Laurie Fisher joins the Rugby Lodge

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Natalie Walton
5 years ago
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Gloucester coach takes his first regular step WM, Peter Fray (right) was paying attention to the coach when Laurie responded to the Toast to the Initiate at the Adrian Davies Lodge of Rugby Union.

1 Gloucester coach takes his first regular step WM, Peter Fray (right) was paying attention to the coach when Laurie responded to the Toast to the Initiate at the Adrian Davies Lodge of Rugby Union. I am honoured and excited to commence my journey in Freemasonry, he said. I look forward to being a full participant in the lodge. This instantly recognisable Australian is one of the most respected coaches in the rugby world. Head coach at Gloucester, he has got to know many masons who frequent The Shed. It was somewhat inevitable that he would take his the first step in masonry, said Danny Wingrove, who proposed him into the lodge. His benevolent outlook on life sits so well with the brotherhood and I m now proud to call him brother. A former teacher, Laurie was head coach with the Brumbies and Australia U21s, before heading up Munster. He moved to the cherry and whites in Laurie Fisher joins the Rugby Lodge Page 1

Festive board Above: Danny proposes the toast to the initiate. This is the guy that, when not wearing the bucket hat, is actually quite shy; a very modest individual.

To meet his kids and to see how strong, vibrant and intelligent they are will tell you a great deal about the father.

2 Festive board Above: Danny proposes the toast to the initiate. This is the guy that, when not wearing the bucket hat, is actually quite shy; a very modest individual. He has a supportive wife and four fantastic children. To meet his kids and to see how strong, vibrant and intelligent they are will tell you a great deal about the father. He is a guy that, without hesitation, helps out a mate. He always has a thirst for knowledge and a hunger to develop to the best of his ability; a natural Freemason. I certainly had no problem in proposing him into the Craft and I have no doubt that over the course of years to come, as you get to know him, you will agree. Page 2

3 Mini and Youth rugby Peter Fray remarked that it was a pleasure to field a full first team for the ceremony. One of the main aims of this lodge is to promote the game of rugby at local level, especially among youngsters. A proposition was carried to transfer 750 from the Lodge Development Account, plus a donation of 1000 from Gloucestershire Masonic Charity Action, to Gloucestershire RFC Minis and Youth Group for the seasons 2016/17 and 2017/18. The sponsored match at Hartpury last season was a tremendous success. Peter announced that the lodge would again be off to Hartpury, this for the match against Cambridge on 18-Feb-17. He was organising a quiz/pasty night, a sportsman s dinner, a Scalextric competition and the cricket match versus ex-gloucester RFC players. Page 3

Rugby strip Wrexham-born Adrian Davies proposed the toast to the visitors in which he stressed the importance of stimulating fun in Freemasonry.

England shirt signed by all the members. He had to promise to wear it whenever Wales was defeated by England.

My doctor insisted that I had to wear something underneath it.

4 Rugby strip Wrexham-born Adrian Davies proposed the toast to the visitors in which he stressed the importance of stimulating fun in Freemasonry. As if to demonstrate, he explained that, when he retired as the Provincial Grand Master for Gloucestershire, the lodge presented him with an England shirt signed by all the members. He had to promise to wear it whenever Wales was defeated by England. Sadly, I ve had to do so on a couple of occasions, he said, but I found that I came out in a dreadful rash. My doctor insisted that I had to wear something underneath it.... In a Russian doll routine, Adrian firstly removed his jacket and tie to reveal the England shirt. That then was cast aside to expose something somewhat closer to his heart. He emerged, as if from the ruck, with a hairstyle in sympathy with the initiate s. The brethren were grateful he stopped there! Page 4

5 Page 5 Left centre, Adrian Knocker Knox ~ the Lydney rugby legend who played for Gloucester in the early-90s ~ was JD for Laurie s ceremony.

The ADLORU intends to organise a lodge visit.

6 Below: Adrian with Richard Bedells, who next April will be WM of William Webb Ellis Lodge. The lodge meets in Rugby, less than 250 yards from Rugby School Close, where Webb Ellis first picked up that ball and ran with it! The ADLORU intends to organise a lodge visit. Bath prop, Kane Palma-Newport, who recently joined Elizabethan Lodge in Bath, is pictured here with Nigel Bridges, Assistant PGM. In addressing the brethren, Nigel stressed the high estimation in which the ADLORU was held, not least for the benefits it had already produced for youth rugby. He also congratulated the lodge on achieving a Bronze Waypoint towards the 2018 Grand Charity Festival. Page 6

7 Laurie with IPM, Richard Williams-Jones. Adrian x 2 Page 7

8 Away fixture Malcom Toogood (left), WM of Elizabethan Lodge, with his brethren and their host, Andy Farmer (centre). Page 8

9 Tom, Dick and Harry Replacement front row: Tom Sutton of Spirit of Rugby Lodge (East Kent) with Dick Smith and Harry Havard. Page 9

Busy fixture for Rugby Lodge

Busy fixture for Rugby Lodge Profits from Masonic Regalia Sales are donated to the 2018 Festival and proprietor, Steve Dodson, presented a further cheque to the Provincial Grand Master, on this occasion