Lodge Balgonie 764 presented with new ceremonial banner
Thursday 16th October saw Bro. Stuart Taggart, Director of Ceremonies at Lodge Balgonie present the Right Worshipful Master of the lodge, Bro. Ian Stevenson, with a new ceremonial banner and stand. The lodge last had a ceremonial banner when they celebrated their centenary year in 1989.
The banner features the Holy Bible and an image of Balgonie Castle with the lodge name and year the lodge was established. Both of which reflect the lodge’s heritage and values and is considered by the lodge members as a visual emblem of unity and pride. The banner will be carried at future public events such as the Annual Remembrance Sunday, and the Markinch Highland Games reinforcing the lodge’s pride in, and commitment to, the town of Markinch.
Presenting the banner and stand to the Lodge, Bro. Taggart stated that having been without a lodge banner for over 30 years it was time to put that right so that in future years the banner of Lodge Balgonie 764 would be as familiar to, and welcomed by, the town’s residents as the other ceremonial banners carried at the Remembrance Sunday parade.
Bro. Stevenson, Right Worshipful Master of the Lodge thanked Bro. Taggart and Bro. Stewart Quigley for all the time and work they had put in over the past year to bring back a ceremonial banner to the lodge, and assured them both that the banner would not be kept in the store cupboards and only used once a year, but would be on display at each meeting of the lodge throughout the year, and would be a regular feature in the civic life of Markinch as we continued to celebrate the positive contribution that freemasonry makes to Markinch and the surrounding area.