Elvis Presley. Freemason

I had a random thought this morning.

If Elvis Presley was alive, and, an Australian resident, and, living in the Orange district, he would be a member of Lodge Canoblas Lewis!

Elvis - Freemason!

That makes you glad to be a Freemason!

So Mote it Be!

By the way; we are lying - we ALL KNOW that Elvis Lives!
Come along to Lodge Canoblas Lewis on a Monday night & you might just meet him!

January... AND Dahlias...

Well, the Month named after the two faced Roman God Janus is here; the Silly Season continues on unabated like a train headed to the big smoke, that is, until the traditional End of Festivities at Australia Day.

Except of course at Lodge Canoblas Lewis; where work was held as usual.

Within the Craft, many lodges shut down in January, as a lot of the members are away on break, or, the lodge meet smack bang on the long weekends (such is the case for the Brethren of Lodge Mandagery at Manildra). We, however,like to give the Brethren & other Masons the option of attending Lodge in January. In truth, this is due largely our regular meetings being held "just far enough away" from any holidays that the brethren are free to attend!

So, along with the visiting brethren, a short casual lodge was held with the usual formalities followed by a smashing South!

The Winner is.... the pink spikey one...

First up was a talk about dahlia showing by Bro R Smith, the current Supreme Champion of the Royal Sydney Show. We were amazed by the variety in the 100 plus cultivars of this little wonder. The Flower that won him the Supreme Champion title was a "Susan French" (The pink spiked flower in the lower left of the photo). Even the non-gardeners found the talk interesting!

Next on the list was a factoid session on the American Civil War by Bro R Turnbull; focussing mainly upon the lesser known events of this war; such as the Union Navy battled against the Japanese Navy during the Civil war. Bro Meagher recommended the book "Confederate Australians" to the assembly as it covers the visit to Australia by the CSN Ship "The Shenandoah" & the Australians who joined & sailed for the Confederacy, it also covered the influence of the American Civil War on the Australian Constitution.
Thankfully a Masonic "South" is Different to the South referred to in the American Civil War - Our South is a very peaceful & laidback affair!!

Final piece for the evening was a quick Poetry recitation by Bro Fergusson of "Bushfire". Well recited & poignant to the current Australian Summer.

A larger than usual crowd then relaxed after the very casual formalities of the Visitors & the Junior Wardens toasts & had a couple of "wiggies" (that is "ports" to the non-CanoblasLewismen out there).

Ah Freemasonry; it does the soul good!

So Mote it Be!


P.S.: Please keep an eye out for the Freemasons Tent at the Orange Australia Day festivities at Cook Park & come along & say G'day!

Freemasonry & other Interests

Many people think that upon joining a Masonic Lodge, that their lives will be "over run" by "Masonic Duties"; that they will be required to attend meetings all over the place & that they will have no time for any other Interests at all.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Masonry is a good way to add to a mans life & to help him relate better to the other interests that he already has, or will develop. This is one of the great aspects of Lodge Canoblas Lewis, that we are very accepting of our members preferences in their masonic life & we can easily accommodate all aspects of the brothers life into our lodge.

Indeed, many members will often give short speeches in the South about an aspect of one of their bobbies that they have had success in; such as winning the 1st place for Dahlias at the Royal Sydney Show - Yes, Canoblas Lewis is the Lodge of Champion horticulturalists!

So, The Members of Canoblas Lewis ARE involved in other groups, AND this is a good thing, as we are strongly of the Opinion that the worst thing in the world for a man, is to sit at home & have his brain rot by watching TV in absence of anything else to do...

This "general busy life" is what a man needs to be a man... And, we think that a man needs to be busy.

So, to prove that we are not "one dimensional" freemasons & that Lodge is not all consuming, here is a list of "Other Groups" that our members are involved in (that is actually do something with, not just attending)

• Rotary
• Orange District Brass Band
• Camp Quality
• Orange Vintage Motorcycle Club
• Orange Horticultural Society
• Orange District Field Archery Club
• Orange Eight Day Games
• Orange Male Voice Choir
• The Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy
• Engineers Australia
• RENWELD
• The Orange Men's Shed
• The Orange Caravan Club
• Cancer Care West

So many will say, great, you just jump on commitees... what else do you do? Well my good friend, some of the Hobbies that our members have are:

• Gardening
• Fishing
• Fossicking
• Camping
• Home Brewing
• Motorcycling
• Cooking
• Carpentry
• Woodturning
• Band Membership
• Target Archery

This list excludes the groups that our Children, Wives & partners are involved in, that we usually assist with as well - you know the standard stuff: kids soccer/ footy/ cricket, & the wives at Roller Derby ...

So, given the wide variety of interests that The Masons of Lodge Canoblas Lewis are active in, surely YOU would enjoy the fraternity of our Lodge?

Feel free to come along & make some new friends!

So Mote it Be

Post Script: The Keen eyed out there will notice that we have not mentioned Work; largely because the Work that is Esteemed in a Masonic Lodge, is the work that is conducted in the lodge room itself. Whist our employment is important, we feel, that the couple of hours that a Brother can "forget" about the rest of the world in lodge, is key to the importance of Freemasonry to men!