My Masonic Journey: Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario

Mae & I flew on July 19 to Toronto for the 156th Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario. Upon arrival at the airport, we were informed that Mae's luggage was mis-routed. The airlines assured us that the luggage would be delivered to our hotel before 6 PM, so Mae would have time to prepare for the Grand Master's dinner that evening. Well, Murphy's Law worked so the luggage was delivered at 8:30 PM. Needless to say, Mae was not too impressed with the airline and had to miss the dinner. What sort of saved the day was an excellent lunch with Bro William Tan and Bro Eddie Jao. The picked us up at the airport and broke bread with us before bringing us to our hotel. Mae really enjoyed the lobster (I am allergic to crustaceans) during lunch.

The Annual Communication was presided over very excellently by MWB Raymond Daniels. The dinners, entertainment and fellowship were very wonderful.

MWB Raymond and Lady Barb were very gracious hosts.

The Guests were piped in as they paraded into the Lodge Room.

We had MWB Richard Fletcher, PGM of the Grand Lodge of Vermont and Past Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association of North America, as the Guest Speaker at the Grand Master's Banquet on Friday.

It was great to witness on Thursday the Installation of MWB Garry Dowling as the 75th Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario. MWB Garry was born and raised in Winnipeg and got his Commerce Degree from the University of Manitoba. I wish him all the best during this two-year term in the Grand East. I look forward to serve with him in the 2012 All-Canada Conference in Winnipeg, he as President and I as Vice-President.

It was already great to meet a good number of Filipino-Canadian Brethren in Toronto. One of them is the RWB Eugene Palacol, who just completed his term as the DDGM of his District. I look forward to meeting more of the Filipino-Canadian Brethren at the dinner on Saturday hosted by the Filipino-Canadian Cabletow Service Club. There will be a separate blog about the dinner.

I also had a chance to visit with my Toronto relatives and be a tourist for a few days. It was Mae's first visit to Toronto so my cousin and my uncle brought us around to see some of the beautiful sights in the area. There will also be a separate blog about this.