Hi, To All our Members, Friends and Family,
Who would have guessed coming in to 2020 that we would be where we are now?!
Normally we would have met three times as a Lodge since my last year’s Christmas message but sadly we have only met just the once in January 2020 and unlikely to meet again until October 2021!
Recent events have claimed many lives as well as livelihoods but as a Mason, I am proud that I am part of an organisation that has ‘stepped up to plate’ and given both money and physical support to several Covid related, Masonic and non-Masonic good causes, despite the heavy restrictions imposed upon us by this current pandemic.
Heritage Lodge has been doing its part and has contributed so far, just under £800 to the Covid-19 Appeal. This included monies raised at our ‘Virtual’ Xmas Supper Party held on 2 nd December 2020, a first for the Lodge of this type of event. Regular ‘Zoom’ meetings held monthly since March have replaced in part, our ability to meet and communicate with each other, but of course cannot replace the ‘real thing’. The challenge that we all now face is what will become the new ‘norm’ and it is clear that the new ‘norm’ will be somewhat different to what we have enjoyed in the past, or at least for the foreseeable future.
On a positive note, we are have managed to maintain reasonable contact as a Lodge throughout these strange and difficult times, proving that our email sign off slogan of; ‘Stay Safe and Stay in Touch’ has, in the most part been received well and kept everyone focused and ‘in touch’ via emails and on-line media.
This together with just ‘picking up the phone’ and checking in on those who are less able to use the modern media options available, allows me to report that as far as I am aware, apart from some known casualties along the way, we are in as good a shape as can be expected going into this Christmas.
My normal underlying message however, at this time of the year is even more pertinent than ever as we enter into this next uncertain phase and I urge you all to continue to act as our ‘eyes and ears’ in ensuring that we get to hear of any Brother in distress who may need to enlist our assistance as soon as possible.
Our Brother Almoner’s own dedicated email address: heritage-almoner@outlook.com is always open as a safe haven for any concerns or issues that you may have or simply if you want a ‘chat’.
Andrew is always telling me however that the site is rarely contacted, which in one respect is good news, but in an another we may all be under-utilising this facility, which brings me on to the subject of our own Lodge website heritagelodge.org.uk.
W.Bro. Ozan has done a fantastic job in not only setting this up, but in conjunction with myself in maintaining it on a regular basis, not only as a source of information about our own lodge, but with several useful and interesting links into the wider community of Freemasonry.
If you are reading this message, then you are signed on to this site and therefore should be able to access the many and varied articles and links that we have posted to date.
I do however at this point have one ‘moan’ in so far as we are not getting as much input from all of you! which I voice regularly at most Lodge meetings and more recently at our various ‘Zoom’ meetings.
This year in particular it will be important for us ‘Scribes’ to record as much information about all our experiences of having survived (we hope!), a major pandemic so that future generations can read about it in the same way that we can read about our own Lodge history for example, from the book written by our predecessors, which I serialised and is also on the website.
I therefore urge you all again in this message to write down your own experiences and thoughts during these dark times so that we, and future generations, can understand what happened in our small corner of the world. Then in whatever format you are most comfortable with, send them to either W.Bro. Ozan and / or me and we will suitably edit, (if necessary) , and post on to the website.
As usual I have rambled on far too long and so I leave you this year with some poignant words in what I hope will be of some further encouragement to continue to ride out this current storm and look forward to a brighter horizon in the not-too-distant future?
Have a Merry Christmas and (Hopefully!) a Better New Year for All,
Tony Saunders
Secretary, Heritage Lodge no. 5572