The stand this year was an updated version of our usual exhibition with additional information about the tercentenary celebrations. The team of David Watson, John Ternent, Ryan Bruce and Andrew Smith were on hand to answer questions from the general public and Masons from all over the UK. We even had a visit from a Freemason over from South Africa who was pleased to see us ‘getting out there’. As in previous years, the stars of the show were the TLC bears and it was fantastic to see the look on the faces of children as they recognise ‘their bear’, tell us their story and they (and the parents) were so grateful when they realise where the bears had come from.
Other ‘highlights from the day – John Ternent brought the ‘wrong’ polo shirt with the old Provincial logo (which we need to stop using) – the technical solution was to nail a green bear over the badge. It looked daft, but proved a successful ice breaker. We also had a long conversation with two firearms officers who were laden down with kit and enjoyed a brief respite in the shade of our stand. Last but not least, we had a visit from our PGM, Ian Craigs accompanied by his granddaughter Isla. Ian was attending the show and stopped by to lend his support.
All of the posters, banners and display materials are kept at the Provincial Office and are available to Brethren who wants to use them for events etc.
A fantastic day in the sun meeting a lot of people and talking to them about Freemasonry, Pass the after-sun cream please!!