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At the time of writting, our present RWM Brian Clark has continued strong family traditions in the lodge. His late father, John, and two late uncles, Jim and Tom, were all tremendous workers for their mother lodge. Two of his cousins, Tom and Jim, were PM's in 1973-74 and 1976-77 respectively and this year his blood Brother Ian, as Architect, forms part of his team of office-bearers. As for Brian himself, well, he has through every office, some of them twice on his sojourns to the chair, conducted himself in an exemplary manner and set a fine example for all the brethren to follow his lead. He is proving to be a very capable Master.
On Saturday 6th May 2006, following the rededication ceremony, the anniversary celebration dinner will be held in our own premises for the first time in a century. Many of our present day members have strived to maintain the high standards set by our predecessors. An overview of the lodge would show that we are in excellent financial standing due in part to the fine work by our treasurer, Bro Andrew Baird.
We have a team of office bearers, who hopefully have aspirations for the chair, ably tutored by our instruction class master, PM Bro Hugh Allan. This can be a thankless task but I'm sure Hughie derives great pleasure from some of the fine degree work delivered at our meetings. We also have many dedicated PMs who have shown that in order to have continuity and assure our survival, like many other lodges today, they have been prepared to return to the chair of the lodge. Some of our past traditions have sadly, due to the lack of interest, been lost over the years so it is especially pleasing this year to see the possibility of the resurrection of our annual ball which was, throughout our history, a major fixture on the lodge's calendar.
Last, but most importantly, our donations to benevolence and the many various charities, often overlooked in some quarters, has been since our inception a mainstay and continues to be to this day.
To claim this retrospect as a complete history would not only be unwise but at the same time paying the lodge a complete disservice, it was never my intention. I do hope, however, I've captured to what I considered in our long and distinguished history just some of the highlights and hopefully stirred the memory of many of the brethren and our much appreciated visitors.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My thanks are extended to a few of the members of 374 for their excellent recall; and to my wife, Katrina, whose dexterity on the keyboard of the computer transferring my original written copy to printed form saved an enormous amount of time.
Addendum (Sept 2015)
The members of the Lodge would also like to take this opportunity to thank Bro James B. Gilmour Jnr PM for his labours in creating what can only be described as a fasinating account of the the historical facts and figures of our Lodge.
This 'Brief Retrospect' should be recommended to every new member, so they may be the better enabled to appriciate the commitment and dedication given by past and present Brothers who have made Lodge St John Crofthead No. 374 what it is today and encourage them to contribute is the same manner for our future.