FVNews Daily. 
No 82. Friday, August 7, 2020
From the Communications and Marketing Volunteer Action TeamFVNews Daily is also available at www.FVNews.com.au
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NEW! What’s On
Please notify us about your event. Email: editor@FVNews.com.au
• Sunday, August 9. 4.30pm. 2020 Grand Lodge Ceremonial Team Meeting. Zoom. All team members welcome, including ladies. LINK
• Monday, August 10. 7pm. Lodge of Commerce. RWor. Bro Ian Brown, Membership VAT, will give a 15-20 min presentation on the relevance of the Mark degree to Craft Masons, dress casual. All welcome. LINK
• Tuesday, August 11. 7pm. Richmond Lodge. Includes ‘Who Am I?” segment. Pre-register by Sunday at EMAIL and LINK
• Tuesday, August 11. 7.45pm for visitors. Colac Lodge. Guest Speaker: RWor. Bro. Robert Pullin: ‘Freemasonry and Music.” All welcome. LINK
• Wednesday, August 12. 7.30pm. Ange Kenos, Grand Lodge Librarian. Monthly Presentation. All welcome. LINK
• Wednesday, August 12. 7.30pm. Williamstown Lodge. Guest speaker: Garry Runge, Grand Secretary. All welcome. LINK
• Thursday, August 13. Board of General Purposes meeting. For Board members.
• Thursday, August 13. 7pm. Union Lodge of North Gippsland (Bairnsdale). All welcome. LINK• Thursday, August 13. 7.30pm. Central Highlands District. ‘Introduction to the Kabbalah’ presentation by Bro. Thomas Mikeska. All welcome.LINK
• Friday, August 14. 7.30pm. Gregorios Lodge. Business Meeting. Guest Speaker: Bro. Ioannis (John) Michanetzis on his Naval career, especially in the Hellenic Navy. All welcome. LINK
• Monday, August 17. 11am. Membership VAT Team Leads Meeting. Members.
• Monday, August 17. 7.30pm. Gippsland Lakes Lodge (Lakes Entrance). All welcome. Link to come.
• Tuesday, August 18. 7.30pm. Membership Volunteer Action Team. Members only. 
• Wednesday, August 19. 10.30am. VAT Leaders’ Meeting. Members.
• Friday, August 21. 7pm. Bairnsdale Daylight Lodge. All welcome. LINK
• Saturday, August 22. 7pm. Victorian Lodge of Research. Open Lectures. ‘Freemasonry in the Colony of Victoria’ by Brendan Kyne. All welcome. LINK
• Saturday, September 5. 9.30am-3pm. Secretary’s Course. By Barry Reaper and Eric Williams. LINK to come.

NEW! Videos
• What Did The Mysterious Secret Society Of Freemasons Actually Do. WATCH
• Freemasonry Secrets Revealed. WATCH
• Origins of Freemasonry. WATCH

Demystifying Freemasonry
• The Spectator (UK) this week publishes a feature article about Freemasonry: “The Craft is a shadow history of modernity. Though more sober than most lodge meetings, it is, like its subject, ingenious and frequently bizarre. Freemasonry, John Dickie argues, is one of Britain’s ‘most successful exports’, along with other club activities such as tennis, soccer and golf. It is ‘a fellowship of men, and men alone, who are bound by oaths to a method of self-betterment’. If this ideal of tolerant fraternity sounds modern — the absence of women aside — it is because it is.” LINK

Royal Freemasons note
• This week, without comment, FVNews Daily published links to newspaper items about staff rostering at the Royal Freemasons at Bendigo. Craig Head places on record a response to the Bendigo Advertiser report: “We have two sites in Bendigo:- Flora Hill and Kangaroo Flat. Flora Hill total hours increase and Kangaroo Flat decrease. This ensures equity of hours across all our facilities.”

The COVID-19 Cook Book
• Wayne Motton is compiling a Cook Book with favourite recipes from Victorian Freemasons. He wants to receive emails from members with details of their favourite dish during the lockdown. He intends to publish a free PDF version of the book online. EMAILS please to Wayne at waynemotton@iinet.net.au

Sweet Charity (1)
• George Entwistle writes, after reading our Think Pink note in Thursday’s edition: “I started up an initiative almost 20  years ago saving five cent pieces for children’s cancer research. This was due to a young girl who saved five- cent pieces to purchase things for school projects. I saved my five cents and gave them to her. Unfortunately she contracted Myeloid Leukemia when she was 12 years old and died before her 16th birthday. • “I continued to save five-cent pieces and donated them to cancer research.  When I joined Freemasonry in 2001 my Mother Lodge was Zenith Lodge No. 52.  They became involved in the project. Moving from Bendigo toMelbourne. I joined The Lodge Parallel and again asked the Brethren to save five-cent pieces. Proceeds were given to the Freemasons entry to the Big Bash Car Rally.  

Sweet Charity (2)
• “Relocating to Gippsland Lodge No. 51 I again asked the Brethren to assist me.  The first year the Freemasons Motor Cycle Club were raising funds for Cystic Fibrosis and in the latter years I have presented the proceeds to the Grand Master at the September Quarterly Communication. • “Over the past 20 years with the assistance of many Brethren from around the State, I have been able to give almost $2000 to charities involved with Cancer. My ambition is to involve all Lodges in Victoria to save five-cent pieces and make a central collection point at the Grand Lodge Quarterly Communication in September each year. From little things big things grow.”

Margaret couldn’t pay …
so the Freemasons did
• The Examiner (Launceston) reports: About two years ago the lives of Margaret Gabbedy-Hayes and her son Matt changed forever after a fall in a hotel bathtub left him with bleeding on his brain. He needed specialist brain surgery in Melbourne which is expected to cost $35,000. AFreemason friend of Ms Gabbedy-Hayes’ brother, Dough Gabbedy, suggested they reach out and explain Matt’s situation. Little did Mr Gabbedy know the not-so-secret society has three levels of benevolence within the organisation. After meeting Matt, the Burnie Masonic Lodgedecided to help and donated $5000 from the North-West (Tasmanian) arm of the Freemasons. A further $10,000 was donated at a state level by the organisation. Mr Freeman also helped set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise the rest of the money (which has a balance of $22,000). LINK

Please make ONE phone call
• Geoff Newby of District 105 had this reminder for members: “”Please remember to ring a widow, as I am sure all communication is appreciated as we try to stay healthy in these arduous times.Do not leave it to someone else to make the call as that may not happen.”

Masonic Routine
• Paul Brennand, Membership VAT Chair, says: “We have asked all Lodges, from August 1, to organise their virtual meetings on the same day and time that they would normally got to Lodge. Hopefully,  we will all look forward to meeting up as we would normally and enjoy the company of our fellow Brethren. Without a ceremonial content to our meetings, we are presented the opportunity to be even more creative than on Lodge Nights. We have heard of Lodges interspersing their normal Lodge Meetings alternatively with a “wine and cheese” evening to which wives/partners, friends, and even prospective new members are invited. This is a great opportunity to cement those bonds and to involve our broader circle in our activities.”

World News
• In Your Area (UK) reports: “A Freemasons’ lockdown curls have taken on a life of their own, to help raise funds for charity. When the country went into lockdown towards the end of March, David Force, a recently retired estate agent and Freemason missed out on a haircut by two days but believed it would only be for a few weeks. As the weeks passed, his silver curls took on a life of their own, turning from slightly unkempt to decidedly shaggy. David even thought about getting a job as a lookalike for Brian May, the Queen guitarist. • “It was suggested by fellow volunteers that David could get himself sponsored to shave off his crowning glory, but he thought that a bit extreme. After some persuasion, it was decided that dyeing it a fairly outlandish colour would be preferable, rather than risk a sunburnt pate. He said: “What should have been a vivid purple colour turned out to be a rather fetching blue lilac. Undaunted, I have opened a Virgin Money Giving Page and set myself a target of raising £500 for Assist Teignbridge.”
• The current tally is  £2100. LINK

About our What’s On Guide
• Our aim is to construct a daily What’s On guide for Freemasons Victoria. The guide will initially be at this www.FVNews.com.au website, and we hope to then integrate it at the Freemasons Victoria website. As part of the ‘One Voice’ strategy plan of our VAT, we want to establish the organisation’s official guide to include every Lodge meeting and event. 
• Lodges can assist be sending emails about every lodge meeting and event to editor@FVNews.com.au Please include us on your Lodge Summons mailing list.
• Members across Victoria can assist by volunteering to work from their own home to proactively contact Lodges by email and phone so that we can present the most up-to-date and accurate information. To volunteer, please send an email to editor@FVNews.com.au

Famous Freemasons
• Bishop, Sir Henry Rowley (1786-1855) – Henry Bishop was an English music composer most famous for the songs Lo, Hear The Gentle Lark and Home! Sweet Home! a song which was very popular with soldiers during and after the American Civil War. Bishop was also the composer or arranger of some 120 dramatic works, including 80 operas, light operas, cantatas, and ballets. In 1842, he became the first musician ever to be knighted, having worked for all the major theatres of London in his era — including the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane, Vauxhall Gardens and the Haymarket Theatre. He was also Professor of Music at Oxford University.
– Timothy Horton

More Famous Freemasons
• Eddie Levey of the Mildura Lodge writes: “You turn on your television to watch the footy and watch Bro. Bob Skilton and many other great football Freemasons. They are all competing for the Brownlow Medal, named after Bro. Charles (Chas) Brownlow, (1861-1924). Bro.Brownlowwas made a Mason in the Geelong Lodge of Unity and Prudence No.801 EC (later No.5 VC) in 1885• “You look up the TV guide to see what else is on and you notice that the In Melbourne Tonight is coming. Bro. Graham Cyril Kennedy (1934-2005) was made a member of the Lodge of St Kilda No.303 in 1955.”

Masonic Knowledge
• During US President Harry S. Truman’s administration, the White House underwent an extensive renovation.  Fortunately, while touring part of the demolition site one day, President Truman noticed that many of the interior blocks in the rubble bore a stone mason’s mark. Such a mark is thede facto signature of a mason who worked at hewing and setting stone. He was well-qualified to notice the marks. In fact, Brother Harry S. Truman was initiated on February 9, 1909 at Belton Lodge No. 450. Then, in September 1940, at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Missouri, peers overwhelmingly chose him as the 97th Grand Master of Masons of Missouri. LINK

Masonic Wisdom
•  “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.” – Bro. Clark Gable

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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