FVNews Daily. 
No 19. Thursday, May 7, 2020
From the Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action TeamFVNews Daily is also available at www.FVNews.com.au
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Vale Bill Blood
• Wor. Bro. Bill Blood, PJGD, died on Tuesday night (May 5). Bill has been a Grand Steward in John Evans’ team – the Evans Fleet’ – in 2004. He was active at Sailability Victoria at Lillydale Lake, and was thought to be ex-SAS in the British Army. Bill was a long serving member of the Unknown Soldier Ceremonial Team.He had been a keen participant of Maroondah District Installation Teams for many years.
Some of the social media tributes included:
• Bruce Cowie: “A genuine Freemason who loved to help where he could. He will be missed.”• Hillel Benedykt: “What a great guy and a real fighter. I will miss Bill.”• Ron Goodburn: “2004 GL team who was always putting in, wonderful memories of a great mate. RIP Bill.”
• Wayne Motton: “Such sad news. A true legion of the craft. Always enjoyed working with him in the unknown soldier team.”Thanks to Steve Latimer, John Blyth and Barry Minster.

‘I never thought I’d kiss him’
• John Glover offered his tribute to Bill Blood on the Almoner’s Bulletin Board: “Bill was one of my instructors when I was an Officer Cadet in the ARes. We established our mutual interest whilst I was struggling at Pucka. Later we were members of the same Chapter. I had the unique distinction of reviving him at Lodge when he collapsed. I never thought I would ever kiss my former Sgt. Stand easy soldier, duty done.”

Capital ideas
• Lodge of the Golden Rule 555 had their first attempt at a Zoom meeting last night (Wed.). Bro Bastian Simrahj spoke of his job as a Federal Parliament staffer; he  has been a policy advisor in Canberra for a Victorian Senator for some 12 months. He spoke of extremely long hours and 22 weeks a year away from home. This means he has limited his ability to attend lodge as often as he would like. He proudly wears a Freemaons lapel pin in Canberra and has – as a result – met a number of Freemasons from around Australia.

Help with Technology
• Andrew Gregson, son of Ivanhoe Grammarians Almoner Haydn Gregson, has been assisting older members configure their computers so they can participate in their Lodge meeting tonight (Thu.). Andrew has been offering to set-up the computers, by remote control. At tonight’s meeting will be several members who have not been able to attend for some years for reasons of age, health or distance. It’s a great way to re-connect. Haydn has done a ‘ring-around’ of all members to enquire about their health, and suggest a re-connection.

Richard: a video hit
• Richard Elkington is working on his second video, after the premiere episode was warmly welcomed on Tuesday afternoon. There have been 819 views already. Comments have included:
• Rodney Lavin: “Lovely message Right Worshipful Brother Richard.”
• Ed Lewellin: “Good stuff.”
• Michael Maher: “Well done Ash. Great initiative.”• Ken Porter: “Great to hear from you Richard.”

What’s On: online meetings

• Thursday, May 7. 7.30pm. Freemasons Victoria Central Highlands District. Lecture: ‘Illustrated by symbols. Why study symbols?” LINK
• Thursday, May 7. 7.30pm. Ivanhoe Grammarians Lodge. Monthly meeting. Business and social. LINK
• Saturday, May 9. 7pm. Blue Lounge Social Club. Education Forum: The Eleusinan Mysteries. LINK

With thanks to www.masonsconnect.com
Please advise us of online meetings, so we can publicise in FVNews.

Letters
• Following on from this week’s Masonic Trivia,. James Trigg contributed: “Didn’t Bro. Aldrin leave a Square and Compasses and a plaque from the Grand Lodge of Texas on the Moon?”
• Barry Minster has been sharing extracts from 1938-39 editions of The Victorian Craftsman magazine. When the Grand Lodge Library re-opens after the pandemic restrictions, Ange Kenos is urging members to come in and inspect copies.
• Andrew Power shares a LINK from The Times (London) about the Grand Lodge of England appointing its youngest ever Grand Secretary. The report talks of “plans to bring greater transparency to the secretive society”.

First Visitor

• Guess the name of the first visitor through the doors at Moubray House at the Royal Freemasons Homes when visits were allowed to re-start yesterday (Wed.). FVNews Editor Ash Long was there to visit his mother (Marjory Long), 96 years young. This had to be their Mothers Day get-together as there are none allowed this weekend.

To visit a family member, visitors must have a certificate confirming that they have had a flu injection. Only one visitor at a time for a maximum of 45 minutes, visits are strictly in the resident’s room, and there is lots of supervised hand washing.
• PS: Ash Long will be guest speaker at the Williamstown Lodge meeting to be held at 7.30pm on Wednesday (May 13). He will speak on the work of the2020-21 Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action Team.

Masonic Mailbag
• Gavin Howard has praise for Grand Secretary Garry Runge’s office team, particularly Kelly Leventis and Michael King of Marketing: “I congratulate through this circulation all involved in the recent publication of the Freemasons Victoria Autumn Journal. A fabulous read with particularly plenty of articles and pictures of the “rank and file” brethren on the ground. It contained the usual informative reports and Masonic advancement knowledge which I’m sure is appreciated. I just felt this edition presented more of the activities of our ‘out of the lime light’ brethren,  and highlighted the activities, and amazing work done at our grassroots level.  A special congratulations to the photographer/s, to attain this. Loved it, keep up the great work.”

Masonic Trivia
• Grand Masters generally have the power to make “masons at sight,” which means the Master can do away with the formalities such as filing of petitions, waiting periods, etc. Some famous Masons who were made include: William H. Taft, General George Marshall and General Douglas MacArthur.
• In the 1800s several grand lodges established Masonic colleges. The most successful of which was in Hannibal, Mississippi in 1847. Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Georgia all tried it but all were eventually closed due to lack of support.
• In the spring of 1966, Brother Dallas Coleman of Denison Lodge No 373 of Kansas was digging a pond when he came across an overturned gravestone marked with the Square and Compasses. Research led to a determination that it belonged to Brother Henry Craig (1832-1862) of Valley Falls Lodge  No. 21. The brethren of the lodge reset and cleaned the monument and erected a fence around it to keep livestock away and continue to maintain it.
• Lyndon Johnson took the first degree of Masonry on October 30, 1937 but never progressed any further.

Masonic Wisdom
• “Masonry superadds to our other obligations the strongest ties of connection between it and the cultivation of virtue, and furnishes the most powerful incentives to goodness.” – DeWitt Clinton

INFORMATION TO KNOW
FVNews is published by Bro. Ash Long, Chair of the Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action Team of Freemasons Victoria. 
Phone: 0450 399 932.
Web: www.FVNews.com.au Email: editor@FVNews.com.au
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