could laugh, with my broken knees and Jaap’s straining of the years, and so we went to the lodges for a few years with great pleasure.

Jaap, it was a honour to have known you and I can confidently promise you however divided the brother sometimes are at the end we all go East and who knows, maybe we meet again. Goodbye.

Translation of the eulogy as presented by Bro. Willem van der Linde.

Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia hold annual Lodge of Instruction

Published 03/12/2018 | By Phil

On Saturday, December 1st, the Provincial Grand Lodge of Valencia held their annual Provincial Lodge of Instruction. This was a huge event, one of the largest in the Masonic calendar, and was held at the Hotel Port Alicante. More than one hundred and forty Masons attended from all over the Province, from the borders of Murcia to the north of Castellon and a few from even further afield including one welcome visitor from Cuba. Many senior Masons from all over the Province were also in attendance.

In each local Lodge throughout the year many Lodges of Instruction are held. These are to ensure that when real Ceremonies are performed, such as that of Initiation, when a man becomes a Freemason, those taking part know what they are doing and strive to make the ceremony as good as it can possibly be. The ceremony detailed is performed when a new candidate becomes a Freemason and is one of the most beautiful and moving ceremonies which the new Mason will remember for the rest of his life. They are usually performed by senior and experienced Masons from within the local Lodge to ensure that the Candidate enjoys this most important night.

However, on one day each year, at the Provincial Lodge of Instruction, this Ceremony is performed by junior Masons, most of whom have never done it before. They are also expected to fulfil a role at least one grade higher than that which they would normally do. It is performed in front of the Provincial Grand Master of Valencia, RWBro Michael Shilan and many senior Masons, this year including the Assistant Grand Master of Spain, RWBro Barrie Roy Mansell. This gives the junior Masons the chance to show what they can do and provides invaluable experience for the day when they perform this function for real. Every Mason who takes part says that when they become Officers within their own Lodge and particularly when they become the Master of the Lodge this day has thoroughly prepared them for the task. The standards shown are always of the highest order and shows individual Masons just what they can achieve with time and practice.

This ceremony was hosted by Javea Lodge No 40 and was performed by Masons from eight different Lodges from around the Province. The ceremony was performed with great skill and professionalism. It is almost unfair to pick out individual Masons, but Bro Malcolm March, who acted as Worshipful Master did an outstanding job and was later warmly congratulated by many visiting Masons. Bro Jerry Roberts also performed exceedingly well giving a very long and complicated speech from memory.

During the lunch after the event, a charity raffle was held which raised the fantastic sum of eight hundred and fifty euros. This will be added to other monies raised by Province and later donated to a charity for under-priviged children.

This was a very enjoyable event for all concerned, giving an opportunity to meet up with old friends and make some new ones. Added to the excellent performance in the Lodge it proved to be a great day. Plans are already underway for next years performance which everyone is determined to make even better. Well done to all concerned.

Annual Draw Results

1st Prize Ticket No. 223 – 500 Euros – Armonia de Ifach Lodge

2nd Prize Ticket No. 456 – 250 Euros – Ralph Lumley

3rd Prize Ticket No. 902 – 100 Euros – Las Salinas Lodge

4th Prize Ticket No. 713 – 50 Euros – Gerry Wren

Old Tower Lodge Ladies Festival

Published 28/11/2018 | By Phil

On 17th November 2018 Old Tower Lodge No 49 held their annual Ladies Festival at Las Ramblas Golf Resort Restaurant. 121 Masons, guests, family and friends, some who had travelled from the UK, attended to support WM Paul Burletson and his Lady June.
The evening started with a Cava and Canapé reception followed by a fabulous meal of homemade bread and ali oli, prawn cocktail with avocado and tobiko roe, serrano ham and manchego cheese, Las Ramblas salad, tomato & mozzarella cheese, beef entrecote with Maldon salt and Béarnaise sauce, cheese, biscuits & Port. For those with a sweet tooth there was a sweetie table with all the old-fashioned favourite sweets.
WM Steve Cardwell did an exceptional job as Toast Master for the evening and many toasts were taken with Masons and guests. The Ladies Song was sung beautifully by RWBro Jeff Hyde, who had lost his voice a week before, but luckily recovered a couple of days prior to the event.
The WM presented his Lady with a Pandora bracelet and bouquet of flowers from Old Tower Lodge.

Once the formalities were concluded, the WM and his Lady led the dancing with a slow dance to Unchained Melody sung by their entertainer for the evening, Sandy Fitz.
Special thanks to VWBro Rodney Bignell and his wife Jeannette for helping organise this successful event and Wendy Porter for taking the photographs.

New Grand Lodge Twitter account in English

Published 19/11/2018 | By Phil

Brethren, as of yesterday, the new Twitter account of the Grand Lodge of Spain, in English, has gone live. You are now able to keep up with all the latest news from Grand Lodge. Please feel free to make use of it.

It can be reached on https://twitter.com/grandlodgespain

Great honour for the MW Grand Master of Spain, MWBro Oscar de Alfonso Ortega

Published 19/11/2018 | By Phil

“We must project to the societies in which we live the values we treasure”

The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Spain , the Most Worshipful Brother Óscar de Alfonso Ortega, has been elected Executive Secretary of the World Conference of Regular Grand Lodges, which makes him, until 2023, the Mason Master in charge of the coordination of the Freemasonry World, formed by about four million brothers. ” This election is an immense honour for me and marks an historic day for Spanish Freemasonry. The World Conference is the best platform we have for Grand Lodges to exchange experiences and learn from each other. I want to open a period in which many Grand Lodges really participate in the management of the World Conference to project to the societies in which we live the values that which we treasure and that have already changed the world in the past. We now have the Internet and social networks, we live in a world of communication; use these tools, but talk about the future, transmitting a message of high values, which are eternal. The World Conference is the best platform to respond to these challenges. I am aware that great challenges await me, and that I will face them to the best of my abilities. I ask the Great Architect of the Universe to give me the strength and perseverance necessary for it”, said our Grand Master and Secretary of the World Conference.

Local Freemasons hold unusual Banner Dedication Ceremony

Published 12/11/2018 | By Phil

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

Published 11/11/2018 | By Phil

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

Published 11/11/2018 | By Phil

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

Published 29/10/2018 | By Phil

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 La Vila Joiosa, Alicante (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.

Published 26/10/2018 | By Phil

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.