Lodge St. Bryde News.

ICHF 2011. The International Conference on the History of Freemasonryis a prestigious conference held every two years, the first two were held inEdinburgh and this years event was held in Washington, USA on 27th.– 29th May. Brother James L. Jack, presented a Lecture titled Free Gardeners and Freemasons—a comparison. The Lecture was very well received by the 200 Delegates at the Conference held in The George Washington National Memorial. Bro. Wayne Price and Bro. Raymond Steel both members of 579 attended the eventin support of Bro. Jack.

Work Party.
The Brethren of our Lodge were very active during the summer months working on the up-keep of our Masonic Temple. The major project this year was the complete refurbishment of the kitchen and what agreat job the Brethren have made. As well as gardening activities, all the convector heaters were serviced and the heater in the S.E. corner (which was out of service for over a year) was repaired. The roof above the window in the Lounge was replaced and a general inspection and replacement of broken roof tiles completed. With our Temple fabric now in excellent condition our attentions need to focus on the central heating system. Although the system is working well and is regularly maintained we need to prepare funding for the eventual replacement.

Display Cabinet.

Adelphi Bluebell Lodge No. 4 of Free Gardeners is delighted to have the opportunity to display a few of the items which the Lodge has collected in the Foyer Display Cabinet. Among the items which are of great historical importance is a Free Gardeners jug which was bought by the Lodge and arrived in August from California,USA. Other items include the Charter box from Livingstone Blantyre Lodge and Office-bearers jewels from Thistle Lodge in Motherwell. Adelphi Bluebell Lodge has been very active in securing items of interest from defunct Free Gardeners Lodges which may have otherwise been lost. Interesting Note. Before Lodge St. Bryde No. 579 was Chartered by the GrandLodge of Scotland in 1876 three Free Gardeners Lodges, Bluebell, Heatherbell and The Engrafting Lodge met in Uddingston and Hawthorn Lodge met in Bothwell !

New Member
Graeme Mcleod received his E.A. Degree from the Lodge at the last Regular Meeting before the summer recess. Bro. Derek is another welcome additionto the growing number of young members of the Lodge, having celebratedhis 24th birthday in August. Graeme is a Mechanic and he presently resides in Carluke after living in Larkhall for most of his young life. He was Proposedinto the Lodge by his grandfather Bro. William Closs and his Seconder is Bro.Gilbert McKirdy, both long-standing life members of the Lodge. Bro. Graeme will receive his next two Degrees in September and we trust he will go on to enjoy a long and happy masonic career.