An update from the Chairman, W Bro Dudley Price PAGDC

My article for the Spring edition of Arena was earlier in the year and “pre Covid-19″. I wrote about plans for the ensuing Spring and Summer and urged you to look at The Kent Club’s website at www.londonfreemasons.club to ensure you did not miss out.

Well, all that changed towards the end of March and we find ourselves in a period of Masonic Suspension, the like of which has not been known in living memory. I sincerely hope that you and your family are all safe and well and if you are self-isolating, I hope you are not getting to the point of trying to climb the walls!

I have done many jobs which were waiting but put off because attending a Lodge meeting always seemed preferable. Some trees which had partially fallen have now been cut down and cleared, fields rolled, cars washed (one for the first time in two years), and a leaky Portacabin is in the process of being emptied, cut up and removed.

I am, of course, fortunate in having outside space sufficient to do these things but have to admit that even with all this activity and no Masonic dining, I have still managed to put on weight! I am told muscle weighs heavier than fat, but my profile continues to prove this supposition a lie!

We should have had the AGM by now, and the new Chairman should be writing this but that all got pushed aside by the virus.

Your committee has several new chaps waiting to join and has already co-opted them, and so new ideas, enthusiasm and relative youth are the order of the day! They have not been idle and are working very hard planning a full programme of events for our reinstatement.

The AGM will take place, and my successor will be nominated and elected; we will visit Lodges and experience their different work; we shall continue to support Metropolitan Grand Lodge of London’s events; there will be something for the Petrol Heads amongst you; an interview with an experienced Metropolitan Grand Lodge member is on the cards as is something of a party to celebrate the “return to labour”.

Also, we are planning more “family-friendly” events to suit most pockets. At this stage, it is hard to be specific, and we cannot fill the diary until we have the go-ahead to start gathering again. But as and when we can, Kent Club events will be placed on our website (www.londonfreemasons.club) where you can sign up and then receive individual notice of events as and when they come up.

In the meantime I wish you all well; stay happy, healthy and safe and let us all meet again when things are a little more normal.

This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 41 July 2020 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in the Arena Issue 41 here.