P.G.L. of Tyrone and Fermanagh

ST JOHN'S MASONIC LODGE 185 DUNGANNON - 150 NOT OUT

This year marks an extra special occasion within Freemasonry in the Dungannon area, with St John's Masonic Lodge No 185 celebrating its 150th year anniversary. The lodge which was originally founded in January 1866 will be holding a series of events to mark this significant milestone both in lodge history and Freemasonry in general.

The inaugural event in this special year for the lodge was the installation of officers on Tuesday 1st March 2016, with Worshipful Master elect Bro Philip Bloomer installed as Worshipful Master for the incoming year. To help mark this momentous occasion the lodge was joined by brethren from the various sister lodges within Dungannon, who passed on their congratulations and best wishes to the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Brethren of St John Masonic Lodge in this year of celebration. In addition the lodge was honored by the presence of Provincial Grand Lodge Tyrone and Fermanagh, Provincial Grand Master R.W. Bro Maurice Lee, along with Provincial Assistant Grand Master R. W. Bro Stanley Whittle. It was also a great privilege to have R. W. Bro Harry Weir, past Provincial Grand Master, in attendance. The Provincial Grand Master congratulated the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Brethren on reaching the 150th year anniversary and made an inspiring speech exhorting all present to think about the future, of the lodge in particular and Freemasonry in general, by identifying suitable individuals that could be recruited into our ranks.

The new Worshipful Master was joined by Bro Kenny Moffet of Lodge 1712 Edinburgh, who brought fraternal greetings and good wishes from the Provincial Grand Master in Edinburgh and from the Worshipful Master and brethren of Lodge Friendship 1712. Bro Moffet has been a close friend of the Worshipful Master for a good number of years, since they both studied together in Edinburgh and has been a regular visitor to Dungannon over the past number of years. He was particularly pleased to be present during the installation and wished the new Worshipful Master and brethren best wishes for the future.

Having been installed the Worshipful Master W .Bro Philip Bloomer announced that he had great pleasure, as his first duty to make a presentation to the Provincial Grand Master on Behalf of St John's Masonic Lodge 185 Dungannon, to Teddies for Loving Care Charity. Launched in 2001 following the near death experiences of the wife of a Freemason who was admitted to A&E and the realisation that admission to A&E was a frightening experience for children, Teddies for Loving Care was created to give a bear to a child that is suffering particularly from trauma, injury or illness. Nursing staff use the bears to befriend the children, to reward them for being brave and in some cases to demonstrate what they are going to do. To date well over 1,000,000 teddies have now been distributed nationwide. As T.L.C. is an appeal supported by Freemasonry , its pure nature has also benefited the Order by raising the level of public awareness of the contribution made to the community by Freemasonry, a greater understanding of the principles on which Freemasonry is founded, and how those principles are exercised in the modern world.

Worshipful Master W. Bro Philip Bloomer's final act of night was to announce that on Saturday 23rd April St John's Masonic Lodge 185 Dungannon has organised a coach trip to Molesworth Street, Dublin for a special communication to be held in Grand Lodge. All were invited to attend and encouraged to bring wives and partners along for a bit of retail therapy. He hopes to see a good number of brethren present in Dublin in this our 150th year and said that a Festive Board on return trip will be held in Monasterboice Inn, Drogheda.

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