FVNews Daily. 
No 61. Tuesday, July 7, 2020
From the Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action TeamFVNews Daily is also available at www.FVNews.com.au
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Speaker this Thursday
• Liam Cole from Argyle Lodge says David Gibbs, a Director with Freemasons Foundation Victoria, will speak on the success, challenges and opportunities that the Foundation faces in a rapidly evolving world. LINK
• A video of the first of the Speaker Series (on Communication) can be seen at this LINK

Board set to meet
• The Board of General Purposes, now under President Myles King, is scheduled to hold its first regular meeting this Thursday (July 9). Previous Acting President Peter Clark announced at the Quarterly Communication that the Board will now communicate its key decisions to members, subject to confidentiality and privacy issues being observed.

Link to Athens
• Richard Skinner, Master of Gregorios Lodge, takes issue with the contribution from Jim Karabatsos in yesterday’s FVNews Daily (Mon., Jul. 6). Richard writes: “Regarding the Link to Athens, the point of the meeting has been missed. The Zoom meeting was the culmination of a number of years’ work between Gregorios Lodge and Lodge Athena-Sopia to have a sister Lodge relationship between the two Lodges. Recently a letter of understanding was signed by the Worshipful Masters of both Lodges normalising the sister Lodge relationship. Last night’s Zoom meeting was the first joint meeting of the two Lodges. Some 50 people participated including many Grand Lodge Officers from both sides. There were two pastGrand Masters from the Grand Lodge of Greece as well as the current Grand Master of Cyprus. 
• “All spoke to the importance of twinning of lodges with similar interests. On our side MWor. Bro Don Reynolds also spoke and we were later joined by our current Grand Master, MWor. Bro Richard Elkington who spoke for some time on the direction of Freemasonry in the current climate.• “As some of our members travel to Greece on a regular basis we hope that next year we will have a good number of Gregorios members that can attend their Installation in November next year. We are of course looking to welcoming members of Lodge Athena-Sopia to Australia in the future as well. This has been a significant step reaching out to Brethren in other countries.”

On Electronic Voting
• Ian Brown writes: “Unfortunately I think the low numbers who voted was partially due to the fact that many of us did not receive the email to vote on either the test or real vote.”
• Cliff Smart writes: “I echo Bro. Entwistle, and was too late to cast my vote. I question the need for “immediate response“, a declaration of the poll just prior to closing Grand Lodge would surely suffice.”

Siblings Program Raffle
(Interchange Outer East)
• Peter White sends this information: “The Monash Gully District lodges have supported a program to assist the siblings of children with a disability for the last 10 years. This program assists disadvantaged children to achieve more normal outcomes in their relationships with others, their self-confidence, their schooling results and ultimately their job prospects.  Many come from single parent families due to the stress placed on relationships in managing a child with a disability.• “This year due to COVID-19 restrictions the usual fund-raising activities of the lodges have been curtailed, hence a raffle has been suggested by the District Charity Officer. There are some great prizes and it is a really worthwhile cause. Please invite your brethren to support this program and maybe win something as well. Click the link to purchase tickets: LINK
• Ross Broad adds: “We are in the middle of a pandemic, we can’t travel, we can’t eat out, we can’t be grey nomads, we can’t winter inQueensland or Europe. So why not take 1 per cent of that cost and invest in assisting siblings of disadvantaged children. Monash Gully 114 is doing what is a first for Freemasons in Victoria and running an online raffle where we can all get tickets. This is a wonderful way for you to exercise some charity while we are not physically at Lodge. Think about what 1 per cent would be worth. $$$$.”

Masonic Mailbag
• Geoffrey Davey writes: “If Freemasonry is to remain attractive, Craft, Mark and Arch should be worked in one lodge – a merger of the three orders would be most desirable. Geoffrey Davey, a Craft member only, has been waiting patiently (but frustrated) for 70 years to be advanced and exalted in the one lodge within the one order before he dies.”

What’s On: online meetings
• www.masonsconnect.com

Famous Freemasons
• Arne, Thomas Augustine (1710-1778) – Arne was the leading British theatre composer of the 18th Century working at Drury Lane and Covent Garden. He is probably best known for the patriotic song Rule, Britannia! (1740) but he also wrote a version of God Save the King (1775), that was to become the British national anthem and the second national anthem of  New Zealand. In 1777, Arne also penned the song A-Hunting We Will Go. Arne was a Freemason and active in the organisation, which has long been centred around the Covent Garden area of London, of which he was a native.

Masonic Knowledge
• “We have heard of the distinguishing characteristic of a Freemason’s heart, we next proceed to deal with his mind, and lastly we deal with both together in order to arrive at the summit of our profession; indeed; those two great parallels Moral and Intellectual, are inseparable for Masons whatever they may be for others.” – Grand Lodge of Scotland

Masonic Wisdom
• “If Lincoln were alive today, he’d be turning over in his grave.” – Bro. Gerald Ford

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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