W Bro Ian Keech LGR reports.
As with most sports since March 2020, COVID 19 has put paid to physical bowls competitions. However, there are still reasons to celebrate.
The Great News
The pandemic lockdown cancelled the 10th Anniversary of the Annual Inter-Provincial Masonic Bowls event in August. However, the LMBA donated an impressive £1,703 to the British Red Cross, the nominated charity for 2020, without bowling a single wood! A tremendous result in an otherwise disheartening Bowls Year.
MACE
The LMBA is fortunate that the Herts Bowling Club, Watford, situated adjacent to Cassiobury Park, has kindly agreed that the LMBA ‘take over’ their superb facilities on Friday, 13 August 2021. The Annual MACE Day will take place on the same green where it started. MACE attracts Masonic bowlers from Devon to Suffolk and as far north as Derbyshire. If you would like to enter a rink, mixed included, provided two Masons play, then please contact Ian Keech, details below.
The Good News - How to turn £1 into £25 every week
The principal fundraising activity is to run a Bonus Ball competition based on the National Lottery Saturday Draw. A £1 stake buys a single number between 1 and 59 for one week. The holder of the Bonus Ball each week wins £25. The odds are far better than Premium Bonds or the lottery itself!
If a Lodge or Chapter puts forward a minimum of forty numbers, the LMBA will create a Club Card for them so that one of their members wins £20 every week. Fifty or more numbers and the winner gets the full £25.
Marie Curie Care and McMillan Nurses are the Association’s nominated Charities for MACE 2021, so they will benefit by at least £20 or £25 every week from every card filled.
So, if you or your friends and family want that extra bit of fun and excitement every Saturday evening, at the same time as raising money for these two worthy charities, then why not enter! The entry form and Bonus Ball rules are below. The LMBA looks forward to your support as everyone recovers from the dark days of 2020.
Please contact Ian Keech on ian.a.keech@btinternet.com 07904 525988 for details on MACE or the Bonus Ball fund raising.
This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 44 April 2021 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons - Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.
Read more articles in the Arena Issue 44.