Annual Report for the year - 2006.

The standing Committee of Lodge Trivandrum No.168 has immense pleasure in presenting the Annual Report for the year 2006.

Bro.Dr. Vattacherril Joseph Thomas born on 19th January 1945 and initiated into Lodge Trivandrum No. 168 on 16th March 1996 (Reg No. 290) was installed in the Chair of King Solomon, by W. Bro. V. R. Harikumar, in the presence of R. W. Bro. Koickal Ramavarma Rajasekharan Nayar O S M representative of Right Worshipful the Regional Grand Master. The Meeting was attended by a large number of brethren besides a galaxy of Past masters and brethren from other Lodges including Lodge Minchin No 2710 E.C.

W.Bro. R Sushil Raj delivered the Charge to the Master, R. W. Bro. K. R. Rajasekharan Nayar OSM delivered the Charge to the Wardens and W. Bro.Dr. P. Balachandran Nair delivered the Charge to the Brethren.

During the Year there were 12 Regular Meetings, 2 Emergency Meetings and one Joint Meting.

Brief details of the ceremonies worked are as follows:

The Joint Meeting of the seven Lodges in the area was held at Trivandrum on the 8th of October 2006 and Lodge Trivandrum, Lodge Ananthapadmanabha and Lodge Travancore jointly hosted it. The Meet proved to be a tremendous success due to the initiative of our Assistant Regional Grand Master W. Bro. D. Santhi Kumar. 45 Brethren from our Lodge took part in the Area Meet and our brethren made liberal contributions to the success of the meet. Bro. Charly John was the Treasurer and W.Bro. A. Jayapalan was the Organising Secretary of the Area Meet. W. Bro. T. Ravindran and W. Bro. V. R. Harikumar jointly made the Festive Board of the Meet truly memorable. The Lodge presented a report of its activities by way of a power point presentation.

The year 2006 started with membership strength of 139. There were three resignations and one cessation during the year. With four new initiates and one joining member the strength at the close of the year is 140.

The attendance throughout the year was good. The following brethren have distinguished themselves with 100% attendance.

The Financial position continues to be sound. There are no arrears of subscription. In the able hands of our Treasurer, Bro. Charly John, the accounting records were maintained properly, as will be evident from the Balance Sheet and Financial Statement appended to this Report.

The Lodge is legitimately proud that many of its members have been conferred with Grand Ranks.

This year three brethren from the Lodge were elevated to the Rank of Right Worshipful Brethren.

R.W.Bro. Dr. A.P.M. Abdul Khadir, R.W. Bro A. Gopalan Nair and R.W.Bro. Brig V. K. Nair

The following brethren have also been promoted.

W.Bro D. Santhi Kumar

P A G D of C

W.Bro. R. Sushil Raj

P A G D of C

W.Bro. Roger Oscar Christian

P G I G

W.Bro. A. Devadas

P G Tyl

The following brethren from our Lodge have been conferred with Regional Grand Ranks.
W. Bro D. Santhi Kumar took over as the Assistant Regional Grand Master of the Area comprising of 7 Lodges.
W.Bro. T. Ravindran was appointed as the ruling Senior Grand Warden.

The following brethren have been conferred with Past Ranks.

W. Bro. Dr. G. R. Nandakumar

P A R G M

W.Bro. M. M. Syed Ismail

P S R G W

W. Bro. Roger Oscar Christian

P R G Chap

W.Bro. A. Devadas

PR G D of C

W.Bro. P. Sreekumar

P R G Swd. Br.

W.Bro. V. P. Velayudhan

P S R G D

W.Bro. K. G. Rajasekharan Nayar

P Dy R G D of C

W.Bro. P. B.Menon

P R G Supdt. of Wks.

W.Bro. R Krishnan

P R G Supdt. of Wks

W.Bro. Akhilesh G. Nair

P A R G D of C

W. Bro. P. Balachandran Nair

P R G Std. Br.

W.Bro. Maj. Gen M. Kesavan Nair

P R G Org.

W. Bro. S. Ramnath

P A R G I G

W.Bro. Ashok G. Nair

P P R G Stwds.

W.Bro. A.S. Ben Roy

PV P R G Stwds.

Past Masters as well as Master Masons took active interest in the Ritual Working of the Lodge. The following Master Masons of the Lodge delivered a part of the Ritual or enthusiastically substituted an office during the year.

Bro. Brig G. Mohan

I Degree Working Tools

24-02-2006

Bro. S. Sreekumar

I Degree Tracing Board

24-02-2006

Bro. Chacko Varghese

II Degree Working Tools

18-03-2006

Bro. P. Vijay Kumar

II Degree Tracing Board

18-03-2006

Bro. Anind Ben Roy

III Degree Working Tools

18-04-2006

Bro. P. Vijay Kumar

Charge after Initiation

17-06-2006

Bro. V. Sudhakar Rao

III Degree Working Tools

20-05-2006

Bro. S. Sreekumar

Director of Ceremonies

20-05-2006

Bro. Brig G. Mohan

Final Charge

18-04-2006

Bro. Dr. R. Prakasam

Senior Deacon

17-06-2006

Bro. Brig. G. Mohan

Chaplain

17-06-2006

Bro. P. Vijay Kumar

I degree Working Tools

17-06-2006

Bro. Roy Peter

I degree Tracing Board

17-06-2006

Bro. Dr. R. Prakasam

II Degree Working Tools

26-08-2006

Bro. B. P. Dinesh

Director of Ceremonies

26-08-2006

Bro. P. Vijay Kumar

II Degree Tracing Board

26-08-2006

Bro. Dr. R. Prakasam

II Degree Working Tools

16-09-2006

Bro. Brig G. Mohan

Inner Guard

16-09-2006

Bro. S. Sreekumar

II Degree Tracing Board

16-09-2006

Bro. Dr. R. Prakasam

Junior Deacon

09-10-2006

Bro. S. Sreekumar

Junior Deacon

21-10-2006

Bro. Brig. G. Mohan

Senior Deacon

21-10-2006

Bro. Dr. R. Prakasam

I Degree Working Tools

21-10-2006

Bro. P. Vijay Kumar

I Degree Tracing Board

21-10-2006

Bro. S. S. Chandra Babu

Senior Warden

18-11-2006

Bro. Brig. G. Mohan

Junior Deacon

18-11-2006

Bro. Brig. G. Mohan

Chaplain

09-12-2006

Bro. Brig. G. Mohan

I Degree Working Tools

16-12-2006

Bro. Dr. R. Rejnish Kumar

I Degree Tracing Board

16-12-2006

Bro. R. Somnath

Charge After Initiation

16-12-2006

The Past Master’s Day was held on the 9th October 2006 and the Past Masters occupying various offices conducted the Ceremony Initiation of Mr. Narayanan Mahesh, a Lewis.

The first stage of the Ritual Working Competition was held on 17th June 2006, with the ceremony of Initiation.

The following brethren were awarded with Certificates of Merit.

The Lodge qualified for the Second Stage of the Competition which was held on
the 9th of December, 2006 and the results of the Second Stage is eagerly awaited.

W.Bro. A.S. Ben Roy visited United Grand Lodge of England during March this year and he presented the famous book The Freemasons at Work by Harry Carr to the Lodge Study Circle.

Bro. P.Vijay Kumar, our Senior Warden attended a meeting of Lodge Friendship No.210 at San Jose, California.

The Worshipful Master and brethren of Lodge Shipping (UGLI) presented a Masonic tie to our worshipful Master.

Universal Brotherhood Day was celebrated jointly with Lodge Ananthapadmanabha and Lodge Travancore by donating 750 Kgs of rice to Aaashraya, an organization working for the betterment of Cancer Patients. Ladies and public attended a public meeting, which was organized to carry the message of Masons to the public. Senior brethren explained the tenets of Freemasonry and questions were answered. All who attended the meeting were treated to fellowship and dinner.

Our Assistant Regional Grand Master, W. Bro. D. Santhi Kumar appeared on the Soorya T V Channel and spoke on Freemasonry

A brief press release appeared on leading Dailies.

A number of brethren from our Lodge attended the Grand Festival held at New Delhi.
The Annual Investiture Meeting of the Regional Grand Lodge of Southern India held at Hyderabad and the Half Yearly Meeting of the R G L held at Tiruchirappally were also well attended.

During the year a sum of Rs. 18,521-00 was collected towards charity.

The following brethren donated liberally for the DHANYA DHAN Project.
Besides participating in the Charity Project held in connection with the Universal Brotherhood day, by donating 250 Kgs of rice to Aasraya, the Lodge has undertaken the following charities:

During the year the Lodge made a contribution of Rs.1,30,000-00 to the Trust. R.W.Bro. K. R. Rajasekharan Nayar OSM continues to be the Managing Trustee, and takes keen interest in the construction. With the involvement of our Bro. S. Krishna Kumar, the construction is in progress and the roof of the first floor has been cast. The Lodge has made a total contribution is Rs. 13,30,664/.

The following brethren represent the Lodge at the Thiruvananthapuram Masonic Trust:

W. Bro. V. J Thomas, W. Bro. A. Jayapalan, Bro. P. Vijay Kumar, Bro. P. T. Mohan Babu, W. Bro. Dr. P. A. Thomas, W. Bro. Dr. P. Balachandran Nair, W. Bro. D. Santhi Kumar, Bro. Dr. Shaji Prabhakaran.

Mythri - All India Association of Mason’s Wives – Trivandrum Wing under the leadership of Mrs. Aisha Menon was very active during the year. The Association was meeting regularly and undertook a number of projects beneficial both to themselves and the community.

Not every Lodge can boast of a Newsletter. Our monthly newsletter carried instructional and informative Masonic material and it has been brought out regularly. The editorial skills of W. Bro. S. Ramnath were well evident from the contents and appearance of the Newsletter.

This group ID created by all the brethren having email ID has proved to be an effective channel of communication among the brethren. The services rendered by Bro. P. Vijay Kumar is greatly appreciated.

Our Website is now four years old and is one of the very popular sites for throughout the world. During this year alone there had been 978 hits on the site. We have receiving several telephone calls from brethren from foreign Lodges, who have visited our Website. Many brethren on their visit to Trivandrum contact us. We thank Bro. P. Vijay Kumar and W. Bro. A. Jayapalan who are managing the Website.

An Area Workshop for Worshipful Masters and Secretaries was held on the 26th of March 2006 at Trivandrum. W.Bro. D. Santhi Kumar, Asistant Regional Grand Master chaired the Workshop. W.Bro. R. Sushil Raj and W. Bro. A. Jayapalan were the faculties.

The Family Day celebrations were unique this year with the families of the brethren of Lodge Minchin No. 2710 E.C., Lodge Trivandrum No. 168, Lodge Travancore No. 329 and Lodge Ananthapadmanabha No. 280 joining together on the 7th of January at the Lodge premises. There were sports and games in the morning followed by entertainment programs in the evening. The Family Day celebrations proved to be an exciting experience.

We place on record our gratitude to the Worshipful Master and Secretary of Lodge Minchin No 2710 EC for all the cooperation and assistance received during the Year. A large contingent of our brethren attended the District Grand Lodge Meet held at Trivandrum and this is being amply reciprocated by the brethren of Lodge Minchin attending our Lodge Meetings.

We enjoyed the full support and assistance of R. W. Bro. G. K. Selvarajan, Right Worshipful the Regional Grand Master and we are deeply indebted to him.

We place on record our deep appreciation of the leadership, guidance and support of W. Bro. D. Santhi Kumar Assistant Regional Grand Master.

The Lodge is justifiably proud that it has been called upon to lend the services of its brethren to the Regional Grand Lodge. This year, W. Bro. D. Santhi Kumar served as the Assistant Regional Grand Master, W. Bro. T. Ravindran as the Senior Regional Grand Warden and R. W. Bro. A. Gopalan Nair as the Chairman of the Panel of Judges for Ritual Working Competition.

All returns, statements and reports to RGL and GLI were dispatched in time and all dues were remitted promptly. All books, registers, files and inventory are being properly maintained.

The Past Masters were actively involved in the affairs of the Lodge.

The Standing Committee has immense pleasure to place on record their deep appreciation of the leadership of W. Bro. Dr. V. J. Thomas and his team of Officers for the year 2006

Trivandrum
31 - 12 - 2006.

Bro. V. Sudhakar Rao

We have examined the Balance Sheet of Lodge Trivandrum No. 168 as at 31st December 2006 and the Income and Expenditure Account for the year ended on that date. The said statements of accounts are in agreement with the books of the Lodge. In our opinion, the Balance Sheet reflects the true and correct position of the state of affairs of the Lodge as on 31st December, 2006 and Income and Expenditure Account of the excess of Income over Expenditure for the year ended on that date.

Sd/-

Bro. V. Sudhakar Rao &
Bro. S. Sreekumar

Audit Committee

Trivandrum
17-01-2007

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