FVNews Daily. 
No 23. Wednesday, May 13, 2020
From the Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action TeamFVNews Daily is also available at www.FVNews.com.au
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Vale Eric Smith

• Wor. Bro. Eric Smith has died at the age of 88, after a long illness. He was husband of Stella (dec.); father of Linda, Christine and Ian; father-in-law ofAndrew (dec.) and Lynda; brother of Les, Marjorie and Alan; grandfather of Robert, Jessica, Brendan and Rohan; great-grandfather to Abby. A private family funeral will be held with a memorial service to follow at a later date at St Aidan’s Anglican Church, Strathmore. (Thanks Barry Minster.)

500 limit at Installation
• A limit of 500 has been placed on the attendance of the Zoom Installation of R Wy Bro Sonny Razon as the new Grand Supreme Ruler of the Grand Conclave of the Order of the Secret Monitor, Philippines, advises Ruffino G Arias, Jr, Recorder. REGISTRATION LINK

Foodshare publicity
• Freemasons in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley have won Shepparton News publicity for their participation in a Foodshare fundraiser at Mooroopna to be held from 6.30pm-10.30pm on Wednesday, June 28. Price: $75 per person. The event is sold out. Last year’s Foodshare fundraiser at The Woolshed, Emerald Bank raised a record $100,000 with donations from businesses, individuals and philanthropic organisations. (Thanks Barry Minster).

Trentham Lodge history
• Darren Poinen, Trentham Lodge WM, sends in a copy of the Trentham Recorder with an eight-page history of the Lodge. LINK

Zoom time for Plaridel
• Plaridel Lodge No 1893 held their first Virtual Meeting via Zoom, last Saturday (May 9). Thanks to Archie Alvarez for advising.

Ash speaks at Williamstown
• Ash Long, Superintendent of Communication, will speak at the Williamstown Lodge meeting at 7.30pm tonight (Wednesday) on ‘The work of the 2020-21 Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action Team’.LINK

Good Companions on Zoom

• Ross Broad notifies that there will be no supper fee for the Zoom meeting of Lodge of Good Companions to be held at 7.30pm on Monday, May 18. Members can bring their own snacks and refreshments. LINK

News from Old Worsopians

• Jim Jolly, Acting Secretary at Bairnsdale Daylight Lodge No 877, tells us of his old school, Worksop College (UK): “In just over 36 hours we have raised just over £5000 worth of equipment to increase production levels of NHS visors, including 13 3-D Printers and over 30 rolls of filament … we have been working daily to make personal protective equipment for frontline NHS staff battling coronavirus, originally funding the initiative from existing materials to produce 10-12 protective face visors a day. With each roll of filament making around 50 visors and the addition of the new machines, we are now in a position to increase our production levels substantially. We are so grateful for all the support we have been shown from individuals, as well as the OW Masonic Lodge, the Provincial Grand Lodge of Nottinghamshire and Worksop’s Masonic Hall.”

Home visits, special education

• A £15,000 grant from Wiltshire Freemasons (UK) will help fund home visits for children with special educational needs. The money will go to charityWiltshire Portage to fund regular home visits for four extra families each week as part of the organisation’s Waiting List Program. More than a hundred families of children with learning disabilities across the county get a weekly visit from Portage. LINK

What’s On: online meetings

• Wednesday, May 13. 7pm. Blue Lounge Social Club (Tasmania). ‘Future Proofing The Fraternity’. Zoom meeting 865 9409 1123
• Wednesday, May 13. 7.30pm. Williamstown Lodge. Guest Speaker: ‘The work of the 2020-21 Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action Team’.LINK 
• Friday, May 15. 7.30pm. Grand Lodge Ceremonial Team. Zoom Meeting. Call Alan Tyndall, Grand Pursuivant Designate, for details.
• Saturday, May 16. 3pm. Old Scotch Collegians Lodge. Innovation Day. First presentation is by Bro. David Donnoli. He is now moving between 500 and 1000 units of hand sanitiser each week. He will talk about creating a successful online business.

• The second presentation is by qualified Sommelier Jackson who works in the wholesale wine industry and has been exploring online sales during the restaurant closures. Attire: Casual. LINK

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

World News
• Rahim Samat tells of a note from Mike Gray: “Unfortunately Freemasons’ Hall has been locked down and has been inaccessible for about a month and there is no sign of it reopening in the near future. Under the current COVID-19 regulations in Singapore, Lodge meetings cannot be held in Singapore. To this end no procedures are in place. We do not know when meetings will be allowed again but it could be sometime off. Instead of meetings the District and some Lodges have been holding Masonic education seminars and discussion groups via the Zoom application.”
• Money raised by Freemasons in Essex (UK) will be used to purchase a new advanced testing machine from America, which will accept blood samples from NHS hospitals to verify whether people have already had the virus. The machine, a ‘Dynex high volume pipette diluter’, will boost testing from 600 to over 2000 a day and will help the community once it has checked NHS and care workers.

Masonic Mailbag
• Several contributors noticed the late Rev. Charles Sligo’s photo in Tuesday’s FVNews Daily and recalled his involvement with Brighton Grammarians Lodge. Who knew that the former Grand Chaplain was once a model, and his photo appeared on the cover of knitting pattern books?
• Matt Cameron suggests adding hashtags #sharingFreemasonry AND #MakingADifference to posts about Freemasons Victoria.

Masonic Trivia
• Angelo Soliman was born in Africa in 1721 and brought to Europe as a slave at the age of ten. He was educated, married, and became a favourite in the royal court in Vienna. Somewhere before 1771 he became a Mason. When he died 1776, the Emperor had his body stuffed and mounted in the Natural History Museum, becoming not only the first black of African birth to become a mason, but also the first Mason to be stuffed, mounted, and displayed.• John Aasen of Highland Park Lodge No. 382 in Los Angeles, California, was the largest known MM ever raised. At the time he was 8.5 feet tall and weighed 536 pounds.
• Charles Stratton, a.k.a. Tom Thumb, was 24 inches high and weighed 16 pounds when raised in 1862.
• Theodore Parvin was Grand Secretary for Iowa from 1844 to 1901, except for 1852-53 when he was Grand Master.

Masonic Wisdom
• When asked of Masonry, US President William McKinley explained:  “After the battle of Opequam, I went with the surgeon of our Ohio regiment to the field where 5000 confederate prisoners were under guard.  As soon as we passed the guard, the doctor shook hands with a number of prisoners and began passing out his roll of bills. On the way back to camp I asked him, ‘Did you know those men?’ ‘No’ ‘But you gave them a lot of money, do you expect to get it back?’ ‘If they are able to pay me back, they will. It makes no difference to me; they are brother masons in trouble and I am only doing my duty.’ I said to myself, ‘If that is Masonry, I will take some of it myself.’”

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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