15/05/2026
WORSHIPFUL MASTER’S COLUMN FROM MARCH MEETING
Astute or exasperated readers of Dinkum Oil will note that this column comes less than two months since a lengthy excursus from your Worshipful Master in the March edition. Its purpose was to kick off the calendar year and in that it has succeeded admirably.
Such readers will, however, be relieved to learn that this will be the (almost) last from me as your Worshipful Master. May 15th will be my last night in the Chair of King Solomon of The Army Lodge; a successor having been duly elected (and obligated in the Second Degree) at our March meeting. Bro WO1 Grant Reeves was elected unopposed and solemnly promised to replace me. I am sure I heard an audible sigh of relief in the East. And I am not referring to myself, WBro Acting Chaplain.
It is not with a sense of posterity or unfinished business that I pick up my Dictaphone, but because March and April have been very busy and productive months for The Army Lodge.
At our March meeting we duly passed Bro LT Ollie Beard to the Second Degree. It was an excellent ceremony performed by the Officers of The Army Lodge and an honorary member (VWBro Jerry Spiliotis as Acting Junior Warden) and a couple of visitors, WBro Frank Bennett as a very busy Senior Deacon and WBro Jason Cooke PGStdB as Acting IPM. Jerry delivered one of my favourite charges in Freemasonry, the Working Tools of the Second Degree, and he did so with accuracy, precision and aplomb.
I am delighted to note that at this meeting two new honorary members were elected, i.e. WBro Frank Bennett PGStdB and VWBro John Fraser PGIW. Both were promptly put to work!
One thing we haven’t done this year, and there wasn’t really enough time to do so, is a Tracing Board Lecture. This is something which the incoming Worshipful Master and his Committee of General Purposes might consider. We have a number of recently minted Fellowcrafts and Master Masons who might like to join together in delivering a lecture, in the First and Second Degree. Many years ago, at Dallas Brooks Hall where we previously met, about half a dozen of our newer Freemasons each recited a paragraph from, if memory serves, the First Degree Lecture. It was a sheer delight for young and old alike.
In April we made an official visit to The United Service Lodge (sic, one cannot unite a singular, Alan, but if that’s what they want to call themselves, then people like me should not get in the way.) It was not grammatical objections on my part, but trial preparation which prevented me personally from attending, much to my regret. Thirteen Army Lodge members and family came along, equalling the next two contingents (Grand Lodge and another Keysborough Lodge) combined. You can identify most of these official visitors in one of the photos. By all reports, it was a great night and I was sorry to have missed it.
Later that week the three Service Lodges conducted our annual Combined Lodges Anzac Reunion Meeting at Ivalda on 18 April. It was a splendid occasion, ably reported elsewhere in this august journal and in that of Freemasons Foundation Victoria. Together, 14 Lodges raised $35,000 for Melbourne Legacy. Victorian Naval and Military Lodge did us proud upstairs with their moving commemoration ceremony, including the reading of three short biographies, (one from each Lodge). As Worshipful Bro Jason Cooke PGStdB noted, these addresses brought each brother back to life. We will remember them.
The South, ably led by the Director of Ceremonies of Victorian Naval and Military Lodge, WBro Rob McGregor, was a memorable affair. Well attended by 72 brethren from the three service lodges, Grand Lodge (led by MWBro Tony Bucca, in whose eponymous and magnificent dining hall we gathered), other masonic brethren, and family members and guests; we all enjoyed the toasts, addresses, camaraderie, an excellent roast dinner and some fine wines as selected by our Catering Officer. Then there was the rum ration which some enjoyed and others paid anyway, raising the impressive, if slightly alarming, figure of $666.
I particularly enjoyed the “taking of wine” with fellow veterans. I singled out the Vietnam Veterans for two reasons. Firstly, as our esteemed Lodge Secretary noted in his biography of Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Knight MC MID, who was a Gallipoli veteran: about 40 years ago VWBro BRIG Keith Colwill encouraged those present to shake hands with World War 1 veterans whilst we still could. Now our senior ranks are numbered by Vietnam Veterans. We will be commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan on Friday 21st August 2026. This ceremony was devised by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Lodge, whose Warrant we hold dear in our custody. As a soldier in the Melbourne University Regiment and a Junior Officer in the Light Horse, I was trained and tutored by Vietnam Veterans and benefited enormously from their knowledge and professionalism. At times it had to be very patient professionalism.
Lastly, two of our conscientious brethren will be ‘Sleeping at the G’ overnight on 14th May in support of Victorian homeless youth. VWBro Terry Clifton and Bro Grant Reeves have made the commitment, and with the support of the Committee of General Purposes, I have arranged for each to receive $100.00 of sponsorship via the Worshipful Master’s Fund.
Key Dates are set out below. You won’t be able to attend all, or even many, but pick and enjoy those you can:
• 6 May: Rehearsal for May meeting;
• 7 May: Victorian Naval and Military Lodge meeting and Gisborne Lodge Reinstallation (WBro LTCOL Peter Crosby);
• 15 May: May meeting – 3rd Degree (Bro SGT Eamon Hale) and Official Visits from Victorian Naval and Military Lodge and Earl of Dunmore Lodge. (This is our Main Effort and you know what to do);
• 22 May: United Service Lodge meeting (Hosting Annual Fireman’s Night);
• 3 Jun: Informal Zoom meeting – invitations extended by our illustrious DC;
• 17 Jun: Quarterly Communication;
• 27 Jun: Bunnings Sausage Sizzle. Always good fun and important fund-raising for our charitable work;
• 8 Jul: CGP followed by Installation rehearsal; and
• 15 Jul: Installation of Bro (not for much longer) WO1 Grant Reeves. And my “time to go has come”, so make sure you attend, just to make sure I do.
