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Grand Superintendent’s Report Made at the Annual General Meeting of The Provincial Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling and Clackmannan on 25 th October 2010 All 10 Royal Arch Chapters, 4 Cryptic Councils & 5 Lodge & Councils within the Province have been officially visited at least twice during the year. Once to witness and give support to the Installing Team and Office-bearers during the Installation and once for the official visit to see the Chapter, Lodge & Council and Cryptic Council at work and to examine the books. I have to report that all Chapters, Lodge & Councils and Cryptic Councils operated in accordance with the requirements of The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland. At this time I would like to thank all First Principals, Worthy Commander Noahs, Trice Illustrious Masters, Scribes, Recorders and Treasurers for their work. Although many Chapters, Lodge & Councils and Cryptic Councils have been struggling for Membership and candidates, all are in good heart. Strathdevon R.A. 272 has experienced a particularly difficult time but we have to thank MEC Ben Adams and his Office Bearers for their dedication in keeping the Chapter going. I would like to add that the size of deputations during official visits especially at recent installations has been very impressive – well worthy of being recorded. Moving over to Supreme Grand Chapter meetings. The Provincial Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling and Clackmannan has been well represented at the meetings of Supreme. I attended all three during the year and the Vernal Equinox meeting of Saturday 20 March 2010 was again of significance to the Provincial Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling & Clackmannan when two Past Grand Superintendents of this Province were re-installed into offices in Supreme. MEC Archibald H McWatt was again installed as 2 nd Grand Principal of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland and MEC David A C Niven as Grand Director of Ceremonies. We also had the honour of seeing MEC Peter Philp installed as a Grand Steward – Congratulations Peter. During the year the Provincial Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling and Clackmannan had representatives at the Installation of other Grand Superintendents of Sister Provinces:- MEC Ian Muir – Glasgow Province on 10 th April 2010. MEC Alexander McMordie – Banff, Moray & Nairn Province on 1 st May 2010. MEC John Hackett – Argyll & The Isles Province on 8 th May 2010. At all these we were made very welcome and fraternal greetings were exchanged. Accompanied by other office-bearers and on most occasions by MEC Archibald McWatt I had the pleasure of attending convocations of sister Provinces:- Renfrewshire on 31 st October 2009. Glasgow on 23 rd November 2009. Lanark Middle Ward on 25 th November 2009. Edinburgh on 13 th January 2010. On Saturday 27 March we celebrated a great occasion in this Province. The 125 th Anniversary re-dedication ceremony of Falkirk RA Chapter No. 210 took place on that day. This was carried out by the PGRAC of S & C. It was a great success and I thank all who were involved. The 1 st Principal and O-B of Falkirk RA Chapter No. 210 have to be congratulated on organising a very professional event. On that occasion I had the honour of conferring Hon. Life Membership on the 1 st Grand Principal, MEC Ian Fraser and on MEC Donnie Sutherland, Grand Superintendent of Ross & Cromarty. Another event I had the pleasure of attending and involving the Provincial Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling & Clackmannan was the 5-way Inter province degree at Kirkcaldy on Friday 12 th March 2010. This involved a mixed team of Provincial O-B from Stirling & Clackmannan, Fife & Kinross, Perthshire, Linlithgowshire and Angus & Mearns. It was a very successful event and will be repeated next year. The Province of Angus & Mearns will be the hosts on that occasion. I thank our Office-bearers who were involved for all their efforts on the evening. Along with MEC Archie McWatt I attended the 175 years Anniversary celebrations of Cannongate Kilwinning RA Chapter No. 56 in Edinburgh on Friday 5 th March 2010. The re-dedication ceremony was conducted by The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland. I also represented the Provincial Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling & Clackmannan at two divine services since our last AGM. On Sunday 10 th April 2010 – Province of Dunbartonshire in the Abbotsford Church, Clydebank. & on Sunday 25 th April 2010 – The Divine service held by the District Grand Priory of Forth Valley at Boness. I now come to the highlights of the year for me. Back at the last AGM – It was decided to make the Dzikwe Trust for the orphans in Zimbabwe our chosen charity and that we should ask Chapters, L & Cs and C Cs for donations. This appeal was very successful and with a special Reigning Principals degree on the 4 th May together with a Cork Degree at Brightons on 29 th May almost £3,000.00 was raised This was made up to £4,000.00 by the Province. I had the honour and privilege of presenting this cheque to the First Grand Principal at the June Meeting of Supreme. I am delighted to say that we received a letter back from MEC Seppo Ainamo in Zimbabwe copies of which are circulating round the Chapter this evening. Getting a letter like that is much appreciated and makes our efforts feel really worth while. In addition to donating to the Dzikwe Trust Chapters, Lodge & Councils and Cryptic Councils in the Province gave about £600 to the Grand Lodge Haiti disaster Fund. All have to be commended for their charity efforts this year. I was honoured to accompany the 2 nd Grand Principal MEC Archie McWatt to Greece between 13 th & 17 th May to represent the First Grand Principal and Supreme Grand Chapter at the Installation of MEC Dimitris Mamas as the First Grand Principal of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Greece. While there we also attended the Quarterly Communication of the National Grand Lodge of Greece. We were made very welcome and treated like royalty. We made many friends and have invitations to a number of overseas destinations. The greatest highlight of the year for me was to accompany the First Grand Principal, MEC Tom Frost and MEC Grahame Smith, Grand Scribe ‘E’ to Mauritius and East Africa between 19 th & 28 th June. There is not enough time to tell you all that happened during this tour but I will just mention the main events. In Mauritius our first job was to consecrate Friendship Lodge and Council No. 160 in Phoenix. Following that we attended a meeting of Friendship Royal Arch Chapter No.160 and enjoyed their hospitality which well reflected their name friendship. We were also involved in the consecration of the new Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapitre General de Maurice with M.E. Companions Frost and Edmond acting second and third Grand Principals respectively which necessitated somewhat rapid instruction in the ‘French’ method of opening their Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter. After the ceremonial we were given Honorary Membership of their Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter. We then flew from Mauritius to Nairobi in Kenya via Madagascar. There we had a very busy time. At the Masonic Centre we attended a meeting of Orient Lodge and Council No. 437, Scottish Constitution. We were privileged to witness an excellent degree working followed by the Installation of the Worthy Commander Noah and Most Excellent Chief. The following day we returned to Masonic Centre in Nairobi where the Most Excellent First Grand Principal, Ian Fraser and the rest of the Deputation from Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland conducted the ceremony of Reponing and Rededication of Iona Royal Arch Chapter No. 667. The Chapter is located in Dar Es Salam but for convenience the ceremony was being conferred in Nairobi. Again here we were made Honorary Members. Following this we attended the Annual Convocation and Installation of the District Grand Superintendent and the Commissioned Office Bearers of the District Grand Royal Arch Chapter of East Africa which was the main reason for our visit. The Ceremony was carried out by the First Grand Principal MEC Ian Fraser assisted by MECs Tom Frost, Grahame Smith and myself. An excellent and enjoyable banquet with the usual toasts concluded the evening. We also had the pleasure of attending the Annual Communication of the District Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of East Africa. Lastly I was invited to accompany MEC Archibald McWatt to New York on the 9 th to 13 th September 2010 to represent The Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland at the Bi-centenary of the oldest Cryptic Council in the world, Columbian Council No.1 of Royal, Select and Super Excellent Masters of New York. I was honoured to be present and I thank MEC Archie and Supreme Grand Chapter for inviting me to participate in this visit. It has been an exceptionally busy year for me and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I enjoy the company of the Companions who attend with me and also those I meet on those many occasions. |
At last year’s AGM I thanked the Companions of the Provincial Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Stirling and Clackmannan for the excellent support given to me as the Grand Superintendent. I must repeat that thank you this year but more strongly and sincerely. The Members and Office-bearers have made my job ever so much easier than it could have been. Also I could not have chosen better and more supportive Companions for my Commission than the present five, not forgetting MEC William Fulton, the Treasurer.