On Saturday, 15 March, the Province of Cheshire welcomed friends from as far afield as Hampshire and Isle of Wight, and even the District of Spain to their Annual General meeting at the Ellesmere Port Civic Centre, which was well attended with around 240 in attendance.
The Prov.G.M., R.W.Bro. Gary Horstman outlined his thanks to the outgoing Officers, his congratulations for the new Officers, the members of his Province not only for their support for the 2024 festival, but also for the efforts of the membership and support teams.
He also later advised that when combining the Mark new membership figures with the R.A.M. degree, whilst some losses are inevitable, we enjoyed a figure of 97 advancements, elevations, joining and re-joining members in the last 12 months, hopefully indicative of better times ahead for the province.
The Festive board was held at the Whitby Club, which is a short drive away from the Civic Centre, with some 140 dining, and in giving the toast to our Prov.G.M., the Asst.Prov.G.M. John Miller also advised that it was also our Prov.G.M.’s Birthday, and he was presented by John and Derek (Dep.Prov.G.M.) with a card signed by both his outgoing and incoming team’s, as well as a Birthday cake, and a fine bottle of Champagne to enjoy when he got home.
All in all, a successful meeting in the province of Cheshire, which concluded in good time to allow our guests and friends to return home, hopefully in good time, and we look forward to supporting and seeing them all again hopefully soon!