Newsletter

Dear Brethren,

You will have seen from the latest newsletter that Festival events are moving forward apace however support around the Province is very patchy.

The MBF 2025 Festival will be the first Festival which Oxfordshire Mark has had the honour of hosting since the Province was consecrated. It will be many years before Oxfordshire’s turn comes around again.

Can I remind you that it is YOUR Festival and not something concocted by the Festival Committee, all of whom are working hard to make it a success, but it stands or falls on the efforts of every member of the Province.

The Festival culminates with The Festival Banquet which all members, including friends and family, can attend. Other attendees will include the Rulers of the Degree, representatives from MBF, and representatives from the Provinces around the country. From the newest Mark Master Masons to Provincial Grand Masters.

It was exceedingly difficult to find a location big enough to accommodate the Banquet, but your Festival Committee has been fortunate to secure the Examination Schools in the centre of Oxford which will be an impressive venue situated in the heart of ancient Oxford. Such a venue is not cheap, and the Province needs to raise approximately £20,000 by May 2023 as the next instalment of the hire charge. The Festival Treasurer has opened a Festival Support Fund for this purpose.

There are three ways in which you or your Lodge can help raise this money.

1. Last year we introduced the concept of a Festival Bond. The idea is that Brethren can take out a Bond to lend to the Province £500 or £1,000, this will be repaid in 2025 when tickets to the Banquet are sold. Although interest is not payable, Bond Holders will be entitled to a discount on the price of a ticket to the Banquet. Full details are available from the Festival Secretary. So far, a number of Brethren have taken out bonds which enabled the initial deposit to be paid last year. If you feel able to assist the Province by taking out a Bond, please speak to myself or the Festival Secretary, W Bro David Cumming.

2. You or your Lodge can organise a social or sponsored event. The Committee of OMMBA has agreed to match the funds raised up to a maximum of £1,000 per event. The donation from OMMBA will be credited to you or your Lodge and will go towards the MBF and Provincial Honorifics. Once the deposits have been paid and ticket sales commence, the sums will be donated to the MBF and again credited to you and your Lodge.

3. Finally, the Province wishes to set you and your Lodge a challenge:-

The Lodge MBF Challenge

Raise £1,000 by any means (lawful) by 1st May 2023 for the Festival Support Fund, it can be raised by as few or as many events as you wish to arrange and your Lodge will then receive a Provincial Team visit to a meeting of your choosing and the Provincial Grand Master will present your Lodge with a Certificate recognising the Lodge's achievement. The sum raised will ultimately be paid to the MBF and credited to your Lodge.

Brethren, as I have said before, this is your Festival, and it will indeed stand or fall by the efforts of every individual Brother and Lodge.

Your Festival Committee is working tirelessly on your behalf to make the 2025 MBF Festival a success and an event to be proud of but it does need your support and help.

Find out how you can get involved by checking out our website. Join in with the fun. THE FESTIVAL NEEDS YOU!

Congratulations to those Brethren who have been promoted in, or given first appointment to Grand Rank this year.

V.W. Bro. David Aspinwall   –   Grand Junior Warden              

W. Bro. Stephen Pope   –   Past Grand Junior Deacon

W. Bro. Paul G. Benham   –   Past Grand Standard Bearer

W. Bro. J. Barry Weston   –   Past Grand Standard Bearer

On Friday 4th November, Oxfordshire's Provincial Assembly of Royal Ark Mariners will be held under the banner of the Abbey Lodge of Royal Ark Mariners No. 225 at Cosener's House in Abingdon.

We trust that all Oxfordshire lodges will be well represented.

Please come and support those who will be promoted to Royal Ark Mariner Provincial Grand Rank, and enjoy the hospitality of Abbey RAM.

A delegation from Oxfordshire, led by our Provincial Grand Master and Deputy Provincial Grand Master went to Brighton to support the culmination of the 154th MBF Festival hosted by Mark Province of Surrey.

Due to covid, the Surrey Festival preparation has been hampered, they even lost their original hotel booking at the last minute and had to find new venue. Surrey Festival Committee found a great alternative venue at Hilton Brighton Metropole. Despite all the problems, Surrey organised a fabulous event with 360 Brethren from all over the country attending.

Members of Oxfordshire Festival Committee explored Brighton, checked out the bars, the shops and had made friends with fellow Brethren and most importantly took notes to help our own festival.

At the dinner, Oxfordshire sat with the Festival Committee from Cheshire who will be in holding their festival in 2024. Drinks were shared as well as ideas to raise money.

After a dramatic build up, the final amount raised by the Surrey Festival was revealed and they raised a tremendous amount - £1,002,022. Well done Surrey!

Our Festival has recently hit the £100k mark, which is great. We need to keep going and keep the money rolling in!

Spills and Thrills

On a number of occasions our Provincial Grand Master has said that one of the main objectives of our MBF Festival is to have fun as well as trying to raise some money. On Wednesday evening a number of Brethren did just that. W Bro Leo Catney of Windrush Car and Motorcycle Lodge organised a visit to Oxford Speedway.

Although some Brethren fell by the wayside or didn't take up the offer several did attend at Oxford Stadium to watch the match between Oxford Cheetahs and Plymouth Gladiators. The evening started with a complimentary drink then a tour of the pits and the stadium followed by a chicken curry meal including a dessert. The party then settled down to an action packed evening of racing.

Although the weather was very kind, we all watched from the comfort of the spacious enclosed bar.

The enjoyment of the evening was completed by victory for Oxford!

Watch this space as, hopefully, W Bro Leo will be prepared to organise another visit in the not too distant future. If he does then I would encourage as many of you to attend if you would like a convivial as well as exciting evening.

Follow your tips, David? I don't think so!

Two ladies and a filly which won them money

Smiling punters count their winnings

Ok, Stephen, let's get this show on the road!

Linda is smiling as she had the winner of the first race and several others

John still smiling, despite not a single winner

A party of twelve (Masons and their friends) visited Lord's and were invited into the famous pavilion by John Grout and the Festival Secretary, both MCC members.

Cricket was watched, drinks and stories were shared, money was raised and a most enjoyable day was had by all.

This could be you next year . . . Look out for the publicity and join the fun !

We have been playing golf around the Province, having fun and raising money for the Festival.

John Grout has got several 4-ball vouchers available.

These allow us to play at a number of attractive courses at a bargain price.

Thirty-one Brethren and their friends met at Badgemore Golf Club to have some fun and do battle for the John Grout Trophy, in the process raising an amazing £1000 for Festival funds.

In a closely-fought contest, Tony Cole won and Allan Dishington was in second place on countback.

All the players had a very enjoyable day on the course and in the bar afterwards, swapping stories of their golfing adventures, examples of amazing skill (in their eyes anyway) and sympathised when hearing stories of bad luck, dodgy bounces and what might have been.

Thanks to the generosity of Badgemore Golf Club we will be repeating this event next year.

Look out for the date which will be announced very soon, and join the fun. Several players have already booked their places.

We have made a decent start

As reported earlier this year, we have passed a significant milestone in reaching a Festival total of £100,000. This is a good start, but we now have to push on in the remaining three years of our Festival period, organising and attending events and holding raffles at the festive board.

Every little helps

Now that the Craft Festival is over, it is time to transfer our standing orders to the Mark Festival. Every little helps; just £10 a month from each Mark Mason in the Province would raise £40,000 each year and £120,000 over the remaining three years of the Festival.

A raffle at the festive board could raise at least £100. If every Mark and RAM Lodge did this at meetings for the remaining three years of the Festival, this would raise about £20,000.

If we raised £100 from 10 golf vouchers for the next three years this would bring in £3,000.

In addition, if every Lodge were to organise one event each year (a barbeque, a picnic, a race night, a sponsored walk/ swim/ row/ haircut?) which raise only £500, we would be looking at a further £30,000.

We have not set a target for our Festival total, but these rough calculations show what could be achieved if every Lodge and every individual took part.

How you can get involved and help the Festival effort

   • Organise events with members of your Lodge and help at the event

   • Attend and support events at other Lodges

   • Look out for events publicised on social media, flyers sent by email and displayed on the Festival website.

   • Set up a standing order to make a monthly payment for the remaining three years of the Festival.

   • Become a Festival Steward