New & Young Masons Night… with a sprinkle of Chile

The first ceremony of 2023 was no ordinary Second Degree ceremony. Not only was it the inaugural ‘New & Young Masons’ Night at The Lodge of Dawn (in association with the Leeds Light Blues), but we made history by Passing our first ever South American brother.

The inaugural New & Young Masons Night was an open invitation designed to encourage junior brethren across the region to visit a new lodge, see a ‘same but different’ ceremony and meet and interact with other junior brethren from different lodges. In order to make everyone welcome, all drinks were also covered by the Worshipful Master, for all new and young visiting Masons who attended.

In total 14 ‘New & Young’ brethren attended, from eight different lodges (unfortunately three brethren from three other lodges had to cancel). See picture below (taken by Howard Barnett) with the Worshipful Master.

In addition to the New & Young Masons, the night was special as we Passed brother Carlos Reed on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Chile. Brother Reed performed the ceremony perfectly, which was particularly impressive with it all being in his second language.

The evening was a great success as highlighted by the comments of guests;

“It was a great night – excellent ceremony and terrific festive board.”

“Many thanks indeed for a fabulous night last evening. As usual a superb ceremony followed by an excellent festive board and so well supported by L of D and their visitors who all had an excellent evening!”

And in addition, the brethren of the Lodge of Dawn continued their monthly foodbank drive before the ceremony. £320 worth of food was purchased with donations given before the night and four crates of food collected. In addition, another £95 was collected on the night. All of the food was delivered to the Lets Eat foodbank project at The Prince Phillip Centre in Leeds the next day. £335 was also raised from the raffle for West Riding Masonic Charities Ltd.

If you are not a Freemason and, having read the above, would like to find out more, read our Seven Reason to Join The Freemasons, our guide on ‘How to join The Freemasons‘ or our simple ‘What is Freemasonry?’ page.

And if you would like to join The Lodge of Dawn in Leeds, or would like to visit, please feel free to get in touch via our ‘Contact Us’ page.