Pendle Lodge of Freemasons

On waking up on the 19th of July I felt dismay. We’d had lovely weather for the previous few weeks but the day of the barbecue arrived and there were dark skies, heavy rain and the threat of thunder. Undeterred Walter and Terry picked Carole and I up at 10.30 to go to Mark and Debbie’s to help with preparations for the afternoon’s and evening’s get together.
Not having been to the barbecue at Mark’s before I did not know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised when we got there. The outside area was massive and the garage, well what can one say? An ideal place to have a bar.
Debbie and her helpers were already busy in the kitchen preparing the food and because of the forecast weather Mark had arranged for gazebos to be brought for the afternoon and the first task for the men was to put these up.
I don’t mean to offend anyone by missing out their names but among the helpers that morning were David, Jack, Jim, Peter, Roy, the Barlick duo and of course Mark and his friends. The topic of conversation all morning was the weather and whether it would affect the turn out.
A gazebo was put up at the entrance to the rear of Mark’s house through which everyone had to come and Roy and David were positioned in here to relieve anyone who came of a small admission fee. Believe you me no one got past these two fine men. I would just like to say here that I felt the admission fee of £6 was a bit on the low side and a few of the guests also agreed.
So two o’clock came. The first revellers arrived and guess what….THE SUN CAME OUT.
As usual everyone was entertained throughout the day by our resident DJ Worshipful Ian, aided and abetted of course by Kath. The music was varied as usual and later in the day the dancers took to the floor to strut their stuff.
Of course no barbecue is complete without food and this is where our hosts came into their own. Debbie and her helpers provided superb cuisine in addition to the usual burgers and sausage. Mark, being under pressure to provide burgers and sausage for eighty people, acquired the assistance of our new candidate, Gez. Between them they satisfied the appetites of everyone although when you saw their faces you would have thought they had been under a sun lamp all day.
The guests of course help to make the day as well and those who came really enjoyed themselves. The ages of the guests ranged from 0 to eighty odd. Some were masons from other Lodges, some their families and of course some were just friends. All in all though everyone got on and smiles were on people’s faces all day.
A raffle was held in the early evening. There were many prizes donated by those who had come and so there were many winners. Once again this raised a good deal of money. Many thanks to Terry, Carole and Nicola for squeezing the last pennies out of the party goers.
There was just a small blip when the British weather decided to turn sour again. Fortunately this was only a shower and so the party (because that is what it seemed like) continued. A few gathered in the garage and others under the gazebos until the rain again disappeared. Then it was back to business as usual. Dancing, talking with people not seen for a while and all this while enjoying a drink from the bar.
The party went on till late. Some were fortunate enough to have a supper of pie and peas, as if we hadn’t eaten enough.

All in all an excellent day was had by all. There was a lot of hard work put in to it but the rewards at the end of the day made it all worthwhile. A big thank you must go to all who came, a bigger thank you to those who helped and an even bigger thank you to Mark and Debbie for letting us all have such a good time at their lovely home. And of course the princely sum of £406 was raised for Pendleside Hospice.
ROLL ON NEXT YEAR!!!!!