THE LODGE OF ST. GEORGE PERTH MASONIC TOUR 2

CornerstoneLodge No. 368 (GLWA) Installation Meeting

Following on from the hugely successful Initiation Ceremony conducted by The Lodge of St. George No.1152 in Perth, Western Australia in February 2017, The Lodge of St. George once again had another compelling reason to return there in May 2019. The Installation Meeting of Cornerstone Lodge on Friday 17th May 2019 at the West Subiaco Masonic Hall located at 76 Herbert Road, Shenton Park, WA 6007, Western Australia, saw the installation of Bro. Robert Page into the Chair of King Solomon.

Bro. Robert was initiated into The Lodge of St. George No. 1152 in 1998 and remains a member of The Lodge. He was a Past Senior Warden of The Lodge when he left Singapore to move to Perth with his wife Dee. During that time he was a huge influence in the formative years of many young Freemasons in The Lodge, whilst his Welsh singing voice, which would spontaneously explode into rugby song (intelligible only to himself), was a constant reassuring presence at post-Festive Board drinks. He was also instrumental in continuing one of St. George’s great traditions, the reciting of poetry at Festive Board – and his particular favourite was “If” by Rudyard Kipling.

With one of their own being installed, The Lodge of St. George assembled en-masse to support their Brother on his big day. A total of 6 Brethren flew down from Singapore to Perth for the occasion comprising Worshipful Master W. Bro. Bruce Blanckley, Junior Warden W. Bro. Dr. Thomas Dawson (together with wife, Tanya), District Grand Director of Ceremonies W. Bro. Raji Ramason, District Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies W. Bro. Saptak Santra, Bro. Stephen Banks and Bro. Michael Nayler. They were joined in Perth by The Lodge’s “Perth contingent”, W. Bro. Kenneth Jones (Robert Page’s Proposer into St. George), W. Bro. Andrew Hiles, W. Bro. Jarle Aakermann as well as Bro. Robert Page himself, to make an impressive total of 10 members of The Lodge in total.

Following the traditional Cornerstone “pre-meeting” Port & Sherry reception, W. Robert Page was installed in an immaculate ceremony that was graced by the MW Grand Master of The Grand Lodge of Western Australia, MW. Bro. Peter Kirwan. The presentation of the Second Degree Working Tools were presented by W. Bro. Raji Ramason (who himself was Passed together with Robert Page in a Double Passing ceremony of The Lodge of St. George in January 1999).

The Installation Banquet was held at The University Club of Western Australia, Hackett Drive, Crawley WA 6009. The Worshipful Master of The Lodge of St. George. W. Bro. Bruce Donald Blanckley (himself having been Installed only 2 weeks earlier!), presented the Worshipful Master of Cornerstone Lodge with a Mont Blanc plan as a gift. In addition, the toast to the Worshipful Master was given by W. Bro. Saptak Santra. The celebrations continued long into the night with a team of over 15 Brethren entering one of the more “eye-opening” nightspots in Perth all dressed in tuxedos and apparently under the guise of being an “orchestra”.

The following Saturday the St. George team were hosted to a cocktail reception at W. Bro. Robert’s apartment in South Perth. The revelry continued for the rest of the weekend in true “St. George” tradition with a wine our through the Swan Valley. The St. George team returned fresh-faced and suitably prepared for their own Regular Meeting four days later!