THE LODGE OF ST. GEORGE PLATINUM JUBILEE PARTY

Singapore

16 July 2022

By W. Bro. Saptak Santra

An incredible success with over 50 Brethren, ladies, children and prospective candidates

This year, H.M. The Queen celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, a celebration of her 70 years reign. H.M. Elizabeth II is longest reigning monarch in English history, surpassing the reign of Queen Victoria who was Queen when The Lodge of St. George was consecrated. While almost every Masonic body in the United Kingdom has celebrated the event in its own, unique way, almost none within the District have done so. Until now….

The Lodge has ever born a particularly close connection to the Crown

The history of The Lodge of St. George spans the reign of six monarchs, commencing with H.M. Queen Victoria who was 30 years into her reign when the Lodge was consecrated in 1867.

The Lodge has ever born a particularly close connection to the Crown, a fact manifested through its manifold traditions. When certain Lodges within the District debated 15+ years ago the possibility to removing the “Queen and the Craft” from their toast lists, such a suggestion with The Lodge of St. George was treated tantamount to “High Treason”. In addition a feature of every Festive Board of the Lodge is the St. George Rose Bowl. Wrought in solid silver on a wooden base with an intricate St. George statuette on the lid, this is one the proudest mementos of the Lodge and resides in front of the Worshipful Master at every Festive Board, with a covering of red roses on its base. It bears a Silver Hallmark and from that Hallmark it was discovered it was made in 1952 from a jeweller’s in England which has since ceased to exist. The Rose Bowl was commissioned by a member of the Lodge and presented in honour of the ascension in 1952 and subsequent coronation in 1953 of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and her territories and dominions overseas.

It comes as no surprise, therefore, that The Lodge had earmarked a day to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee event. The actual weekend where the event was kickstarted in the UK, the weekend of 4th June (which was additionally a two-day public holiday in the UK), was unfortunately not the most practicable for The Lodge to celebrate the event, as it was also the date of the Annual Convocation of the District Grand Chapter of the Eastern Archipelago! Accordingly, the alternative date of Saturday 16th July was chosen. The event was held at a local bar/ restaurant called Goodfellas, which was “decorated” in Royal paraphernalia brought back from the UK and which The Lodge had exclusive use of for the occasion.

“Street Party” Theme

The celebration followed the “street party” theme that was encouraged and favored by organizers in the UK. It proved an incredible success with over 50 Brethren, ladies, children and prospective candidates, accompanied by stalwart guests in the form of W. Bros. Rajash Singh, Manoj Sharma, Ethan Bok and Clarence Lowe, attending the event – which “officially” ran from 1pm to 6pm but “unofficially” ended running a full 12 hour cycle through to 1am! This conveniently ran into the Worshipful Master’s (W. Bro. Prof. Thomas Larry Dawson Jr.) birthday, which was celebrated with a “surprise” birthday cake.

The Worshipful Master thanked all those present for attending and reminded everyone of the qualities of “service” and “duty” that the event and monarch represented, before reading a letter received from the Queen. He proposed a toast to the President of the Republic of Singapore before a toast was made to the Queen in its full, official form – not the abbreviated form to which we are accustomed to at Masonic Festive Boards. A specially curated “Platinum Jubilee” playlist was compiled for the event together with a photo reel which included a collection of photographs from The Lodge’s Diamond Jubilee celebration ten years ago (that marked the Raising of Bro. Matthew Kovac) and the official Platinum Jubilee Pageant in London (for which The Lodge had secured special access to).

A collection of photos from the event is enclosed.