FVNews Daily. 
No 44. Friday, June 12, 2020
From the Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action TeamFVNews Daily is also available at www.FVNews.com.au
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Vale Jim Geddes
• Wor. Bro Jim Geddes, Past Master of Henty Lodge No. 279, died on Tuesday (June 9), aged 87. He had endured a long period of ill health.Gordon Brown says Jim had been a member of Peninsula Preceptory, serving well in many offices, including Treasurer. (Thanks also to Barry Minster for this item.)

Constitutional Reform Workshop
• There is a virtual workshop about Constitutional Reform at 6.50pm for 7pm (meeting to close 8.45pm-9pm) on Friday, June 19, hosted viaZoom. Thanks to Mike King for this information.1. Welcome
2. Brief introduction of Committee Members attending  and work of n Constitutional Reform Committee3. Recap of work we have been doing since September 2019.4. Discussion of Constitutional Reform, why do we need it?5. Specific items of reform:• Re-focus of Book of Constitutions on Members, Lodges and then Grand Lodge Simplification of Constitution by use of Regulations and amendment of Regulations by Board, subject to disallowance by Members voting in Grand Lodge; Expulsion by Board of members who commit criminal offences, subject to protection of Members voting in Grand Lodge;  Improving dispute resolution, particularly introduction of masonic mediation;6. Timeline for change. A member focussed model with series of Workshops and a Convention; Aim for Notice of Motion at September QC.7. Test vote on the draft resolution for Board expulsion of members who commit criminal offences.8. Member ideas and discussion • Send your RSVP to: constitutionalreform@freemasonsvic.net.au

Dine Out Challenge
• Socially distant doesn’t mean emotionally distant. Masonic Centres are closed, but restaurants and cafes are open. FVNews would like to see photos of Victorian lodges having social meetings (within the rules). Please email your photos (2 or 3 members in the pic, with first names and surnames of each person, from left to right). Let’s encourage a resumption of small social get-togethers for Lodges … for those who wish to participate.

Wine Out West
• The first ‘Recovery’ Wine-out-West is being held at 2.30pm Saturday (June 13). at  West81, Esplanade, Williamstown.Due to restrictions, there can only be physical attendees at this event so RSVP is required. Please respond through WhatsApp or Facebook – it’s first in first served. Kitchen and staff will be operating. BYO bottle. There will be coffee, wine, all sorts of beverages, tasty meals and snacks available. There will be a Zoomlink and live webcam. LINK

Want something to do?
• A Crewkerne (UK) Lodge has produced more than 500 pieces of Personal Protective Equipment for the health service, thanks to one member’s 3D printer. Donald Gray is a member of  the Parrett and Axe Lodge. The 500 pieces of PPE have gone to Crewkerne Hospital and staff at a number of care homes in the area. Donald said: “My wife and I are both over 70, and we are in lockdown and we are self-isolating. I have got a very active mind and I just wanted to do something to help other people who are having to go to work and put themselves at risk,” reported theChard and Ilminster News.

$710 for Blue Ribbon Foundation
• Denis Henry advises that from its recent Table Lodge meeting via Zoom, the Mordialloc Lodge of Charity raised $ 710 for the Police Blue Ribbon Foundation to assist the families of the four Police heroes lost in the tragic accident on the Eastern Freeway.

Morwell online meeting
• David Aubrey advises that Morwell Lodge No. 202 will be holding an online meeting via Zoom at 7.30pm on Thursday (June 18). There will be a guest speaker to be announced.

Help to 278 local charities
• Members of a Freemasons group have made feeding Flintshire (UK) their main priority. Chairman Paul Smith along with ‘Group Five‘ members donated £1580 and 145kg of food and toiletries to the Flintshire Foodbank. The initiative started before the COVID-19 crisis, with regular food donations by member Will Johnson and his wife Kerry.Group Five then quickly adopted this appeal and set about increasing the amount of donations and support from all members. From April 1 to June 5, Freemasonry, together with The Masonic Charitable Foundation supported 278 local charities and projects at a total cost of £1,345,908 as part of the Freemasons COVID-19 Community Fund, says LeaderLive.co.uk

What’s On: online meetings

Go to www.masonsconnect.com

Please advise us of online meetings, so we can publicise in FVNews.

Masonic Mailbag
• Merv Hallam’s item about Blue Lodges brought a number of responses. Donald McArthur identified the verse as from Numbers 15:38. ““Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue.”
• Sam Lewin said: “I found the verse that makes reference to colour blue very interesting, I will also ask my local Rabbi about it.”

More Mailbag
• John Glover writes: “Merv Hallam is right when he says that Freemasonry is symbolic and we can derive whatever meaning we like to further our understanding of the Craft. The explanation I like says that ‘Blue Lodges‘ is a term depicting the universality of the Craft. Freemasonry being universally spread over the earth’s surface it necessarily follows that whenever we cast our eyes heavenwards, the place where the GAOTU in all faiths is thought to reside, we see blue sky. Thus, wherever we stand, whatever our personal faith, the blue sky means the same thing universally. It would be interesting to hear others’ views.”

Masonic Movie Trivia
• In ByeBye Birdie (1963) Janet Leigh walks into a back room where fez-adorned men are discussing charity work.

Masonic Wisdom
• “Many writers and thinkers have tried to define Freemasonry but it really defeats definition. It is too complex, too profound in conception, to easily expressed in words. Perhaps the simplest and best definition of all is the phrase ‘the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God.’ Our Masonic forefathers had an understanding of human needs and human aspirations. They may never have dreamed of the mindless computer which governs our lives, or the fission of matter which threatens our lives, but they understood human nature and what motivates the spirit of man. Thus from a simple process of using stone and mortar for building they progressed to the most important of life’s functions, the building of character.” –Louis L. Williams

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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