HOW IT BEGAN

I met W.Bro. Ken Young in the hallway of Sandown Lodge one evening in the Spring of 2004. He greeted me with the words

'Ah, just the man I was hoping to see!' He asked me if I could organise two coaches to pick up a group in Bournemouth and bring them to the Island - 'No problem.' I replied. I asked for more details and he told me the group is known as 'The Knole Club' and is an amity circle for lodges that meet at the Knole Road Masonic Centre.

'Actually,' he said, 'We are looking for someone to start a similar group on the Island and your name has been mentioned!'

Some weeks later, John Davis, the Knole Club organiser visited the Island to look at suitable hotels for the forthcoming visit. Jenny and I met up with him and Ken at The Chequers for lunch and talked long and hard of the delights and difficulties of running an amity circle.

We came away enthusiastic but wary. More than 30 lodges meet at Knole Road, conveniently situated in the centre of the Bournemouth conurbation, well served by public transport. There are 17 lodges spread across 9 masonic centres on the Island where the public transport system is not very good in the more rural parts.

September came around and I'd organised the coaches. We picked up more than 80 club members, took them for a pub lunch and then dropped them at the Hotel. The following day (Saturday) we did a 'Round the Island Tour', then on the Sunday they had an hour or so at Godshill and we returned to Bournemouth on Monday.

John Davis invited Jenny and I to join the group for dinner and dancing at the Hotel on the Saturday evening. It was lovely.

We were struck by the wonderful atmosphere among the members and this made us determined to give the Island project our best shot.

In November we held a meeting for all the Lodge Almoners and the Grand officers, their support being vital. John Howell volunteered to act as Treasurer. Soon after, each almoner supplied me with the names and addresses of the widows who they believed to be active and likely to enjoy the type of events we proposed.

Around Christmas time I wrote inviting them all to an inaugral meeting with coffee and cakes at the Cowes Masonic Centre early in March. This first meeting was a huge success and we've grown steadily since then. 

Chris Thomas.

Phone 840278 --- Mobile - 07889 505666 --- e mail - EMAIL CHRIS