John Carpenter Lodge 1997

The Old Boys' Lodge met at Mark Masons' Hall in March 2009 when the members enjoyed the company of their guests for an entertaining and enjoyable afternoon and festive board.

The Lodge was consecrated in 1883 for old boys and JCC ties are still the encouraged neckwear at meetings, along with those of the Old Mercer's Club. We amalgamated with the (Old Mercer) Honor Deo Lodge 3562 in 1995, as an eventual consequence of the closure of Mercer's School in 1959 - no school, no old boys!

The Worshipful Master, Dick Thatcher (CLS 51-59) opened the Lodge in the customary fashion, first lighting a memorial light to Old Citizens and Mercers who gave their lives in the two World Wars.

One of our own Grand Officers and Lodge Mentor, Maurice Mander (45-49) then took the chair and passed Paul Ray (76-83) to the Second Degree in impeccable fashion.

The ceremony was enhanced by the long presentation of the apron by Jon Pentel (64-70) and an the explanation of the tracing board by Mark Jacobs (73-79).

The biggest delight for all those present was the return of Leon Israel seen here with Rags Smith. Leon was accompanied by his son, Howard, and as a former Preceptor and Director of Ceremonies his very presence kept us all on our toes.

This was an additional meeting to our normal calendar of four, with 27 members joined by 14 guests in the Grand Temple.

The Lodge has initiated three candidates in the past two years, two of them members of the John Carpenter Club, so the ritual is starting to show signs of practice - no little thanks to Brian Gold (49-58) and his work as Lodge of Instruction Preceptor. The brethren were saddened to note that he could not attend the meeting. Whereas it appeared that he was prolonging a cruise in South America, Brian had been taken seriously ill, and we were all happy to see his recent return to the command of LOI.

The charity collection for the evening was given to the Make a Wish Foundation, a charity dedicated to fulfilling the dreams of young people with grave illness, via the Junior Deacon, Leslie Jacobs (77-82) who chairs one of their main committees.

After a suitable debrief in the bar a fine supper was enjoyed by all when we were brought up to date on the Arthur Manly Sixth Form Bursary for a boy at the school.

The lodge is always delighted to welcome OC Freemasons - just contact Robin Whiteland (robin.whiteland@tiscali.co.uk) to arrange.

Similarly any Old Citizen looking for further details on Freemasonry could find no better place to start.