Darling Downs Chapter was instituted on the 5th October 1957 when Australia was governed by the Supreme Grand Chapter of Scotland.
The first Worthy Matron was Sister H Eastwood and the Worthy Patron was Brother F Eastwood. The meetings were held in the Drayton Hall on then later the Masonic Hall. On the 11th November 1979 we moved to DeMolay House in Margaret Street Toowoomba and we still meet there on the third Wednesday of the month.
At the May meeting of 1985 a special dispensation was read by the Secretary Sister M McDavid for Chapters with Australia to have our own governing body. This took place on the 8th June 1985 and Sister O Sharp, our Worthy Matron at the time, took the obligation for our Chapter which became No 140.
In the October meeting of 1985 a new carpet and organ were purchased and a new Marshals Baton and Stand was dedicated in Memory of Brother Clive Barnsley.
Brother Ernie Maltman build our furniture and it was dedicated on the 8th July 1987 and is still in use today — admired by many who enter our Chapter room.
Some 10 year milestones for our Chapter are:
1967/68: WM Sister H Ticknell, WP Brother McLean
1977/78: WM Sister M May, WP Brother K May
1997/98: WMSister H Dunn, WP Brother K Dick
2007/08: WM Sister Cronk, WP Brother McLean
2017/18: WM Sister E Macdonald, WP Brother McLean
We are now in our 62 years of continuous meetings and many other organisations have benefited from our fund raising. We have raised monies via catering for banquets, Hoy parties, raffles, Melbourne Cup parties, Street Stalls, Games Mornings and Easter Parades.
Our members have been helped both with kind and money due to floods, fire and drought as has the wider community
Our members have travelled overseas to OES chapters as well as visiting Chapters in our own District and within many Australian Chapters. To this day we travel to other Chapters and help to keep them going by filling in positions for them as we regard this as Sisterly love of our Order.
We have been honoured over the years to be visited by the Most Worthy Grand Matron and Most Worthy Grand Patron of Australia.
As most of our members are in their eighties and some have been in the Order over 50 years, and think highly of the Order, we hope we can carry on for many more years.
Our Chapter has had many highs and lows over the years and our Membership has gone from a high of 110 to today with only 9 members
Sister E MacDonald
Secretary
