Portland Lodge No.6170, which meets at Ashington Masonic Hall, received a very special guest of honour, in the form of 12 year old Finlay Shields.
After the Lodge was called off Finlay was admitted, along with his Dad, W.Bro. Alan Shields of Bothal Lodge No.4116, and his Grandad, Bro. Bill Cooper of St Albans Lodge No.5322. W.Bro Gordon Craigs, Assistant Provincial Grand Master, who is also the Senior Warden of Portland Lodge then presented a Certificate of Special Commendation from the R.W. Provincial Grand Master to Finlay, in recognition of him giving up part of his Christmas Day to dress as Santa’s Elf and help deliver the Christmas Dinners with the Meals on Wheels Team. Finlay, being a keen artist was also presented with some art materials to assist him pursue his hobby.
After the meeting Finlay was the guest of honour at the Festive Board and totally enjoyed his evening. His elder brother, Connor, was recently initiated into Freemasonry so who knows, in a few years when Finlay is older we could see another brother.
Portland Lodge was adopted by the Meals on Wheels Team recently as the members were considering forming their own lodge but instead decided to adopt Portland Lodge which was facing imminent closure. The Lodge is now strong once again and looking forward to a bright future due to the influx of new members from the Meals on Wheels Team.
Many thanks go to W.Bro Bob Waddell for the submission of this article.
Congratulations, from everyone at Northumberland Freemasons, to Finlay on his very well deserved award and we look forward to the day that he joins our fantastic organisation and becomes a brother in every sense of the word.
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