Dear Brethren all, where has the year gone? I do not know about you but time has really flown by; perhaps it is a sign of our times, so much to do - family, work and Masonic commitments, anxious time spent urging our cricket team to excel, wasted time spent encouraging the English football team and then there was the rugby – we beat Australia, ahh… total bliss! Nothing else matters, success is infectious and brings much contentment. So I arrive at this time of year with a spring in my step and without a raincoat, the weather has even perked up and all that is left is for me is to make my last-minute dash to the shops for some gifts. Every year I end up in John Lewis in Oxford Street on or around Christmas Eve. The shop is a saviour for shoppers like me; I am sure the staff know me and smile benignly as I trudge out laden with bags – they must remember me from last year!

Looking back for a moment, our District has made such good progress, yet again, with our recruitment: 27 new members have joined us and to them I say you are all most welcome and I am sure you are already enjoying the friendship, companionship and bonhomie which exemplifies our Order. We have enjoyed another Lunch for wives, partners and friends, this time at the Bleeding Heart Yard restaurant where we were treated to a talk on Jack the Ripper – excellent. We inaugurated a dinner for new members, which we held at Champagne Charlie’s Wine Bar at Charing Cross - another great night with a very interesting round table discussion. Our District Meeting was the best attended ever and our Guest of Honour was R. W. Bro Clive Manuel our Deputy Grand Master. He wrote afterwards that he had been treated to an excellent meeting and Festive Board and that he had enjoyed himself very much.

Looking ahead, we will be holding an Awareness evening on 19th January for any Mason who has an interest in the AMD. We plan to host around 50 at MMH and hope to encourage many of them to become members, so it should be quite an evening. A Spring Lunch will be held on 26th April, the new members’ dinner will be held on 11th July and the visit schedule is well underway. Our website is up to date and relevant – have you seen the pictures (I always seem to have a glass in my hand!!) and there is more, so do keep an eye on the website for the latest news from around the District.

And the big news is that we will have a new Council in London, to be called The Goose & Gridiron Council and its number is now known – it is 275. It will be a welcome addition to our District and when we have a date for the Consecration it will be posted on the website. Please come along and support this huge event in our District.
So let’s get back to Christmas and our busy lives; it is, of course, a time for family and friends, good company and good food, a time for partying and yet also a time for reflection. Let those reflections encourage us to continue to demonstrate our masonic principles by our words and actions and, especially at this time of year, to remember those who are lonely and and do not share our good fortunes.

I wish you, your families and friends Christmas best wishes and I look forward to seeing you all next year, which I trust will be a happy and healthy one for all.

Colin Woodcock
District Grand Prefect.