The Lodge of St. Blaise No. 6113

An outstanding success.  Well I would say that wouldn't I as for the first time ever, I was in the winning team.  The prize for me was a chocolate frog, as I am teetotal LOL.  The event was not just frog racing, but had other games too.  We raised a magnicifent £513.40 for charity.  With grateful thanks to Pete, our organiser, chairman and supplier of frogs.

For the video click on this photo.  You will not be disappointed.

Congratulations to Bobby on being raised to the degree of a Master Mason this evening.

Congratulations to Michael on being raised to the degree of a Master Mason this evening.

Welcome to Neil, who joined the Lodge today. I am sure you will appreciate being a member 
of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic Knowledge.

We had a sell out at the Installation of Bro Pete Matthews into the Chair of King Solomon, Presided over by none other than R W Bro David F Macey, the Provincial Grand Master of Warwickshire.  An excellent evening and a full to the limit festive board.

There was a collection of £300 which will be handed by our new Worshipful Master to the charity,  Midland Freewheelers, who are commonly known as "Blood Bikes".

W Bro Pete Woodfield PPrSGW does it once again.  This is his third visit to the hospital this year, with the previous two being £1,100 from his Ladies Night and £1,200 from collections by the Lodge of St. Blaise No. 6113 during his year as Master.

In his own words: Today, I finally managed to get along to the Birmingham Children's Hospital, to hand over the donations from my 70th birthday bash.

I am pleased to inform all those who attended, that the sum raised was £770.00 (£11.00 for each of my years).  My grateful thanks to all who contributed. in a way though, the best thanks are those you will never receive.

I am thinking of the children who will have cause to thank the wonderful facilities of Ward 15 (Children's cancer ward), in the years ahead.

Welcome to Tony, who joined the Lodge today. I am sure you will appreciate being a member 
of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic Knowledge.

The Immediate Past master ( Peter Woodfield) of St Blaise visits the Princess Dianna Children's Hospital in Birmingham to donate money raised by the lodge and its supporters over his year. The money will go to help in the complete renovation and relocation of the Oncology department. Whilst he was there, Anna from the hospital showed round all the amazing facilities, available for children all over the country, including the marvellous chapel, with some beautiful Stained Glass, a hidden mystery indeed.

Pete Woodfield commented.  I was accompanied by my camera shy camera man, Martin Fowkes. lodge Charity Steward. £200.00 of the £1200.00 was donated by other lodges/orders of the Sutton Coldfield Masonic Hall for the Christmas decorations put up by my daughter, Karen, and myself.

This is the second donation from Pete Woodfield to this Charity in less than a year.  On Monday, 16^th May 2016, the Worshipful Master, W Bro Pete Woodfield P.Pr.S.G.W. presented a cheque of £1,100 to Vikki King and other nursing staff in Ward 15 Cancer Unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital.  He was accompanied by W Bro John Morrison, Charity Steward and W Bro Jonathan Amies, Senior Warden.  This money had been raised from the Ladies Night held in April 2016.

Welcome to Bobby, who joined the Lodge today.  I am sure you will appreciate being a member

of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic Knowledge.

Today some of our Brethren were there at the Installation of our very own Philip Hall

as the new Most Excellent Grand Superintendent for the Province of Warwickshire.  Wow!

We wish him well in this most difficult task, though we have every confidence Phil will be excellent, as he has been in all his other very senior appointments in both Provincial and Grand Lodge.

In his address, he said "I want Exaltation to be an aspiration of every freemason, rather than just another Order to join".  Take note Brethren, because he is right.

Afterwards there was a lunch and some of us had a great time.

We had a great Installation evening, where W Bro Mike Doyle was installed as Worshipful Master.  His first time for St Blaise, but previously he was Master of Gothic Lodge.  The evening was presided over by W Bro Trevor Sturt.  Afterwards, there was a superb festive board, made so by the members and visitors present - food was good too.

We wish Mike an excellent year with a great team.

The forecast was a little uncertain, so it was excellent that we had a warm day

and no rain, as ordered by the Webmaster. What a lovely afternoon. I must

thank all the helpers on Saturday for setting up and for clearing away afterwards

and of course all those who provided food, equipment and other help.

In particular our non St Blaise resident cook, Mike did a great job as always.

Members and others brought, salad, cakes and puddings. So there was plenty to eat and all so good, there was too much to sample everything. Another wonderful BBQ with good friends and we raised about £500 for charity too.

They all love the quizzes and games.

Of course the biggest thanks go to Pete Woodfield, chairman of our social committee.  Without him, this event would not happen.

Tomorrow is the funeral of John Lane in Derby Cathedral.  A wonderful Mason. 

Martin Fowkes posted this on our Facebook page:

The Lodge has lost a truly kind and inspirational member. W Bro John Lane a PPJGW in Warwickshire and Derbyshire. A brother who had time for everyone, who loved St Blaise and its Brethren and a Brother whom we all looked up to.

"A great oak's fallen, In our wood,

Strong and serene, in pride he stood.

We other trees, beneath his shade,

Grew well. We flourished; unafraid"

On Monday, 16^th May, the Worshipful Master, W Bro Pete Woodfield P.Pr.S.G.W. presented a cheque of £1,100 to Vikki King and other nursing staff in Ward 15 Cancer Unit at Birmingham Children's Hospital.  He was accompanied by W Bro John Morrison, Charity Steward and W Bro Jonathan Amies, Senior Warden.  This money had been raised from the Ladies Night held in April.

The Worshipful Master for last year, Neil Watkin, presented a cheque of £1,200 to a representative of the British Heart Foundation in memory of his father, Brother Dad.

Yes there are two photographs and they are not the same.  Otherwise we would never see our unofficial photographer.

So how many Past Masters does it take to put away our Lodge Banner.  The answer it seems is only two.  One to mess it up and one to sort it out.  I will let you decide who did what.

We had a great installation on 11th November presided over by W Bro Richard L Barker AsstPGM PSGD, assisted by W Bro Michael Hogarth PrDepGDC.

Our new master is W Bro Pete Woodfield PPrSGW, our senior Past Master.

This is the fourth time he has been Master of the Lodge, which is a new record.

We had 15 guests too, so the members were nearly outnumbered.  An excellent evening amongst friends.

Well we have had one answer to our quizzes from Ken in our guestbook.  Not sure if they are all correct.  I will have to check when I get time - Webmaster.

So I checked and we have a winner!  There was a prize that was presented at our Christmas festivities.

The 70th Anniversary was celebrated with a lunch at Walmley Golf Club.  A lovely setting

with great food, wonderful company, some great entertainment and an outstanding cake

(tasted good too).  Well the best way to show you is the photographs.

This would not have happened without the unstinting work of Pete Woodfield

and a great big thanks to him.

That certain member has sent me some more photographs.  These were taken some years ago at the final dress rehearsal for a Ladies Night.  So the cabaret that evening included a Sand Dance.  Do you recognise anyone in the photographs - if so tell me?  New members will again be forgiven for not knowing those who are no longer members.  The other question for the older members - where is the venue?

Maybe I can find a prize for the winner this time, especially if the Webmaster can be spotted.  There must be at least 2 taking part and the member who sent the photographs is excluded.

Our glorious preceptors on one of the few occasions that we let them out

A certain member sent me some photographs taken a few years ago at one of our social events.  The photos follow.  Can anyone guess who they are taking part?  New members will be forgiven for not knowing those who are no longer members.  The other question - where is the venue?

No prizes - just the satisfaction of knowing whether you are right or wrong later.  I am assuming the member who gave me the photos will tell me who everyone is, as I am not quite sure I will get them all right. 

The forecast said the rain would stop at 10am.  It did rain at 10am, then 11am and was torrential at 12pm.  A very worrying time trying to finish setting up and for the cooks who arrived early.  Again, we must be the righteous, as the rain stopped and the sun shone.  We had a lovely afternoon.  I must thank all the helpers on Saturday for setting up and for clearing away afterwards and of course all those who provided food.  At least the Webmaster had two working arms this year.

The cooks were prepared from their previous experiences.  Members and others brought, salad, cakes and puddings.  So there was plenty to eat and all so good, there was too much to sample everything.  Another wonderful BBQ.

Pete had prepared the games and quiz.  So whilst eating they started the quiz.  I forget who won that.  Then the games began with teams of 6.  It seemed to be chaos, but worked well.

There were plenty of raffle prizes so many of us won there.  Finally the games winners were announced.  There were thanks to the  cooks, Mike and Neil, the raffle sellers, Stewart for loaning his BBQ, everyone who provided food and Linda and Jonathan for providing the venue.  The biggest thanks must go to Pete for organizing the quiz and games as that is the big attraction and makes the day.

So another successful BBQ which we seem to have every year and we raised £457, where the intention is for a social event rather than just to raise funds.  My apologies for the photos, which I admit are from 2014, as no one took photos this time - still, I doubt anyone would have noticed if I had not mentioned it.

Tonight we had an extra regular meeting to pass Bro Paul to the Second Degree.  So the ceremony was well done of course as is expected in St Blaise and especially as one visitor was our own Provincial Grand Master.  The jewel for the evening was the special adaption by W Bro Pete Woodfield of the Second Degree Tracing Board involving 7 other Brethren, which included various additional pieces.  A truly excellent evening.

So that specially adapted Second Degree Tracing Board is being exported next week to Worcestershire.

It is worth noting that another specially adapted explanation of the initiation ceremony by the illustrious W Bro Pete Woodfield was also exported.  That time to Staffordshire and Worcestershire in 2011.

Pete Woodfield wrote on Facebook today:

Popped into Birmingham Children's Hospital to hand over some cheques totalling £175.00 for Ward 15, the Children's Cancer Ward. Money raised from donations for the Christmas decorations put up by my  caring daughter and myself. Every bit helps. Still think Christmas should be every leap year though.

Congratulations to our very own W Bro Philip L. Hall who has achieved yet another first for the Lodge of St Blaise No 6113.  Every one of these is very well deserved.

Our First ever Grand Officer.

Our First ever Acting Grand Officer, as Assistant Grand Director of Ceremonies.

Our First ever Acting Grand Officer being promoted, to Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies.

And now (drum roll !!!!), our First ever Assistant Provincial Grand Master Designate, who will be invested at the Annual Meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge on 16th May 2015.  I am sure there will be a good turnout from the Lodge to cheer our excellent Brother.

Well the Frogs were raced on 20th February at Sutton Town Football Club - sorry this report is a bit late.

Unfortunately I could not go - shame.  I am told it was a great night and from the photographs they did have a good time.

The wooden spoon went to the Saints team - well chocolate frogs. 

Congratulations to the top two teams who could not be separated and were joint winners Coronation Street and Bedrock.

Welcome to Paul who joined St. Blaise today. I am sure you will appreciate being a member of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.

Welcome to John who joined St. Blaise today. I am sure you will appreciate being a member of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.

Yes this is a late news item.  I have only just found the following picture, mainly of our Lodge members at the annual meeting of the Provincial Grand Lodge (PGL) of Warwickshire, held at Stoneleigh.  The caption is from the report on the Warwickshire PGL website too.  The only Brother out of focus of the 6 St Blaise Brethren in the photograph is your dear webmaster - typical!

Brethren eagerly awaiting the opening of Provincial Grand Lodge 

Congratulations to Kevin M on becoming a Master Mason.  A brilliant evening.  The ceremony was excellent, the brethren of St Blaise were certainly on good form.  Afterwards, the Festive Board was enjoyed by all with good food and excellent company.  Thanks to the visitors who came and please do come again. 

Well the image is from a previous Frog Racing event, as no one remembered to take a photo at the Skittles - sorry folks!  The Skittles night was a great event held at The Sutton Town Football Club.  At times it seemed dangerous with those wooden balls hurtling down the alley.  I tried to explain to my wife that accuracy was more important - to no avail.  I was so surprised to be in the winning team and being presented with a prize.  Usually at next to bottom, we do not even get the booby prize.  Well done to my handpicked team.

At the half time break we ate fish and chips or chicken and chips (or both if your name was Pete M).  This was accompanied by the bottle push game - trying to flip a washer into a small circle with a bottle of whisky in it.  I do not know who won the whisky.

The second half had different skittles games.  The first was trying to hit a single pin and the last to send the ball between 2 pins without knocking one down.  What an excellent evening for £7.50 including the food.  If you missed the event, I am sure we will have another sometime, so watch the Events page for that.  We raised over £400 for charity that evening.  Well done to everyone who organized and helped - especially Pete, who provided the alleys free of charge and ran the whole evening.

Well we had a superb meeting this evening packed with events and for those who did not make it, you missed a great evening.  We had W Bro Richard Barker APGM who opened the Lodge.  He then presented Wayne with his Grand Lodge Certificate in an easy to understand fashion - thank you.  The ceremony was a passing followed by an extended tracing board by Lou given in his usual inimitable fashion.  Welcome to the world of the fellowcraft Stewart.  Then the highlight of the evening, the wonderful presentation of the 50 year certificate as a Freemason to Derrig by the APGM.  The meal at the festive board was excellent, except for a complaint by one well known Brother who does not like peas.

Following the lodge's successful Ladies' Evening on 4th April 2014 a cheque for £1200 was presented to the Midlands Air Ambulance Service at R.A.F. Cosford on Monday 14th July.  What an excellent and worthy cause and well done to all those involved.

Will it rain, won't it rain.  We were lucky again for the afternoon.  I am pleased to thank the helpers on Saturday for setting up, as the Webmaster could do little with one arm.

The cooks were prepared from their previous experiences.  Members and others brought baked potatoes, salad, cakes and puddings.  So there was plenty to eat and all so good, there was too much to sample everything.  Another wonderful BBQ.

Pete had prepared the games and quiz.  So whilst eating they started the quiz.  I forget who won that.  Next we had stand up bingo and I did not note who won that either.  Then the games began with teams of 6, except my team only had 4.  It seemed to be chaos, but worked well.  Not sure who won.

There were plenty of raffle prizes so many of us won there.  Finally the games positions were announced and I only remember my team came next to last.  My excuse was only have one arm to play.  There were thanks by the Worshipful Master to the cooks, Mike and Neil, the raffle sellers - thanks Tec, Stewart for loaning his BBQ, everyone who provided food and Linda and Jonathan for providing the venue.  The biggest thanks must go to Pete for organizing the quiz and games as that is the big attraction and makes the day.

So another successful BBQ which we seem to have every year, but is not an annual event.

Ladies Night for Carol, the wife of W Bro Peter Mallows, Worshipful Master and all the other wives and partners.  A good meal, lots of wine, good company and dancing to follow from DJ Boots.  The toasts were excellent - first by our Junior Warden to the ladies and then to our Worshipful Master by our Senior Warden, who also sang the ladies song.  Always great to attend a well organised event.

 seemed to me they really enjoyed themselves.

Welcome to Paul who joined St. Blaise today. I am sure you will appreciate being a member of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.

Welcome to Stewart who joined St. Blaise today. I am sure you will appreciate being a member of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.

This evening our Brother Phil was advanced by his father in law, David, into the Vesey Lodge of Mark Master Masons No. 757.  Congratulations to them both.  Your webmaster was there and it was a great evening attended by many well known senior Brethren to support them.

A memorable Installation meeting presided over by W Bro Michael Morris, our new Deputy Provincial Grand Master, ably supported by W Bro Humberto Campos ProvAGDC. The standrard of ritual was excellent of course (unlike the standard of spelling here leaving room for improvement). Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. W Bro Martin Fowkes installed W Bro Peter Mallows in an excellent ceremony.  Congratulations to our new Master for this Masonic year. 

There will certainly be work to do for the team with three (yes, 3) candidates expected to be initiated over the next three meetings.

An excellent evening at Sutton Town Football Club.  Once we had all managed to park and settle in, the games began.  There were 10 teams of 6 and the first games were golf, darts and hoopla.  After such exertion we had a break with fish or chicken and chips.

Then the serious stuff began - the frog racing.  We studied the form during each practice in order to decide on the betting.  The racing was fierce with much cheering on by those with bets on.  Our worshipful master complained about doping, but I do not know if that was him or the frog.  There were bets placed on your webmaster, but he only managed a close second to an expert in such racing.

So to the semi finals and then the finals.  I cannot remember the name of the team that won.  It may have been the Sinners, but it was Ken's team and his son won the final frog race.  Prizes were awarded and particular thanks to indispensable Pete who ran it and his helpers, plus Tec for selling raffle tickets.

We raised about £420 for charity and had a great time doing it.

What a strange title.  At our last regular meeting last Wednesday, we performed the second degree ceremony for two candidates, Wayne and Kevin.  That was a first for St Blaise <I had never seen it done before - webmaster>.  Well done everyone and congratulations to Wayne and Kevin on their passing.

Today we said goodbye to Steve, who passed to the Grand Lodge above on 27th April.  There was a good contingent from the Lodge at the funeral in Lichfield - myself, Lewis, Rodney, John, Pete M, Sidney and Derrig.  A good Mason - may he rest in peace.

In the words of our Worshipful Master, Martin.

Great night last night at Beetle Drive... we do know how to enjoy ourselves. Entertainment provided by me when I fell A*** over T** tripping over an extension lead.(I'd sue except it was me who put the lead there!!!). I covered myself with rice and a bit of Curry. My dear friend came up to me as I was recovering and said"If you've broken anything...can I have your tickets for Cuba". She's all heart.

He forgot the salad was added too, so it was a complete meal.  I know, I know, I should have the camera ready at all times!

An excellent evening and the winners were Phil and Neil.  The amount raised for charity was £250.

Another away match for the St Blaise first team.  Last time the match was in Staffordshire at Regis Lodge No 4463.  This time we visited the Trinity Blakesley Lodge No 8586 in Worcestershire, where we presented an Explanation of Elements of the First Degree Ceremony, devised by our legendary W Bro Pete Woodfield.

 W Bro Jonathan Amies presented Bro Wayne, our Fellowcraft, to each officer who explained their part in the ceremony.  The elements included a brief history of the Tyler, a piece from the Charity Steward, an explanation of his preparation before initiation, the working tools, a specially extended explanation of the apron and definitions of the grand principles.  Bro Wayne was involved too as he gave the answers about his preparation. So ended the first part.

The second part was a special explanation of the first degree tracing board involving questions and answers.  The late W Bro Mike Parkes, who we miss dearly, devised this many years ago.  W Bro Lew Owen and W Bro Pete Woodfield presented it.

 The standard of work was brilliant, as would be expected from St Blaise.  The poor prompter had so little to do, but valiantly followed the work and did not nod off.  There were many compliments from the audience who certainly enjoyed the evening.

Ladies Night, but not as we know it.  The Spring Ball was different with a show rather than speaches.  This was a posh frocks and dinner suits do (no I did not wear high heels!), with a meal during the interval at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall.

Showtime was provided by the London Philharmonic Skiffle Orchestra. We had a great show by talented (nearly insane) musicians and a wonderful time.

Brethren taking part on stage were Ken Vickers and

our own Worshipful Master, Martin was there too playing the washboard.

There was a raffle which raised the grand sum of £410 for Pancreatic Cancer Research.  The chairman of the social committee anounced a further £190 would be added to raise that to £600. A further £6 was raised from kissing Captain Cabbage from the orchestra.  This was a cause dear to our Brother, Mike Parkes who died too young in 2010, as he lost his wife Jenny in a very short time to pancreatic cancer.

Some of the audience joined in - some play the spoons more successfully than others.  Did they have a good time - see for yourself.

If you want to see more on the orchestra, have a look at http://www.lpso.co.uk/ or
http://website.lineone.net/~lpso/ .

We had a treat tonight at The Lodge of St. Blaise - a Pete special.  The Explanation of Elements of the First Degree Ceremony and Ritual was presented by twelve members of the Lodge to our two recent initiates, Wayne and Kevin.  Also receiving the presentation was a very new Brother visitor who was initiated the previous evening.  The evening went very well (of course) followed by an enjoyable dinner amongst friends.

Welcome to Kevin who joined St. Blaise today. I am sure you will appreciate being a member of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.

A memorable Installation meeting with no less than the RW Provincial Grand Master presiding, ably supported by W Bro James Pike ProvAGDC.  The standrard of ritual was excellent of course (unlike the standard of spelling here leaving room for improvement).  Even our Secretary was applauded by the PGM for his Minutes and support for Province - best Secretary in Warwickshire Province - Wow!  Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.  Maybe there was a tear in the eye of W Bro Pete Woodfield, but that was from the emotional event of installing his oldest friend, W Bro Martin Fowkes as the shiny new Master for this Masonic year.

We welcome W Bro Mike Doyle as a joining member this evening.  No sooner has he joined than he was appointed one of the Stewards for this year.  Being an ex Gothic Lodge member, he is already well known to the Lodge.

There was also a favourable ballot for a candidate, so more Lodge work to do next year.  

I was privileged today, to be able to present a cheque for £1,600.00 to the Teenage Cancer Trust on behalf of the Lodge of St. Blaise. This brings the total raised by the Mill Street Masonic Hall lodges to £3,400.50.
The lovely young lady receiving the cheque is Georgia (13), who is the granddaughter of Walter, the caterer at Mill Street, who we were all happy to support. Georgia has been undergoing Chemo for several months and has more to come, so fingers crossed. She certainly couldn't be in a better place, the facilities and care is second to none. Passing some of the rooms on Ward 15 with the younger children in there, some only 3 or 4 years old certainly tested the stopcock on the old tear ducts.
The cuddly toy was donated by Pam from the Warwickshire Masonic charity office and I donated a gift voucher to Georgia's young brother Tom (6), so he doesn't feel left out.
This brings to an end a quite incredible year for me. Time to retire me thinks!

 

Photograph by Nick Hudson of Hudlines.

Welcome to Wayne who joined St. Blaise yesterday.  I am sure you will appreciate being a member of our excellent Lodge and enjoy making a daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.

As an extra, the Quest Club celebrated their thirtieth birthday with an event at Oscott Social Club.  The club actually started on 30th September 1982, which was our Worshipful Master's, aka Pete Woodfield, 35th birthday.  So guess how old he is on 30th September 2012?  No prizes - pensioners rule, OK.

The celebrations included the presentation of a cheque to Cancer Research UK, after the epic tandem ride from Birmingham to Frankfurt and Leipzig.  The cheque presented was ........ £8,000 - Wow!!

They raised more money for charity that evening too, including an auction conducted by our very own Philip Hall.

We even had a winner during the auction as Pete Matthews won this rare excellent bottle of whisky.

Well I know he danced at Ladies Night this year, but the same singer has got Pete Woodfield on the dance floor again.

He who never dances!

The Quest Club 30 years Charity Cycle Ride

from Birmingham to Frankfurt, Leipzig and back to Birmingham.

Back from our memorable trip to our German twin cities of Frankfurt and Leipzig, where we received a fantastic welcome from both councils. Well done to all the team for a job well done.

On a personal note, a big thank you to Martin, Lesley and Jonathan for seeing me off from outside the Birmingham Council House and on behalf of the Quest Club all the other family and friends who turned up.

My grateful thanks to all those who have already sponsored us and a gentle reminder to those who haven't, there is still time before our presentation night on Friday 21st September at the Oscott Social Club, Witton Lodge Road.

As you can see, Pete remembered his torch to light his way, so he did not get lost.

What a great day.  Various supporters were there to cheer on our Worshipful Master and Olympic Torchbearer, Pete Woodfield as he ran slowly past the throngs lining the street in Wolverhampton, with the Torch held high.  A truly emotional event.  Family, friends and Lodge Members were there to support him - we are so proud of him.  A day he will never forget.

As Pete said before he went -

Will be off shortly to carry the torch. This will be the first time I have ever run without competing against someone or trying to beat my best time ever in training.
Time to reflect on all those people who for the ultimate reason cannot be with me today,but who so enriched my life.

He trained hard for this -

Just started high-altitude training the weekend, up Barr Beacon, aagh Barr Beacon brings back memories. Reversing the car into some small cutaway down one of the narrow lanes, the gently swaying of the vehicle as the windows steamed-up, and that was when I was on my own.

A short video can be seen on Youtube at http://youtu.be/Oe7rEkk8xSU .

I am sure our Worshipful Master, Pete and his Lady, Lucy will remember this night.

53 attended.  Not a large number, but it was obvious that everyone enjoyed the evening.  The food was good as well as the company - the wine flowing helped too.  Our Worshipful Master took wine with those he went to school with and I think four stood up!  We had tales from school from W Bro Martin Fowkes who proposed the toast to our Worshipful Master.

Bro Junior Warden (stand in) was W Bro Neil Watkin who proposed the toast to the Ladies with the usual compliments of course.

After the dinner there was dancing with music supplied by the DJ, Boots.  The SURPRISE was during a break, with a short cabaret by certain Brethren of the Lodge with an Olympic theme honouring (or should that be sending up) our Worshipful Master's achievement as an Olympic Torchbearer.  Lew narated whilst Martin was the Torchbearer, Jonathan in swimming trunks, Mick shotput, Roger as a female? discuss thrower, Ken fencing, Gerry with javelin, Tec table tennis extrordinaire and finally Pete M trick cyclist.  Lucy lit the torch and ran away, whilst the team departed slowly to "Chariots of Fire".  If you want more, you can see this on Youtube - part 1 http://youtu.be/nRD-sCpQHSY and part 2 http://youtu.be/rJkbwJ8MD2M .

It is my sad duty to declare that W Bro Wilfred T Bromley, PPrGSwdBr passed to the Grand Lodge above on 23rd April 2012.  A number of St Blaise Brethren attended the funeral on 1st May 2012.  Bro Bill, who was previously a member of Gothic Lodge joined St Blaise in November 2009.

Bill was a Freemason in the true sense and will be missed. 

We remember the sad passing of a former member of the Lodge, W Bro Denis A Ashburn today.

I did not know him, but he was Worshipful Master of The Lodge of St Blaise in 1990.  After leaving St Blaise, it is believed he joined St Alphege Lodge.  His funeral at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium was on 3rd May and was attended by members of this Lodge. 

Numbers were short for this event, so with one last effort we were filled to capacity with 80 attending a wonderful evening.

The frogs were on form and all (people and frogs) took part in the racing, with betting on the outcome of the races.  Not just frog racing, but hoop-la, darts and golf too.

A great night was had by all and the prize winners were the Wright/Watkin team, but I cannot remember what they were called.  I will load some pictures, when I figure out how to again.

Our thanks in particular to our Social Fund Chairman, Pete Woodfield.  Without him, this would not happen.  An excellent sum of £514 was raised for charity.

Congratulations to our Worshipful Master, Peter Woodfield.

In recognition of his hard work in raising funds for charities.  Instigated by W Bro Lew Owen, Pete was proposed by various Brethren and has been chosen as an Olympic Torchbearer.  He will carry the Torch on 1st July somewhere between Birmingham and Coventry.  Note the date, so we can support him.

Pete has been raising funds for charities in the Quest Club for thirty years.  He has also been the driving force for 15 years as the chairman of the St Blaise social committee, which raises funds for charity.  In addition there have been three notable charity fund raising events.  These were riding a tandem, first from Lands End to John O'Groats, then from Birmingham to Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Cardiff and London and later from Birmingham to three of its twin cities; Lyon, Milan and Frankfurt.  There may be another this year to Leipzig.

Well done Pete.  You are our shining light and we are all very proud of you.

As usual, the Ladies and friends were invited to the festive board after the regular meeting.  The tradition of singing grace and return of thanks in Gothic Lodge, has now passed to us and the new St. Blaise Choir sang.  Luckily some members (the Worshipful Master, myself and certain members who know their failings) are not included so the singing was delightful.  This is expected to be a regular feature at all our meetings.

 The dinner went well and afterwards there was homegrown entertainment inlcuding carols, singing, guitar playing, sketches, poems and magic tricks.

I have no idea how he pours water into a newspaper, unfolds it and then pours wine from it into a glass, though I note he did not drink it!  I do not remember what is happening here - maybe best that way.

Even Santa and Rudolph turned up.

A thoroughly enjoyable evening.

It was also someone's birthday and he was not forgotten, with a card and small birthday cake.  Thank you says the Treasurer.

Congratulations to members being promoted at the next annual meeting of Provincial Grand Lodge on 19th May 2012.  The promotions are W. Bro. Pete Woodfield P.Prov.S.G.W., W. Bro. Bill Bromley P.Prov.J.G.W., W. Bro. John Morrison P.Prov.G.Supt.Wks. and W. Bro. K Vickers P.Prov.S.G.D.

I, the webmaster, will be there of course and it would be great to see Brethren at that meeting to support those receiving promotions.  There will be a lunch afterwards and further details will be included when known.  You can contact the Secretary for more information.

At the Lodge Installation Meeting our new Worshipful Master, W. Bro. Pete Woodfield P.Prov.G.Reg., was installed by the Immediate Past Master, W. Bro. Mike Blackham.  An interesting and fun evening according to a junior member, Bro. Pete Matthews.  There was an excellent charitable collection that evening of £248 for the Warwickshire 2012 Festival.

A guided tour of Birmingham.

Looking at its history, buildings, statues and other works of art.  The tour guide was our very own Birmingham historian, Pete Woodfield.

We started at St Chad's Cathedral with a short talk on how the hamlet of Birmingham began and then grew.  This was no ordinary tour - yes, he knew all the dates and even the names of all the bishops accross the front of the Cathedral, but it included unusual items such as Pete's dentist opposite, the Dental Hospital.

We walked one and half miles and were shown dozens of buildings and features.  This was interpersed with talks on those who shaped Birmingham such as the members of the Lunar Society who had a profound effect on Birmingham's progress.

Many of the buildings we were shown were old including the magnificent Council House, Town Hall and Hall of Memory, but also new buildings such as the International Convention Centre - so the main theatre foundations sit on rubber and when full the building goes down 3mm.

A wonderful morning with glorious weather.  All thanks to you Pete and for the few that stayed, a delightful lunch at the Marriott.  There may be another walk and for anyone who has not been, I recommend it.

The Lunar Society members (Matthew Bolton, James Watt and William Murdoch) outside the ICC.  Heroes of W. Bro. Pete Woodfield

The Summer BBQ was held at the home of Linda and Jonathan Amies.  A sunny day, but windy.  So windy that Pete Woodfield's tent took off.

The ticket price included an all you can eat BBQ with a large selection of cakes and puddings.  Everyone ate there fill, whilst deliberating over the quiz.

Afterwards came the games including golf, archery, bowls and hoopla.  I cannot remember which team won the prizes, but all seemed to enjoy themselves.

The raffle raised £163 and the total raised for the event was £441.  This has been added to the funds in the Social Fund, which is used to support various charities, both masonic and non-masonic.

The Worshipful Master thanked everyone for coming and making this a wonderful afternoon, with particular thanks to Pete Woodfield who organised the qiz, games and raffle.

41 members, relatives and friends gathered in Stratford on Avon on a sunny afternoon at the Bancroft Basin close by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

We boarded the Countess of Evesham and sailed gently downstream to Luddington.  On the way we enjoyed the first two courses of our meal.  We moored at Luddington for a short break and sweet and coffee were served during the return upstream.

During coffee, impromptu singing broke out amongst certain Brethren lead by Lew Owen.  The songs were appropriate to our Worshipful Master, Michael Blackham and the boating scene.  Of course this began with Michael Row the Boat Ashore.

Our Worshipful Master thanked all for coming and the staff for making the event a success.  It was a pleasure having a meal in this serene and peaceful setting.  The event was not run to make a profit, but did raise £121 to add to the Social Fund coffers.

One of the "crew" at the Luddington mooring

The promotions of W Bro Peter Mallows to P Prov G Supt Wks and the promotion of W Bro Jonathan Amies to P Prov JGD were greeted with acclaim by the Brethren.

Our Worshipful Master, W Bro Michael Blackham presented a cheque for £1,000 to Tracy Goodwin of the NSPCC.  He was accompanied by W Bro Jonathan Amies.  This donation was raised at the Ladies Night held in April 2010.