Golden Wattle Chapter No 4, Order of the Eastern Star was instituted 18 March 1922
The Members of Golden Wattle Chapter welcomed visiting Members from all over Queensland as well as several distinguished Members from South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales for their Centennial Celebration held on Saturday 26 March 2022. Several Members of the Masonic Fraternity, distinguished Members of the Grand Court of Amaranth and White Shrine of Jerusalem as well as family and friends also attended, just over one hundred people in the Ipswich Masonic Lodge Room. The morning began with the Grand Entrance of the Most Worthy Grand Matron, Sister Blanche Watt, Most Worthy Grand Patron, Brother Paul Smith, Past Most Worthy Grand Matrons, Past Most Worthy Grand Patron and Worthy Grand Office-bearers of the United Grand Chapter of Australia. The Worthy Matron of Golden Wattle Chapter No 4, Sister Barbara Hartman, offered the Golden Wattle gavel to Sister Blanche Watt. Sister Watt returned the gavel, with thanks and offered Sister Hartman the use of the United Grand Chapter Travelling Gavel for the Celebration.
Sister Barbara Hartman Worthy Matron, introduced the visiting Distinguished Members of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Order of Amaranth and the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem. Brother Timothy Powys Worthy Patron, Introduced the Members of the visiting Masonic Orders.
Sister Barbara Hartman Worthy Matron gave a brief address on the Order of the Eastern Star and this was further explained by the modified Chapter Opening Ceremony delivered by the Chapter Office-bearers.
Each Member of Golden Wattle Chapter No 4 was presented with a commemorative certificate and this was followed by a special Centennial Service delivered by the Office-bearers of the Chapter and lead by the Chapter Historian, Sister Heather Noble. The service concluded with a special song sung by all present. Golden Wattle Chapter does not have our own Organist so we were treated to music from Sister Gillian Mason, Worthy Grand Organist and Grand Organist of the Grand Chapter of Queensland. That final song to finish the celebration sounded so good – and of course, was not recorded.
The Celebration concluded with a modified Closing Ceremony, followed by the drawing of the raffle and the Grand Retiral of the United Grand Chapter. Everyone then made their way to the supper room for the buffet lunch provided by the Members of Golden Wattle Chapter No 4.
Hartford Chapter No 3 was the first Chapter to reach 100 years but then went into dormancy within a few days of the anniversary. Golden Wattle Chapter No 4 is the second Chapter to reach 100 years and is looking forward to our 101st Installation of Officer-bearers in July with plans in place for a term that is not overshadowed with centennial planning!
The Grand Chapter held our Annual Meeting on Friday 1 April at the Arana Leagues Club followed by the Installation on Saturday afternoon. We welcomed Eastern Star visitors from other states on Friday evening. The visiting delegations included: the Most Worthy Grand Matron Sister Blanche Watt (SA), Most Worthy Grand Patron Brother Paul Smith (NSW), Worthy Grand Associate Matron Sister Robyn Reily (NSW), Worthy Grand Associate Patron Brother Jonathan Nantes (QLD), Worthy Grand Secretary Sister Elizabeth Taylor (TAS), Worthy Grand Treasurer Sister Margaret Down (NSW), Worthy Grand Adah Sister Beryl Ross (QLD), Worthy Grand Electa Sister Gail Reed (SA), Past Most Worthy Grand Matrons Sisters Evelyn Hood (VIC), Elizabeth Watt (SA) and Lois Allen (NSW), Past Most Worthy Grand Patron Brother Sydney Down (NSW) and Assistant to the Worthy Grand Treasurer Sister Jennifer Fawns (NSW); from the Grand Chapter of NSW and ACT, the Worthy Grand Matron Sister Marliyn Auld, Brother Ken Auld PWGP representing the Worthy Grand Patron and Sister Kathy Mitchell Grand Marshal; from the Grand Chapter of Victoria the Worthy Grand Matron Sister Maureen King, Worthy Grand Patron Brother David Carlin, Grand Secretary Sister Iris Carlin and Grand Marshal Sister Kerryn Dixon-Ward; from the Illawarra District Grand Committee Worthy District Grand Matron Sister Lorna Dunkley and Worthy District Grand Patron Brother Ian Dunkley.
The business of the Annual Meeting was well managed by our Worthy Grand Matron Sister Leigh Kennedy and Worthy Grand Patron Brother Norman Butler and culminated in the election and appointment of the Grand Office-bearers for 2022-2023.
The afternoon session on Saturday opened with entry and introductions of our invited guests which included family and friends of our Worthy Grand Matron Elect and Worthy Grand Patron Elect, distinguished Office-bearers of several Orders within the Masonic Family as well as board members and recipients of the 2022 grants of the Eastern Star Foundation.
We were pleased and honoured to welcome the following: from the United Grand Lodge of Queensland, VW Jeffrey Harper, Most Worshipful Grand Master Elect accompanied by Mrs Dorothy Harper and Wayne Warry. From the SGRACQ, RE Ian Hodgson, Deputy First Grand Principal accompanied by Mervyn Gray, John Ellsworth, William Tupou, Greg Broad, Vaughan McInnes, John Edwards and Timothy Powys. From the GLMMMQ, RW Paul Southon Deputy Grand Master accompanied by Ms Narelle Zielke and Reg Langusch. From AASRA the Most Illustrious Regional Commander M.Ill. Bro Greg Goding accompanied by John Ross and Brian Stanley King. From GICQ the Most Illustrious Grand Sovereign David Lauder accompanied by Mrs Roslyn Lauder, Edward O’Neil and Cyril Leitch. From the District Grand Priory of Queensland and PNG the Most Eminent & Reverend Grand Master of the Temple, the Right Eminent Fra. Duncan McGregor accompanied by Murray Diaz, Stephen Olsson and Jock Lowson. From the Royal Order of Scotland the Provincial Grand Master Alan Godsmark. From the Grand Council of Knight Masons, the R.E. Sir Knight Alan Coleman accompanied by Leanne MacDonald. From the Grand Court of Amaranth, the Grand Royal Matron HL Jennifer Nielsen and from the Grand White Shrine of Jerusalem Past Grand Worthy High Priestess Joan Roberts and Grand Watchman of Shepherds Ross Barlow.
Following the presentation of the Eastern Star Grants, the Shield was presented to the two Chapters who initiated more Members that any other Chapter in Queensland during 2021: Bundaberg Chapter No 131 and Electa Chapter No 160 each initiated three Members. The Installation of Sister Elaine Gray Worthy Grand Matron and Brother Spencer Swann Worthy Grand Patron and Grand Office-bearers for 2022-2023 was the main event of the afternoon followed by remarks from selected dignitaries, a closing ceremony photographs and a banquet.
The United Grand Chapter of Australia has recently donated $6,000 to the Mallacoota Community Health Services Centre who continue to assist their community since the devastating bush fires of January 2020. Our Worthy Grand Secretary Emeritus, Sister Lorraine Ellison adds “I fully support this grant to an isolated community, I have had the pleasure of visiting and spending time in this community who made the decision to be heavily involved in their own recovery. The ABC screened a 5 part series on the Recovery of Mallacoota and covered the excellent work the community elected Recovery Committee did in making decisions every member of the community could be involved in, through the opportunity to vote for the 12 projects selected as the most valuable to the whole community. The committee of 12 was led by an ex-naval officer and included people from a diverse range of backgrounds, including a local minister of religion, retired policeman, young person interested in the environment and a local artist. A local photographer recorded a lot of the progress and emotions faced by this community during this time”.
Congratulations Mallacoota, and we hope our donation will help.
The Charity donation figures submitted by Chapters and Governing Levels for 2019 through 2021 are summarised below. The total amount for this period was $2,616,998. Some of the recipients were:
Many other organisations received donations and the variety of charity donations was extremely varied across the board. The Order of The Eastern Star members devotes many hours of work and dedication to help raise these funds for very worthy causes and others less fortunate in the communities. They do not look for and sometimes do not receive recognition for all this, however it is part of the core of the Order of the Eastern Star and done with Charity and Love of their fellow man.
The Annual Installation of the Grand Chapter of NSW & ACT was held on Saturday 20th March 2022. Pictures from this event showing the newly installed WGM Sister Marylin Auld and WGP Brother Joseph Vavra and their Grand Office-bearers are below. Congratulations to all !!
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Mortdale ChapterNo.36 Order of the Eastern Star was instituted on 24th November 1928 and after 93 continuous years held its final meeting on 24th January 2022.
The Members have enjoyed social interaction with other Chapters in the District and throughout Australia.
Many Balls, Fetes, Card nights, lunches and dances have been held during our 93 years to assist in supporting various Charities and for the maintenance of our Hall.
Following the decision to close the Chapter due to the age of members and declining membership the Chapter Hall which was purchased in 1957 at a cost of two thousand two hundred and fifty pound was sold. The Hall has served, and will continue to serve, as one of the only meeting places for community participation in the district.
Over the past 10 months the Chapter has been able to distribute approximately $1.7 million dollars for Charitable purposes in donations ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 dollars to 40 organisations.
We were pleased to be able to assist both St George and Sutherland Public Hospitals with donations of $250,000 each for vital equipment. Local organisations such as Carinya School, Morris Children’s Fund, Orana, One Meal Makes a Difference and Engadine Rural Fire Service were also amongst the recipients. It was disappointing that due to Covid restrictions we were unable to hold several functions to present our donations and meet with the recipients.
Perth Chapter No 46 Installation meeting took place on Saturday 4th December when Sister Anne Brogden was Installed as Worthy Matron and Brother Victor Tate was recycled into the position of Worthy Patron. Sister Brogden was very pleased to have four of her five points present at the Installation.
At the same meeting Sister, Claire Moody and Allison Goldsby were presented with their Membership Certificate and Sister Elizabeth Conlon was presented with her appointment as Grand Representative to Nebraska.
Another busy meeting was followed by dinner at our “local”.
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The President Mrs Margaret Down and Mrs Rosalyn Russ a committee member of the OES Home Fund & Home Management, recently presented a donation of $2,500 to Peta Bergan at the Smith Family. This donation will be used for the Smith Family’s ‘learning for life’ program. This program recognises that disadvantaged children need extra support to stay at school and go on to further studies or a job. If you would like to know more visit Learning for Life Program | Creating Better Futures (thesmithfamily.com.au).
Well, what luck are we having with Bunning’s sausage sizzles!
For those who didn’t make it, the flames were high and the smoke column even higher in the premises across the road from Bunnings so the police advised Bunnings that we were not to start the sausage sizzle. So some of us came back to Worthy Matrons home (Helen McLachlan’s) for a sausage in a bun.
However, all was not lost. After a fair bit of phoning around as all charity places appeared to be closed on the weekends, I finally got in touch with Oz Harvest who, although they could not pick up from a private residence, gave us the name of Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren WA Inc. It’s a registered charity offering support services to grandparents who are raising their grandchildren on a full-time basis. The founder is Jan Standen who was awarded 2022 Senior Australian of the Year for her role as President of Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren WA Inc.
We took the sausages, buns and onions up to their premises in Warwick this morning and they were very pleased to receive them and us. They were a delightful bunch of ladies and it was lovely to spend a little time with them and hear about the work they do.
Constellation Chapter in NSW recently donated to Orange Sky.
Orange Sky Australia is the world’s first free mobile laundry service for people experiencing homelessness – an idea founded in a Brisbane garage by two 20-year-old mates, Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett. In late 2014, the boys installed a couple of washing machines and dryers in the back of their old van and visited parks around Brisbane to wash and dry clothes for free. What started as an idea to improve hygiene standards and restore dignity to people doing it tough has evolved into something much bigger and more powerful.
From sitting down on our orange chairs and chatting with friends, we’ve learnt that although access to laundry and shower services is important, it’s the conversation and regular connection that create the biggest impact in the community. Each week, all over Australia, thousands of volunteers help to positively connect our friends doing it tough by providing access to free laundry, warm showers and genuine, non-judgemental conversation. We always partner with service providers, such as food vans or drop-in centres, and make sure that we set up at locations where our friends feel most comfortable.
To date, Orange Sky has provided Australians doing it tough with over 1.9 million kilograms of free laundry, 20,000 showers and 330,000 hours of genuine and non-judgemental conversation across 36 service locations. If you would like to know more, visit Orange Sky Australia | Positively Connecting Communities.
