Welcome Project, 60th Presentation & a 1st Degree.
For our September 2024 regular meeting we received a request to partake in the Welcome Project Initiation, undertake a 60th Year of Service presentation & award The Chosen Man .
We held our regular meeting on the 5th September at Mark Masons Hall, September can often be a light meeting but not this year. Rifles Lodges in London have a long history of stepping up when called upon. This meeting was no different!
Having a Ruler attend a private Lodge is no small and insignficant matter as any lodge Secretary will tell you.
VW.Bro. Michael Todd attended the meeting with a retinue of Grand Officers, including our Grand Inspector Kieron Mallon and Visiting Officer W.Bro James Smith
The Initiate
Our Initiate is Harry, son of our Director of Ceremonies took his first step into Freemasonry under the watchful gaze of VW.Bro. Todd Assistant Metropolitan Grand Master and a retinue of Grand Officers. Harry being a Lewis took this step with his Father (now Brother) in the chair and performed the ceremony faultlessly.
Harry received a copy of the Initiates Guide from W.Bro. Mallon Met Grand Inspector, and was presented with a pair of white gloves from our Membership Officer W.Bro. Peter Wood.
60 Years of Service
VW.Bro. Todd requested the presence of Bro Alan in the East, they sat together in the middle of the Lodge in the style of a fire side chat as they discussed Alans, life, career and Masonic journey.
W.Bro. Smith LGR was first initiated into Bloomsbury Rifles on the 11th June 1964, He progressed through the offices of the lodge finally being installed as Master in 1995 after a break for family and career.
Alan was born in 1939 in Cambridge but moved to London during the war while his dad served, while he studied at the Royal School of Music his career took a different path in advertising and marketing resulting in him owning his own marketing company.
Alan is very much looking forward to receiving his 70th Certificate.
Chosen Man
During the Napoleonic Wars men of distinction within the Rifles Regiments were granted the title of "Chosen Man". While this rank carried no authority, it did grant the holder exemption from camp duties such as digging the latrine. The cloth armband was highly prized among the men but had little economic value. Awards for merit, marksmanship and leadership continue today and have varied from armbands, patches and trophies.
The award remains alive today within the Lodge to commend one brother per year for exceptional service to the Lodge. The year W.Bro. Peter Wood has been awarded the Victorian Rose Bowl, which was first awarded in the Regiment for exceptional drill and class.
The Welcome Project.
This is an exciting opportunity to meet with other new Initiates, or Exaltees at a Lodge or Chapter meeting. The meeting gives you the opportunity to witness a high-quality delivery of the ceremony which you have recently participated in.
The Object of The Welcome Project is twofold:
1. To provide all Initiates (Craft) and Exaltees (Royal Arch) with an opportunity to observe a high-quality ceremony, soon after their own, at a specially selected meeting.
2. Equally importantly, to facilitate the extension and growth of their circle of Masonic friends and contacts at all levels of the organisation across London. Engagement is at the heart of the Project’s aspirations.
Attendance at a meeting participating in the Welcome Project can be booked in advance through a dedicated website. Look out for dates of future exaltations (or initiations) my visiting the website below:
