Following successful Freemasonry stands at the Great Yorkshire and Cleveland shows the Driffield show was next to have its first Freemasons stand. The purpose of the stand was to communicate openly with the general public and to demonstrate the role that Freemasonry plays in the local community and beyond.
Preparations began a few months before, tasks were designated to brethren representing interested Lodges from East Yorkshire (Constitutional 294, Sykes 1040, Wilberforce 2134, St. Michael 7833, Ridings Tablers 9586 & Wyke Millennium 9696). Progress meetings were held and emails bounced around the county as the event approached.
6pm Tuesday, 17th July, 2007 - Ken Eyre from the Sykes Lodge already had his motor home in situe by the time I arrived at the Driffield showground. The motor home was to be our base the following day as well as Ken and his wife Judy's accommodation for the night. The marquee was erected to save time in the morning and final checks made that everything required for the following day had been organised.
8.30am Wednesday 18th July 2007 - Show Day. The finishing touches were made to the stand - display boards were covered with information, leaflets sorted, Teddies arranged to promote the TLC appeal, hanging baskets and flowerpots positioned, name badges attached and before we knew it the show had started.
Throughout the day we had a steady stream of Masonic visitors including one from Surrey who had a stand at the show and was interested to see how we were getting on. The PGM traveled down from the north east to spend a couple of hours with us in the morning and the DPGM stopped by in the afternoon. Others who approached the stand had or had had relations in the craft and were interested to see what Freemasons do and to reminisce about their relative. We also had quite a few genuine enquiries from prospective candidates. We handed out hundreds of information leaflets and apart from one or two negative comments the overall response was a positive one.
By 5.30pm it was time to start packing up and to reflect on what had been a tiring but very enjoyable day with the added bonus of sharing a groundbreaking experience with some new Masonic friends. JRW.
The Driffield Show Stand JRW with the PGM (right) The Driffield Show Team