The Installation of Ian Thurn as the new District Grand Master for South America, Southern Division, took place in Buenos Aires recently.
     The installation team was led by Nicholas Bosanquet, Deputy Grand Director of Ceremonies, United Grand Lodge of England.
     Present at the ceremony was the Grand Master of Argentina.

Volcanic Ash delayed the homecoming of Colin Couston of Temple Manor and Burnham Lodges in Buckinghamshire when he stopped off in Hong Kong on his way back from Australia and New Zealand.
     Colin put a message on the masons’ web site – ‘Brother stuck by volcanic ash’. Then the fraternal hand of friendship was extended by Ashok Mahbubani of Lodge Eastern Scotia, 923 EC, who read his SOS.
     As a result, Colin was royally entertained by Ashok, who took him around various airline offices and eventually found him a flight. He also entertained him at Zetland Hall, Hong Kong’s magnificent masonic centre.
     Masonry worldwide had come to the rescue!

A London-based lodge which has its members scattered around the globe is Lodge Malaya, No. 5213, consecrated in 1930 in Malaya and subsequently moved back to England under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England Half of its membership of around 50 are UK residents and the other half are dispersed globally, but predominantly in Malaysia. Four meetings are held each year in London and one in Kuala Lumpur.
     Each year members spend about three days in the Malaysian capital to attend the lodge meeting and then travel to neighbouring countries either to attend other lodge meetings and for leisure.
     Next year the lodge will travel to the Philippines after their meeting in Kuala Lumpur, because current Master, Jim Holtom, is married to a Filipino lady and a lodge meeting has been organised in Manila.

Taking up a post at Covent Garden later this year is Kiwi soprano Madeleine Pierard, thanks to the Arts Foundation New Generation Awards, established in partnership with Freemasons New Zealand.
     The Foundation, set up in 2006, has awarded Madeleine a much-coveted place as a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, from 1 September. She said: ‘I can’t believe I’m actually going to be paid to sing there! It still hasn’t quite sunk in!’
     ‘It was rather a harrowing week of auditions – four rounds whittling 400 singers to 60, then 35, then 12 then five places on the programme across all voice types.’
     Madeleine was among a record number of applicants from 52 countries competing for this position. They are an international group of professionals at the start of their career who have undertaken formal training and have already worked with professional companies.
     Most of the young artists work at the Royal Opera House full-time over two years, receiving coaching in all the disciplines and working on Royal Opera productions.
     With thanks to New Zealand Freemason, Issue 1, 2010.

At the British Cemetery in Argostoli, the capital of Kefalonia in Greece, is a fascinating snapshot of British life (and death) of families and men who served overseas in the military in the nineteenth century, and one grave is that of Freemason John Powers.
     He was in the 80th (Staffordshire Volunteers) Regiment who were stationed in Malta prior to their deployment to the Ionian Islands. They left Malta in 1828, when 17 officers, 29 sergeants, 10 drummers and 482 other ranks went to Corfu and Kefalonia. They were in Kefalonia until late 1830 when they returned to England.
     According to the headstone, which was erected by his fellow sergeants, Powers died on 13 October 1830 aged only 36 years.
     Simon Laws, who took the photo, said: ‘The headstone has deteriorated in the last 12 months. It has fallen over and I was hoping that I might be able to find and contact his lodge to see if they knew about him and if they would be interested in helping to restore the grave.’