At the April Meeting of St Oswald Lodge, who meet in Darlington, the members had the pleasure to welcome the Provincial Grand Master, John Thompson, and the provincial team of acting officers to their meeting. The members of the lodge performed a first degree ceremony where they also welcomed Mr Knile Prescott into St Oswald Lodge, in particular and Freemasonry in general. The ceremony was carried out to the usual high standards in Durham and reflected the hard work and dedication that the members of the lodge had put in. Before the meeting concluded upstairs Knile was presented with his very own bible by the lodge Chaplain, which is a tradition in St Oswald Lodge for all new members, with the opportunity for the attendees of the evening to sign it at the festive board for Knile to keep. At the festive board, as well as the bible being signed, the lodge Junior Deacon presented their new member Knile with a “forget me not” lapel pin, a framed explanation of the “forget me not” as well as a framed description of the working tools.
Alan Eglington, on behalf of the members, conveyed congratulations to John on the recent news that he is to be appointed as an Assistant Grand Master at Grand Lodge. Alan elaborated that everyone appreciates that this is great news for John but sad news for the members of Durham Province as they’ll be losing him as their Provincial Grand Master. John thanked Alan for his kind comments and asked all of the brethren to support the new Provincial Grand Master, whoever this may be, in the very same way that he has been supported.
The evening was also the last official outing for the Provincial Grand Director of Ceremonies, Martin Rankin, in that role as he prepares himself to be invested as Assistant Provincial Grand Master on the 9th of April where his successor, David Atkinson, will take up the reigns.
