THE YORKSHIRE MASON SUMMER 2024 9
Part of having fun is being able to share your
enjoyment with others. I think I can reasonably
assume that, whilst you may not yet be rolling in
the aisles, it is fun to be a part of today, even if only
to marvel at the bling and for some to speculate on
what the big sword is for, but I will come to that
later!
You have heard from Les Hutchinson CEO of the
Masonic Charitable Foundation and Howard
Wilson Chairman of the MCF Fund Raising
Committee, about its role and how its considerable
resources support both Masonic and non-Masonic
activities.
This is relevant so please let me just stick with my
theme of families and Freemasonry for a
moment.
It is a fact that not everyone is dealt a good hand in
life, or even if you started out with one that
something doesn’t come along to spoil it. Illness,
loss of a partner, loss of income and other
adversities can affect us all. These events are
unpredictable and devastating and when they
happen is when family becomes important. I want
you to leave here today in the knowledge that your
family extends beyond what you may currently
think of as “family” to include your Masonic family.
So please go home with new friends and a bigger
family than when you arrived.
A momentous change of emphasis for any
Province is the launch of a festival, and today we
launch ours– so in that time worn phrase, I now
declare Festival 2029 duly open. This will run until
May 2029, during which time we will raise as much
as we can for the Masonic Charitable Foundation
to enable it to support our members and their
families, as they have done in the past and will
continue to do in the future.
Something that I was very aware of when I joined
Freemasonry, fifty years ago this December as it
happens, was that a festival wasn’t just about
members coming together to raise funds but
families as well. When a Brother pledges his
contributions, hopefully on a continuous giving
basis, he is entitled to become a steward of the
festival and sport a jewel. Historically in other
Provinces, family members were invited to
contribute and secure a brooch of the same
design, and we are exploring doing this at the
moment. If as a family member you feel able to