Assistant Provincial Grand Master Tony Bent was the principal guest at the installation of Paul O’Brien into the chair of King Solomon of Arrowhead Lodge of Freedom No 8500 at Bryn Masonic Hall. Tony was delighted to be in attendance at Paul’s special evening, particularly as their paths had crossed on many, many previous occasions.
Pictured left: Tony Bent (left) congratulates Paul O’Brien. Pictured right: Paul with Rod North.
Paul, being well known in the group and further afield, from his renditions of the master’s song at installations. Paul’s delivery of the musical tribute always goes down well, not least because of the humour and friendliness he infuses into his performance. Tony was accompanied by grand officers John Roberts, Alec Sharp and Colin Wadeson and supported by Geoffrey Porter (Wigan Group Vice chairman).
Tony was treated to a delightful ceremony in which WM Rod North, a good friend and ‘ship mate’ of his successor, performed a creditable installation ceremony and Paul was put into the chair in fine style. The APrGM was later to congratulate him on the effort and hard work he had obviously put in to make the evening special for the new WM. Rod was ably led by director of ceremonies Keith Hayton and assisted by other brethren of the lodge, including George Calderbank, Steven Calderbank and John Turner who presented the working tools in the three degrees.
Paul then appointed and invested his officers and following the investiture of Keith Lang as almoner and Dennis Skett as charity steward, both were addressed in turn by Geoffrey Porter, emphasising the importance of their roles. Bert Stockley, who had presented Paul for installation, once installed as WM delivered an excellent address to the new WM and Mike Allen gave an excellent address to the wardens. Tony Bent completed the addresses with that to the brethren, as expected, in his own faultless and inimitable style.
Pictured from left to right, are: Alec Sharp, Tony Bent, Paul O’Brien, John Roberts and Geoffrey Porter
Once complete, it was Tony’s cue to rise and bring greetings on behalf of the Provincial Grand Master Tony Harrison, who he said would have been greatly impressed with the quality of the afternoon’s work and brought congratulations to both the new and installing masters. Tony went on to give his own congratulations to the WM and brethren of the lodge, commending all those who took part.
In reply, cheques for £300 each were presented to Tony by Paul on behalf of the lodge members, to be given to Macmillan Cancer Support and Manchester Royal Infirmary. Tony thanked the brethren of the lodge on behalf of the recipient for their kind generosity.
A fine festive board followed and for once, Paul did not have to sing for his supper. His good friend and now IPM of the lodge Rod North did the honours and sang the master’s song, accompanied by Les Campbell on the piano.
The new master is an experienced Mason, holding the rank of PPrSGD. He was initiated into Arrowhead Lodge 30 years ago and served as master for the first time in 1999. Just like his predecessor, Paul is a former navy man and he was supported on this special occasion by his friends and colleagues from HMS Eaglet Naval Reserves.
Paul has an engineering business in Wigan, specialising in precision engineering for the offshore oil and gas industry. A family man, he has five children and seven grandchildren (with one more on the way).
Paul (centre) surrounded by his navy colleagues.