Chapter 2
1973 saw the election of Rt. Wor. Bro. Robert J. Carse to the office of District Deputy Grand Master of Waterloo District, an office which he filled to the betterment of Masonry in general and to Grand River Lodge in particular. He passed away August 23, 1989. The District Secretary was Wor. Bro. Harvey Krueger who was appointed a Grand Steward the following year.
In 1978 Brother Alex H. Welker was presented with his 75th Year Pin. He joined Grand River in 1903 and received his 50 Year Pin in 1953. His brother, Franklin Edward Welker had previously been presented with his 50 Year Pin. Alex was born in July, 1883 and died June of 1983, 4 weeks short of being 100 years old. Alex and A. B. Pollock joined together to form Pollock/Welker Industries, the forerunner of Electrohome.
In 1980 Rt. Wor. Bro. Ralph Green was elected Grand Registrar and served the office well. He was elected to the Board of General Purposes several terms and held various chairs with this assembly of Masons.
On Feb. 10, 1981 Rt. Wor. Bro. Frank Barrett had the honour of installing his son, Roland, as Master of Grand River Lodge. James Cameron served his first term as Master in 1982 and his second in 1994. Norman Platz, owner of Stephen’s Jewelers, was Master in 1983, and his father-in-law, William Woodend, was Master in 1985. Nobody will forget Bill’s handle-bar moustache, fine deportment and booming voice. During Norman Platz’s term the Installation was changed from February to June, in order to ease the travel problems of the many visitors which we generally welcome.
In 1984, when Don Steeles was Master a Cowan successfully passed a Board of Trial and sat in Lodge one night with us….even though the Board of Trial consisted of three Right Worshipful Brothers! No permanent harm was done but it was a little embarrassing for the Master when the true situation later became known.
In 1985 the lodge through its Benevolent Committee donated money to the North Waterloo District Boy Scouts to build a cabin at Camp Everton. In recognition they named the cabin “Grand River Lodge”. Through the Benevolent Committee the Lodge has helped many local causes through the years, including all the local hospitals.
On Saturday, November 15th, 1986, The Grand River Lodge celebrated its 125th Anniversary, The Worshipful Master was Wor. Bro. Warren Wolfe, Senior Warden, Bro. Kenneth Gardner and Junior Warden, Bro. Norman Bobier. Lodge opened at 4 p.m. and the present Altar Cloth was dedicated by Most Wor. Bro. Ronald E. Groshaw. Following the dedication ceremony a 125th Anniversary Reception was held at The Waterloo Motor Inn where many Grand Lodge Officers and their ladies shared the occasion. The Lodge donated two Red Maple trees to the Temple Co. as a living memorial to this anniversary. They still stand at the front of the property.
Rt. Wor. Bro. Arthur G. Wolfe was elected District Deputy Grand Master of Waterloo District in 1987 and worked diligently for the betterment of Masonry within and outside the district. Rt. Wor. Bro. Wolfe died in 2003. The District Secretary in 1987 was Wor. Bro. William J. Parker who was honoured by being appointed as a Grand Steward the following year.
Brant Lodge # 663 of Burlington visited in 1988 while Ken Gardner was Master, and later that year, while Norman Bobier was Master, the Scottish Rite Degree Team visited. In the 1989 the lodge bought a computer with a 40 Megabyte hard drive.
In appreciation for his many years of Masonic support and for his musical ability on the organ, V.W. Bro. Vincent B. Whitehead was appointed Grand Organist in 1990 to the pleasure of the Brethren of Grand River Lodge. Later that year, Most Wor. Bro. David Bradley visited and was made an honourary life member of Grand River Lodge. He was also given a gallon of maple syrup.
April 14, 1992 was Grand River’s 1500th meeting and John Dickie was Worshipful Master. In December of that year the Diabetic Clinic of KW Hospital was refurbished and a plaque recognizing the support of Grand River Lodge was installed. In May, 1993, while Al Pomeroy was Master, we hosted a visit from Temple Lodge #690, and they conferred a degree in our lodge.
The Grand Master, Most Wor. Bro. Norman E. Byrne attended Roy Chadwick’s installation in June 1993. Earlier that day, at CKCO TV, he taped interviews to be used at any Masonic function. This was accomplished through the efforts of Grand River brethren Don Wilcox, Garry Holmlund, and Henning Grumme.
That year the Scottish Degree Team from St. Catherines visited and Wor. Bro. Allan Baker donated a collection of books to start a Masonic library.
December 13, 1994 saw Grand River Lodge with the assistance of Rt.W. Bro. Donald Attridge, District Deputy Grand Master of Waterloo District present ten members with their 50 Year Pins. Bro. Max Neuman who was unable to attend was presented with his 60 Year Pin at his home. In 1996, Bro. Claude Dubrick, founder of Dubrick Realty was presented with his 60 year pin. He passed away in 2005.
In 1996, while Gary Holmlund was Master, W. Bro. Norman Bobier was honoured by Grand Lodge when Most Wor. Bro. Durward Greenwood appointed him Grand Standard Bearer and commented "that because of his steadfast loyalty to the craft and the service to our lodge this honor is being bestowed upon you". Along with his long service as Secretary of Grand River Lodge and in various District roles, he had led Waterloo District to raise $6000 to buy and train a Seeing Eye dog.
W. Bro. Kevin Brooks sat in the East in 1997 and we often surmised that if W. Bro. Rene Shuts and W. Bro. Brooks did all the work we could put an Entered Apprentice Degree on and finish it in half the time that it normally takes.
Grand River went through some lean times for candidates in the nineties. We often had to exemplify degrees to keep current. In fact Bro. Werner Czurlok set a record for receiving second degrees: between 1991 and 1994, he was passed four times! Wor. Bro. Harlen Whetham had to be Master twice in a row in 1998-9, an occurrence that had not happened in Grand River Lodge in over one hundred years. He did a fine job and went on to become District Secretary in 2004 and a Grand Steward in 2005.